Pity the parents of the world (rush ranking plus update click recommendation)

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  Liu Ruyi was only temporarily worried about whether to put her feet up, while Jiang Quan was worrying in front of a blueprint.

  He is an excellent craftsman, not only skilled in carpentry, but also has his own insights in making looms. However, when faced with this drawing, he was still dissatisfied.

  "This way, like this, and also like this..."

  Jiang Youzhong muttered to himself while making his own little toys, when suddenly, a loud slogan was heard from outside.

  Jiang Youzhong suddenly put down the toy in his hand, raised his head and stole a glance at Jiang Quan, seeing that Jiang Quan's attention was completely focused on the blueprint, seemingly still pondering how to modify it. He quietly got up, hunched over, and slipped out of the door.

  "Where are you going?" Jiang Quan's eyes twitched slightly.

  Jiang Youzhong's body stiffened instantly, then he hung his head in despair and returned to sit at his own small desk.

  "Remember your place, you are the artisan brought by Master Yu, what you need to do is follow me and learn the craft well, when you grow up, you will replace Master Yu in weaving machines!"

  "Got it," Jiang Youzhong said in a low voice.

  But in his heart, he envied those children outside who were about the same age as him.

  It's been over half a month since he arrived in Xiang'an, and after the initial freshness wore off, he began to get familiar with his surroundings: the huge courtyard walls surrounded an area of about 10 acres, with the northernmost house being where Xiao Guanren lived. The row of somewhat dilapidated houses had yet to be tidied up. On the east side stood three rows of houses, newly built earthen buildings, which were said to have cost Yu Gongzi a considerable amount of silver to complete in just one month. Each row of houses had 24 large rooms, totaling 72 large rooms, with the latter two rows of 48 large rooms currently occupied by the Shandong people who came later - Father Jiang Quan sometimes referred to them as "Erzi" behind their backs, but never dared to call out loud in front of others. The front row of 12 large rooms was for the young men who had newly joined the family guard to live in, with each room accommodating a group, and the empty room used for storing miscellaneous items.

  On the west side, there are two rows of houses, each with twelve rooms. Nowadays, most of them are empty, and only the father-son duo, the high-ranking officials' couple, and Yu Gongzi live here. Yu Gongzi even allocated a room next to his house as a workshop for the father-son duo. The surrounding wall and gate also face this direction, directly opposite the Xijiang Wharf.

  On the south side, adjacent to the courtyard wall, there is only one row of houses with six rooms. Thirty-eight boys under twelve years old and eighteen girls live here separately because of the presence of women, a small courtyard wall was added. They are also the objects of envy for Jiang Youzhong, as they start running every morning at the sound of the bell, then go to school, learning literacy and arithmetic from the little chili pepper-like Xiaolian sister.

  What a joy it would be, at the center of Jiang You, even surpassing the interest in learning his father's craft. If he could live such days... even if only for a short while, he would die happy!

  But he could only interact with the small axe, saw and chisel in his hand, and the wooden board!

  It's not that he doesn't like these skills and crafts, but he likes reading books and learning arithmetic even more!

  As he thought about it, tears welled up in his eyes, he wiped them away with a hand, not making a sound, and continued to do his own thing.

  Jiang Quan's mouth twitched again, and his hands slowed down.

  He hesitated for a moment, and then the slogans outside started again, followed by the rhythmic voice of the Three Character Classic: "Man's nature at birth is good, similar in kind but different in practice..."

  The Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Essay are the basic literacy texts that Yu Guozhen taught children to recognize characters. Although he was not very satisfied with these two books, overall they were good introductory reading materials. Later on, he would find time to revise them, but for now, small-scale literacy education did not require it yet.

  Moreover, the one responsible for teaching these children and girls to read is Liu Ruzi. If changes are to be made, it's likely that Liu Ruzi will have to learn them first.

  As for the one responsible for arithmetic teaching, it was of course Xiao Lian. She was an orphan girl raised by Yu Guozhen and naturally followed his surname. Sometimes when thinking of her name, Yu Guozhen couldn't help but smile.

  Xiao Lian's math education had reached the level of four arithmetic operations and linear equations, so Yu Guozhen still had to spend an hour every day teaching her more advanced math content. For convenience, in math, Yu Guozhen used Arabic numerals and Latin letters, which although unfamiliar to Ming people, were not unacceptable - after all, this was an era when missionaries came in droves.

  "You continue with your work." About half a time later, Jiang Quan stood up and looked at his son wanting to follow him, he glared at him.

  Jiang Youzhong sat back in his chair, tears welling up in his eyes again. Jiang Quan picked up a flat board and walked slowly out of the door, heading towards the row of houses to the south.

  He was a big old man, who shouldn't have come here in the first place. After all, there were still some 16 or 17-year-old girls here, and in peaceful times, girls of this age should be married and having children. However, since they had arrived at the Yu family's house and signed the contract to sell themselves, their marriages could no longer be decided by themselves.

  "Has Master Jiang come here for something?" Just as they arrived at the gate of the small courtyard, a woman who was smiling and sewing raised her head.

  Jiang Quan didn't dare to be slow, and hastily bowed: "Aunt Gao, the young master ordered me to make a blackboard. The lacquer has dried now, I'll bring it over to try it out and see if it's usable."

  "Come on in, then." Aunt Gao pulled a chair over to the side. Her work these days consisted of two main tasks: overseeing the kitchen and directing the more than ten new servant women who were responsible for preparing three meals a day for the entire household; and during her spare moments between meals, keeping an eye on the gate of the family school's courtyard, making sure no idle people came in to cause trouble.

  She was delighted to do both of these things, and it goes without saying that she had great power in the kitchen. Guarding the gate of the family school also allowed her to see the new girls who came into the household.

  She had always had an idea in her mind, which was to find wives for Da Zhu and Er Zhu. Now these two brothers each earned three or four taels of silver per month, plus some extra rewards, so it was no problem for them to earn five taels of silver per month. For a small family like theirs, this amount of money could already provide a stable life. Moreover, everyone knew that the young master had taken a liking to the Gao brothers!

  She had originally wanted to find a daughter-in-law in one of the nearby villages, but now she changed her mind. Those rural rough girls from the village were not worthy of Dazhu and Erzhu. Instead, among these new girls who came to offer themselves as daughters-in-law, there were several who caught her eye. More importantly, which of these new girls would dare not serve her and her beloved son well?

  Thinking of this, Gao Shu's gaze at Jiang Quan became three points vigilant. This guy is also old and big, a forty-year-old man, but he is a widower, with a half-grown son, could it be that he also wants to pick one from these girls?

  The young official rather appreciates his skill, if this fellow really has eaten bear heart and leopard gall to come up with this idea, then it's quite possible he'll succeed!

  No, no, we must keep a close eye on him. Those few girls I've set my sights on can't be allowed to fall into his clutches!

  She was originally just letting the way out, but now she followed in and entered the yard, shouting loudly: "The Jiang family has come to install blackboards, be careful not to bump into them!"

  The girls in the house heard the voice, and they all blushed and shrank into the corner of the room. Aunt Gao was still worried, so she rushed two steps ahead of Jiang Quan and entered the house first.

  This is a house specially converted into a classroom, formed by combining two large rooms and enlarging the windows to ensure good lighting. Jiang Quan looked around and a 12- or 13-year-old girl walked over: "Over here, the blackboard is hung over here!"

  Jiang Quan recognized the girl, she was Yu Gongzi's personal maid, so he followed Lian'er's command and leaned the blackboard against the east wall of the classroom.

  The newly painted blackboard is much more useful than the simple wooden board they used to use. Lian'er picked up a piece of chalk and wrote two words on it, then erased them with a rag, nodding in satisfaction.

  "Well done, I will report it to Young Master." She smiled at Jiang Quan.

  Jiang Quan's mouth moved twice, somewhat hesitating, as if he still wanted to say something. At this, Old Lady Gao, who had been watching with a piercing gaze from the side, suddenly raised her eyebrows: "Master Jiang, since you've already finished what you came for, why are you still lingering here?"

  Jiang Quan turned his head back, walked out the door, and thought of his son's tears. He suddenly turned around again, knelt on the ground with a thud, and said: "Xiao Lian, I have one more thing to ask of you, please grant me this favor!"

  "You're so unreasonable, Xiaolian is a sensible girl, what's wrong with you that you can't speak properly and insist on kneeling down here - get up, get up, or I'll call Dazhu and Erzhu!"

  Gao Shu, who had been prepared for a long time, suddenly blocked Xiaolian's way, rolled her eyes and kicked out with one foot. Jiang Quan was kicked by her but didn't dare to fight back. Although Gao Shu was a woman, she had big feet and considerable strength, kicking Jiang Quan so hard that he let out a stifled groan.

  He also knew that he was being a bit abrupt, but thinking of his son's wish, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain of Old Lady Gao's two kicks: "The young master of our humble household...also wants to come to the school and study, please ask Miss Xiaolian to put in a good word for me with the young master..."

  Aunt Gao was about to kick again, but when she heard it was for her son's sake, her foot suddenly couldn't kick out. However, the force had already been exerted and wasn't easily withdrawn. She lost her balance and stumbled, and if not for Xiaolian's quick reflexes in catching her from behind, she would have fallen flat on her back.

  She hadn't even stood firm when she slapped her thigh: "You also didn't say it early, such things, our young master's heart is the most kind, directly going to ask the young master is, still need to come and trouble Xiaolian... Get up get up, big masters kneeling in front of a group of children, what's the point of this!"

  Jiang Quan knew that Gao Shu's status was also different, and in front of Yu Gongzi, she had a few points of face, not under Xiaolian. Since she said so, it's possible that she herself has been entangled in her heart for several days, which can't be considered a big deal. However, he knew the reason, and sincerely bowed to Gao Shu, then wanted to bow his head to Xiaolian, but was pulled back by Gao.

  "You're not trying to shorten Xiaolian's life, are you? If this continues, I won't care anymore!" Gao Shu yelled at him with a fierce face.

  In Gao's aunt's heart, she had already softened. She also has sons, two of them, and naturally knows that as a parent, one is willing to do anything for their son!