In a single classroom, all fifty seats were filled.
Most of the occupants were children of varying ages, though a handful of restless adults occupied the back rows. Young and old alike, everyone was buzzing with excitement.
The door swung open and Lin Xuejin walked in. The room fell silent, every face solemn with anticipation.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Lin Xuejin. Most of you probably know who I am, but today I have a new title as well — headmaster of Taoyuan Village Primary School, and your instructor for this class."
"This is a Level Two class, focused primarily on learning pinyin."
"Pinyin is important. Without it, you need someone to teach you every single character you want to learn."
"But once you master pinyin, you gain the ability to teach yourself. Think of it as a tool — like taking a little time to sharpen your axe before you go out to chop wood. A sharp blade doubles your efficiency. As the saying goes, sharpening the axe won't delay the woodcutting."
Standing before him were ordinary people without a scrap of formal education, so Lin Xuejin did his best to speak in Mandarin, using plain, everyday language.
"The course runs one month. Classes meet every morning; afternoons are yours to rest or work."
"Once you finish this class and pass the examination, you may enroll in other classes. Complete all nine levels of coursework and pass the comprehensive assessment, and you will graduate and receive a diploma."
A young fellow came in behind him carrying a tall stack of notebooks, which he handed out one by one to each student.
Each notebook cost three yuan, each pen two — five yuan for a set. Three hundred students at five yuan apiece came to fifteen hundred yuan, a trifling sum for Zhao Baihui.
Now that Drunken Immortal Wine was bankrolling the village's expenses, he barely touched his own subsidies. More than ten thousand yuan flowed into his account every day, and he had been quietly stockpiling the surplus. He was planning to amass a few million and do something truly grand.
"When each new level of coursework begins, everyone receives one set of paper and pen free of charge."
"Once you use it up, you'll need to buy your own. Three yuan for a notebook, two for a pen — not cheap for any of you, so be careful with them."
"If you run out, you can purchase more at the school's administrative office. But there are limits on how many you can buy."
"A set costs only fifty wen, and out there in the world, scholars will pay a premium and still fight over them — so count yourselves lucky."
"One more thing: you are strictly forbidden from selling these materials to anyone else. Anyone caught doing so can expect to be expelled, with no chance of ever returning to study here."
"These things are precious. We're offering them to you cheaply so you can learn, improve yourselves, and build a better future."
"Not so you can turn a profit. Anyone shortsighted enough to try that has no place in Taoyuan Village."
"All right — class begins!"
The school held classes for only half the day, leaving the other half free for work, earning money, or reviewing the lesson material.
There were six teachers in all: the four senior handmaids — Jinyi and the others — along with Lin Xuejin and Zhao Mingcheng.
Lin Xuejin had hoped his eldest son could teach, but the boy simply hadn't studied long enough and didn't know enough yet, so he ended up as a student himself, sitting in on classes first. Once his level was high enough, he could stand at the front of the room.
Jinyi and the others taught the morning session and spent the afternoon on administrative duties, which was just about manageable. Taoyuan Village was still small, and things generally ran smoothly according to plan with few hiccups, so they had enough spare time to take on teaching. Once they had trained up a crop of graduates and picked the best of them to become teachers, they could hand things over and step back — but for now, the village was too small and talent too scarce to have any other option.
The curriculum, as the system had designed it, used primary school to cultivate ordinary people who could read, write, and calculate, while middle school would develop higher-caliber talent. But Taoyuan Village's current level only allowed for a primary school; a middle school would have to wait for future upgrades.
The news that Taoyuan Village had opened a school spread quickly, though in itself that was nothing unusual. Schools were established all over the place — official ones went without saying, and it wasn't unheard of for a prosperous village that had produced a scholar to set up its own village or clan school.
What was strange was that Taoyuan Village's school was apparently teaching mud-legged peasants to read and write. That raised eyebrows.
People in Qingniu Town said that Lord Zhao — that notorious good-for-nothing fool — was having another one of his reckless fits, throwing money around again. Only this time, the mockery carried a little less conviction than before.
Over the past year, Taoyuan Village's prosperity had spread by word of mouth for miles in every direction. Many people felt the sting of envy but couldn't bring themselves to leave their homes behind, so they contented themselves with the occasional sour remark — particularly a certain class of people in town, neither well-off nor truly poor, who had always looked down on village life.
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A family of six made their way along the main road and arrived at the entrance of Taoyuan Village. At the sight of the bustling scene before them, all six pairs of eyes widened in astonishment.
Their clothes were somewhat worn but clean. They looked like farming folk, though clearly better off than most — comfortably prosperous, one would say.
At the head of the village entrance hung a sign above a small office: PUBLIC SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.
As Taoyuan Village had grown livelier and foot traffic had increased, a post had been set up here to brief first-time visitors and warn them against violating the village's rules — things like relieving oneself in the street.
"What brings you folks here?"
An elderly woman in a black uniform walked over to greet them.
The man at the front of the group looked her over and found that the black uniform lent her a surprisingly dignified air.
"Ma'am, is this Taoyuan Village?"
"It is. What's your business here?"
The man spoke with a touch of awkwardness. "I heard there's a school here where children can study. Is that true?"
"It's true. My own grandson attends."
The man's eyes lit up. "And what does the school charge? I heard enrollment is free — is that right?"
"Schooling is free, and they give out notebooks and pens at no charge either. I'm told scholars outside the village have offered a full tael of silver for one of those notebooks and still couldn't get one. Our lord is a truly generous man."
"That said, it's only available to people from our village. Outsiders aren't admitted — not even if they offer to pay."
"Then what would it take for my son to come to Taoyuan Village? What should I do?"
"Simple enough. Go to the Public Security Office and get a temporary identity card. Keep your nose clean for one month — no crimes, no trouble — and they'll issue you a permanent card. Once you're registered as a Taoyuan Village resident, you can enroll in school."
"Thank you so much, ma'am. Thank you. Which way is the Public Security Office?"
"I'll walk you there."
This family was far from the only one. Ever since word got out that Taoyuan Village's school offered free enrollment, farming families with a bit of means — and even a number of well-to-do households — had come to take a look. Nearly all of them ended up leaving their children behind, and a good portion of those families put down roots entirely. Once people learned about all the other benefits the village offered, quite a few went home, sold their land, and returned of their own free will to become wage workers.
If it had merely been stories of Taoyuan Village's wealth and prosperity, most people would have listened, nodded, and moved on, thinking it had nothing to do with them. But the chance to send their children to school — that was something people couldn't ignore. Especially with the promise that a child who studied hard, graduated successfully, and stayed in Taoyuan Village to work and live could receive two wen a day for free. That alone was enough to drive people wild.
In no time at all, Taoyuan Village's population had surged past two thousand and was still climbing. The whole village was visibly thriving before everyone's eyes.
Zhao Baihui hadn't expected that opening a school would produce such remarkable results. Had he known from the start, he would have built the primary school the very day the village was founded.
Still — better late than never.