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Mr. Wu remained silent, carefully examining the piece of paper Jiang Jie has written on.

If this child’s writing skills were to be on a person of a much older age, it might not be amazing, but he is only four years old.

Such a young child possessing such a degree of brushwork, even better than his own son when he was young.

This is such a talented child, what a pity it would be if this talent is wasted in the countryside.

Mr. Wu looked at Jiang Jie and asked, “Are you willing to become my student?”

Jiang Jie blinked his eyes, remembering his sister’s admonition, and nodded, “Yes!”

His sister had said that Mr. Wu’s son might be a top scholar, and so Mr. Wu must be a very capable scholar. He would be lucky to have him as a teacher, and it would be no problem for him to pass the Scholar and Top Scholar exams in the future.

If he becomes a scholar, his family’s land could be tax-free, and after he grows up, he could wear colored clothes when traveling outside, not just the black and white ones like his cousin, which is not good looking at all.

Mr. Wu turned his head to Jiang Sanlang, who was standing in the distance under the eaves, and beckoned him over.

Jiang Sanlang hurried over and bowed to Mr. Wu and Mrs. Wu.

Mr. Wu stroked his beard and said, “Jiang Village Chief, I wish to take your son as my apprentice, what do you think?”

Jiang Sanlang was stunned, thinking that he had misheard. But he quickly recovered and deeply bowed to Mr. Wu, “It’s an honor that my son has caught your eye. I’m extremely happy, there is absolutely no objections from our family.”

Mr. Wu nodded, “Alright, from now on, Jiang Jie will be my student.”

Hearing Mr. Wu say this, Yingbao was very excited and gently nudged her brother, indicating that he should quickly kneel down and pay respect to his new teacher.

Jiang Jie quickly understood his sister’s meaning and promptly kneeled in front of the old man, kowtowed three times, and called out, “Master, your apprentice Jiang Jie is showing respect to you!”

At the beginning, he kneeled down so fast that he tripped and fell flat on his face, but fortunately, he quickly crawled up and kneeled properly, completing his kowtow earnestly.

Old lady Wu covered her mouth, laughing non-stop, and quickly helped up the little boy. “Oh slow down, did you hurt your face?”

“No…” Jiang Jie touched his own face, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Mr. Wu: “Since you’re now my student, you’ll live here from now on, are you willing?”

Jiang Jie hesitated, looking to his sister and then to his dad. Seeing them both nodding, he had to nod as well, “Yes, but, but can I still go home later?”

If they don’t let him go home, he might reconsider the decision.

“Of course, you can go back. Every half moon period (15 days), you will get a day off,” Mr. Wu stroked his beard and said.

Jiang Jie thought for a while, and ultimately nodded.

Coming out from the government office compound, Jiang Jie kept his head down and stayed silent.

Jiang Sanlang picked him up into the carriage and asked his little girl to accompany him and talk with him.

But until they got back to Plum Blossom Lane, Jiang Jie did not speak.

Yingbao understood that her brother must be finding it hard to accept leaving home and parents to study. So she gently touched his head and said,

“If you want to become a person like the county magistrate, you must find a good teacher. Did you see the students from the county school yesterday? Some of them are even older than your father and are still studying in school. Do you know why?”

Jiang Jie mumbled, “Because they did not pass the exams.”

“Exactly. Can you guess why they didn’t pass?”

“Because they don’t have powerful teachers.”

“Haha, Xiaojie is really smart, even knowing this.” Yingbao clapped her hands and laughed, “It’s because they didn’t have a good teacher when they were young. That’s why they’re still studying even when they’re older than dad.”

Jiang Sanlang: Just how old is he that his children look down upon him?

Then Yingbao continued, “Do you want to keep studying until you’re old and still haven’t passed anything, or do you want to have a teacher’s guidance and pass to become scholar and official as soon as possible?”

Xiaojie thought for a moment and said, “I want to pass the exams as soon as possible.” He doesn’t want to study till he’s as old as grandparents and can’t walk anymore.

Yingbao patted her brother’s shoulder and encouraged, “Good, ambitious. There was a child prodigy in the previous Dynasty who passed the Scholar’s exam at age ten, the Top Scholar’s exam at thirteen, and at sixteen went to Beijing and passed the final stage. Do you know how powerful a Top Scholar is? Each of them can become a high-ranking official.”

Jiang Jie’s eyes shone with anticipation.

When he was young, he often listened to his sister’s stories about students’ pursuit of knowledge and was especially enthralled by the officials who went to Beijing for the final exam in the stories.

Being listed on the gold plaque and becoming the top achiever, the champions, were not as appealing as the ghost and deity tales encountered on the road to the final exam. So he must go to the final exam as soon as possible.

Right now, his top priority is to pass the official’s exam.

“Sister, when am I going to study at Mr. Wu’s house?”

The conclusion reached by Jiang Jie made him impatient to go to Mr. Wu’s house for his studentship.

Yingbao smiled, “Dad has already gone to prepare the gifts for the teacher. We will go first thing tomorrow.”

The next morning, Jiang Jie, dressed in brand new plain fabric clothes, neatly combed his hair, carried a cloth bag, and climbed onto the carriage, sitting upright. He looked just like a proper little scholar.

Jiang Sanlang also dressed in clean plain clothes, carrying the required six rituals and gift.

This time Yingbao did not go, because it was not appropriate for anyone other than the elderly to be present at such an event.

It was not until noon that Jiang Sanlang came back.

He happily said to Yingbao, “Xiaojie has formally become a student. Mr. Wu has asked him to stay in the government office compound. We can pick him up to come home for a day on the first and fifteenth of every month.”

Yingbao also felt very happy. “Then let’s bring mom to the county town on the first and fifteenth days.”

Jiang Sanlang had the same idea, and he laughed and said, “Let’s go home now and share this good news with your mother.”

For a child of a rural family like theirs to be able to become a student of Mr. Wu, it would be a blessing for several lifetimes.

Although Jiang Sanlang did not know what Mr. Wu used to do, but for being able to teach a son like the County Magistrate, he must be an extraordinary person.

But on the other hand, if it wasn’t for his young daughter, he wouldn’t even be able to step through the threshold of the county government compound, let alone make a connection with the county magistrate’s family.

Hearing that they would be going home right away, Jiang Quan quickly climbed into the carriage.

However Jiang Cheng did not want to leave, claiming he wanted to stay in Plum Blossom Lane to guard the house. Because there were carpenters coming every day to build furniture, somebody must be there to take care of it.

In fact, he didn’t want to go back to the village. His last appointment made him feel that he couldn’t hold his head up in the village, he only wished to stay in the county town and never return.

After giving some instructions to Jiang Cheng, Jiang Sanlang drove the carriage out of town.

By rushing all the way, they managed to reach their village before it got dark.

The two little dogs, rushing up wagging their tails furiously, and barking, came to greet their young master.

“Dad! Sister!”

Jiang Wu had not seen his sister for several days. Every evening he would stand on the high wall watching the road entering the village. Today, when he saw his family’s carriage from afar, he quickly came down from the wall and rushed out.

Yingbao jumped down from the carriage, first gave her younger brother a big hug, then hugged the two dogs and fondled them a few times.

Chun Niang also ran out. When she didn’t see Jiang Jie, she hesitated, “Where is Xiaojie?”

Jiang Sanlang chuckled and said, “Xiaojie has taken an oath to a teacher in the county town. From now on, he will live in the teacher’s house. On the first and fifteenth of every month, you come with me to the county town to see him.”

Chunniang was taken aback for a moment. She remembered that her daughter took Xiaojie to pay respects to the county magistrate’s father. She asked incredulously, “Did Xiaojie really take Mr. Wu as his teacher?”

Jiang Sanlang smiled and whispered, “We know this at home is enough, don’t let outsiders know.”