Chapter 43: The Schoolhouse

  After breakfast, Zhao Ji and his group arrived at the empty space in the village, where over a hundred villagers had gathered, almost everyone was there, making the place bustling with people.

  Standing in front of the crowd, he paused for a moment, just as he was about to speak, suddenly, Zhao had a very strange feeling, just like when he won the award and made a speech at the advanced meeting that year.

  "Fellow villagers, thanks to your kindness and help, I, Zhao Ji, have settled in Zengjia Village. To repay you all, I have decided to open a school, so that the children in our village can learn literature and martial arts."

  Facing everyone, Zhao Ji spoke loudly.

  "Brother Zhao is doing a good deed for the village, let's all applaud together."

  As soon as Zhao Ji's voice fell, Zeng Yi immediately spoke out and loudly called out.

  Then, all the villagers warmly applauded, and a wave of applause rose in the empty space of the village, lasting for a long time.

  "Alright, alright, we're all from the same village, let's not be so polite. Whoever has a child who wants to send them to school can start registering now."

  Raising his hands high, he waved them twice, stopping the enthusiastic applause of the villagers. Zhao Ji loudly announced.

  Excluding Zhao Ji and his family, there are 22 households in the village. Every household has children. After Zhao Ji announced the start of registration, a total of 38 children were sent out.

  "Hey, Old Zeng, what's going on? Why are they all boys? Don't girls need to study too?"

  Thirty-eight children, all boys, not a single girl, Zhao Ji's eyebrows slightly furrowed as he asked Zeng You.

  "Can girls also learn martial arts? It's not quite right for them to be fighting and killing."

  He had some hesitation on his way.

  "What's the big deal, why can't girls learn martial arts? I'm not asking them to become experts, just learning a little bit of self-defense is fine. And besides, I'm not just teaching these kids martial arts, I'll also teach them some characters and moral principles, which don't differentiate between boys and girls."

  Zhao strongly disagreed and bluntly said.

  Facing Zhao Ji's rebuke, Zeng You nodded and agreed, then hurried to do ideological work on the villagers. As a result, all children under 15 years old in the village, regardless of gender, were exempted.

  What made Zhao Ji cry and laugh was that some three or four year old little ones were mixed in with a group of small radish heads and half grown children, they couldn't even stand stably, how could they learn.

  So Zhao Ji had no choice but to find Zeng Yu again and let him work on those villagers, children under the age of five should not be sent to school.

  "Zeng Lao Ge, all the students have been gathered. Next, we need to find a more spacious place as our classroom, so it's up to you to arrange this."

  There were fifty-nine students in total after counting, and a larger classroom was needed to accommodate them. This belonged to the logistics support aspect, which should be handled by Zeng Yu.

  He is indeed a very responsible village chief, and he knows everything about the situation in Zengjia Village. After thinking for a moment, his eyes lit up and he exclaimed excitedly: "I've thought of it! In the deepest part of the village, there are two houses that are right next to each other, with living rooms that are adjacent to each other, separated only by a wall. If we just knock down that wall, it will form a very large room, which is more than enough for a classroom."

  "What's the hold up, go take a look and if it's suitable, just settle on it."

  Zhao Ji hastily said.

  Once he decided to do something, Zhao Ji would go all out and never drag his feet.

  Then, more than 100 people in the village went to the deepest part of the village. After leaving the densely populated building area about 100 meters away, they saw the two houses that Zeng Yu had mentioned.

  Compared with the houses in the village, this is a relatively secluded place, which also means quiet, just suitable for use as a classroom. Zhao Ji looked very satisfied.

  "It's okay here, I'm satisfied, tidy up a bit, open up the hall and it can be used as a classroom."

  After roughly sizing up the layout, land area and surroundings of the two houses, Zhao Ji said with satisfaction.

  Having received confirmation, Zeng Yu did not delay for a moment and immediately called on the villagers to take action. In just one short morning, they had connected the two houses' adjacent halls into one large room, which would serve as a classroom.

  The classroom was ready, but there were no desks and chairs. However, this did not deter Zhao Ji. He could ask each student to bring their own from home.

  This also results in the desks in the classroom being uneven in height, with different chair styles, and a messy appearance. However, as long as they can be used, it's fine, and for now, there is no condition to pursue aesthetics.

  After all the preparations were ready, the class began. Standing on the podium, looking at each student below, Zhao said with great enthusiasm: "Fellow students, from today on, you will be studying in this school. I am your teacher, mainly teaching you to recognize characters and practice martial arts. I hope you can study hard and don't disappoint your family and teachers' expectations."

  Pausing for a moment, Zhao Ji continued: "Fellow students present here, some of whom I know and some I don't, some whose names I can recall and others I can't, this is not conducive to teaching. Now, starting from the first student on the left, each of you report your name one by one, so that I can get to know you."

  Pointing at a small radish head sitting on the left side of the first row against the wall, Zhao Ji declared: "Let's begin."

  "Hello, teacher. My name is Dog Egg."

  Xiao Luobo's head was poked by Zhao Ji, and he immediately stood up, his face suddenly becoming rosy, like a ripe apple. His expression was filled with tension and excitement, and he stuttered a little as he spoke.

  Unlike Zeng Yidu's old age, Zeng Dashuai is not very old and already has two children. The older one is a girl, eight years old, named Daliao; the younger one is only five years old, the youngest student in school, named Goudan.

  "Teacher, I'm called Second Foolish Son."

  "Teacher, I'm called Big Dog."

  "Teacher, I'm called Er Gou Zi."

  "Teacher, I'm Shi Tou."

  ……

  After the dog egg finished reporting his name, one by one, the radish head, half-sized kid stood up in turn, quickly reported their own names, and quickly sat down. In a short period of time, the boys had already reported once.

  Boys sit in the back, girls in the front. In this school with a few similarities to China, there is also a considerable gap between boys and girls. To take care of this situation, male and female students occupy half of the classroom each, leaving a very wide aisle in the middle.

  When it comes to the names of these children, Zhao Ji is also speechless. They are all very rustic names, not only for boys but also for girls, such as Da Ya, Er Ya, and Ya Zi.

  After all the students had reported their names, Zhao Ji Da roughly knew them. Maybe he couldn't immediately match the name with the person, but at least he had some impression. After a few more interactions, they would become familiar.

  "That's all for today's lesson. I've assigned you a task after class, which is to ask your parents to give you a school name. From now on, don't use your nickname in school anymore."

  On the first day of class, Zhao Ji originally didn't plan on teaching any substantial content. After having all the students report their names, he directly announced the end of school.

  As soon as the dismissal bell rang, dozens of children rushed out with a "whoosh", laughing and chattering excitedly. The girls were discussing what names to take home, while the boys were fighting and playing, unaware if they still remembered the task assigned by Zhao Ji.

  As for Zhao Ji, after school was over, he went to find Zeng Yu to discuss things and made up his mind to get the chalk and blackboard out as soon as possible to facilitate teaching.

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