20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 766 Planning
The Shanghai case turmoil lasted for more than two months, and only gradually subsided after the fall.

According to some radical newspapers, this was a great victory, but Jiang Lianheng did not see it that way.

In fact, the foreigners did not receive the punishment they deserved, the concessions still had consular jurisdiction, the garrison did not withdraw from the Far East, the murderers were safe and sound, and the blood debt was not repaid with blood. How can it be called a victory?

Jiang Lianheng didn't understand, but he didn't want to waste his time on it.

All in all, the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce finally chose to compromise. Without a strong fist, how could it talk about human relationships and social etiquette? The matter would probably end in nothing.

Half of the fourteenth year of the Republic of China had already passed, and the market price of Fengpiao in exchange for foreign currency had already exceeded the six yuan mark.

Although Hu Xiaoyan tried her best to save the family, she still couldn't stop the Jiang family's assets from shrinking rapidly.

Over the past six months, Jiang Lianheng has lost a lot of money.

The devaluation of Fengpiao was just one of them. Business was sluggish at counters everywhere, the three northeastern provinces established a monopoly bureau to monopolize opium, and merchants were forced to subscribe to provincial government bonds. Any one of these would be enough to cause trouble for the Jiang family, and all the bad luck happened at the same time.

Jiang Lianheng was still optimistic and thought of it as just losing money to avoid disaster.

Hu Xiaoyan, however, was extremely worried and always blamed the current situation on her own negligence, even though in fact no one blamed her.

It is already the end of August, and the students who were previously forced to take a holiday by the government office should now go back to school.

Jiang Lianheng was determined to transfer Jiang Ya to another school, but he had no idea which school to transfer to, so he had to call Nanfeng over to discuss it frequently.

……

That afternoon, Wang Zhengnan came to the mansion in the north of the city to help his elder brother and sister-in-law choose a school for Jiang Ya.

Everyone was sitting in the living room discussing the matter. Dongfeng came over to listen, but he was just concerned and did not have any suggestions.

"Brother, sister-in-law, several of the more famous girls' schools in the city are here, you can take a look first--"

Wang Zhengnan specially wrote a list, made notes next to each school, and leaned over to hand it to his eldest brother and sister-in-law.

"Let me see too!" Jiang Ya hurried over, took a quick glance, and frowned, "Why are there only these few schools?"

Wang Zhengnan smiled and said, "My niece, if you were a boy, you would have more choices, but there are only a few girls' schools in Fengtian!"

Hu Xiaoyan looked through the list carefully, but she didn't have the confidence to make a decision, so she said helplessly, "Nanfeng, you're always out there, and I've only heard of these schools. Which one should I choose? You have to help me make a decision!"

"Yes, yes, sister-in-law, don't worry, I have already thought of everything for Jiang Ya."

"Wait a minute!"

Jiang Ya turned to look at her parents and suddenly interrupted, "Didn't you let me choose for myself?"

"Stay away!" Jiang Lianheng shouted, "Wait until I've chosen for you, then you can choose the rest!"

"No, why are you so unreasonable?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Either you listen to me or just stay at home and stop studying."

"I--"

Jiang Ya was stunned; her arm was ultimately no match for her thigh.

Seeing this, Hu Xiaoyan whispered to comfort him, "Don't worry, listen to what your uncle says first," and then looked at Nanfeng, "Which school is better?"

"Wenhui Academy!" Wang Zhengnan replied, and then pointed to the list on the coffee table, "It's... this school!"

When Jiang Lianheng saw the note next to the school name, he immediately frowned, looking a little dissatisfied: "How can this be a foreign church school?"

"Brother, there are not many girls' schools in the provincial capital, and the schools run by foreigners are better than ours. You have to admit that!"

"I didn't say you can't go to a school run by foreigners. I was talking about the church. Don't make my daughter weird."

"Well, that's not possible. It has been legislated that church schools are not allowed to teach theology." Wang Zhengnan said with a smile, "Students don't have to ring the bell and chant scriptures like before. Although the foreign teachers there are all believers, it's okay if you don't listen."

"Aren't there other schools run by foreigners? Why did you choose this one?" Hu Xiaoyan asked.

"Oh, Wenhui Academy is related to the Scottish Presbyterian Church. It was the same governor who organized the Fengtian Medical University."

Wang Zhengnan explained, "This school has a women's department. After entering high school, if you perform well, you can go directly to a medical university and study something like medical care. Although my daughter will never become a nurse, it is always good to have many skills. After graduation, she may go directly to the Shih Hospital!"

"You think quite far ahead." Hu Xiaoyan felt relieved.

"Sister-in-law, there's more!" Wang Zhengnan continued, "There are countless schools with church backgrounds in major cities across the country. These schools are connected to each other. If Jiang Ya performs well and gets a recommendation letter, it's not impossible for her to go to Yenching University, Qilu University, Jinling University, Aurora University, or St. John's University. If she goes further, she will have more opportunities to study abroad. It's definitely easier than going to a provincial middle school anyway!"

It has to be said that although Nanfeng himself has never been to school, he is indeed a very motivated person.

Among the Jiang family, there is probably no one else who can offer advice in this regard except him.

"There is no other school, just this one?" Hu Xiaoyan asked.

"Then there is Kunguang Women's Normal School," Wang Zhengnan said, "There is a middle school department there, also run by the church, with a large number of students, and the principles are the same, but Kunguang can be upgraded to a normal school."

"If you have enough food at home, why don't you be a child king?" Jiang Lianheng shook his head immediately. "It would be better to learn some medical care than to be a teacher at school."

"Yes, I think so too..." Wang Zhengnan had half of his words left unsaid - for a family like the Jiang family who are often online, having someone who understands medical care at home may be of great use at a critical moment.

"Let me see what other schools there are?"

Jiang Ya was unwilling to be arranged by others, but after looking at the list on the paper, she found that there were too few girls' middle schools in the provincial capital.

The two schools chosen by her second uncle for her were already the best among them. Looking at the others, the only ones left were schools founded by Japanese people, such as "Naniwa Girls' Junior High School".

Jiang Ya knew clearly that her parents would never agree to let her go to a Japanese school because her great aunt had been bullied by the Japanese devils before, and anything related to the little Japanese devils was a taboo at home.

After several discussions, Jiang Lianheng and Hu Xiaoyan finally agreed to Nanfeng's proposal.

In the end, Jiang Ya had no choice but to obey her parents' arrangements and "voluntarily" chose to study in the junior high school department of Wenhui Academy.

In the past, church schools were known as “schools for the poor”, and missionaries upheld the principle of “education in exchange for faith” and enrolled everyone without distinction.

As the capital city passed legislation requiring foreign-run schools to abandon their theological color, church schools gradually began to evolve into "schools for the rich" due to their strong teaching staff.

But none of this matters. With the wealth of the Jiang family and Nanfeng's connections with foreigners, it is not difficult for Jiang Ya to enroll in school.

Jiang Lianheng didn't want to worry about this matter anymore, so after arranging the girl, he got up and went to the second floor and came to his eldest son's room.

The door was pushed open, and Jiang Chengye was practicing calligraphy at the desk by the window with his back to the door.

Hearing the noise, he looked back, then quickly stood up and stepped aside.

"Dad, you're here."

"Well, you sit down."

"Sit down first!" Jiang Chengye gave up his chair and waited for his father to come in. "Dad, would you like some tea?"

"I'm not thirsty, so stop working."

Jiang Lianheng was in a good mood today. He walked into the house and said with a smile, "Chengye, you are going to middle school. Do you have any ideas?"

Jiang Chengye was stunned, and said quickly: "I will definitely work hard and not get involved in those messy things."

"What a mess!"

"It's just that... I definitely won't participate in things like the student petition before."

Jiang Lianheng's attitude towards his son was completely different. He immediately laughed and said, "Well, that's nothing. As long as you don't take the lead, if everyone goes to petition, you can follow them! What's the matter? I heard that the patrol police arrested someone. Are you scared?"

Jiang Chengye shook his head and said, "I'm afraid of causing trouble for my family."

"What's the trouble?" Jiang Lianheng patted his son's shoulder heavily. "Even if the sky falls, I'm here to hold it up. What are you afraid of? Be a real man, go out and explore the world. Don't always act like a little girl. I'm not afraid of you getting into trouble, but I'm afraid that you'll be too honest and get bullied!"

Jiang Chengye said nothing and followed his father silently.

Jiang Lianheng walked to the desk, sat down, and pretended to look at the handwriting his son had just practiced.

The family never hired a teacher to teach Jiang Chengye how to write. He learned his handwriting from his great aunt, so his handwriting appears more delicate and restrained. Although he also practiced calligraphy, it was ultimately a self-taught style. There was no rules, but it was neat and solemn.

"You like calligraphy, so I'll buy you two original works tomorrow?"

"No, no, I just write to kill time."

"Tsk, I'm your father, why are you always so polite to me?"

Jiang Lianheng shook his head helplessly, picked up the rice paper on the table, and silently muttered the words on the paper. He turned around and asked, "Is this Li Qingzhao's "Ru Meng Ling"? "

Jiang Chengye's eyes widened, he couldn't believe it. After all, his father was a person who often made spelling mistakes, and he didn't look like a well-educated man.

"Dad, do you know this poem?"

"hiss--"

Jiang Lianheng frowned, and Jiang Chengye was so panicked that he quickly apologized: "Dad, that's not what I meant..."

"Don't talk, my teeth hurt a little!" Jiang Lianheng rubbed his cheek with his hand, and after a moment's rest, he smiled and said, "Your third grandfather used to be a scholar. I studied with him seriously for five years. Although I didn't pay much attention to it, he always talked about this poem in the past!"

"why?"

"I don't know. He said that if you read it a few times and savor it carefully, you will understand it later."

Jiang Lianheng suddenly recalled the past, and then burst out laughing: "That old man just loves to be mysterious, I'm too lazy to pay attention to him!"

As he spoke, he raised the paper again and repeated it silently in his mind:
Always remember the sunset at Xiting, drunk and don't know where to return.

Going back to the boat late at night, strayed into the depths of the lotus root.

Fighting to cross the river, fighting to cross the river, startling a flock of gulls and herons...

(End of this chapter)