Farmer girl swaps husbands: buys a sickly villain and pampers him

Chapter 88 Asking for Money
At the entrance of the academy, Jiang Yihuan was stopped. No matter how much she tried to persuade him, the old man at the gate still refused to let her in.

She fished around for a while, pulled out two coins, and said to the old man, "Sir, please do me a favor. I have something important to discuss with Xiao Ci. You know Xiao Ci, right? Your academy didn't even charge tuition fees to keep him enrolled. Now that he's in, you're treating his family with such disregard. This is truly heartbreaking."

The old man didn't take the money Jiang Yihuan handed over. When he heard Xiao Ci's name, his tone became more serious.

"This is the academy's new rule. Actually, it was Student Xiao Ci who requested this new rule. He can't possibly break the rules he made, right?"

Jiang Yihuan's expression changed, and annoyance flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his gentle appearance and said, "Then please pass on a message for me. I won't go in. I'll just wait for him here and just say a few words."

The old man thought that Xiao Ci was the favorite disciple of the dean and the teachers, and was also the next promising candidate to pass the imperial examination in their academy. He thought that this was a good opportunity to make friends with him, so he agreed after a moment of hesitation.

When the old man entered, Jiang Yihuan's face darkened. She didn't change her expression until she heard footsteps. She looked up with a smile on her face, but when she saw Jiang Yihui, her smile froze.

Seeing Jiang Yihuan, Jiang Yihui mocked him, "The gatekeeper said Xiao Ci's family was here. I was wondering how a servant could have family, but it turns out she's my dear sister! You came to the city to see a servant instead of your own brother. Are you really attracted to him?"

"Brother, don't talk nonsense. It's not true." Jiang Yihuan said shyly. Seeing the familiar figure getting closer, her embarrassment turned into inferiority. "How can someone like me be worthy of Brother Xiao?"

Jiang Yihui frowned and looked at Jiang Yihuan with disgust. "What kind of person are you? You are at least a good person, much better than him. Besides his good looks, how can he be worthy of you?"

"Brother...don't talk nonsense." Jiang Yihuan stamped her feet, feeling so embarrassed that she almost wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground. "Brother Xiao is such a good man. He will take the imperial examination and become a high-ranking official. I'm just a village girl who can't even read a few words. How can I be qualified to be with him? Don't say such ridiculous things. You're just angry that I brought food here but didn't give it to you. I'll give it all to you."

Jiang Yihan picked up the basket on the ground and put it into Jiang Yihui's hand.

Jiang Yihui was about to say something sarcastic when Xiao Ci approached him. Xiao Ci said to Jiang Yihui, "The teacher is testing us. It will be your turn soon."

Jiang Yihui glared at Xiao Ci fiercely. "I'm telling you, this silly girl is still my sister, so don't try to get your hands on her. It's not certain you can even pass the imperial examination. If you don't, you'll have to be a slave to our Jiang family, and you'll never be able to escape from our family again."

The reason Zhong Lanhua was willing to cooperate with his change of nationality was because she had written a contract in advance. In this contract, Xiao Ci must pass the imperial examination. If he failed, he would be sent back to his native place. If he passed, he would repay the Jiang family ten thousand taels of gold. Because of this contract, the Jiang family would not suffer any loss regardless of whether Xiao Ci passed the examination or not, which is why they were so generous in changing his nationality.

"Don't worry about my affairs, you should worry about your own affairs. If you can't pass this lesson, the teacher will move you from the Tianzi class to the Renzi class."

Jiang Yihui obviously thought of something, his face became even uglier, and he left in a huff.

"What's the Tianzi class and what's the Renzi class?" Jiang Yihuan asked. "They sound very unusual."

"The Ren class is for newly enrolled students, ranging in age from five to ten years old. They undergo regular assessments based on their academic performance, and only those who pass can enter the Di class. Students in the Di class have typically studied for three to five years, and their foundation is decent, but they're not yet at the level to take the exams. When the teachers deem them ready for the imperial examinations, they can be promoted to the Tian class."

"Then can you guys from the Tianzi class take the imperial examinations? You'll soon be able to become officials?" Jiang Yihuan looked at Xiao Yanci with admiration. Xiao Yanci really enjoyed Jiang Yihuan looking at him like that; it comforted him from the frustrations and setbacks he had suffered recently.

"That's not true. Our academy is still too small, and there are not many good talents. Currently, few people in the Tian class can take the imperial examination. They can only be said to be slightly better than the Ren class and Di class."

"No matter what others think, I know that Brother Xiao definitely has the ability to take the imperial examination. You are the one who was asked by the teacher and the dean to study." Jiang Yihan said.

She wasn't here to listen to such nonsense. This man was really boring, saying things that were incomprehensible to a woman.

"By the way, Huan'er, do you have something to talk to me about?" After Xiao Yanci finished speaking about his own affairs, he remembered that Jiang Yihuan was looking for him and asked.

Jiang Yihuan's eyes were red.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Yanci looked at her worriedly, "Who bullied you?"

"I'm planning to find a job in the city soon, so I'll be quite busy. I wanted to tell you so you don't get worried when you get home and can't find me."

"What kind of work are you looking for? Your embroidery is so good, don't you usually make money from embroidery?" Xiao Yanci frowned. "Tell me, I will help you."

"Some time ago, my mother and I borrowed money to buy a carriage. Unexpectedly, the carriage collided with the Su family's ox cart. The carriage broke down, the horses ran away, and we were left with nothing but dozens of taels of silver in debt. If I don't find a way to make more money, the creditors will come to our door, and my mother and I will be sold into slavery. Woohoo, blame me! I should have persuaded my mother not to buy the carriage."

Xiao Yanci frowned: "Why buy a carriage? Carriages are expensive and impractical."

"You know my family and the Su family have a feud. The Su family bought an ox cart, and my mother was so angry that her chest hurt and she couldn't sleep for several days and nights. Later, she said that buying a horse carriage would suppress the Su family, so she bought it."

"How could we have bumped into each other? Did the Su family do this on purpose?" Xiao Yanci said angrily. "That family's methods are despicable. They only know how to trip me up in secret. How shameless."

"I heard there's an embroidery workshop in the city hiring. If I stay here embroidering, I can earn three taels of silver a month. If I meet a generous customer, I can even get unexpected rewards. If I work for a year or two, I'm sure I can pay back the money."

Xiao Yanci pulled out a silver note from his pocket and said, "This is the money Mr. Liu earned from painting murals for me. It's ten taels in total. You can use it to pay off part of his debt first. I'll send it to you when I earn more."

"How can this be? I can't take your money." A light flashed in Jiang Yihuan's eyes, but her face was full of shame.

"I told you I'd give you whatever I wanted. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to survive. Huan'er, even though your mother is mean, I'm still very grateful to her for buying me. If she hadn't bought me, I wouldn't have met a kind girl like you..."

(End of this chapter)