Top Scholar

Chapter 605 The Imperial Grace Academy Does Not Support Idlers

After some conversation, the two became acquainted, and Zhu Zihe took the opportunity to ask, "Shall we go in and have a look? We won't bother you too much, we'll just take a look and leave when we're done."

"Go home for the New Year, what are you wandering around for?" one of the straightforward men advised.

But when Zhu Shou had Zhang Yong bring out a large bag of sesame candy and sticky candy to distribute to the children, seeing the younger siblings' joyful expressions, they changed their minds.

"It's alright, it's alright, feel free to look around."

The eloquent young man named Yan San even volunteered to be their guide, while also keeping an eye on them to prevent them from causing any trouble.

When Zhu Shou went inside, he saw that all the main halls, side halls, and auxiliary halls were full of people. The courtyard, however, was spotless, with no garbage or excrement on the ground, and firewood and coal were neatly piled up. It didn't look like a place where refugees lived at all.

He asked softly, "It's rare to see such good order in the courtyard. Is there some kind of rule?"

Yan San nodded quickly, "In reply to this gentleman, it is a rule set by the officials of the disaster relief office! The officials said that we should recover first and not rush to do heavy work, but we can't be idle either, so we have to establish rules first."

"What are the rules?" Zhu Shou asked with interest.

"There are many, including the 'Nine Dos and Nine Don'ts'," Yan San recited as if reciting a familiar list: "Wash your hands before and after meals, and don't urinate or defecate anywhere; keep the yard clean, and don't pile things up or litter; be harmonious with your neighbors, and don't stir up trouble; respect each other, and don't harass women... Study and learn etiquette diligently, and don't waste time; remember to be grateful to the Emperor, and don't forget his kindness and be ungrateful..."

Zhu Shou listened to him recite it in one breath without pausing, and couldn't help but laugh and say, "You have a good memory, kid."

"Hehe, you flatter me. Everyone here has to memorize it perfectly." Yan San chuckled, "Although I do have a good memory."

Zhu Shou then asked, "Does memorizing it guarantee protection?"

Yan San quickly laughed and said, "We can keep it! We can keep it! Everyone knows now that these rules are for our own good. Look how clean and hygienic we are now, there are no fights or harassment of women, we're just like one big family."

"You guys are so disciplined?" Zhu Shou still found it hard to believe. In his mind, untrained regimental and battalion imperial guards were a bunch of people who wouldn't budge no matter how you tried to lead them, and who would only regress when beaten.

“Because those who break the rules are all kicked out, and the whole family with serious problems has to leave with them.” Su Lu explained to Zhu Shou in a low voice, “Moreover, all disaster victims have to register with the disaster relief office before they can move into the Imperial Grace Hospital, so once they are kicked out, they can forget about coming back in.”

"I see." Zhu Shou suddenly realized, and whispered, "That's ruthless enough."

In the dead of winter, being kicked out is basically a death sentence...

“We set rules that are heavily biased towards those who abide by them,” Su Lu said. “Given our limited capacity, eliminating more rule-breakers will help more rule-abiding individuals.”

“That makes sense,” Zhu Shouxin said. “Being kind to those who don’t follow the rules is being cruel to those who do.”

"This gentleman is truly a discerning man. Are you an official from the disaster relief office?" Yan San must have worked in the service industry; he could smell the official air about Su Lu.

"No, I helped out at another Imperial Grace Academy for a few days," Su Lu said with a smile, trying to brush it off.

Zhu Shou then said to Yan San, "Go on, tell me, besides teaching you the rules, what else has the disaster relief office done?"

"They even registered all of us, divided us into classes according to gender, age, and age, taught us commands, and assigned us tasks we could manage... You probably won't believe it, but they even taught us to read," Yan San said proudly.
"I've learned more characters in this month than I have in the past ten years!"

"How many characters did you know in the past?" Zhu Shou asked.

“You can count them on two hands,” Yan San said.

"That's not much," Zhu Shou chuckled.

"I've also learned the phonetic symbols, so I'll be able to read on my own from now on," Yan San said, raising his head. "Although I'll still need to buy a phonetic dictionary..."

"You guys are really living the good life," Zhu Shou chuckled.

"We're not freeloading! We're all working!" Yan San's companion shouted. "Going to the West Mountain to dig coal and transporting it back is all the work of us strong young men!"

"Yes, the adults often say, 'The Imperial Care House doesn't support idlers.' They're very thoughtful!" Yan San said, impressed.
"The adults registered our skills so that everyone could use their talents!"

As he spoke, he pointed to the women sitting around the main hall making dumplings: "These are the cooks. They cook two meals a day for everyone in our courtyard, although they don't cook very well."

"If you don't like it, go eat your mother's milk!" Some of the women, with sharp ears, immediately retorted, making Yan San blush with embarrassment. The other women, holding rolling pins and dumpling wrappers, laughed so hard they almost fell over.

"There were also tailors who led the women to make cotton-padded clothes for everyone. The clothes we are wearing were all made by them."

"Those who know how to be bricklayers will bring their assistants to build our dormitories."

"There are also accountants, blacksmiths, spinners, coopers... in short, everyone has work to do. Even the elderly have to twist three pounds of hemp rope every day, so no one is idle."

"Even the children have to work?" Zhu Shou exclaimed in surprise. However, maximizing manpower was Su Lu's standard practice, so there was nothing to be surprised about.

“The children don’t have to do chores, but it’s not easy for them either. They all have to study in school. We only need to know a few characters. But it’s different for them. They not only have to know characters, but they also have to be able to write and do math.” Yan San said with a look of sympathy, “After school, they still have to do homework. If they don’t finish it, the teacher will really beat them.”

"Haha, yeah," his companions gloated. "They're having a blast today, like it's New Year's. If you'd come yesterday, you could have heard them reciting 'three times seven is twenty-one' and 'four times seven is thirty-eight'..."

"What's going on?" Zhu Shou asked, puzzled.

Yan San and the others couldn't answer that question, so Su Lu explained softly, "To cultivate talent for the future." Zhu Shou nodded; he realized Su Lu truly didn't intend to let them go back...

~~
As they spoke, the group entered the main hall. The scene inside was even warmer. Dozens of women were gathered in several circles, busy kneading dough, rolling out wrappers, and making dumplings. Amidst their laughter and chatter, the festive atmosphere of the New Year was palpable.
But upon closer inspection, the conditions were actually quite ordinary... The flour on the cutting board was dark in color, indicating that it contained a lot of coarse grains; the filling bowl next to it contained only chopped cabbage stalks, radish greens, and a little bit of dark oil residue. No soy sauce was used; a sprinkle of chopped green onions was the most precious seasoning.

The basins for kneading the dough were homemade wooden basins, and the rolling pins varied in length, some even being made from wooden mallets. The women's hands were covered in chilblains and cracked with countless fissures. Yet, they continued working efficiently, without a trace of pain on their faces; instead, each of them wore a satisfied smile.

Zhu Shou asked, "Are there any other dishes besides dumplings?"

"Being able to eat a hot meal of dumplings on New Year's Eve is already a great blessing!" A loud-voiced woman said while rolling out the dough, "What else do you want to eat? Milk?"

When the women discovered that the person asking the question was a well-dressed young man, they laughed even harder.

"Sigh, the common people are so easily satisfied," Zhu Shou said, but he couldn't laugh.

The woman continued working her hands while smiling as she said, "Sir, this noodle may be a bit rough, and the filling may be a bit simple, but just a month ago we were starving! Isn't this like heaven and earth?!"

“Yes, yes, just a month ago, who would have thought we’d be eating dumplings for the New Year?” The other women chimed in, full of contentment, “We can live like this thanks to His Majesty.”

“You should thank Lord Su even more,” Zhu Shou said, praising his good friend since no one mentioned Su Lu’s name. “Everything here is his doing, and only he could think of everything so thoroughly and do it so meticulously!”

“Really? Then we must thank Lord Su properly.” The women readily agreed.

~~
Just then, the first batch of dumplings began to be cooked, and the aroma in the main hall grew even stronger. The sound of firecrackers continued to rise and fall in the courtyard, mingled with the laughter of children, the lively conversations of men, and the teasing of women—it was so vibrant, so bustling, so captivating to Zhu Shou…

He couldn't help but ask the woman making dumplings, "Could I have one?"

"Why not?" the auntie said with a smile, scooping up some dumplings from the large iron pot with a strainer.

"Young master...you mustn't!" Zhang Yong was terrified and whispered in Zhu Shou's ear, "Can you even eat this stuff? What if you get a stomachache?"

"What do you know? This is my biggest gain this year." Zhu Shou shook his head and said in a deep voice, "I will remember this feeling forever!"

"Your family also suffered a disaster?" The aunt looked at Zhu Shou with sympathy upon hearing this.

"Yes, it's very serious..." Zhu Shou's eyes reddened, and he quickly took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Then I'll give you two more." The aunt softened and scooped a spoonful for him.

Zhu Shou didn't even pick up chopsticks. He picked one up with his hands, blew on it to keep it hot, and said to Su Lu, "You should try some too."

"Okay." Su Lu nodded and followed his example, pinching a dumpling.

Then, before Zhu Shou could, he put it in his mouth first to taste it, to see if it was salty enough, palatable, or poisonous. That's what they call the devil in the details…

The dumpling wrappers in my mouth were still tough and hard even after being boiled, and the filling was so bland that I could barely taste any salt; it must have been sprinkled with salt grains. The cabbage stalks hadn't been squeezed dry, and the rough texture of the radish greens mixed in made it almost tasteless.

Su Lu hadn't eaten such coarse food in years, but when he swallowed it hot, he didn't find it unpalatable at all. On the contrary, it warmed his heart and made him feel very comfortable.

"How was it?" The auntie was waiting for her evaluation.

Su Lu then smiled and said, "It's quite delicious."

"Really?" Zhu Shou, under Zhang Yong's worried gaze, put the dumpling in his mouth and tasted it. "Yes, it is!"

The two of them then took turns eating the entire basket of dumplings, one for each of them.

"Why are you eating so fast? Leave one for me." Seeing that he couldn't out-eat Su Lu, Zhu Shou was getting impatient.

Actually, Su Lu just wanted him to eat fewer of the two, so as not to really upset his stomach.

"Want some more?" the auntie asked, feigning reluctance.

"Do you still have enough to eat?" Zhu Shou asked with a smile.

"It's not quite enough," the auntie admitted honestly.

It wasn't that they were stingy, but rather that meals were rationed, and everyone was given a fixed number of dumplings.

"Hahaha." The women had a very low threshold for laughter, so they all burst into laughter again.

The loud-voiced woman said, "Aunt Qiu, you scoop it for him, and I'll roll out a few more wrappers!"

"No, no, thank you." Zhu Shou waved his hand, feeling tears welling up again. He quickly looked up at the Buddha statue in the main hall.

Although the gold leaf on the Buddha statue has disappeared, revealing the clay body underneath, the Buddha still looks compassionately at the human world in the hall, at the busy and laughing women, and at Zhu Shou with slightly red eyes.

The warm firelight once again draped the Buddha in a golden hue...

(End of this chapter)