Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

Zhao Xie put the bowl back on the table, his face showing some emotion, but he didn't say anything.

Li Hang nodded and stood up. "Third Sister Chen, show us around."

Chen San Niangzi stood up and led the two out of the main hall.

The main courtyard has more than thirty rooms, with blue bricks and gray tiles. Although the paint on the pillars is old, there are no cobwebs under the eaves and no fallen leaves on the ground.

She pushed open a door, and inside lived two old women, both sitting on the edge of the bed. One was shelling beans, and the other was mending clothes.

When they saw the door open, they looked up, nodded to Chen San Niangzi, smiled at Li Hang and Zhao Xie, and without asking any questions, lowered their heads and continued with their work.

Li Hang glanced around the room. The bed was covered with a nearly new quilt, neatly folded. In the corner was a ceramic jar with a rough porcelain dish covering its mouth, the rim of which was spotless.

Neither of the two old women looked thin; their cheeks, though loose, had a rosy glow, unlike those who had suffered from hunger for many years.

Chen San Niangzi pushed open the door to the next room.

Three old men lived inside. One of them sat by the window, flipping through an old book. The pages of the book were curled at the edges, but it was still intact.

The other two were playing chess, using rounded pebbles as pieces, on a board drawn with charcoal on an old wooden board. Hearing the door open, the old man flipping through a book looked up briefly, then lowered his head again to continue reading.

Li Hang did not go in; he only looked out from the doorway.

When Li Hang reached the northernmost part of the main courtyard, he stopped.

Across the courtyard wall, the sound of reading aloud could be heard. The voices were not loud, but they were very orderly, as if a dozen or so children were reading along.

Li Hang was very curious. Without waiting for Chen San Niangzi to lead the way, he went straight through the corridor and pushed open the door. It was a small courtyard with five bright rooms in the center.

Inside the room sat twenty or thirty children, ranging in age from five or six to eleven or twelve, all sitting behind a low table with books spread out in front of them.

A young woman stood in front, holding a scroll in her hand, and was reading it to the children.

Among the children sitting in the room were boys and girls. The girls sat on the right, with books open in front of them and pens in their hands, drawing on the paper, just like the boys.

Li Hang stood outside the door and watched for a long time.

Chen San Niangzi followed and, seeing his gaze fixed on the dozen or so girls, explained, "Zhang Qianxing said that girls... should also be taught."

"By learning poetry and literature, they can understand right from wrong, and when they get married and have children, they will be able to better teach and educate their children. He also said that parents' knowledge, virtue, words and deeds are the first teachers of their children."

Li Hang nodded with a slightly serious expression, his gaze shining through the window and landing on a seven or eight-year-old girl.

She held a pen and was carefully tracing characters on the paper, her wrists were clumsy but her eyes were focused, as if she were tracing the character "人" (person).

Zhao Xie stood behind Li Hang, his voice low, "Jingzhai, this is the only rule that many officials never understand in their entire lives, let alone put it into practice with their own money and supplies."

Li Hang withdrew his gaze without comment, "Let's go check out the other courtyards."

At the end of the corridor was a door that was flush with the wall. Chen San Niangzi then led the two of them away from the north courtyard and into the east courtyard.

There are more than ten rooms in a row here.

Inside, there were long tables, and in front of each table sat a young woman, holding a pen and copying books onto paper.

The paper was stacked in the corner of the desk, the ink half-dry.

Some of them were focused on their work, while others occasionally put down their pens and rubbed their wrists.

Standing at the door, Chen San Niangzi explained, "They copy scriptures for several lay Buddhists in the county, and also for several scholars. They earn between tens and a hundred coins for each scroll they copy. Although it's not much, it's enough for their own expenses."

Li Hang's expression grew even more solemn.

A moment later, Chen San Niangzi led the two to the small courtyard on the west side.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I heard the rhythmic creaking of a spinning wheel.

A bamboo frame was set up in the courtyard, on which several bolts of woven linen cloth were hung to dry. The cloth was plain in color and fine in texture.

Several women sat under the eaves spinning thread, the shuttle moving back and forth on the loom, their fingers flying, their movements skilled.

When they saw someone come in, some of them looked up and glanced at them, then lowered their heads and continued their work without stopping spinning thread.

One of the old women stood up, nodded to Chen San Niangzi, glanced at Li Hang and Zhao Xie, said nothing more, and sat down again to continue spinning thread.

Li Hang and Zhao Xie became increasingly silent as they looked around. After half an hour, having seen most of the almshouse, they finally bid farewell to Chen San Niangzi.

As they left the village, Zhou Ping was still dozing on the carriage shaft under the willow tree. Hearing footsteps, he opened his eyes, jumped down, and lifted the carriage curtain.

Li Hang bent down and crawled inside, and Zhao Xie followed him into the car.

The carriage remained silent for a long time until the gates of Juancheng came into view. Finally, Li Hang spoke, "Changyan, are you now at ease with Zhang Shouli?"

Zhao Xie raised his head and looked at Li Hang.

He was silent for a moment, then sighed deeply, "This is not supporting private power; this is truly doing good deeds. Not the kind of good deeds done for the sake of fame, but genuine and practical acts of kindness."

"Look at that almshouse, it's full of young orphans and elderly people. The only young ones are those thirty-odd women. If you wanted to support a private family, you should be supporting able-bodied men."

"Jingzhai, we sit in the county government office and see only account books and case files. What he does here is take over the people in those case files one by one. It's your blessing to have him in the county government office."

Li Hang nodded slowly. "It's one thing to be diligent and conscientious in your duties, but what's most commendable is your benevolent heart. You've managed the almshouse, sheltering the elderly and weak, and reducing the problem of homelessness in the county. Therefore, upon returning to the county government, allocate two hundred strings of cash from the official funds to cover the almshouse's operating expenses..."

The Zhang Sanlang they were talking about was not at the county government office at this time, but at the Zhao Family School.

He raised his hand and knocked twice on the door frame. A servant boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old peeked out. Recognizing him, he quickly stepped aside and said, "Zhang Qianxing has arrived. The master is resting in the backyard."

Zhang Sanlang followed the servant through the hall, around the screen, and into the backyard.

Zhao Siheng was sitting on a bamboo couch under the eaves, with a wet cloth draped over his forehead.

His face was still a little pale, and his lips were chapped. Hearing footsteps, he turned his head and saw him. He was stunned for a moment, then propped himself up on his arms to sit up.

Zhang Sanlang quickly took two steps forward and pressed down on his shoulder. "Mr. Siheng, please lie down."

Zhao Siheng was pressed back onto the bamboo couch, but he didn't resist. He lay down again, turned his head to look at him, and a smile appeared on his lips. "I thought it was someone else. How did you know I was sick?"

Zhang Sanlang sat down on a small stool nearby. "Yesterday, after I finished my shift, I heard from my son that you were ill. Today, when Brother Zhao went to the county office on business, I learned that you had been suffering from the heat, so I took advantage of my lunch break to come and see you. Have you taken any medicine, sir?"

Zhao Siheng reached out and took the damp handkerchief off his forehead, placing it on the low table beside him. "I've eaten. The doctor came and gave me two acupuncture treatments, and then I was given a bowl of bitter medicine soup."

"I felt dizzy and lightheaded just now, but I can sit up now. Shouli is very kind. My illness is not serious; I will be fine after a couple of days of rest."