Lu Zilin heard a strange footsteps in the wing room and walked to the courtyard, and when he saw Bai Jiaxuan coming in, he hurriedly greeted him. Bai Jiaxuan stopped and said, "I'll talk to my uncle about something." When Lu Zilin returned to the wing, he was a little uncomfortable being despised and depressed. Bai Jiaxuan walked into the screen door of the upper room and shouted: "Uncle!" When Lu Taiheng came out of the upper room, he held a brass hookah in his left hand, and held a piece of smoking fire paper in his right hand, and waved his hand to let Bai Jiaxuan sit on the carved chair in the living room. Lu Taiheng sat on the chair on the other side of the square table, his slender fingers deftly twisting the golden and soft tobacco in the snuff bottle, and his movements were very elegant. Bai Jiaxuan said: "Uncle, it's time for our ancestral hall to be renovated. Lu Taiheng blew the fire paper, stunned for a moment, and the fire paper that ignited the flame quickly burned a section of paper ash. Lu Taiheng quickly recovered from his stunned, elegantly pressed the fire paper to the cigarette holder, and sucked it up elegantly, and the sound of the water in the hookah was also very elegant, until he blew off the white ash in the chimney with a pop and said, "It's long overdue to renovate." Bai Jiaxuan immediately tasted three flavors when he heard this: the ancestral hall should be renovated; The ancestral hall should have been renovated a long time ago, and it was a dereliction of duty on the part of the old patriarch Bai Bingde; The new patriarch was busy marrying his daughter-in-law and burying the dead, and now he has free up his hands to renovate the ancestral hall! Bai Jiaxuan couldn't explain, but pretended not to care, and talked about the specific plan of the renovation project and the way to raise food. Lu Taiheng interrupted him after hearing a few words and said, "You and Zilin will undertake this matter!" I'm old. Bai Jiaxuan hurriedly explained: "Naturally, there are me and Zilin running errands. You're old!" Lu Taiheng said: "When your father was alive, didn't we do everything together? Now it's time for you brothers to work together. Then he called Lu Zilin: "Jiaxuan said that the ancestral hall will be renovated, you two brothers will discuss it." ”

Throughout the long spring, Bailu Village is filled with a friendly, harmonious and joyful atmosphere. Work has begun on the renovation of the ancestral hall. Bai Jiaxuan invited the father of the woman in the fifth room, Carpenter Wei, and his apprentice. The whole project was taken care of by Bai Jiaxuan and Lu Zilin. Lu Zilin is in charge of the project and dispatches workers from house to house every day. Bai Jiaxuan organizes logistics. In the courtyard outside the ancestral hall, a tent was temporarily erected, and a pot was set up and a board was supported. In addition to taking care of the food for the craftsmen, all those who were sent to do small work in turn also ate on the official stove. The chef is one of the cleanest and cleanest women in the village. The men were eating around the stalls and laughing with the women at the pot, and the festive atmosphere brought the people with the surnames of Bailu together.

Bai Jiaxuan's bold plan was responded to by Lu Zilin: all the people surnamed Bai or Lu who worship incense in the ancestral hall donate at will with their belongings, a lot of a liter, not a stone, and those who really can't get a liter and a penny are not to blame. The purpose of restoring the ancestral hall should fully embody the spirit of "Renyi Bailu Village" placed on the stone tablet in the courtyard by the county order. No matter how much is donated, the insufficient part of the food needed to repair the ancestral hall is all covered by him and Lu Zilin. Bai Jiaxuan kept an account of the food donated by each family, copied the list of flowers on red paper and posted it on the wall outside the ancestral hall, and wrote down the figures of the food and money spent every day. Under the entire budget, the food donated by all the villagers was only two-thirds of the total need, and Bai Jiaxuan and Lu Zilin jointly contracted one-third.

On the day of the completion and unveiling of the whole project, the troupe of Nanyuan Shangmazihong was invited to sing for three days and three nights. People from all over the river flocked to Bailu Village to watch the play, to pay homage to the newly built ancestral hall in Bailu Village, to visit the stone tablet placed in the courtyard of the ancestral hall by the county commander, and to recognize Bai Jiaxuan, the successor patriarch of Bailu Village. Bai Jiaxuan, who once set the record for the highest wife in Bailuyuan, originally didn't have any poisonous hooks, but was a nobleman, how could a woman with ordinary blessings and shallow lives float in such deep waters?

After the summer harvest of this year, the school opened. The five main halls enshrine the gods of the two surnames of Bailu, and each dead man and woman occupies a square a finger's width, and the entire shrine occupies the front wall of the five halls. The three buildings on the west side were used as schools, and when the number of students grew in the future, they could not be fitted, and then moved to the five main halls. The three houses on the east side are separated by adobe in the middle, and serve as the bedroom of the gentleman on one side and the official residence of the clan officials on the other.

Bai Jiaxuan was elected as a school director, and Lu Zilin was elected as a school superintendent. The two agreed to go to Bailu Academy to find Mr. Zhu and ask him to recommend a gentleman with good knowledge and moral character. When Mr. Zhu saw his brother-in-law Bai Jiaxuan and Lu Zilin, he actually bowed and knelt on the ground: "The two virtuous brothers, please accept the foolish brother's worship." The two were taken aback, looked at each other, and hurriedly pulled Mr. Juju to stand up, and asked almost in unison, "Sir, what's the matter?" Mr. Zhu suddenly burst into tears: "The two virtuous brothers have done something immeasurably meritorious!" Unexpectedly, he was full of emotion and became impassioned: "Your renovation of the ancestral hall is a good deed, but it is only a small good deed; It is a great good deed that you build a school, a great good deed of immeasurable merit. The ancestors should be respected, and if they do not respect and do not sacrifice, they are not filial; After worshipping and worshipping, only one filial piety was fulfilled, and the establishment of a school was a major event for all generations of descendants; The things of the world to come depend on the living, not on the dead! Relying on those toddlers who are still nursing and wearing rotten crotch pants, we have to teach them to read and read and learn etiquette, maybe there are pillars of governing the country and security. You have done this great good deed for the descendants of Bailuyuan, and I bow to you for those children who have the opportunity to study. Bai Jiaxuan was also infected by his brother-in-law and burst into tears, and Lu Zilin also said loudly and humbly: "Mr. Zhu has a far-reaching view. At first, we just thought it was convenient for the dolls in our village to go to school......"

Mr. Zhu's classmates and classmates are all over Guanzhong, and it is naturally not difficult to recommend a gentleman to teach in Bailu Village, so he recommended Xu Xiucai from Xujiayuan in the east of Bailu Plain. Xu Xiucai and Mr. Zhu are classmates and fellow students, knowledgeable but repeatedly unsuccessful, studying while farming at home, indifferent to the utilitarianism of their careers, just to cultivate their temperament. The two took a letter written by Mr. Zhu and found Xu Jiayuan, and Xu Xiucai happily went to Bailu Village to teach.

The three rooms to the west of the school are filled with square tables, bar tables, benches and benches that students bring from their own houses. Bai Jiaxuan's two sons also had scientific names, the foal was called Bai Xiaowen, and the mule was called Bai Xiaowu, and they naturally sat inside. Lu Zilin's two sons, Lu Zhaopeng and Lu Zhaohai, were also transferred back to the village school from Shenhe Village. The men, regardless of whether they had children or not, attended the opening ceremony of the school.

The ceremony was solemn and simple. The stone carving rubbings of Mr. Kong, the holy teacher, are pasted on the south gable wall, and the sacrificial table enshrines seasonal fruits, a plate of sand fruits, a plate of late peaches, a plate of dim sum, and a plate of fried dumplings. The two red waxes were lit by Bai Jiaxuan, and the firecrackers in the courtyard of the ancestral hall burst out, and he kowtowed after lighting the incense. The children all knelt in the open space between the tables and stools, and the men who were huddled in the courtyard of the ancestral hall also knelt down. Lu Zilin and Mr. Xu bowed down in turn, and then stood on both sides of the altar, taking care of the newly enrolled children one after another to kowtow, and finally the villagers saluted and kowtowed. After the procedure of sacrificing Confucius was completed, Bai Jiaxuan draped a piece of red silk that had been prepared on Mr. Xu's shoulder, and the firecrackers rang out again. Mr. Xu stroked the red silk tied under his armpit from his shoulders to his chest, and only said one sentence as a reply: "I came to Bailu Village just to teach the two words well, so I did my best, that is, the words 'benevolence and righteousness' in 'Renyi Bailu Village' engraved on the stone tablet in the courtyard." ”

According to the scheduled procedure, it should have ended, and two old men walked into the courtyard, holding a red lacquer plate in their hands, and two red silks on the plate. The two old men walked up to the altar and draped one piece of red silk on Bai Jiaxuan's shoulders and the other on Lu Zilin's shoulders. The old man said, "This is the will of the people. ”

In the evening, Bai Jiaxuan took off the cyan robe he wore when attending the opening ceremony of the school, even took off his long-sleeved shirt and trousers, wore a short-sleeved shirt and half-cut pants, and walked into the twilight horse number in a refreshing manner, and he had to give the livestock good grass before dinner. Lu San used a wheelbarrow to push the washer from the soil field to the livestock pen, and there were loess dust chips on his face and eyebrows, he saw Bai Jiaxuan coming, and hurriedly threw down the trolley and lifted the guillotine. Bai Jiaxuan squatted down in front of the pier, pulled the grass one by one, neatly folded it under his knees, and then stuffed it into the guillotine. Lu San pressed the guillotine with both hands, pressed the cat's waist down, and with a "click", the broken grass was scattered, and the blade of the guillotine and the iron sheet of the guillotine mouth were stained with a layer of green juice of grass. "The doll should be allowed to go to school." Bai Jiaxuan said. "Of course. Studying is the right way!" Lusan said. "I said Heiwa should go to school." Bai Jiaxuan said. "Oh! You're talking about Heiwa?" Lu San said, "Hurry up and pick up the grass!" Sensei only cares about talking, and his subordinates stop picking grass. Bai Jiaxuan pushed into the grass and said, "Tell Heiwa to go to school tomorrow morning." I poured five liters of wheat for Mr. Xu. I'll take care of my husband's food. You don't need to move the table, just have a square table with the foals and mules, and bring a single stool. Lu San sneered and said, "That panicked ghost! What kind of books are you reading!" The poor man is the champion, and the rich family is rich. You don't want to just feed the doll, I think the black baby is very smart!" Bai Jiaxuan said with a smile, "In the future, Heiwa will really read the book, and if she gets a seven-grade or five-grade one, I will also have a radiant face!" Lu San said: "Heiwa goes to school, who will mow the grass?" You cut and I cut, and whoever of us can spare his hands will cut. Let Heiwa go to school first. Bai Jiaxuan said, "After autumn, plant alfalfa on the slope that does not form crops, and there will be no need to mow the grass next year." ”

Heiwa was yelled at by his father again, he was about to carry the scythe to cut the grass, but he heard Lu San say: "Put down the scythe and the scythe, and put it on the bench to go to school." Heiwa was stunned in the yard, and seemed to reluctantly drop the cage and sickle, and said, "What are you thinking about?" No books, no pens, and no paper. Lu San said: "You first sit in the school hall and plate your wild nature." The pen is grinning, the paper is grinning, the book is slow, and I will buy it in two days. If you can't control your temperament, or you can't nest wild pigeons, I will spend money on books and paper. ”

Heiwa put a single stool on her shoulder and walked into the door of the ancestral hall. Mr. Xu was pacing in the courtyard with his hands behind his back in a brown robe, and he was at a loss when he saw Mr. Xu. Lu San took his son's hand and said, "Salute Mr." When Heiwa bent down and bowed, the stool on her shoulder fell, hitting Mr. Xu's instep. Lu San slapped Heiwa's neck and scolded: "I'll ...... you panicked ghost" Mr. Xu endured the pain and said indifferently: "Send it in." Jiaxuan told me. Lusan pulled his son into the school, found the square table of the foal and the mule, and put down a stool on one side. Ma Ju handed a stack of imitation paper and a brush to Heiwa: "My father asked me to give it to you." Lu San's heart was hot, his nasal cavity was sour, and he said fiercely: "Heiwa, if you don't study well, I'll ...... you every day."

Heiwa grabbed the brush and pulled out the cap, the purple tip of the pen reminded him of the fox's fiery fur. I can't remember how many times I bumped into a fox while mowing grass on a hillside, and once he threw out the scythe in his hand, which happened to hang the fox's hind legs. The fox had a thick fluffy tail like a flame. He tried his best to chase it, but watched it run away from a slit in the cliff. He always wondered if the fox's lame leg was okay? Now, it occurred to him how many brushes he could plant if he caught that fox! His left hand was stained with green juice from the grass, and his fingers turned purple and black, and he always felt timid when he pinched the smooth pen shaft and the soft yellow imitation paper. Mr. Xu came in and led the students to study. Heiwa didn't have a book, so she followed Mr. Xu and thought: "People-of-the-beginning, sex-nature-ben-good." ”

The school is full of dolls from the village, and there is no strangeness among classmates, only the freshness of study life. Three or five days later, as the novelty wore off, Heiwa felt that studying was no longer a blessing but a sin. His mother had to ring a wake-up call for him almost every night: "Heiwa, if you don't study and play greedily, you can't live up to your mother, just your Bai family's uncle is ...... kindness" Heiwa said impatiently: "Just ask me to mow the grass." ”……