Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots-Chapter 1401 - 220, Young Master Ma (17)

As Lin Fugui had said, many people from the city were now attending South City School, and she also spotted an ox cart at the entrance, which stood out among the several horse-drawn carriages. It must be the one Lin Fugui had bought.

The man sitting on the ox cart, waiting to pick up students after school, looked a few years older than Lin Fugui, but he was in good spirits and had keen eyes. Whenever someone walked by or looked his way, he would enthusiastically ask if they needed a ride.

Lin Yuan nodded to herself, thinking that with this man’s shrewdness, his business surely wouldn’t do poorly.

It wasn’t yet time for school to let out, and Lin Yuan and the others could still hear the lively reading sounds of the students in the courtyard.

Upon entering the school, Xiao Linshuang immediately perked up and, after listening attentively to their reading for a while, joyfully said to Lin Yuan, "Big sister, they are reading ’Mencius.’"

Lin Yuan smiled and nodded, but to tell the truth, she hadn’t recognized it. Out of the Four Books, she had only learned a few phrases from "The Analects of Confucius," which had been drilled into her by her language arts teacher while she was in school!

The group quietly approached the classroom window, where Meng Liangdong was teaching. Dressed in a blue cloth robe, an air of scholarship about him, he swayed his head in rhythm with the students’ recitation.

Though his actions appeared somewhat comical, because he was so serious and focused, he hadn’t noticed Lin Yuan and the others peeking in through the window.

Fearing they might disturb the class, Lin Yuan quickly led the others to an adjacent room. This room was meant for the teachers to rest in, and inside, Old Mr. Cheng was sitting at a desk, holding a vermilion pen in his hand and facing a stack of papers filled with writing—a sign that he was grading students’ homework.

Besides Old Mr. Cheng, there was a young man in the room, sitting on a small stool, sewing and mending clothes.

Despite his youth and being male, his sewing was quite skillful.

Lin Wei was very curious and quietly approached to watch him work, couldn’t help whispering, "You missed a spot here!"

The young man, absorbed in his task, jumped when he suddenly heard someone speaking above him; his hand jerked, and the needle jabbed into his finger.

"Ow! Miss Lin! Why do you always startle me like that!" The young man put his finger in his mouth to suck the sting, frowning and complaining.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he seemed to remember something and, with widened eyes, exclaimed, "Miss Lin? Boss! Miss Xiaolin? You’re all back?"

Old Mr. Cheng, engrossed in grading homework, also looked up in surprise, turning to see Lin Yuan and the others. His eyesight wasn’t great, so he had to focus to see clearly from a distance.

But a joyful smile soon spread across his aged face, and he set down his vermilion pen to come over shakily, "Yuanyuan, it is you! When did you get back?"

Lin Yuan quickly went to support Old Mr. Cheng and helped him to a chair, then started chatting with him, "I’ve been back a few days but only had time to come to town today. Old Mr. Cheng, how are you feeling?"

"Good, good! Thanks to your blessings, I’m feeling very well indeed!" Indeed, thanks to Lin Yuan, who had provided South City School with many resources and even sent a young man to help out, not only him, but all the children from the south of the city, now had better opportunities for schooling.

The young man serving Old Mr. Cheng, too excited, set his clothing aside and shouted that he would go find Meng Liangdong.

Lin Yuan quickly grabbed him, "Mr. Meng is in the middle of teaching! Don’t disturb him!"

Old Mr. Cheng also nodded, saying, "Still this impatient temper. Have you finished copying out the ’Three Character Classic’? Not yet? Go finish copying the ’Three Character Classic’ and no lunch for you if you don’t!"

The young man sulked, feeling wronged. Why did he, who was supposed to serve, have an additional task of practicing calligraphy?

Though he complained, he knew that Old Mr. Cheng only wanted the best for him. According to Old Mr. Cheng, being young, he couldn’t always do servant’s work—once he learned to write, he would be free to do as he pleased.

As for what he wanted to do, the young man wasn’t quite sure yet; anyhow, it was something that would earn a lot of money, enough to support his parents at home.

Checking the sky, Lin Wei, Xiao He, and Xiao Linshuang went outside to wait; the three of them had many good friends at the school, and now that they had returned, they naturally went to catch up with old friends.

While the three went out to wait for classes to end, Lin Yuan stayed in the room chatting with Old Mr. Cheng and eventually the topic turned to Ma Junying, who always came to the school.

"You’ve been in the capital city, so you probably know more than us—Young Master Ma really did win this year’s top scholar title, but..."

Seeing a trace of disappointment in Old Mr. Cheng’s face, Lin Yuan refrained from telling him that Ma Junying was busy managing all the arrangements for his new government position, and comforted him instead, "You mean Young Master Ma hasn’t returned home? Ah, everyone has misunderstood him; he hasn’t forgotten his roots or anything like that. He’s just been awarded the title of top scholar and granted a position in the Hanlin Academy. You must know, Old Mr. Cheng, that one needs to show their capabilities when they are new to an official role. Plus, the Ma family head has bought a new residence in the capital and there are a lot of things to deal with, so it’s understandable that he can’t return for the time being."

Old Mr. Cheng thought briefly, and though he understood this point, he still felt somewhat uneasy.

Lin Yuan added, "It’s really unfair for everyone to slander him like this. The other day, after scoring high, Young Master Ma even specifically came to Dong Tian to visit me and asked me to bring something to you. Oh right, he also asked me to pass on a message, saying he’s busy with no time to spare right now, but once he’s less occupied, he will definitely come back to copy books for you!"

Only then did Old Mr. Cheng feel relieved, stroking his short beard and laughing heartily, "Copy books? Now that we have your movable type printing, who needs to copy books by hand? It’s the thought that counts. Ah, you have no idea—old as I am, I’ve developed quite a friendship with him, and was naturally overjoyed to hear of his success. It just upset and confounded me to hear those people accusing him of ingratitude and forgetting his roots. By nature, he’s not that kind of person! But now, with your words, Yuanyuan, I’m reassured that the boy hasn’t lost his sense of honor and will indeed return. I’m still expecting him to become a fine, upstanding magistrate and bring glory to Zhuma Town!"

After hearing Old Mr. Cheng’s words, Lin Yuan felt touched. As a friend of Ma Junying’s, she naturally wished him well.

"Oh right, the other day Shopkeeper Liu suddenly came looking for me, saying he was heading to the capital to help you manage your new business. It seems you’re doing well in the capital yourself, good, good, all such accomplished children!"