Chapter 1327 - A Visit to Fangcao Di: The Return Journey

Watching them fall silent one by one, Transmigrator Dong recognized the stubborn ember of pride still smoldering in these scholars. He suppressed a sigh. Traditional literati held no practical value for the Council beyond their literacy, yet they retained considerable symbolic weight—their public opinions could shape how society viewed the new order. If these men could be transformed, the ripple effects on general sentiment would be substantial. And besides, educated personnel remained in critically short supply.

Still, ideological transformation was no overnight affair. He had never harbored illusions about swift conversions. For now, he simply made pleasant small talk and let the moment pass.

Today was the Australian weekend, and children were being released from Fangcao Di for their single precious day of rest. Beyond the school gates, parents had already gathered to receive them. Some families arrived with retinues of servants; others had prepared sedan chairs. The wealthiest brought horse-drawn carriages.

Fangcao Di's philosophy aimed to erase distinctions of family background. Students wore identical uniforms, used standardized supplies, and even pickup was regulated: only one person per child, with all sedan chairs and carriages required to wait at least one hundred meters from the gate.

Children from common families and ordinary naturalized citizens were less pampered. They walked to and from school on their own feet, or rode the public horse-drawn carriages and small trains. Those who came to collect their children tended to be from families at or above the county's middle class—and many recognized Liu Dalin and his companions. One by one, they approached to pay their respects. Huang Bingkun noticed that among the students were children from the most prominent local clans. Upon inquiry, he learned that enrolled here were not only sons of concubines but also eldest grandsons of main lineages—the most treasured heirs of great houses. The county's transformation had evidently run deeper than he had imagined. He had truly fallen out of touch.

Lines of students emerged from the teaching buildings, led by residence monitors, marching in neat formation until they passed through the gates. Then came the dissolution. The children who had endured strict discipline during school hours now burst into freedom like monkeys released from cages—jumping, chasing, chattering, laughing. The entire area before Fangcao Di's main gate became a scene of joyful clamor.

Huang Bingkun intended to walk home together with Huang Ping—there was much to discuss, particularly about that girl who had embraced him. Such a matter struck at the very heart of propriety: what could it mean, embracing openly in public? As he weighed the situation, he thought that if young Huang Ping truly had feelings for her, they might as well formalize a betrothal. The boy was already fifteen. Finding a bride in Lingao was difficult business; if he could arrange his own marriage, it would spare Huang Bingkun the trouble—and make it easier to keep him close.

Just as he was calculating, two children suddenly broke away from the crowd at the gate. The older boy held his younger sister's hand. Trotting over to Liu Dalin's wheelchair, they bowed respectfully. "Master, good day to you."

"Good, good." Liu Dalin chuckled, looking at the siblings standing before him. "No need for formalities." He asked about their life and studies. The children reported that in the recent annual evaluation, both had risen several dozen places in their respective grade rankings and now sat within the top three hundred—the selection group.

The selection group was no trivial matter. At Fangcao Di, the top three hundred students in each grade's annual comprehensive evaluation earned membership in this elite cohort. Members received scholarships and competed for advancement into the fast track. Once admitted to the fast track, as long as examinations didn't eliminate you, admission to the Middle School Department on full scholarship was guaranteed—a certain path to becoming an "elite." Every student knew this. So did their parents. Huang Bingkun had learned from Huang Ping that the school operated such a system; he knew that many students, consumed by the competition, never went home on rest days, studying through every waking hour.

Even with such devotion, given that each grade contained several thousand students, reaching the top three hundred was extraordinarily difficult. Each comprehensive evaluation stirred considerable emotional turbulence among the student body. Huang Ping's own grades had long since settled beyond position one thousand; he had abandoned such aspirations.

To think that the Liu family's two children would prove so outstanding! Huang Bingkun couldn't help but feel admiration—truly a household of scholarly heritage!

Liu Dalin seemed to read his thoughts and smiled. "These are the grandchildren of my household's Steward Zhao. Now that they've entered the Australians' school, both have become promising. I hadn't expected they were both naturally suited to study."

"Ha ha, your household is one of scholarly heritage," Wang Ci hastened to flatter. "Even the servants' children flourish under such cultivation."

The remark would have seemed complimentary to the scholars—but unexpectedly, when the brother and sister heard it, their faces showed displeasure rather than gratitude.

Liu Dalin, ever kind-hearted, quickly smoothed things over by changing the subject. He asked Steward Zhao's grandson who had ranked first in this year's Senior Elementary first-year comprehensive evaluation.

"This year it's a girl," the boy replied. "Her name is Dai Yan."

"A girl?!" Astonishment rippled across every face. That Fangcao Di admitted female students was no longer shocking news. But for the top student among over a thousand Senior Elementary first-years to be a girl—that overturned their entire worldview.

In their understanding, the pirates' practice of schooling girls on a large scale was merely some transplanted "overseas custom." For girls, it might even be considered a kind of favor. No one had imagined that the highest scorer in the first-year comprehensive evaluation would actually be female.

"That's Dai Yan!" Steward Zhao's grandson suddenly pointed behind them. "I saw her at the evaluation conference! She studies incredibly well!"

Everyone turned. They saw a teenage girl with the standard short hair worn by female students, dressed in Fangcao Di's dark blue uniform, walking alongside a weathered man who was clearly her father. He wore heavily patched clothes of coarse local cloth, still kept his hair in a topknot, and gave off the sharp, pungent smell of seafood—probably a fisherman or someone who worked the tidal flats.

The delegation had noted the girl's fairly good features and reasonably fair skin and assumed she came from some middle-class family. They had been preparing to introduce themselves. But seeing that she was actually from a poor and unlettered common household, they immediately lost interest in making acquaintance.

Amid his conflicting emotions, Huang Bingkun waited for Huang Ping. Yet Huang Ping showed no particular gratitude that the Second Young Master had personally waited to accompany him home. Instead, his expression was constrained. When Huang Bingkun told him to bow to the delegation members, the reluctance on his face was unmistakable. Watching this, Huang Bingkun couldn't help but sigh inwardly—recalling how sharp and efficient Huang Ping used to be when accompanying him on social calls, presenting visiting cards and paying respects. It was as if he had become a different person entirely.

Fangcao Di's ever-expanding scale and surging enrollment had prompted the extension of Lingao's city tram all the way to the school, connecting the county seat and Hundred Fathoms City. Since the delegation members lived in various places, they parted ways at the platform. Huang Bingkun volunteered to escort Liu Dalin home, and needed besides to catch the public carriage at the transfer station outside the county seat to return to Huang Family Stockade.

The platform was packed with students queuing for the train. Seeing Liu Dalin's party approach, they automatically made way, letting them move to the front.

Liu Dalin praised the children for their consideration. One of them answered: "Our teachers taught us: respect the elderly and love the young, and help the disabled. Sir, since your legs aren't good, it's right to let you board first." Liu Dalin laughed heartily.

With a whistle from the steam engine, the iron wheels began to roll, carrying a full car of passengers. Spouting black smoke, the train traveled along the railway toward Lingao county seat. The delegation members had purchased first-class tickets for the last car to avoid being crowded together with former tenant farmers, hired hands, and other such "workers" in the forward cars.

Everyone deferred to Liu Dalin as the senior member, letting him sit by the window where he could view the passing scenery. Liu Dalin gazed out at the landscape alongside the tracks. In his trance, he could no longer remember what things had looked like before the Australians came. It seemed as though the smoking factories on the far side of the Wenlan River had existed since the dawn of creation. And there were the continuous stretches of good farmland; the rows of houses in villages the Australians had built for their settlers...

The farmers working the fields and the lush growth of the crops indicated another good harvest. A good harvest—before the Australians came, Lingao had seemingly never known one.

"How beautiful—what a pity—" Liu Dalin murmured.

"What does the Master find pitiful?" The question came from Steward Zhao's granddaughter.

What indeed? Liu Dalin suddenly realized he himself didn't know. Stroking the girl's head, after a long while he finally said: "This Lingao is truly beautiful. What a pity—my body is useless now. I'm of no use anymore."

The girl was very clever. "What are you saying, Master? The instructor-teachers say you are the first Metropolitan Graduate in Lingao's entire history. As long as you come out and look around often, it's a tremendous benefit to the common people."

This surely contained an element of flattery, but Liu Dalin also understood how the Australians truly viewed him: he was a well-known figure in the county. His visible presence was equivalent to endorsing their rule—excellent material for winning popular support.

He smiled. "You overstate things, you overstate things."

Huang Bingkun sat at the back of the carriage, whispering privately with Huang Ping.

He asked who that girl was who had embraced him, how old she was, and what her family did. The moment Huang Ping heard this question, his face reddened. He answered evasively: "Why is the Young Master asking about this?"

(End of Chapter)