It was obvious the tutors had never intended to admit girls into the academy. Otherwise, Rosie—who had performed better than Ryder—and the other girl would not have been rejected.
As for why Deb was accepted, it was either because she had shown remarkable talent and the tutors were reluctant to waste it… or simply because they wanted a set of twins in the academy for symmetry's sake.
Adam suspected it was the latter—just like Clara once said: political correctness.
Still, what did it matter? So long as the children had this opportunity, the reason no longer mattered.
For the first time in centuries, a girl had stepped into the academy. That alone was a good beginning.
The younger children didn't think as deeply. They were only happy, and they encouraged Rosie, promising to tutor her at home so that next year she could try again—and surely succeed.
With their comfort, Rosie's spirits lifted. Later, Caleb even took her to the street before shops closed and bought her a bag of peanuts. Soon, she had forgotten the sting of rejection.
The Ding family tutors announced that classes would begin on the first day of the second month, at 7 a.m. Students were to arrive punctually, bringing their own brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. The academy would distribute the books, and parents were told to prepare the book fee for their children to deliver.
On the road home, Brandon was calculating non-stop. The book fee was eight hundred coins. A basic set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone cost at least three silver coins (thirty hundred copper coins).
Fortunately, an inkstone and inkstick would last for years—so the next year's expense would be lighter.
All told, the yearly cost would average one tael of silver. Two years would mean two taels.
He and Doreen had earned a good sum in wages last year. With over four taels still in hand, they could manage.
But then there was transport. They couldn't abandon the fields just to escort the children back and forth to school. Otherwise, the family would starve.
"Clara," Brandon said at last, a little embarrassed, "I'd like to discuss something with you."
Clara already knew what he wanted. She cut in first: "Clear accounts between brothers. I was going to send my four anyway—taking Ryder along makes no difference. I'll charge less than a carter: twenty-eight coins a month."
Compared to a hired carter's rate of seven hundred fifty a year per child, hers came to barely over three hundred. Practically a steal.
And besides, the route from Liew Clan Village to Riverbend was longer than from Riverbend to Goldstone Town.
Brandon's words were stuck in his throat.
He had intended to pay her carriage fees anyway. Now that Clara had set a clear price, he actually felt relieved.
Better this than owing a favor. He had worried she might refuse payment and offer free rides, which would make him uneasy.
"Alright then—thank you, Clara," Brandon said gratefully.
Clara waved it off. "It's nothing."
Ryder was overjoyed. He and Ben hugged each other with excitement—they could all attend school together!
But he didn't forget his sister. He quickly went to comfort Rosie, promising that whatever they learned, they'd teach her at home.
Rosie overheard the adults say they'd have to leave at dawn each day, around 5 a.m. Hearing that, she no longer envied her brothers and sister.
Instead, she pitied Chad and Deb.
"By the time you get home from school, it'll already be dark. Then after one night's sleep, you'll have to leave again. No more time to play in the mountains. Won't it be exhausting?" Rosie asked.
Deb shook her head. "Not at all. Mama says, 'If you waste your youth, you'll only regret it in old age.' Now is the time to work hard—how can we think only of play?"
Besides, she had played on those mountains all her life. She was tired of them. What she longed for now was to see a wider world.
Just imagining it filled her with anticipation and joy.
Caleb, up on the driver's seat, sighed inwardly. That daughter of Lester would not be ordinary in the future.
By the time Clara's group returned to the village, night had fallen completely.
At the entrance, they found Logan Liew and Old Walter waiting with torches. Seeing them at last, they rushed forward eagerly.
The other villagers who had left in the morning had all returned by dusk. Clara's group was the last. Old Walter boldly guessed—perhaps some of them had been admitted.
He ushered everyone into the old house at once and pressed, "Well? Were the children chosen?"
Caleb teased with suspense, until Old Walter raised his hand as if to swat him. Then he confessed quickly, "Ryder, Chad, and Deb were accepted."
Martha, Doreen, and Kate emerged from the rooms, overhearing. Some faces shone with joy, others clouded with envy.
Doreen's laughter rang so loud and sharp that even the neighbors could hear her gloating.
Clara and her four children stayed briefly at the old house, explained the situation, then returned home.
Adam and Ben set to work building the fire and boiling water. Clara unhitched the cart, tended the horse, and then went to fetch the family's cow from the back pasture.
The small shed was already cramped—one horse and one cow pressed close together. Clara resolved to expand the building as soon as spring planting was over.
Once the animals were settled, she lit a torch and knocked on Carpenter Liew's door.
He was just about to sleep, already halfway dreaming, and was a little annoyed to be disturbed.
But when he heard that the twins had also been admitted to the academy, his irritation melted. He rejoiced as though they were his own children.
Clara asked him to craft two more Mighty Book Chests—smaller than Adam and Ben's, suitable for Chad and Deb.
Carpenter Liew thumped his chest. "Leave it to me. I'll start first thing tomorrow. They'll be ready before school begins the day after."
Relieved, Clara returned home.
After dinner, the family washed up and went to bed.
The next morning, they went to the mill, waiting as Carpenter Liew worked on the book chests.
Clara left the children there and went alone to the mountains with pickaxe and tools to quarry stone.
With fewer orders now, she could manage the stonework by herself.
By the time she hauled back the stone and finished half a millstone, the twins' Mighty Book Chests were complete.
Chad and Deb wasted no time loading their belongings inside. The yard was soon filled with the rumbling of little wheels.
That evening, Brandon and Ryder returned the ox cart.
They had borrowed it in the morning to buy brushes, ink, and paper in town. But unwilling to spend on a book chest, Brandon had instead woven a bamboo basket for Ryder, adding shoulder straps of vine. Doreen padded it with cloth strips so it wouldn't dig in. It held his supplies well enough.
But there's no comparison without contrast. Seeing Chad and Deb proudly rolling their wheeled chests around the yard, Ryder's eyes nearly welled with envy.
On the way home, he begged his father nonstop to make him one too.
Brandon agreed quickly—it didn't look so hard. But once they started, even attaching the wooden wheels defeated him.
And as for the extendable pull handle at the back—such a mechanism was far beyond the skills of a simple farmer.
With school starting the very next day, it was too late to buy one.
So Ryder had no choice but to shoulder his bamboo basket, hand over twenty-eight coins to his Aunt Clara for carriage fees, and set out with Adam and the others—anxious but excited for the first day of school.
(End of Chapter)
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