By the time Su Caier came to her senses, the ox cart had already entered the village. It was the hottest time of the day, and those who weren't working in the fields were taking shelter under the big locust tree with their children. As soon as the cart entered the village, everyone's eyes were fixed on the two people in the back of the cart.
However, some people's gazes seemed a little strange. Su Caier quickly lowered her head. Seeing that Zhao Ce had bought so many earthen jars, everyone became interested.
Some people who had no grudges against Zhao Ce took the initiative to approach the cart and ask, "You must be getting rich with all these things you've bought." The village knew about Zhao Ce's family selling their land before, so seeing all these seemingly useless things, some people thought he had gone out and spent his uncle's money recklessly again.
Someone from behind loudly exclaimed, "You were a good scholar, but you got expelled from school. Now you've bought all these useless things. You don't even have enough money to lose!" Hearing this, Zhao Ce looked at the person and said calmly, "My affairs don't require your attention." The cart kept moving and gradually left the village. The remaining people continued to gossip and inquire about Zhao Ce's situation.
Some of the onlookers explained that Zhao Ce had been in front of Zhao's Family house in the town earlier, and they had witnessed the excitement. They talked about how Zhao Ce had been amazing that day, and how the fake master had been exposed by him.
They also mentioned that Zhao Ce should pray to the Buddha to bless him to find a teacher who is willing to teach him.
"Does that mean the previous teacher refused to teach Zhao Ce?"
"Surely that's the case."
"Some of the onlookers said that Zhao Ce has been expelled from school!"
After hearing this, the villagers were in an uproar.
"What? Expelled from school?"
"When did this happen?"
Originally, Zhao Ce had a bad reputation in the village, and people occasionally made fun of him.
But they never expected him to be expelled from school.
After all, without an education, Zhao Ce wouldn't be able to take the imperial examinations.
Furthermore, if Zhao Ce was expelled by his teacher, then the children in their village probably wouldn't be able to study either!
After all, this kind of reputation could bring shame to an entire village.
Everyone began to curse Zhao Ce.
"Isn't he always preaching about being a saint? What did Zhao Ce do?"
"My grandson was planning to find a teacher in the city to teach him next year. Now the teachers in the city probably won't accept people from our village!"
"Does the village chief know about this? Why didn't he tell us?"
Many people were cursing Zhao Ce.
After all, in ancient times, one's reputation could affect an entire village, especially in matters of education. Zhao Ce had already regained some of his reputation by fighting with his uncle's family, but now it had become even worse! And unlike before, people weren't just making fun of him. Now they were all angry with him.
Aunt Liu had just arrived with her grandson. She heard everyone cursing Zhao Ce and couldn't help but speak up. "Maybe Zhao Ce just wants to find a new teacher?" "I heard some teachers don't charge as much." "Zhao Ce is working in the fields now, so his family probably doesn't have enough money. That's why he wants to find a new teacher."
Aunt Liu's words seemed to make sense to everyone.
"Well..." "That's a possibility." "Even masters can be fake. We can't completely trust what people in the city say."
The people in the village didn't know much about education, but Aunt Liu's words seemed plausible.
These days, Zhao Ce had to work in the fields. It was estimated that his family was really poor and couldn't afford to even wear good clothes. Without proper attire, the teachers in the city wouldn't be willing to teach him. Everyone thought this was a possibility.
"But didn't Zhao Ce just buy so many things earlier? He doesn't seem poor at all." "Didn't he say his wife brought a lot of dowry with her? He probably spent the money from his wife's dowry." "But he didn't even want to buy a good piece of cloth for his wife with her dowry." "Zhao Ce is really unscrupulous."
The conversation shifted from Zhao Ce being expelled from school to condemning him for spending a woman's money. Some people who had children who wanted to study went to the village chief's house to clarify the situation.
Aunt Liu spoke up for Zhao Ce again, and the conversation shifted back to Zhao Ce exposing the fake master. The old man praised Zhao Ce's performance, and everyone was amazed. The villagers gathering under the big locust tree was full of gossip, satisfying the people of Shuiqiao Village.
On the other side, as Zhao Ce gradually walked away, he listened to the people's whispers and felt helpless. He couldn't argue with the villagers, especially since he was the one who made the mistake in the first place. He couldn't show his face in the village, and the fact that he was expelled from school made him feel even more depressed.
Zhao Ce thought to himself that he needed to find a teacher and go back to study as soon as possible. Su Cai'er bit her lip and turned her head, feeling sorry for her husband. "Husband..." Only she knew how good her husband was.
Zhao Ce smiled and said, "It's okay. Those are all things from the past, and there was nothing we could do about it. Things will gradually get better." Su Cai'er nodded and tried to comfort him. "Things will get better!"