Chapter 125: How Can One Become a General Without Education?

Wen Yao almost laughed. How could the Xie clan still have the nerve to call Qiu Rongrong a crude opportunist?

Wen Yao gave a faint smile and turned to her. “Sister, have you ever heard the saying, ‘eat soft rice and act hard over it’?”

“What does that mean?”

“Literal meaning,” Wen Yao said with a sly smile. “You’re taking me to tour the manor, aren’t you? Come on.” She reached for Qiu Rongrong’s arm and walked out.

On the way, Qiu Rongrong was somewhat distracted. Wen Yao saw it in her expression, said nothing, and happily finished the manor tour. Afterward, she let Qiao Yan send her back home.

Back home, Wen Yao placed a stack of documents into Wen Xiuyi’s hands.

“Done.”

Wen Xiuyi glanced through them, pleased, and patted his daughter’s shoulder. “Not bad at all, Chef Wen. From now on this family is going to live off you.”

Wen Yao waved it off with mock composure. “Come on. So what? Buy whatever you want later on, Chef Wen will pay.”

Wen Xiuyi laughed and, in a mock-scolding tone, poked her head with his finger. “You and your ways. Take care of these papers.”

Wen Yao put the documents into the space and began planning dishes. Because of a shortage of ingredients, many items could not be made yet; she could only cook with what was already available.

To create something distinctive, she still had to grow more ingredients in the space.

She was halfway through the menu when she suddenly remembered something. She went back into the space and brought out a large bag, which she handed to Wen Xiuyi.

“Dad, don’t forget this either. We need to grow these too.”

When Wen Xiuyi opened it, it was a full sack of peanuts.

At once he thought of boiled peanuts, drunken peanuts, tiger-skin peanuts, spicy peanuts, braised peanuts.

After swallowing once in anticipation, he leaned in. “Daughter, make me some snacks for drinking first.”

Wen Yao did not even look up. After a while, she passed him a bag of drunken peanuts.

“Just this one. Eat a bit on the side. Don’t let Grandpa and the others see it, or they’ll never let me explain.”

Wen Xiuyi accepted it happily and promised he wouldn’t be found out before he carried it away to a place where he could store it, then wait for the right time to sow the peanuts in the ground.

That evening Wen Jun came home. The whole family sat down to dinner, and Mrs. Luo used the occasion to announce an important family matter.

“I talked it over with Grandfather. Apart from Xiaojun and Wen Nong, all of you other children are to go to school. This still means we need help from Big Head’s godfather. Eldest, find a time to take a few things to Storekeeper Qiu and tell him. Ask him to see which academy the children should attend and how they handle admissions.”

As soon as Luo finished, everyone around the table looked different.

Wen Jun showed no reaction, as expected.
Big Head was calm, clearly expecting this.
Wen Nong was almost ready to clap from excitement.
Wen Jin was excited but was forcing himself to keep quiet.
Only Wen Fa spoke.

“Mom, I’m not going. I want to join the army. I want to be a—”

A sharp slap landed on Wen Fa’s head. Mrs. Li didn’t even set down her chopsticks before she scolded, “What general do you think you’ll be with that build? Look at real generals—do any of them look like you? Can you even carry a spear? Can your hands lift one? Are you even trained in martial arts? That’s why you want to be a great general?”

“This is such a good opportunity and you don’t know how to value it? Do you want to make your mother and father angry enough to kill us?”

Mrs. Luo frowned and shared her disapproval. The family had barely mustered the courage to decide to send them to school, and this child still did not appreciate it.

The cheerful mood had become strange at once, so Wen Xiuyi put down his chopsticks and tried to smooth things over.

“Fa, wanting to join the army, defend the country, and become a general is a good intention. A person needs a goal and a dream in order to strive. Uncle supports you.”

His sudden support made Wen Fa forget all resentment, and his face lit up with excitement. Mrs. Li could not believe it, and even Luo looked at him in surprise.

Wen Xiuyi gave both women a calming look, then turned to Wen Fa. “But do you really think serving the country and charging into battle is that simple? Tell me—if you cannot read, how can you become a general? Even if brute strength raised you to that rank, if the court sends a military order and you can’t read a single character, how do you think you can do that?

“And becoming a general is not easy. Do you know the Thirty-Six Stratagems? Do you know Sun Tzu’s Art of War? All those military classics through history—have you read even one? If you were to lead soldiers into battle, you might not even know which direction the enemy is coming from.”

Wen Fa froze. “I…”

He had never even heard of any of those things.

Wen Xiuyi straightened and saw the look of defeat on his face. “Then you still think studying is useless?”

“I…”

Wen Fa found himself unable to say a rebuttal. Mrs. Li and Mrs. Luo both exhaled in relief. They had thought Uncle had changed his mind, but all he was doing was shutting Wen Fa down.

Luo motioned for Mrs. Li to stay silent, then said, “What your uncle said is right. If you want to be a general, you must first study your books. Even if you don’t like it, study for a few years. At least then you will be able to read and understand. By then you’ll be older, and with your own judgment you can choose what to do. It won’t be too late.”

At the thought of all those scholarly particles and old phrasing, Wen Fa felt his head ache, but his uncle’s words were undeniably reasonable. For a moment his face looked as if it might crumple in frustration.

“Go on then. At least we have a companion,” Wen Jin whispered.

Wen Fa looked at him and did not say again that he wouldn’t go.

Wen Xiuyi moved quickly. The day after that family meeting, he went to find Storekeeper Qiu. Earlier, Luo had pulled him aside and asked him, in passing, to ask whether the academy accepted girls. She had not brought it up before the three children the day before, fearing that if girls were not accepted, the three would be disappointed.

Wen Xiuyi, moved by his wife’s openness, asked Qiu as soon as he saw him.

“You needn’t even ask. I was a schoolmate of the headmaster of Qingfeng Academy. If children from your family are going, I can just give him a word. Only with girls, this might be difficult on that side.”

When he saw Wen Xiuyi frown, Qiu added, “There is an old saying: a woman’s virtue lies in having no talent. So, in ordinary cases, no academy takes girls. And since boys and girls are taught separately, it’s often inconvenient. For families with means who want their daughters educated, they usually invite a tutor home.”

Wen Xiuyi had already thought about this before, so he had no further doubts. Yao Yao does not need to be taught—her education is already high. As for the other two girls, if Yao Yao teaches them, they may not be any worse off than if they studied under an academy tutor.

That thought eased his mind.

“Very well. Then let Storekeeper Qiu handle the little boys. As for the girls, I’ll teach them at home myself.”