Why Is No One Willing to Teach Here

Su Li stared wide-eyed at Dean Zhang, thinking, "He starts off so stuffy—can he just speak like a normal person?"

Su Li sneered coldly, staring at the stiff Dean Zhang. "What's wrong with a woman funding a school? Since when does money care about gender? Do you have to hold the silver and ask it, 'Silver, are you male or female?' And if it answers female, you just throw it away?"

Dean Zhang never expected a young woman to talk back to him. Angry, he pointed his finger at Su Li: "What kind of girl is this, so unruly! When men speak, you have no right to interrupt! How dare you talk back to this old man—it's infuriating, truly infuriating!"

Su Li saw Dean Zhang fuming like a toad, gasping heavily after just a few words, sitting in his chair wide-eyed.

Su Li looked at Dean Zhang with sympathy, thinking to herself that this old pedant’s fighting spirit was weak. If it were Tang Shi, she’d be standing with hands on hips, cursing loudly for a long time. But this old pedant got winded after just a couple of sentences—so weak.

Meanwhile, Wang Fuzi stepped in to smooth things over, saying to Su Li, "Madam Su, this is Dean Zhang of Qingmiao Academy—he's my teacher."

Then he said to Dean Zhang, "This Madam Su is the great benefactor of Haizi Village, leading the villagers to prosperity and helping to build the school."

Dean Zhang glared angrily and said, "What great benefactor? She doesn’t even observe women’s proper conduct, flaunting herself outside and talking to strange men. Such a person building a school? She’ll only corrupt the students!"

Su Li snorted disdainfully and glanced at Dean Zhang. "So you’re the dean of Qingmiao Academy, huh? My apologies. But I’ve heard your academy has a fine reputation for producing students who indulge in all sorts of vices—drinking, gambling, and worse. There’s a fellow named Su Shimao who pretended to be a rich master’s son to woo a wealthy girl, but ended up marrying a courtesan by mistake. Then there’s Zhang Bin, who was caught by many at Xiangmanlou with two classmates from Qingmiao Academy engaging in who knows what. Our Haizi School doesn’t teach such things."

The people Su Li mentioned were all students of Qingmiao Academy, hitting Dean Zhang’s sore spots. His face flushed purple like an eggplant. He grunted twice and stopped his usual nagging about women’s virtue, instead sternly telling Wang Fuzi and the others, "In any case, you two are forbidden from teaching in this village. If you defy your teacher’s wishes, hmph..."

Dean Zhang’s threat was clear. Wang Fuzi and the others quickly lowered their heads, feeling troubled but knowing that a teacher’s authority was significant. If word got out that they defied their mentor, they’d be finished.

Dean Zhang and his group personally escorted Wang Fuzi and the other away. The two packed up their belongings and returned together to Qingmiao City.

Su Li rolled her eyes behind them, standing shoulder to shoulder with the village chief.

"If they leave, they leave. We have money; we’re not afraid of not being able to hire teachers," Su Li said.

Unexpectedly, the village chief looked troubled and said, "A Li, there are some small matters I didn’t want to bother you with. Including these two teachers, eight teachers have already left our village!"

"What!? Eight! The school hasn’t even been built yet, and eight teachers have already left? Why?" Su Li was shocked. If she hadn’t seen it herself today, she wouldn’t have believed it.

Why on earth is the Haizi Village school so unwelcome that not a single teacher can be retained?

Is it because a woman is funding it? That can’t be it! Other places have women funding schools too, and they’re doing just fine!

So what exactly is the reason?