Why Is He So Selfish
The village chief sighed and angrily stomped his foot: "It's all because Dean Zhang of Qingmiao Academy is sabotaging us!"
Originally, Qingmiao Academy was the sole dominant academy in Qingmiao City, so Dean Zhang was like a lone scholar ruling the city, enjoying a very high status. Since there was only one academy, they never worried about students; every year, tuition fees and gifts from students' parents brought in a fortune.
But the good times didn't last. Ever since Elder Gu's Wutong Academy opened, any student from Qingmiao Academy with some family background switched to Wutong Academy, leaving only the poor students who couldn't afford Wutong behind.
As a result, the quality and quantity of students at Qingmiao Academy plummeted. Dean Zhang could no longer rake in money like before. Moreover, many top scholars were teaching at Wutong Academy, making Dean Zhang, a mere graduate scholar, seem insignificant.
In the past, people would respectfully greet Dean Zhang when they met him, since there were very few graduate scholars in Qingmiao City.
But now, with so many great scholars at Wutong Academy—some from the Hanlin Academy, some famous experts—Dean Zhang, a mere graduate scholar, isn't even qualified to be their gatekeeper.
So Dean Zhang's mindset started to become unbalanced, and he worried about the declining business of Qingmiao Academy.
The number of students kept decreasing, the money kept shrinking, and Qingmiao Academy was no longer the glorious institution it once was, on the verge of shutting down.
So when Dean Zhang heard about Haizi Village wanting to open a school, he did everything he could to obstruct it.
Why? Because once Haizi Village opened a school, it would attract students from nearby villages, siphoning off some of the middle and lower-class students, worsening Qingmiao Academy's situation.
Su Li was dumbfounded after hearing the village chief's explanation: "Is there such a thing? They can't teach good students, so they don't want us to open an academy?! Why should they have the say!"
The village chief sighed: "Yeah, why should they?! But they have the power to obstruct. Though Dean Zhang isn't an official, he's a graduate scholar and has been around Qingmiao City for a long time, so he has a solid foundation. The teachers we invited before are all connected to him—some are his students, some are students of his old classmates, or his old acquaintances. Every time we invite a teacher, he stirs things up and forces them not to come teach in our village. You saw it today—the Wang and Liu masters were supposed to stay and teach, but Dean Zhang personally came and drove them away. Ugh, it made my stomach hurt from anger!"
The village chief grumbled, clutching his stomach, bending over as he sat down.
The village chief's inability to find teachers put Su Li in a tough spot. The school building in Haizi Village was up, but without teachers, the children couldn't attend classes.
Su Li went home with Lingdang, sitting in the hall drinking tea and sighing: "Why is Dean Zhang so selfish? His learning is all for nothing! With a dean like him, no wonder they produce students like Su Shimao, Zhang Bin, and Liu Hui—truly a crooked tree with crooked branches!"
As Su Li was speaking, the door curtain lifted, and Li Yanhao walked in holding a painting, smiling brightly: "A Li, I had your portrait framed. From now on, it will hang in Haizi School. Look how well I painted it!"
Su Li was in no mood, glanced at him, and said, "Young master, no matter how good your painting is, it's useless. Haizi School hasn't even hired a teacher yet, so it can't open anytime soon."
"Oh, A Li, what's going on?" Li Yanhao blinked and scooted over to sit beside Su Li, but before his bottom even touched the bench, someone kicked him away.