Edward Thompson was still daydreaming blissfully when he saw the woman he had met last night, named Grace Walker—who was also his wife in name—entering while supporting a stooped, white-haired old man.

The old man wore a plain robe, his body looking extremely frail, his face covered in wrinkles, but he seemed kind enough. At this moment, he was half-squinting as he sized him up.

Edward Thompson remained highly vigilant toward this old man in his heart. In his view, any old man who looked kindly could, in the next moment, turn out to be a lunatic who’d call people over to tie him up and roast him over a fire.

Having nearly been killed by the old guy he met before, this way of thinking was probably not going to change anytime soon.

“Ahem... ahem...” The old man scrutinized him for a long while, and finally a satisfied look appeared in his cloudy eyes. He nodded and said, “A scholar, good, a scholar is good...”

“Such a handsome appearance, much better than that distant nephew of the second son’s wife. Tsk tsk, and a scholar too... Our village just lacks scholars.” The old man seemed quite pleased with his first impression of Edward Thompson, muttering, “What’s so good about fighting and killing all day? So crude, so crude... Back in the day, your great-grandfather was also a scholar. This bunch of useless fellows didn’t inherit any of his skills at all...”

The young girl in white looked at the old man with pride and said, “Of course! Just look at who did the choosing...”

“Good, good!”

The old man laughed heartily, waved his hand, and said, “Mr. Qin from the school broke his leg a few months ago and probably won’t be able to stand again. The little ones are making a racket in the village all day, and it annoys this old man. This is just right—our Liuyue Village doesn’t keep idlers. Let him go teach at the school, so those little ones stop running around in front of me.”

“Listen to Second Granduncle,” said the woman named Grace Walker softly.

Edward Thompson stood there dumbfounded, feeling as if he were invisible, his sense of presence at rock bottom.

But this matter concerns me! How can they decide so hastily without even asking for my opinion?

A teacher?

He was all set to retire and enjoy life—who would want to do such a boring thing!

Chapter 7: Difficult Circumstances

And so, the matter of Edward Thompson becoming a teacher at the Liuyue Village school was happily decided just like that.

Being new here and unfamiliar with everything, Edward Thompson didn’t dare voice any objections.

Of course, he grumbled inwardly for a long time about the fact that there was actually a school in a bandit village.

As a bandit, shouldn’t you be learning about fighting, killing, and highway robbery—professional skills like that? What’s the point of going to school? Can you really learn anything useful?

If they study these things, can they ever become qualified bandits?

Are they really hoping these kids will take the imperial exams in the future?

Honestly, the ancients’ views on education were still quite backward. Sure, education should start from childhood, but they were clearly on the wrong path...

Besides... how would Edward Thompson know how to teach? What would he teach them?

The Self-Cultivation of a Bandit?

The Basic Etiquette of Highway Robbery?

The Economic Principles of Loot Distribution?

......

......

He himself was practically illiterate!

Edward Thompson felt he had no human rights here. That half-dead old man pointed at him and said a bunch of things, settled the matter of making him the village schoolteacher, and then strolled off with his hands behind his back. His beautiful wife in name only gave him a slight nod and left as well.

As for that devilish girl, she stared at Edward Thompson with a strange look for a long time, then turned her head away in a haughty manner, leaving behind only a cool, gradually receding figure.

“Even a captive husband... has his dignity!” Only Edward Thompson was left standing there, looking sorrowful.

After a long while...

“Um...” Edward Thompson turned to look at the delicate little maid standing there, scratched his head, and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Young master can just call this servant Little Lily.” The girl with twin buns fidgeted with her clothes nervously and spoke in a small voice.

“This little maid is so easily embarrassed...” Edward Thompson looked at the girl with interest, then asked, “So... Little Lily, where’s the kitchen? Is there anything to eat?”

For someone who didn’t know how long he’d been hungry, a bowl of thin porridge wasn’t even enough to fill the bottom of his stomach. After a short while, Edward Thompson was hungry again.

The little maid was stunned at first, then shook her head and said, “There isn’t much food at home to begin with. Usually, we only have two meals a day. Miss said that young master didn’t eat anything all day yesterday and would be hungry, so she told Little Lily to make some porridge for you this morning...”

Edward Thompson sighed.

So this really was a world where even bandit families had no surplus grain. The situation... seemed even worse than he’d imagined.

“What does Little Lily usually do?”

With nothing else to do and finally someone to talk to, Edward Thompson simply grabbed two small stools and dragged Little Lily outside to chat.