Chapter 26: Unopened

Chapter 26: Unopened

Xianjin had just finished encouraging Bo'er when she was hastily called away by others.

Left behind were the illuminated, clear yet foolish eyes, abnormally resolute.

In Zhang Wenbo's hand, he clutched the two existing color cards, his expression intense. "…Give me thirty more bags!"

He already had two color cards!

Was he to give up now and let all his efforts go to waste?

No!

Absolutely not!

The son of a landowner never gives up!

If this were an anime, the back of Zhang Wenbo would be burning with fierce fighting flames! The dormant chuuni spirit would sound the horn of awakening! The strange desire for victory would seize the high ground of his mind!

Bo'er had come every day for seven or eight days, not exchanging pleasantries with Xianjin. He handed over the money with his left hand and took the kraft paper bag with his right, paying and receiving goods in one swift motion, quietly conducting business. It was evident that he was holding a grudge.

Xianjin whispered to Manager Dong, "…What is the background of Brother Zhang?"

She didn't want to be completely plucked clean!

Manager Dong, with his head bowed, replied, "…The eldest son of a large landowner from Qingling Town, Huai'an Prefecture. His family owns two to three thousand acres of good land, six or seven mountains, and they also deal in tea in Huai'an Prefecture. Rest assured."

There were still plenty of feathers to pluck.

Xianjin put her mind at ease and continued to pluck away vigorously.

Bookworms like Bo'er, who burned themselves to illuminate Chen Ji Paper Shop, were few, but there were indeed many who spent generously.

Some of these wealthy patrons would casually purchase twenty to thirty kraft paper bags.

These patrons ranged in age from seven or eight to fourteen or fifteen years old. They varied in height and build, but their only common trait was that they came from wealthy families and…still had significant room for improvement in their studies.

Cough, cough, after all, which straight-A student has time to play collectible card games!

---

Before the New Year, during the twelfth lunar month, with the holidays approaching, students were already unable to settle down. Now, with the sudden appearance of this new craze, the topic of conversation among the students of Qingcheng Mountain Academy during breaks, lunchtime, and meal times invariably revolved around the kraft paper bags and the variously styled, exquisitely crafted xuan paper inside.

Headmaster Qiao Fangzhi held a pot of silver needle tea buds and listened to two scholars discussing the differences between coral paper and jia gong paper in the courtyard. He couldn't help feeling greatly comforted. "Scholars discussing paper is akin to old monks discussing the Dao, or great generals cherishing their weapons…Our academy's students have finally cleared their minds and focused on their studies!"

Following behind him, Qiao Hui: …

He didn't know how to express himself without hurting his father's heart.

Bullshit love for paper and discussion of studies!

They were clearly ensnared by a rather clever mathematical trap!

Essentially, they were addicted and wanted to take a gamble!

My dear father!

Your students are sinking into depravity!

Qiao Hui sighed and hummed softly, recounting in detail how Chen Ji had set up a stall at the entrance and introduced the "blind bags" and "color card collection." "…The design is quite ingenious. The students were first enticed by the prizes, then spurred on by the competitive spirit. Now, several students are trying to complete the five-color sets. Zhang Wenbo from Huai'an Prefecture, Sun Shun from Chuzhou Prefecture, and Wu Dalang from Jiangxi are neck and neck, all seemingly determined to succeed…"

Qiao Fangzhi, holding his teacup, was momentarily stunned. After pondering it in his mind, he burst out laughing.

"Interesting, truly interesting!"

"In ancient times, there was Fan Li, the merchant sage, a giant of wealth in Dingtao, who dispersed his fortune three times; in the Qin dynasty, there was Lü Buwei, who hoarded rare goods, buying low and selling high…In tiny Jing County, there is such a merchant, ingenious in thought, skilled in making money work. This is indeed fortunate for our small city!"

By the end of Qiao Fangzhi's words, his eyes were filled with sighs of admiration.

What was active money?

Money that was constantly circulating in the market was called active money.

In short, money that could be spent was called active money.

Conversely, the majority of money that was tightly clutched by a very small number of people was called dead money.

In places where the economy thrived and the market flourished, there was more active money and less dead money. Only in this way could there be a flourishing of ideas, peaceful living, and a thriving academic atmosphere.

Places without financial support were barren lands. Even if the best seeds were planted, they could only yield meager fruits.

A major reason for the downfall of the previous dynasty was that a small group of people became excessively wealthy and did not allow others to become rich, especially not richer than themselves. They ruthlessly suppressed and humiliated merchants, causing silver and fine goods to flow out of the country, leaving the national treasury increasingly empty…

Qiao Fangzhi reined in his thoughts and decided on the topic for next year's classics examination – "Gathering the people of the world, collecting goods from all over, trading and retreating, each getting what they need."

"Did you buy any?"

Qiao Fangzhi sipped his tea and pursed his lips, his mustache curling upward. "Since my son has seen through the intricacies here, he must know that merchants operate for profit, putting benefits above all else—ordinary people rarely get the better of sellers. My son must not have wasted his money; he must have been a detached observer, proud in his heart, secretly calling the buyers fools…"

"I bought some."

Qiao Hui twitched the corners of his mouth, cutting off his father's words with an expressionless face. "I bought one bag. That girl was truly despicable, coaxing me into spending money with just a few words."

What?

His son, who prided himself on being extremely intelligent, had actually been duped!

After another moment of stunned silence, Qiao Fangzhi's mustache quivered as he burst into laughter.

This laughter was not particularly hurtful, but it was extremely insulting.

Qiao Hui turned away.

Qiao Fangzhi's face flushed with laughter. Seeing his eldest son's pained expression, he discreetly pinched his arm with his right hand, swallowing his smile. "So... what's in your bag then?"

"I didn't look!"

Qiao Hui continued to turn his head away. "Judging by probability, it's just ordinary paper like Jade Edition and Double Tribute..."

Whether or not he opened it, the significance was minimal.

Hmm...

In truth, this bag had witnessed his entire ordeal of being duped by that girl...

It was an utter humiliation!

He had stashed the bag at the bottom of his trunk as soon as he got home. There was no way he would open it, not in this lifetime.

Qiao Fangzhi shrugged noncommittally, smiling as he handed the silver needle tea cup to his eldest son. "You've always been arrogant, and you do have the capital for it – a scholar at seven, a provincial candidate at thirteen, a smooth sail all the way... But I must repeat the old adage: there are mountains beyond mountains, people beyond people. A mere girl could use arithmetic to hoodwink these so-called smartest scholars of Nanzhili into parting with their money and silver. Imagine what she could do with the vast world and its millions."

Qiao Hui lowered his head, mouthing words.

"Humility—"

"Tolerance—"

"Compassion for all—"

Seeing his eldest son unresponsive, Qiao Fangzhi chuckled and tapped his back of the head. "You! You'll learn when you take a big hit! When you fall into a big pit! Only then will you understand the truth of my words!"

When Qiao Hui would suffer a major setback was yet to be determined.

But Manager Dong trembled in fear, convinced that their stall would suffer a significant loss and be overturned!

Thanks to the color ticket collection, business had been booming over the past few days. They had packed eight hundred bags, which sold out within eight days, boosting sales in the shop as well.

Last night, he did a rough calculation. From the twentieth day of the twelfth month to the twenty-eighth, they earned ninety-six taels from selling leather bags, and the daily turnover from selling paper in the shop was over twenty taels.

The earnings from eight days were almost equivalent to four to five months of revenue from the Jing County workshop.

The better the harvest, the more alarmed he became.

For one reason alone.

The prize for collecting all five color tickets on the woodblock print... they didn't have it!

The six-zhang Xuan paper had long been lost to them!

Not only them, but probably no one in the entire Jing County knew how to make it! Probably couldn't find a single sheet of six-zhang Xuan for sale!

All eight hundred bags had sold out, and someone would eventually collect all five color tickets.

What would they give when someone came to redeem them?

A dazzling smile?!

Manager Dong shivered with worry. "Should we put all sixty color tickets in the bags?"

Xianjin nodded calmly. "Of course we did. We're doing business, not fraud."

Manager Dong scratched his head. At forty years old, already balding, his hairline had receded even further due to anxiety over the past few days. "But what if someone comes to redeem them, what do we do then..."

Xianjin put down the abacus she had been using to close the accounts. "Currently, no one will come to redeem them."

"Why?" Manager Dong asked.

Xianjin flipped the abacus over, calculating the total. "The person who got the only off-white ticket won't open the bag for now."

By the time he opens the bag, the New Year will be over, right?

After the New Year, the students return to the mountain academy, and she will have found the six-zhang Xuan... right?