vstars Chapter 998 The Girls' Academy is in Trouble
Chapter 998 The Girls' Academy is in Trouble
"When it comes to the law, it's all about evidence, not who has the strongest backing."
She recalled Mr. Qian Duoduo's lesson: "To solve a problem, you must first analyze your resources."
What are her bargaining chips?
The little grass's head started spinning rapidly.
She said to her mother, "Mother, don't cry."
"We know where Dexing Cloth Shop is. Wang Ermazi can't escape."
“It happened in the alley at the time. My father’s carrying pole was broken, and the contents must have been scattered all over the ground. That’s the physical evidence.”
"There's a steamed bun shop at the alley entrance, and every day at that time, there's a long queue of people—they're the witnesses!"
The more she spoke, the clearer her thoughts became, even surprising Liu San Niang and Bai Er Yue.
"Shall we...shall we go and report this to the authorities?" Lin's mother was still afraid.
“No, we won’t go to the authorities first.” Xiao Cao shook her head. “Mr. Du said that going to the authorities is a last resort, and it’s time-consuming and laborious. We can try to reason with them first.”
She looked at Bai Eryue, mustered all her courage, and bowed deeply: "Sister Eryue, could you please do me a favor?"
"You don't need to get involved, just..."
"Just come with me to Dexing Cloth Shop."
Looking at this thin girl who was a head shorter than herself, Bai Eryue felt a powerful force emanating from her for the first time.
She nodded emphatically: "Okay!"
Half an hour later, at Dexing Cloth Shop.
The shopkeeper was sipping his tea with a smug look on his face, while Wang Ermazi was boasting about how he had taught a foolish peddler a lesson.
Just then, the door of the fabric shop was pushed open, and three unexpected people walked in.
Walking at the front was the petite Lin Xiaocao. Although her palms were sweating with fear, her back was ramrod straight.
Beside her stood Bai Eryue, a woman of extraordinary bearing and dressed in her hospital uniform. She said nothing, but simply stood there quietly, exuding an invisible pressure.
Following behind them were three or four neighbors who had just bought steamed buns at the bun shop at the alley entrance.
They were moved by Xiaocao's clear and logical words—she said that if they were bullying the peddler today, they might be bullying everyone tomorrow, and we were just going to be witnesses and speak the truth.
The smiles on the shopkeeper's and Wang Ermazi's faces froze.
Xiao Cao took a deep breath and mentally reviewed the negotiation points taught by Mr. Du Jiu: first state the facts, then explain the consequences, and finally offer a solution.
“Manager Wang Er, shopkeeper,” Xiao Cao’s voice was soft but clear. “This morning in the narrow alley in the west of the city, you pushed my father, Lin Dahai, over in an attempt to grab a stall, causing him to break his right leg. My father’s carrying pole was also damaged, resulting in the loss of some goods. These uncles all witnessed it.”
She pointed to the neighbors behind her, and they all nodded.
Wang Ermazi still tried to argue: "You little brat, you're spouting nonsense!"
Xiaocao ignored him and continued, "Dr. Liu has already treated my father, and the diagnosis is here."
She took out a note written by Liu San Niang from her bosom: "The evidence and witnesses are all there. According to the laws of the Great Wu Dynasty, intentionally causing injury and disability will result in compensation for all medical expenses and lost wages, or even imprisonment."
“We could have reported it to the authorities immediately, but Mr. Du Jiu said that harmony is the most important thing among neighbors and fellow villagers.”
The shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat when he heard the name Du Jiu.
Who in Qingzhou City doesn't know that legal madman who only takes on difficult cases and is feared even by the government?
Xiao Cao concluded, "Our demands are not high. First, compensation for all of my father's medical expenses, totaling five taels of silver."
"Second, compensate my father for lost wages and nutrition expenses for three months when he cannot work, at ten taels per month, for a total of thirty taels."
"Third, compensation for the damaged loads and goods, totaling five taels. For a total of forty taels."
"We'll leave immediately after you pay, and that will settle the matter."
“If they don’t give it to us, we’ll go to the county government office now and beat the drum to appeal for justice. At that point, it probably won’t be something that can be resolved with just forty taels of silver. The reputation of Dexing Cloth Shop will also be affected.”
His words were reasonable, well-founded, and balanced in their approach.
The shopkeeper glanced at Bai Eryue's unfriendly expression, then at the indignant neighbors behind him, and upon hearing the names of Du Jiu and Doctor Liu, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He knew he had bitten off more than he could chew!
It's not worth offending such a group of people for the sake of a troublemaking nephew!
He slammed his hand on the table and cursed at Wang Ermazi, "You bastard!"
"Hurry up and apologize to Miss Lin, and give her the money!"
Finally, after some bargaining, the Lin family received thirty-five taels of silver as compensation.
When Xiaocao returned home carrying the heavy silver coins, her mother could hardly believe her eyes.
As for Lin Xiaocao herself, looking at her father sleeping peacefully on the bed, she truly felt for the first time that what the teachers at the academy taught her was not just knowledge, but also the power to protect her family and change her destiny...
That evening, she wrote a sentence in her diary using the characters she had just learned, albeit in a crooked and unsteady manner:
"I don't want to be a blade of grass blown down by the wind; I want to be a tree that can shelter my parents from the rain."
The story of Lin Xiaocao seeking justice for her father quickly spread among the lower-class people of Qingzhou City.
There are many versions of this story. Some say that the students of the girls' college were so eloquent that they could turn black into white.
Some say that there is a divine doctor in the academy who can set broken legs.
Even more extreme, some say that entering a girls' academy is like having a get-out-of-jail-free card, and even the government has to give way to you.
The rumors may be exaggerated, but... studying at the Seven Fairies Girls' Academy really is beneficial!
In no time, the threshold of the girls' academy was almost worn down by the crowds.
Unlike the hesitation and wait-and-see attitude during the last enrollment, this time, all those who came were the most honest and simple people in Qingzhou City.
They were dockworkers, market vendors, and peddlers who roamed the streets...
They themselves had spent their entire lives toiling in the fields, enduring all the hardships of life, but they saw another possibility in Lin Xiaocao.
Their daughter, perhaps, can avoid repeating the same mistakes.
"Master Bai! Please, I beg you, take my daughter in!"
"She's very smart, but her family is poor and she never had the chance to go to school!"
"Headmaster, I don't want my daughter to become a dragon or a phoenix. I only hope that she can be like that girl from the Lin family in the future, sensible and not bullied by others!"
"I heard the academy doesn't charge tuition, is that true?"
"We may not have money, but we have plenty of strength. I can come to the academy to do odd jobs to pay for our labor!"
Faced with those dark, simple, and hopeful faces, Bai Yiyue and her sisters were deeply moved.
Wasn't their original intention in establishing the academy precisely for these girls who had been forgotten in the corner?
The academy immediately announced that it would enroll sixty more students, and those from impoverished families would be exempt from tuition fees, only needing to arrange their own food and lodging.
The news caused an uproar throughout the lower classes of Qingzhou City.
However, new problems also arise.
One late night, Bai Yiyue, Qian Duoduo, and Bai Sanyue were looking at the account book with worry.
“Headmaster,” Qian Duoduo pushed up his crystal glasses, his expression serious, “the number of students has surged from thirty to ninety. The tuition fees for teachers, the consumption of writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones, and the materials for the workshops and herb gardens have all tripled.”
"If we don't find a way to increase revenue, the girls' academy can only last for a few years at most. After that... we'll have to close down."
Bai Yiyue recalled Lin Xiaocao's case, and an idea gradually became clear in her mind.
"Virtue nourishes the self, skills enable one to make a living." Bai Yiyue murmured, "What we teach our students is not only the principles of self-cultivation, but also the skills to make a living."
"Since it's a skill, it should have its value."
She raised her head, her eyes sparkling: "I've decided to establish a Practical Department within the academy!"
"The Practice Department?" Qian Duoduo and Bai Sanyue both became interested.
“That’s right,” Bai Yiyue explained. “Lin Xiaocao’s success inspired me.”
"The knowledge our students learn in the classroom should not remain on paper."
"We need to create opportunities for them to apply their knowledge in practice, to make mistakes, and to grow."
"At the same time, these practices can also generate income for the academy."
"Runbitang was guided by Du Jiu and wrote letters, contracts, and legal documents for illiterate people."
"Under the guidance of Liu San Niang and Shi Man, Bai Cao Xuan processes commonly used herbs from the herb garden, such as hemostatic powder, cooling ointment, and mosquito repellent sachets, and sells them in small batches as finished medicines..."
"Students not only master pharmacology, but also learn how to sell drugs."
"The Calculation Pavilion is personally overseen by Qian Duoduo, who leads students with a keen eye for numbers to provide accounting and organization services for small shops and workshops in the city with messy accounts."
"Tiangongfang... Song Jiuzhou's disciples can sell their practice wooden toys, simple labor-saving tools... such as improved spinning wheel parts, wheelbarrow bearings...
"This idea is brilliant!" Qian Duoduo slapped his thigh excitedly. "Students get training, the people get convenience, and the academy gets income! It's killing three birds with one stone!"
Bai Yiyue continued, "For ordinary people, our fees can be extremely low. For example, we only charge two jin of millet for writing a letter home..."
"But if it's aimed at wealthy merchants, such as providing a complete business contract... or a set of ingenious mechanical toys, then it will be priced according to market value."
"We do not compete with the poor for profit, but we want the rich to know that knowledge has value."
The plan received unanimous approval from all the gentlemen.
Just do it.
A few days later, a brand-new wooden sign was hung next to the academy's gate, which read "Seven Fairy Maidens Academy - Community Service Department". Below it, the specific details of each service and the fee schedule were listed.
At first, the people were skeptical.
The first person to arrive was an old woman. She wanted to write a letter to her son who was serving in the army on the frontier. She carried two warm eggs and hesitated at the door for a long time before daring to go in.
She was greeted by Lin Xiaocao, who gently asked the old woman what she wanted to say, carefully wrote it down stroke by stroke, and finally read it aloud to the old woman.
The old woman held the letter that conveyed her longing and was moved to tears.
After this news spread, Runbitang's business immediately boomed.
Then, a bricklayer cut his hand on a tile at the construction site and remembered the girls' academy. He went there to ask for medicine, just to see if he could get a chance.
The students from Baicaoxuan immediately cleaned his wound, applied their homemade wound medicine, and bandaged it up using the standard Liu-style bandaging method, charging him only a few coins for the cost.
Its effects were even more remarkable than those of some pharmacies in the city!
Gradually, Suanchou Pavilion received its first order – Zhang's Tofu Shop in the east of the city. The proprietress collected money and sold goods every day, but at the end of the month, she found that the money did not match up, which gave her a headache.
Qian Duoduo, along with two students, used double-entry bookkeeping to design a simple cash flow ledger for her. After a few days, the accounts became clear at a glance.
The proprietress was extremely grateful and brought over a large slab of freshly made soft tofu.
The reputation of the Practice Department was built up little by little through its solid service and low fees.
It did not bring the academy huge wealth, but the millet, eggs, vegetables, and scraps of cloth greatly relieved the academy's logistical pressure!
At least we don't have to spend money on food and drinks anymore.
More importantly, the entire learning atmosphere of the academy was transformed.
The students were no longer just rote learners; they began to study diligently in order to be able to serve a client and practice repeatedly in order to perfectly complete a task.
Their eyes no longer hold only uncertainty about the future, but also the confidence and composure that comes with mastering a skill!
Every penny and every grain of rice they earned with their own hands made them stand tall with pride.
They proved with facts that a girl, even without relying on her father or brothers or marrying into a wealthy family, can still cultivate virtue and establish herself in the world with her own hands and brains!
Among them, the most popular and eye-catching are Suanchou Pavilion and Baicaoxuan.
The simplified bookkeeping method introduced by Qian Duoduo is nothing short of a godsend for small vendors who are not well-educated and deal with coins every day.
The ointments and cooling oils prepared under Liu San Niang's guidance were made with high-quality ingredients, were reasonably priced, and had remarkable effects, earning them an excellent reputation among dockworkers and craftspeople.
However, if someone gets a bigger slice of a cake, someone else will inevitably get a smaller slice.
In the south of Qingzhou City, there is an old pharmacy that has been passed down for three generations, named Huichuntang.
The shopkeeper's surname was Sun, and he was known as Shopkeeper Sun. He was quite famous in the south of the city for his skill in making plasters.
In the past two weeks, he noticed that business in his shop had become noticeably quiet, especially his regular customers who used to come to buy liniments for sprains and bruises had all disappeared.
Upon inquiring, Manager Sun was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.
It turns out all the customers have been snatched up by Baicaoxuan at the Girls' Academy!
"A bunch of little girls playing house, daring to steal my Huichuntang's business!" Manager Sun thought to himself with resentment.
Coincidentally, Mr. Liu, the accountant at Jin Suanpan in the east of the city, was also looking at his empty teacup with worry.
He specialized in bookkeeping for moderately wealthy families and shops, earning a substantial monthly salary.
Recently, however, several of his long-time customers have dismissed him, citing that they have found a more cost-effective way to make money.
He sent his apprentices to investigate, and they reported that it was the girls' academy's accounting department that used a new type of ledger they had never heard of before, and that it kept all the accounts clear and organized for a very small fee.
"Women managing finances? That's utterly ridiculous!" Accountant Liu slammed his teacup down on the table, his eyes filled with contempt and resentment.