Chapter 143 Apology

Seeing that her goal had been achieved, Zhao Yuzhi concealed her joy and lowered her head to tease her son.

A month later, a major event occurred in the prefectural city: cheap paper began to appear in large quantities, and Bai Family Bookstore was the first bookstore to start selling cheap paper. The number of scholars coming and going almost wore out the door.

"How can this paper compare to the finest Xuan paper? Is it really worth all of you fighting over it?" A wealthy young man from a respectable family said with disdain upon seeing the yellowed paper.

"Young Master Zhu, you may not know this, but this paper only costs two hundred coins a ream. For us poor scholars, it's already a very good deal! I suppose the person who can produce such cheap paper must be a magnanimous person!"

“That’s right! So if Young Master Zhu doesn’t like it, he doesn’t have to buy it, but he shouldn’t belittle it. After all, there are only a few people in the world with such a wealthy family background as Young Master Zhu.”

Young Master Zhu had only made a casual remark, but he didn't expect it to attract so many angry glares from the scholars. Even though he was from a wealthy family, he knew he couldn't provoke these scholars, so he could only apologize and slink away.

The low-priced paper was much more popular than anyone expected. Ordinary families with educated children or those seeking early childhood education would choose to buy this paper.

Aside from the Bai family, several other families in the city that had been suppressed by the Xu family managed to turn their financial situation around by selling low-priced paper. On the contrary, the Xu family's bookstores and paper mills were accumulating large quantities of expensive Xuan paper that they couldn't sell.

Logically speaking, high-quality Xuan paper is often favored by wealthy families, but the majority of families in the prefectural city are of ordinary means, and with some people following the trend, the already limited audience is naturally divided.

"Father! We can't even sell a third of the amount of Xuan paper we used to have! If this continues, I'm afraid our paper mill will be..."

Xu Qingyan visited the various bookstores under the Xu family early in the morning. In just a few days, there were very few customers. Moreover, due to the large flow of people brought by the low-priced paper, the Bai family actually launched a method of bundling the purchase of high-priced Xuan paper with low-priced paper for sale, which snatched away most of the flow of people in the city.

"I never thought the Bai family would have this day. Bai Jingyu is quite intelligent. We underestimated him," said Old Master Xu, who was already mentally prepared, so he wasn't too surprised.

“The damage is irreversible, but we must make changes. Tomorrow, you should go and get some low-priced paper to sell. Be quick-witted. There’s no reason why the Bai family can do it but our Xu family can’t,” Old Master Xu said, and then handed the matter over to Xu Qingyan.

Xu Qingyan did not disappoint him. He copied the Bai family's sales method and sold Xuan paper and low-priced paper together. However, the Xu family was a few steps behind. Although they attracted some customers, they did not earn as much as the other families.

Bai Jingyu was extremely busy at this time, which was completely different from his leisurely and boring life in previous years. However, he was willing to do so. The thought that the Bai family could one day return to the glory days when his father was still alive and had not been suppressed by the Xu family filled him with excitement.

Now he has opened a new bookstore, which is much more spacious than the old one, but he still lives in the same place with his family and has not moved away. He just travels back and forth between the two places.

The government naturally received the lion's share of the profits from the low-priced paper. These profits were mainly used to help impoverished scholars and orphanages. Bai Jingyu and Song Yushu were both rewarded, and even Old Master Liu was not left out because he created a tool that saved manpower.

The reward Song Yushu received was five hundred taels of silver and several hundred acres of fertile land, which was an unexpected joy for her. She figured that she could live a life free from worries about food and clothing by relying on the land rent. She planned to start enjoying life after Zhou Chengyu finished the imperial examination.

"What brings you here, Young Master Xu?" Song Yushu wasn't surprised to see Xu Qingyan at the restaurant.

"I had originally intended to cooperate with you, but I was delayed by other matters. I wonder if our previous cooperation still stands?"

"Forget it, I almost got burned by the second young master of the Xu family. It's better for me to keep my distance from the Xu family," Song Yushu said without hesitation this time.

“It was my oversight back then. I never expected my second brother to do such a thing. Our Xu family is in the wrong, but Boss Wei shouldn’t be prejudiced against the Xu family because of what my second brother did. He should give our Xu family a chance to make amends.” Xu Qingyan did not leave because of Song Yushu’s refusal. Instead, he brought up the issue of compensation to Song Yushu.

"If you truly wanted to make amends, you should have come to me after that case was over, Young Master Xu. In essence, you and your second brother are not much different. At least in my opinion, neither of you has any sincerity in repenting for this matter. If it weren't for the appearance of the low-priced paper, you would probably have forgotten about it long ago."

"By the way, the child that your Xu family killed is still lying alone in the suburbs. If you really want to repent, take your second brother to kowtow to him and admit your mistakes, instead of putting on an act in front of me."

This was the first time Song Yushu had spoken to Xu Qingyan, this smiling tiger, with such cold and harsh words, but he had been holding it in for too long and had to get it off his chest.

Xu Qingyan was a man who cared about his reputation. Hearing her rudeness, he didn't stay any longer and quickly left with his people with a sullen face.

"You've offended the third young master of the Xu family like this? Aren't you afraid he'll retaliate against you in a fit of anger?" Old Master Liu felt a headache coming on when he heard Song Yushu's words. He now understood how much Dr. Wu had a headache dealing with his stubborn temper.

"Since we've already offended them, we might as well drag a few more people down with us. That way, they'll have to think twice before they take action," Song Yushu thought. Since he had already offended them, instead of thinking about how to avoid trouble, he should think about how to strengthen his team.

"We old folks are still not as quick-witted as the young people," Dr. Wu sighed.

"Just let her cause trouble? To have a formula for low-priced paper and to have achieved this much is already considered lucky. The Xu family suffered a loss in this matter, but that doesn't mean we'll let her continue to cause trouble," Old Master Liu said, his beard bristling and eyes wide.

"How do you know that Madam Wei has no choice? Didn't we say before that she was like an egg hitting a rock?" Doctor Wu no longer objected to what Song Yushu wanted to do.

"Alright, I won't say anything more. Let's just see how far we go!" Old Master Liu said resignedly.

Song Yushu's cooperation with Bai Jingyu this time was very successful, but she was not sure what to do next. Logically speaking, she should cooperate with the Yan family, but the Yan family was originally a grain merchant, but now only a widow and her children are left. The Bai family, on the other hand, still has a paper mill and a bookstore. If they cooperated, wouldn't they have to start from scratch?

Forget it, she doesn't have the ability to help the Yan family rise again. It would be simpler to find someone with some family wealth to cooperate with.