Chapter 532 Test
Manbao put the money into the system. Mr. Zhuang closed himself in for three days to study. On the third day, he said to them, "I will take you to meet a teacher and find out about the provincial school examination."
During these three days, Zhou Silang took out the Ligustrum lucidum and dried ginger he brought in batches and visited all the medicine shops in Yizhou City, exchanging them for countless copper coins.
Unlike Luojiang County where there is only one pharmacy, there are many pharmacies in Yizhou City, including three largest ones, and Jishidiang is just one of them.
There were several small pharmacies below. Zhou Silang spent the past three days carrying two small cloth bags and asking people to find these pharmacies. Then he used the Ligustrum lucidum and dried ginger in his hand to ask about the prices and wrote down the prices of each pharmacy.
He decided to choose a pharmacy with the highest price and the easiest to get along with.
Manbao thought, "Since you want to send it to Yizhou City anyway, why not sell it to a few more families?"
She said, "With so many mountains at home, the Ligustrum lucidum will grow more and more. Many people in the village are also growing ginger. If they grow a lot, you can buy the old ginger from them and dry it, or have them dry it directly and then transport it to Yizhou City to sell."
Zhou Silang thought about it seriously. If they were delivering the herbs from the village, they would definitely use an ox cart. It was an ox cart anyway, so one sack or two sacks would be enough. Of course, the more they loaded, the better.
Since I don’t have that much at home, I can only buy it from the villagers.
Zhou Silang clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Manbao, you're really smart. I'll go out and look for it again tomorrow. I've also been talking to the owners of those medicine shops these past two days. Let's go out for dinner tomorrow and talk more to see if they're willing to purchase in bulk."
Manbao nodded and said, "It's better to ask them how much they consume in a month. If we can guarantee the supply, what price will they offer?"
Manbao said, "Fourth brother, you also need to calculate clearly how much we can provide them. It would be best if we could sign a contract. Otherwise, we won't be afraid that they won't accept the goods we send them and will even try to lower the price."
Zhou Silang had a headache, "I don't know how to write a contract."
"Don't worry, this won't be done in a day, and I know how to do it," Manbao said, "If they don't write it, I'll help you write it."
"Okay, Manbao, you're smart. I'll do as you say."
So, the next day Zhou Silang received a hundred dollars from Manbao and went out, while Manbao went out with Bai Shanbao and Mr. Zhuang.
Daji drove a carriage, and the three children helped Mr. Zhuang onto it. They opened the window and, while smelling the smoke from the fireworks wafting in from outside, asked Mr. Zhuang, "Sir, who is the gentleman we are going to visit?"
Mr. Zhuang said with a sigh, "It's a Mr. Lan. He is a teacher at the provincial school and we were classmates."
"Oh——" The three of them responded obediently, and Manbao asked, "Sir, is he very powerful?"
Mr. Zhuang stroked his beard and smiled, "It's really amazing. You'll know when you see it."
Mr. Lan lived near the provincial school and not far from their courtyard. Mr. Zhuang had asked Daji to deliver the visiting card two days ago, so when he arrived at the door and knocked twice, someone opened it.
When the servant saw Mr. Zhuang, he bowed and asked, "Are you Mr. Zhuang from Luojiang County?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled and nodded, "That's right."
The servant bent over and said quickly, "Sir, please come in. Our master has been waiting for you since early morning."
Mr. Zhuang led three disciples and Daji inside. As they entered the courtyard, a middle-aged man with a brisk gait came out to greet them. He looked seven or eight years younger than Mr. Zhuang, and his eyes lit up when he saw Mr. Zhuang. "Brother Zhuang?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled and greeted with a laugh, "Zhongcheng, it's been a long time since we last met. I hope you are doing well."
Lan Cheng took a few quick steps and smiled at Mr. Zhuang, also very happy. "It's been many years since we last met. I wrote to you first, but you never replied. I thought..."
I thought you were dead.
The two men had studied together in the provincial school and had a good relationship during that time. After not seeing each other for many years, they had a lot to talk about. After exchanging greetings for a while, Mr. Zhuang asked his three disciples to come forward and pay their respects to Lan Cheng.
Lan Cheng stroked his beard as he waited for them to bow. He smiled and raised his hand, saying, "Your teacher and I were once classmates. We studied together for four or five years. You can call me Uncle Master."
The three of them looked at Mr. Zhuang before bowing again and calling him "Uncle Master".
Lan Cheng stroked his beard with satisfaction. Only then did he realize that Manbao, standing on the far left, was a young woman. He was stunned for a moment and looked at Mr. Zhuang, "Brother Zhuang, is this your child?"
Otherwise, who would accept a little girl as a disciple?
Mr. Zhuang smiled and shook his head, introducing her, "Her name is Zhou Man, and she's my eldest disciple. She's a very smart child."
Manbao smiled at Lancheng embarrassedly.
Lan Cheng was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Since you say so, it seems this child is very smart. By the way, which child do you think is going to take the entrance exam for the provincial academy?"
Mr. Zhuang then pointed to Bai Shanbao and said, "This is my second disciple, Bai Shan. You can test him to see how good he is."
He smiled and said, "I haven't been to the prefectural capital for many years, so I don't know the current level of the students in the prefectural school. Judging from the level when we enrolled, I think this child is worth a try."
Lan Cheng felt that the boy was indeed too young, but he also knew his classmate. He was always prudent and would never say anything exaggerated.
He said Bai Shan has the ability, so it is very likely that he does.
So, he didn't hesitate and started testing her directly.
To take the entrance exam for the provincial academy, it is of course not enough to just read the basic subsets. The classics, history, philosophy, and even other miscellaneous books are also indispensable.
Although some books will not be tested in depth, they will still be covered, so the reading volume is quite large.
But to ensure that one can read so many books at such a young age, one not only needs to come from a wealthy family with enough books to read at home, but also needs to be smart and self-disciplined.
He didn't expect that Bai Shan could actually answer all the questions, so he couldn't help but test them a little too deeply.
Mr. Zhuang pointed at Manbao and said with a smile, "Come, go help your junior brother and let Mr. Lan see what you have learned."
Lan Cheng glanced at Mr. Zhuang, smiled, and also looked at Manbao.
Manbao glanced at Bai Shanbao and saw that his forehead was sweating and he looked a little tired. He knew that Bai Shanbao had been tested for half an hour and was exhausted, so he bowed and answered for him.
Lan Cheng is a teacher at the provincial school. He has been a teacher there for more than ten years and has met all kinds of students, including smart students like Bai Shan and Zhou Man.
But they were not younger than them, and Zhou Man was still a girl.
The more he tested her, the more Lan Cheng couldn't help but sigh. How could this be a girl?
If it is a boy, he can be accepted as a disciple directly, and it may become a good story in the future.
Lan Cheng stopped the test with satisfaction and looked at Bai Erlang.
The next update will be around 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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