Chapter 192 This is the Rock Academy?
"We want to see the dean, we want to."
Before Ping'er could finish speaking, Lü Shizhu covered the child's mouth: "It's nothing, we just want to see the dean."
Upon hearing this, the man waved his hand and said, "The dean isn't here, and we don't have any money. If you want money, go ask the dean yourself."
Jiang Nuanzhi was completely bewildered: "What money do you need?"
"It's not about money!" Upon hearing this, the man seemed relieved and resumed his previous indifferent attitude, saying, "What kind of status does our dean have? Why would he see ordinary people like you whenever he wants?"
Today, my master is visiting various wealthy and influential families at the invitation of the county magistrate. He won't be back for a while. If you're looking for him, please come another day.
Then, noticing the things Jiang Nuanzhi and the others were carrying, he suddenly approached with a smile: "By the way, you guys aren't going to the academy, are you? Did you bring all this?"
"Speak," he said, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the basket Jiang Nuanzhi was carrying.
Jiang Nuanzhi brought even more things this time than she had given to Master Du before.
Besides the five taels of silver wrapped in red paper, the six gifts—dried meat, celery, dried longan, lotus seeds, red dates, and red beans—were also prepared. Wine was also served.
Seeing that the person was looking over, Jiang Nuanzhi simply put down the basket: "Indeed, I have prepared six gifts for the Dean. But the Dean is not here, so let's come another day."
Jiang Nuanzhi vaguely sensed something was amiss. She had just left Magistrate Feng's house not long ago, and if she remembered correctly, Magistrate Feng hadn't made any appointments with anyone. Besides, if Magistrate Feng had a past relationship with the Dean of Panshi Academy, wouldn't he have told her?
"Hey, don't go! You've come to the right place!" The man immediately hugged the basket to his arms. "Well, we'll take the things. But this isn't enough. But we have good news: we're expanding our enrollment this year. If you give us another hundred taels of silver, we'll take the child!"
"One hundred taels? Why don't you just rob me!" Upon hearing this, Lü Shizhu immediately jumped up and down.
"Gu Kui Academy only charges two taels of silver for six months, and you want a hundred taels? I think you're all money-grubbing! Ping'er, we can't go to this lousy academy!"
Ping'er frowned slightly, clearly realizing that the academy in front of him was quite different from what he had imagined.
"Hey? We're honest and fair, one hundred taels of silver, no matter what problems this person has, we'll take it! If you add fifty taels, I'll have the dean write you a letter of recommendation for next year's minor exam. Think it over, it's only one hundred and fifty taels of silver, a great deal! Plus, you'll have top-notch tutors!"
As he said this, he patted his chest.
Jiang Nuanzhi looked at him suspiciously: "What, can you make decisions for the dean?"
Lu Shizhu rolled his eyes: "You're not talking about a top-notch teacher, are you?"
The man arrogantly raised his head: "Let me introduce myself. My name is Jin Wushuang, and the students all call me Master Wushuang. The dean listens to me the most, speaking to me softly every day. What I say goes! To be honest, I'm the one who makes the decisions in the entire academy. If both of you want to enroll, I'll make an exception and only charge you two hundred and fifty taels, plus two letters of recommendation next year. How about that?"
As he spoke, he looked at Jiang Nuanzhi with anticipation.
After a two-second silence, Jiang Nuanzhi grabbed Ping'er and turned to leave.
Jin Wushuang immediately panicked and ran over to stop the man: "Tsk, don't go! We can still discuss it! How much silver do you have? Um, what I mean is, I'll make an exception today and charge you eighty taels per person, how about that?"
"Hey, hey, don't go! Fifty taels, how about fifty taels? Think it over. There's also a letter of recommendation from our dean. A letter of recommendation alone costs more than that, right?"
Jiang Nuanzhi: "."
She felt that coming to this place today was a mistake.
To her utter surprise, Panshi Academy, second only to Gu Kui Academy, turned out to be like this. Magistrate Feng's assessment that Panshi Academy was inferior to Gu Kui Academy was truly conservative. She even felt that going to such lengths to get into this academy was somewhat foolish.
He immediately took her basket back and then put both the basket and Ping'er onto the donkey cart.
However, the next second, Jin Wushuang snatched the reins from his hand.
"You can't leave!"
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned: "What? Is Master Wushuang planning to just rob us of our money?"
"What are you saying!" Jin Wushuang said righteously, then glanced at them sideways: "Do you really have silver on you? A lot?"
Upon hearing this, even Ping'er, who was usually the most composed, couldn't help but twitch at the corner of her mouth.
"Anuan, I'm not going to this academy anymore."
Jiang Nuanzhi nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, good child."
Then she tried to snatch the reins, but Jiang Nuanzhi tried twice, and both times the man easily dodged her. She couldn't help but be a little surprised; this man looked so carefree, yet he actually had some martial arts skills.
However, Jiang Nuanzhi had no intention of arguing with him. The next second, she stomped hard on his instep.
Jin Wushuang cried out in pain and immediately jumped up, clutching his foot.
Jiang Nuanzhi seized the reins of the donkey cart and jumped onto it.
However, Jin Wushuang suddenly appeared out of nowhere and blocked the front of the donkey cart as if nothing had happened.
He said with a serious expression, "You absolutely cannot leave until this is made clear!"
"Ahem. Well, what I mean is, everything can be discussed. If you think fifty taels is too much, you can give me a price. How can we negotiate if you don't give me a price? Right?"
Jiang Nuanzhi: "We're not going to read it anymore."
"How can you not study! A child this age should be focusing on their studies. I'm not trying to criticize you, but you need to think long-term! Just tell me, how much tuition fee can you afford?"
Jiang Nuanzhi sighed helplessly and casually held up one finger.
Jin Wushuang frowned: "Ten taels of silver, isn't that a bit too little?"
Jiang Nuanzhi shook her head: "It's not ten taels, it's one tael."
"Hey, are you crazy! My Pan Shi Academy is so big! You only charge one tael of silver for a student's tuition? If word gets out, won't the whole world laugh at us?" Jin Wu's eyes widened as if he had heard something unbelievable.
"Master, we are truly poor and cannot afford to attend your esteemed academy, so we will take our leave now."
As she said this, Jiang Nuanzhi tried to catch the carriage.
But the teacher continued to object: "One tael of silver? That's utter nonsense! You won't find that price anywhere else!"
Jiang Nuanzhi nodded: "That's right. Then goodbye, Master Wushuang."
However, before the donkey could even move, the reins were pulled back by this Golden Peerless again. With a gloomy and expressionless face, he said, "Take it. Give me one tael of silver. Tell me their names, and I'll take them. But you still have to give me back the tuition fee you just paid!"
Jiang Nuanzhi was taken aback when she saw him actually accept the offer. She paused for a moment, then said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Master. I was just being rude. We really don't plan to enter Panshi Academy. I'm sorry, but we'll meet again someday."
"Hey? Don't go! Let's talk some more!"
This time, Jiang Nuanzhi didn't linger and drove the donkey cart away.
Behind them, they could still hear Master Jin shouting from afar: "Come back, let's discuss this again. If it really doesn't work out, we won't accept a single tael of silver. Just leave your tuition fee here, and I'll make an exception!"
(End of this chapter)
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