“Zhao Zhao, although I come from a merchant family, I’m not as interested in business as you are.” She’s with Meng Zhao now more to help her than to actually enjoy doing business.
"Then you can come back to Qingshi County with me and continue teaching at the school. You've been gone for so long, don't you want to go and see those naughty kids in the village?"
Wei Jinglan's eyes lit up, but she shook her head again. "Quyang is my hometown, the place where I grew up. I stayed in Qingshi County before because I was running away. Now that I'm back, I don't want to run away anymore."
"So what do you want to do?"
After pondering for a while, Wei Jinglan said firmly, "I want to open a private academy and continue to be a teacher. Zhaozhao, thank you for giving me the opportunity to teach at the school. It showed me that women can also be teachers and impart knowledge. So I want to open a private academy in Quyang and recruit students. However, I hope that the students who come to my academy will not be for the imperial examinations, but only want to learn a skill to make a living, such as accounting, cooking, sewing, or carpentry. What do you think?"
Teaching a trade? Isn't this the legendary vocational and technical college? Meng Zhao certainly supported it.
"Of course it would be great. Although the imperial examination can change one's life, it is like a thousand soldiers crossing a single-plank bridge, with a slim chance of success. If you can really teach someone a skill to make a living, that would be a tremendous merit."
Seeing Meng Zhao's support, Wei Jinglan was also very happy. "I just don't know if I can make money in the future. I really don't know much about these things."
Meng Zhao sighed inwardly. It's hard to make money in anything related to schools. Her own school in Shenjia Village is still losing money. But Wei Jinglan's thoughts are actually somewhat in line with hers. She is also in dire need of manpower, especially those with skills and education.
So Meng Zhao steeled himself and said, "Since you have this idea, I will naturally help you. I can provide some money to help you build the academy."
Wei Jinglan shook her head. "No need for that. I know your business needs a lot of money right now. I can pay for the academy myself. I'm just worried that if it doesn't make money, I don't think my academy will last long."
Meng Zhao asked curiously, "Huh? Where did you get the money?"
Wei Jinglan got up, walked to the table, and opened one of the boxes. Inside was a box full of gold ingots, gleaming brightly. In silver terms, it would be worth at least several hundred taels. She then opened several other boxes, which were filled with various gold and jade artifacts.
“These are all dowry items that my family prepared for me before. I know they are trying to make up for what they did to me before. Originally, I didn’t want to accept them, but Jingru said that ever since I left the Wei family, my mother has been ill and never recovered.” At this point, Wei Jinglan choked up. “I never hated them. I just felt wronged. Why did they give up on me so easily?”
Meng Zhao stepped forward and hugged her, gently patting her back: "It's alright, it's all over now."
Wei Jinglan wiped away her tears. "Didn't you tell me before that you can't mess with money, no matter who you mess with? Since you're willing to make amends, I'll accept it. I'll use all this money to start an academy and do what I want to do."
Meng Zhao looked at Wei Jinglan and sighed. As long as Wei Jinglan accepted the money, she would be unable to completely sever ties with the Wei family. Wei Jinglan herself knew this, but she still accepted it.
In the following period, Wei Jinglan began the long process of preparing lessons and selecting teachers. She followed Meng Zhao's advice and set up two types of courses in the academy: one was compulsory cultural courses, and the other was elective skills courses.
Since it's a technical college, it's natural to hire some skilled people. However, many of those with their own special skills don't like to pass them on to others. That's when money comes in. As a result, quite a few people, despite not being very capable, dared to ask for money. If Meng Zhao hadn't been there to persuade them, they would have been worried that Wei Jinglan Academy would have spent all the money before it even opened.
A month later, Boss Zhang opened his first braised pork shop in Fuliang County and invited Meng Zhao to cut the ribbon. She went with Huang Cuiyin and Chun.
As expected of someone with a solid foundation, Boss Zhang's two shops were even larger than the one she had bought. On the opening day, most of the new products were already in stock, and many local gentry were invited to attend, making the scene very lively. Meng Zhao took the opportunity to stay for two more days and got to know many people in the business world.
When he returned from Fuliang County, he ran into Fang Xiaohua. "Shopkeeper, you're finally back! These past two days, people have been coming to the shop looking for you every day. I told them you were out on business, but they kept waiting, sometimes for an hour or two!"
"Looking for me? Is it a man or a woman? What's their name?"
"It was a man, he looked to be under twenty, with a cold face. When I asked him his name, he wouldn't say, he just said he wanted to see you." Fang Xiaohua pouted, her tone carrying a hint of dissatisfaction. When the man heard her say that the shopkeeper wasn't there, his face immediately darkened. In the sweltering heat, Fang Xiaohua shivered from the cold, as if she were being lied to. She was speechless.
"That's strange. He doesn't even introduce himself when he comes looking for someone," Meng Zhao frowned, a little puzzled. Then she continued, "I guess it's nothing serious for him. When he comes next time, just ask him what he wants to see me about." After saying that, she went back to rest. She had been traveling and socializing for the past two days, and she was really tired.
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