Chapter 120: Whether the ambitious business is difficult or not depends on who you do it with...
Song Jin filled in the answer, stood aside, and watched several people gather around the paper to study it carefully, with an uncontrollable smile on his face.
Seeing her proud, Ji Shubai couldn't help but come over and stand beside her and whispered, "Are you happy?"
Song Jin smiled and replied: "Happy."
Ji Shubai pursed his lips, motioning her to look at Lu Junnian: "You've been hit so hard, since you can solve problems, then solve this one."
Song Jin continued to laugh: "Just wait and see."
She walked over to Lu Junnian and whispered something in his ear. Suddenly, Lu Junnian stood up and asked in surprise, "Really?"
"I would never lie to you."
"Then tell me about it. Tell me about it."
Song Jin leaned over and whispered something in his ear again, but no one knew what he said. Suddenly, Lu Junnian grabbed the paper and looked at it carefully from top to bottom.
"I see! I see!"
After saying this, he ignored everyone's surprised looks and drew one hundred and twenty-one boxes, then filled them in in one go. He threw away the pen, grabbed the abacus and started to count.
Indeed, the sum of the numbers horizontally, vertically and diagonally is the same.
"Oh, Master Lu, you figured it out so quickly, that's amazing."
"Well, it's just so-so."
Song Jin walked up to Ji Shubai and asked him, "Master Ji, how did I solve the problem you asked?"
Ji Shubai bowed slightly: "I'll set up a banquet to thank you next time."
"Then I'll wait."
Lu Junnian regained his face in front of everyone, and his expression finally looked better. He ran to Song Jin again and asked, "Is this all you learned?"
"Of course there are other skills."
"For example?"
"Like...speed calculation."
"Quick math? What's that?"
Everyone gathered around and asked Song Jin what fast calculation was.
Song Jin explained: "Speed calculation is a skill of calculating quickly, without an abacus or any other tools, just mental arithmetic."
"I have been a teacher at the provincial school and then the prefectural school. I have read so many books and taught so many students, but this is the first time I have heard of fast calculation."
Song Jin said: "The schools in prefectures, states and counties teach Confucianism, but mine is different. Mine teaches mathematics."
"Mathematics? Is it the same as the arithmetic?"
Song Jin thought about it and said frankly, "I have never read the Mathematical Scriptures, so I don't understand it very well."
"You haven't even read the Mathematical Classics, how can you say you understand mathematics?"
"Hahaha, you ignorant kid, you're always talking nonsense."
......
Seeing everyone laughing at him, Song Jin was not anxious and said steadily, "Sir, words are not enough. Let me do a calculation for you first."
"Okay, okay, you do the math."
"Let me start with a simple one, like twice 5443."
"This is easy. You tell me how much it is."
“The answer is 14886.”
Manager Song on the side fiddled with the abacus, and Song Jin replied immediately after he answered: "That's the number."
"Come up with something more complicated."
Song Jin then asked another question, multiplying a six-digit number by two, and he still got the answer instantly.
Some of the old masters were overwhelmed and asked Song Jin if he could calculate other multiples. Song Jin then gave two problems of multiplying two-digit numbers by two-digit numbers, and calculated the results himself, and he got them correct every time.
"Can you do more with this? You can only multiply more by less, or multiply two-digit numbers?"
"Of course not only that, but Mr. Chai is hosting a New Year banquet today, and it would be bad if we stay here for too long."
After saying that, Song Jin looked up at Ji Shubai and finally began to ask for help.
Ji Shubai stepped forward and said, "My lords, Chai Heng is hosting a banquet today, and it would be bad if there were no guests. In a few days, the Japanese official will host a banquet at home. If you are interested, you may come then. I will also invite this young man to join us. If you are interested, you may ask again then."
"Yes, yes, it's winter and the food should be cold."
Chai Heng helped to welcome everyone into the hall. He couldn't help but look back at Song Jin and gave a wink to Manager Song.
Manager Song understood what he meant and turned around to find Song Jin.
"Manager Lu, follow me."
Song Jin was led by Manager Song to the other side, and after a winding path, they entered a small pavilion.
"Please wait here, Manager Lu."
Song Jin was a little confused, but he could only say yes.
After Manager Song left, she stood in the middle of the pavilion and looked around.
There are carved windows on all four sides, and in the middle is a large walnut wood incense table with curved legs and a stone surface. On each side is a yellow rosewood official hat chair with high armrests. The backrests are carved with curling grass patterns, which is truly luxurious.
"Sorry for keeping Manager Lu waiting."
Before Song Jin finished reading, he heard a loud voice coming from outside. It was Mrs. Chai.
"lady?"
When Mrs. Chai came in, she almost blinded Song Jin's eyes.
Today she wore a golden crown, a gold and jade magpie-climbing flower hairpin, a sea otter-shaped rabbit on her forehead, and a pair of gold filigree gourd earrings. She wore a lake-colored flying crane patterned Zhang velvet double-breasted jacket, with mink fur edges visible through the cuffs, two pairs of bright gold buttons with butterfly-following-flower patterns on the white vertical collar, and a fist-sized gold pendant collar with exquisite carvings below.
She stretched out her left hand with three gold and ruby rings, held the maid's hand, and with her right hand twirled a handkerchief with a sea and sky pattern, she stepped over the threshold and walked in.
"Sit down."
Madam Chai and Song Jin passed each other, and a fragrant breeze blew over, which was much more fragrant than Ji Shubai's.
Song Jin saw her sitting directly on the official hat chair on the right, and ordered someone to bring tea. She sat on the armchair below, and estimated in her mind that it was a large house with a garden.
"I heard that Shopkeeper Lu was so proud in the front hall just now that the old masters were very surprised."
Song Jin said honestly: "It's just a small trick, not worth mentioning."
Madam Chai smiled even more: "What little trick is it? As long as it can intimidate people, it is a good trick."
Song Jin stopped making excuses.
"I heard from my husband that you will meet them again in a few days?"
"Yes, several adults are interested and want to ask more questions."
"Are you sure you can win?"
"Go back and prepare. We should be 80% sure."
Mrs. Chai was very proud: "That's good, it would be best if I could defeat him completely."
After saying that, he looked at Song Jin.
Because it was too hot just now, Song Jin took off her new cotton-padded jacket and changed into the old jacket she wore at Bai's house, which was really old. Now that she entered the small pavilion and could not see the sun, she felt cold, which made her look a little shivering.
"It's not easy for you, a woman, to disguise yourself and do business, right?"
“Making money is never easy.”
"That makes sense, but it's not entirely true. Whether this business is difficult or not depends on who you do it with."
Madam Chai took the tea handed over by the servant and smiled, "Take tea leaves for example. If you don't have a tea voucher, you can't make any money. But with a tea voucher, it's hard to lose money, don't you think?"
"Madam, you are right."
"The door of the Chai family is open to all those who want to do business. But if you want someone to open the door, you don't have to knock with your hands. It's faster to knock with your brain."
After that, he smiled at Song Jin and said, "I like your brain. Tell me about your business."
Song Jin could guess the reason without Mrs. Chai telling him. She attracted the attention of those officials first, so it would be hard for Chai Heng not to notice her.
This is really an unexpected result.
Song Jin gave a brief account of his current business and Mrs. Chai shook her head.
"Even if I want a thousand kilograms of chestnuts, how much can you earn? It's too small, not worth mentioning."
"I think this mosquito coil business is feasible. It can repel mosquitoes, but it is also fragrant. Once the incense is lit, it will burn a lot of money. This is a profitable business."
"As for cooking, it is said that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen. No matter how great your skills are, if you kill chickens and geese all day long, you are inferior to others. Just like today, others are eating in the living room, and you are cooking in the kitchen. This is a natural distance that you cannot cross. So I advise you to hand over this business to others as soon as possible, and be at ease with being your boss behind you, instead of carrying the burden and rushing around everywhere."
After hearing this, Song Jin remained silent.
"Are you blaming me for being too talkative?"
"How dare I? Thank you very much, Madam, for your advice."
"I'm glad you don't mind. As a person, you rarely have the chance to move up in life. Once this opportunity comes, I advise you to grab it. Don't despise those old men for being pedantic. Sometimes they can be of great help."
Song Jin wasn't sure whether the opportunity she was talking about was Ji Shubai or the opportunity to defeat those old masters and make a name for himself, but he knew that she was telling the truth.
It's not easy to get Mrs. Chai to tell the truth. Just like when Song Jin went out, she just said nice things to him. Who would be sincere when there is nothing wrong?
Just as Song Jin was about to stand up to thank them, he saw three or four maids wearing sandalwood-colored satin jackets walk in, each holding a tray in their hands. Song Jin immediately backed away.
It is said that people do not care about face, and that having substance is enough. This is all bluffing. Who would not want both when they can have them? They just say it is not important because they cannot have either.
She regretted not changing into a new coat just now.
"You have worked hard today. Consider these things as a token of my appreciation to you and my husband."
When Song Jin took a look, he was surprised to see that there was everything including silver, clothes and jewelry.
"Madam, this is..."
"I told you, thank you."
"How can I bear this?"
"If I tell you that you can bear it, then you can bear it. You don't want to wear what you are wearing to meet them on that day, do you? I will give you clothes for both men and women, regardless of size, you can wear them."
"this......"
In this world, no one receives reward without merit. When Song Jin received fifty taels of silver, he knew it was because of Ji Shubai. What about this time?
No one will give you benefits for free.
"I have my own selfish motives. I just hope you can win so that I can look more proud."
Song Jin suddenly understood that there were no poor candidates in the Ming Dynasty, because no matter how poor you were, there would always be people who would flatter you.
There were many male candidates in Suzhou, but it was rare to find a woman who was good at mathematics and could chat about mathematics with a few old scholars, or perhaps there was none.
Song Jin wanted face, and so did Madam Chai. If Song Jin got face, she could talk about us women when she went out in the future, just like the men in the 21st century, who expanded territory, defended their country, and used the deeds of their predecessors to flatter themselves even though they had done nothing.
The good things in the past are my credit, but the bad things in the present have nothing to do with me.
Mrs. Chai wanted to buy shares in advance and bet on Song Jin to become a "Jinshi" in the future, and the only "Jinshi" in the Ming Dynasty. Anyway, these rewards were a drop in the bucket for her, and she was no different from the man who built a school and hoped that Song Jin would become a high-ranking official in the future so that he could make money smoothly.
Once the man's purpose became clear, Song Jin became calm instead.
"Then I would like to thank you, Madam."
Mrs. Chai smiled and said, "I am waiting to see what Shopkeeper Lu will do."
If it's good, then we'll all be good together. If it's not good, then let's just pretend we haven't met today.
Song Jin couldn't help but sigh that Mrs. Chai was quite ambitious.
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