On the playground of Caijiaxiang Primary School.

Under the guidance of their teacher, Cai Yimu and his classmates went up to the stage one by one to receive their graduation certificates.

He was among the top students in the class, so he stood at the front. It wasn't long before it was their turn.

Yimu took a deep breath, followed his classmates onto the stage nervously, and stood in a row facing the audience.

Young Master Zhao stood behind a wooden table with a smile on his face and picked up a book-sized hardcover volume with a green silk cover.

On the cover, the three large gold-plated characters "Diploma" are eye-catching.

"Cai Yimu!" ​​Zhao Hao read out the name on the graduation certificate.

Yimu was stunned for a moment before he answered loudly, "Yes!"

As he said this, he quickly stepped forward and bowed deeply to Mr. Zhao, Principal Zhao, as the teacher requested.

Mr. Zhao handed him the diploma, and Cai Yimu quickly took it with both hands, stammering, "Thank you, thank you, President."

"Congratulations on your graduation." Zhao Hao nodded with a smile.

Cai Yimu bowed deeply again, then walked off the stage as if his feet were treading on cotton.

Only after he stood on the stage did he have time to open his diploma and take a look.

Inside was a piece of exquisite, strong light green mulberry paper.

In the upper left corner of the paper is the school emblem of Caijiaxiang Primary School, a circular seal-style character "蔡".

In the upper right corner is a lifelike sketch, which depicts exactly what he looks like... It was before graduation, and the school specially hired an artist to draw it for each graduate.

In the middle are six eye-catching regular script characters "Caijiaxiang Primary School".

Under it was written in slightly smaller font, 'Student Cai Yimu, from Shangyuan County, Yingtian Prefecture, now sixteen years old, studied in the first term of the accelerated course of this school from October 20th, the first year of Longqing, to October 28th, the second year of Longqing, completed the course, passed the examination, and is allowed to graduate. This is the certificate.'

In the lower right corner is the signature of 'Principal Zhao Hao', as well as the time of certificate issuance, and is stamped with the school seal and Mr. Zhao's name seal.

There is also a square red seal in the lower left corner with six big characters "Science is Power" written on it.

~~

Not only Yimu, but other graduates were also looking at their newly received graduation certificates as if they were treasures.

In addition to looking good, this certificate is also very valuable.

Except for the thirty people who are going to Kunshan to attend middle school, the remaining 220 graduates have all signed long-term labor contracts with Jiangnan Group.

On the first day of next month, they will go to the training base in Xishan Island to receive a one-month group training, and then be assigned to various companies under the group for internship.

The monthly salary for the internship period is as high as 2 taels, which is more than the monthly salary of a skilled weaver of 1.5 taels. It is said that the salary will double after becoming a regular employee, but the details will not be known until the training period.

After all the certificates were issued and the students returned to their seats, Mr. Zhao took the metal microphone from Director Yu, congratulated all the graduates again, and delivered a graduation message entitled "Science is Power."

"Today, you are about to leave the school. I hope you will remember this day forever, because from today on, you have embarked on a path different from others. Whether you continue your studies or devote yourself to various jobs in the future, I hope you will not forget that our school motto is..."

"Science is power!" The students shouted out the motto of Caijiaxiang Primary School in unison.

"Yes, knowledge is power. This power can break down barriers, not only allowing you to live a better life and leap onto a higher social class, but also allowing you to see a wider world, increase the length and width of your life, and allow you to have a life that is ten or a hundred times more colorful than that of ordinary people!"

"Students, I want to tell you that you are living in the best era. The great ship of science is about to set sail. You will ride the wind and waves, travel to areas that humans have never reached, and obtain knowledge that humans have never mastered. You may even become the pioneer of a certain kind of knowledge, the inventor of a great invention. This is an opportunity that your ancestors never had."

There was wave after wave of applause, and Mr. Zhao had to stop and wait until the applause died down before speaking again.

"But at the same time, you are also living in the worst era. The Ming Dynasty is plagued by serious land annexation, corrupt officials are rampant, the rich have fields stretching for miles, and the common people have no place to live. In a small sense, knowledge can help you stay out of trouble and take good care of your family. In a big sense, knowledge can make the world a better place - many seemingly unsolvable problems in the Ming Dynasty can be easily solved if you have enough knowledge."

"For example, the common people just mentioned have no place to stand. If you have enough geographical knowledge, you should know that outside of Ming Dynasty, there are fertile lands several times larger than Ming Dynasty, waiting for us to develop. So many problems seem to have no solution, but in fact it is because of ignorance."

Zhao Hao said to the graduates earnestly, "So I hope that even if you leave school, you will not stop learning. For this reason, Yufeng Middle School will cooperate with Jiangnan Group to open correspondence courses, so that everyone can have the opportunity to continue to improve themselves after work."

Hearing this, there was another round of enthusiastic applause from the audience. Cai Yimu clapped his hands until they were swollen. His greatest wish was to continue studying.

Finally, he raised his voice and said, "Believe me, science is power! If you are dissatisfied with your situation and the world, continue to learn knowledge, and you will definitely find a solution! And the scientific knowledge you master will eventually become a well-known knowledge in this world!"

The thunderous applause continued again.

~~

After the ceremony, the school held a graduation dinner to entertain graduates and their parents.

This morning, issuing certificates and giving speeches exhausted Mr. Zhao, so he declined the kind invitation of Chief Yu Jia and did not attend the noisy dinner.

He planned to go to the private room of Weijixian in front, have a quiet meal, and then go back to rest.

Unexpectedly, when he entered the original Wei Ji Xian store after being welcomed by Manager Fang and Si Ya, he saw a desolate scene.

I saw that only seven of the ten tables on the first floor were occupied, and only two of the four private rooms upstairs had customers dining.

Wei Ji Xian’s record of having always been full since its opening a year ago was broken just like that.

How could Master Zhao, who was used to having a house full of guests, accept this?

With a gloomy face, he walked into the box called 'Spring', sat down and asked in a muffled voice: "What happened? Where did my guest go?!"

Tang Si Ya's eyes turned red, and she lowered her head, not knowing how to explain to the young master. She felt that all her hard work over the past year was meaningless...

Shopkeeper Fang poured tea for Zhao Hao and said with a wry smile, "Sir, please don't get angry. There is nothing we can do about this."

"What do you mean?" Zhao Hao asked coldly.