Zhang Tian and the others picked up their brushes almost as soon as Mr. Wang finished asking the questions, with smiles on their lips and unconcealable joy on their faces.
Just as they were about to write, Zhao Chuchu suddenly said, "Wait."
One of Chen Xiucai's students scoffed, "Why, do you want to just admit defeat?"
Zhao Chuchu shook her head: "I am a businessman. Time is used to make money. I am a woman who earns hundreds of taels of silver every minute. I feel it is a loss to waste my time here competing with you."
"What do you mean by that? If you don't dare to compete, just say so."
"No, I think we should add a jackpot, otherwise I'll lose money."
"Okay, then tell me what kind of prize you want." While Zhang Tian was still thinking, Chen Xiucai's student had already agreed first.
She firmly believed that Zhao Chuchu was ugly and was the cause of all mischief.
"Not much. If I lose, I'll give you ten taels of silver each. If you lose, you'll also have to give me ten taels of silver each. How about that?"
Zhao Chuchu originally wanted to ask for one hundred taels, but after thinking about it, she decided not to.
Although they deserve a beating, losing one hundred taels of silver may directly affect the performance of the provincial examination for those who cannot mentally withstand it.
Zhao Chuchu: Do good deeds every day.
As soon as Zhao Chuchu said this, everyone was in an uproar.
Ten taels of silver.
After deducting expenses throughout the year, an ordinary family can hardly save two, three, or even ten taels of silver a year. How long will it take to save that much?
Since ancient times, cultivating a scholar requires a lot of money. To attend a private school, buy pens, ink, paper, and inkstone, buy books, and even to take exams, one needs to pay for someone to act as a guarantor. Sending a student to school also means that the family has one less labor force.
If you want to cultivate a scholar, it is absolutely impossible if the family has no money. It is even possible that the whole family will go bankrupt to support a scholar.
Most of the people present were students from poor farming families. They barely had enough money to study on a daily basis, so how could they possibly come up with ten taels of silver?
As expected, as soon as Zhao Chuchu said this, many people showed hesitation on their faces.
"What? Are you scared?" Zhao Chuchu sat leisurely and said lightly.
These four words simply aroused the anger of this group of scholars. Most scholars were very aloof and what they could not tolerate most was being looked down upon by others, especially when the person was a low-class businessman.
"Oh, who's afraid? I agree." Chen Xiucai's student was the first to agree, and then said to the people beside him, "Don't worry, she proposed this bet because she was afraid of us. She just wanted us not to compete and not be deceived by her."
"Yes, she was just bluffing."
"Don't be afraid of her, or you'll fall for her trick."
More and more people agreed, and Zhang Tian was the only one left.
Zhang Tian looked at the smiling Zhao Chuchu, as if thinking about something. She always felt that something was wrong.
"Zhang Tian, don't you agree?" The person next to her asked with hesitation on his face when he saw that she had not responded for a long time.
"Zhang Tian, she is just bluffing, don't be fooled by her." The man reminded.
What could Zhang Tian do? She could only agree. If she didn't agree, wouldn't it mean that she was scared or even cheated?
"Since we have agreed, let's get started." Zhao Chuchu's smile deepened and she felt particularly relaxed.
Thinking about it, she turned her head to look at Zhang Xiuyuan beside her and asked, "Brother Yuan, why didn't you stop me? Aren't you afraid that I would lose?"
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