She handed over the dress and received forty taels of silver. Very good. Although the amount of silver was not much, it was the first step taken by the Peach Blossom Village in making dresses.
Before they could continue selling, a shop assistant came down from upstairs and said, "Madams, the manager would like to invite you upstairs to talk."
An Shuyi glanced at Xia Hua, rewrapped her bundle, and followed Xia Hua upstairs. She didn't intend to sell them; selling these two outfits was just to show the manager of the Ni Chang Pavilion their confidence.
They were led to the second floor by the shop assistant and then into a room where a female shopkeeper was sitting. This shop was quite nice; the shopkeepers were all women. It seemed like a clothing shop in ancient times, where women were the managers.
The shopkeeper invited them in and said, "Please sit down, ladies. I am the shopkeeper of this Ni Chang Pavilion, Madam Hua. I saw the dresses you were selling downstairs earlier, and they were really beautiful. But since you've sold those dresses, do you have any more to sell at our Ni Chang Pavilion?"
After Xia Hua and the others sat down, they said, "Of course we do. As long as Miss Hua can afford the price, these dresses are all made by our own Taoyuan Village, and the fabric is also unique to us."
While she was speaking, An Shuyi had already opened her bundle and taken out her clothes. Hua Niangzi went over to examine the clothes. Although the fabric was not as good as their brocade, it was about the same as the silk, and there were more colors available.
If these dresses were sold, those ladies and young women would surely love them. "Ladies, are these dresses all twenty taels a set?"
Xia Hua nodded, "The clothes we brought today are all twenty taels each. There are other clothes in the village, but the silver is different."
Hua Niangzi said, "I will take all the dresses that the two ladies brought. I will go to your village another day to buy some more."
The two ladies didn't bring many clothes, but they all looked very nice. And since they said there were more in the village, she decided to go and take a look. Although their shop also had ready-made clothes, they didn't sell as well as the fabric.
Xia Hua stood up and said, "We have seven dresses here. Miss Hua can go to the village to order as many as she wants when she has time. We'll take our leave now." Having achieved their goal, they could depart.
Lady Hua handed over the silver, saying, "This is the money for the dress. Please take care, ladies."
After the two left, they went to Yunxiu Pavilion, but their previous method didn't work because the shopkeeper was downstairs. As soon as they took out the dress, the shopkeeper invited them to a room to discuss the price.
Lady Yun was more direct than Lady Hua; she bought all the clothes and said she would go to their village to order them the next day.
An Shuyi and Xia Hua left Yunxiu Pavilion not long after they went inside.
"Shushu, now that the clothes are ready, let's go get something to eat first, and then go find the private school."
"Okay, let's go get some wonton noodles. The place we used to go to was really good." As for dinner, let's skip that for now and go another time.
"Okay, let's go eat wonton noodles."
After the two finished eating, they went to Wenyuan Academy, the largest academy in Jinnan City. There were other private schools as well, but since they were going to study, they naturally had to choose the biggest and best one.
While they were eating wonton noodles, the owner told them that Wenyuan Academy had produced many top scholars in the imperial examinations, and that the dean was not foolish or corrupt. Based on this, they decided to go to Wenyuan Academy, but they didn't know if the academy would accept nineteen students at a time.
When they arrived at the academy, they found that it was not far from their house. They had even passed by their house on the way there. When they arrived at the academy, the old man at the gate, knowing their purpose, invited them in.
"Ladies, please wait here. The Dean will be here shortly."
Xia Hua said, "Shu Shu, it seems that this academy is very big." Although they hadn't looked closely when they came in, judging from the gate and the walls, the area was quite large, and it was already close to the edge of the city.
An Shuyi nodded, "It might not just be teaching; there might be other things inside."
Suddenly, a voice came from outside, “This lady is not wrong. Our academy not only teaches students to read and write, play musical instruments, play chess, write calligraphy and painting, but also to ride horses and shoot arrows. Students go back home for one day every six days, and spend the rest of the time at the academy.”
An Shuyi and Xia Hua looked at the two people who came in. One of them was older, with gray hair, a kind face, and a smile.
The other person was a gentle and refined gentleman; it seemed that she was the one who had spoken earlier.
"Madams, this is Master Cheng of our academy, and also my son. He is in charge of all the affairs of the academy now."
"Mr. An met with Dean Cheng, Master Cheng."
"Ms. Xia greets Dean Cheng and Master Cheng." After saying this, the two bowed.
Master Cheng said, "Since the two ladies brought a student here, why is the student not here?"
An Shuyi and Xia Hua exchanged a glance. It seemed like they were supposed to bring students, but they didn't. Haha, that was a little awkward!
Xia Hua said, "Dean Cheng, Master Cheng, it's like this, there are nineteen students who came to study, that's why we didn't bring them, we just came to ask if we can accept them."
"Nineteen?" Dean Cheng asked in surprise. "We don't accept children under five or over ten. Please check if they meet the criteria. If not, there's no need to send them."
This was the first time he had ever heard of nineteen students; could they all be from the same village?
An Shuyi nodded, "Don't worry, Dean and Teacher, they all meet the requirements, and they can also recognize some simple characters."
Master Cheng looked at his father. "So many! Should we take them or not?"
Dean Cheng nodded calmly, then gestured with his hand again, indicating that it was safe to take.
Master Cheng, having received instructions from his father, said, “Ladies, each student in our academy receives twenty taels of silver per semester, two sets of clothes per student, and food and lodging at the academy. We will also prepare everything else. The student just needs to come.”
Such a large sum of money is beyond the means of poor families, and it's not that they charge too much, since students have other subjects besides learning to read and write.
Of course, there are also many private schools in Jinnan City, where they can choose to go.
"Master Cheng," An Shuyi asked, "Can we send the students here tomorrow?" Today is Tuesday, so they can study for four more days before going back.
I just don’t know if five- or six-year-old children can live there, but I don’t think it will be a problem.
Neither Dean Cheng nor Master Cheng expected that upon hearing that each person would receive twenty taels of silver, these two ladies would still want to escort the people here. However, since they were willing to do so, they had no reason not to accept it.
"It can be delivered tomorrow. You don't need to bring anything; the students can come."
Xia Hua nodded, "Okay, then we'll bring the child over tomorrow, and we'll give you the money tomorrow too. Let's go back now."
"Please take care, ladies."
After going outside and making sure no one was around, An Shuyi said to Xia Hua, "Hua Hua, did you see what Dean Cheng and Teacher Cheng were doing? They were nodding and gesturing with silver in their hands, as if we couldn't see them."
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