It took Pei Yanqi quite a while to understand what was going on.
"You want to open a girls' academy?"
"Teach them farming and weaving?"
"And you want me to be a teacher there?"
He immediately shook his head. "No way! I'm the top scholar of the current dynasty. How can I teach a bunch of women how to weave?"
Li Wanming gently tapped the table with her finger. "You don't need to teach weaving. You're not capable of that anyway."
"All you need to do is teach them some simple characters so that they can read and sign contracts or name cards in the future."
She had thought it through clearly.
Although the main goal was to teach survival skills, reading and writing were essential.
Otherwise, illiterate and blind, they would still be bullied once they went out.
Hearing this, Pei Yanqi disagreed even more.
"I'm a top scholar! How can I just teach people how to read characters? That's a complete waste of my talent!"
Seeing his reaction, Li Wanming sighed softly and pretended to be in a difficult situation. "I originally thought that if I had a capable teacher to look after the academy for me, I could focus on running the wine shop."
"But I didn't expect you to be so unwilling. In that case, I'll have to run between the two places myself."
"It's just that my energy will be split between the two, and I'm bound to neglect one or the other. The business of the wine shop next year might not be as good. I might even make a loss..."
Pei Yanqi rolled his eyes and asked carefully, "How much of a loss?"
Li Wanming said, "It's hard to say. I just rented a new shop today. The annual rent is a thousand taels of silver... I might lose it all."
A thousand taels!
Pei Yanqi gasped.
"Li Wanming, you spendthrift! How dare you rent a shop for a thousand taels?"
"I had no choice. To expand the business, I need a good location."
Li Wanming rubbed her ears. "I originally thought that once the academy was up and running, my wine shop would have more skilled workers. By then, I could afford to rent a shop for ten thousand taels, let alone one for a thousand."
"Once I open a few more branches and the Jin Yutang wine becomes famous all over the world... Maybe, the bonus for Mr. Pei won't be four hundred taels but four thousand taels."
"Who would have thought that Mr. Pei would be so unwilling to help me? I'll just have to suffer on my own. It's inevitable that the wine shop will make a loss..."
"Wait a minute!"
Pei Yanqi waved his hand, signaling her to be quiet.
He was a bit dazed by the mention of four thousand taels.
Four thousand taels...
You should know that the annual salary of a first-rank official in the current dynasty was only two hundred taels of silver and one hundred and eighty hu of grain.
Although the aristocratic families mainly relied on the manors and shops accumulated by their ancestors rather than their salaries... Four thousand taels of silver was probably more than what he could save in a lifetime of being an official.
And Li Wanming said that was just his annual bonus...
If that was the case, by the time he retired, wouldn't he be extremely wealthy, rich enough to rival a country?
The temptation was truly great.
After much thought, Pei Yanqi finally frowned and said reservedly, "Since Miss Li is in such great need of help, I can go and give a few classes when I'm not on duty..."
This was exactly what Li Wanming had been waiting for. She quickly said, "Of course! Mr. Pei is a top scholar. How could I ask you to come and teach every day?"
"You're such a remarkable person. You only need to come and give a class on your days off. On normal days, I'll hire one or two other teachers."
The reason she invited Pei Yanqi was to use his reputation as a top scholar. She didn't really care whether he actually came to teach or not.
Pei Yanqi thought for a long time and finally nodded in agreement.
However, he immediately added, "The salary for being a teacher should be calculated separately! It can't be mixed with the bonus from the wine shop!"
...
Li Wanming almost rolled her eyes to the sky.
She knew it!
People like Pei Yanqi, who were so obsessed with money, were more easily swayed by wealth than anything else.
He even had the nerve to say that the Hanlin Academy was a noble and pure place that shouldn't be tainted by the smell of money.
Come on, Mr. Top Scholar! You're completely soaked in the smell of money from head to toe!
Li Wanming forced down the contempt at the corner of her mouth and asked patiently, "How much do you want?"
Pei Yanqi struggled for a long time and then held up two fingers. "Two taels a month?"
Li Wanming looked at his expression, thinking he was going to ask for an exorbitant amount. But when he said it, it was a reasonable price.
"It's not much..."
Pei Yanqi flicked his sleeve and stood upright. "A gentleman loves wealth but obtains it in a proper way. I'm only going to give a class on my days off, so I naturally can't ask for too much."
He was currently a seventh-rank Hanlin official, and his annual salary was forty-five taels of silver.
Asking for two taels from the academy was already half of his monthly salary, so it wasn't really low.
However, compared to the bonus from the wine shop, it was indeed not high.
The reason he didn't ask for an exorbitant amount was that he knew the academy was different from the wine shop.
The academy was not a profit-making organization.
Especially in the first two years, when it had no reputation, it might be a bottomless pit of expenses.
By then, no matter how much the wine shop earned, it might not be enough to fill it...
As the first teacher hired by Li Wanming, he naturally couldn't ask for too much. This was also to set an example for the other teachers who would be hired later.
As a top scholar, if he only asked for two taels of silver as his monthly salary, then the others would surely be embarrassed to ask for a high price.
Two taels of silver was the result of his careful consideration.
Moreover, if the academy got on the right track and could be self-sufficient in the future, he could ask for a raise in his salary...
Only by being careful with money could one ensure a long and stable income.
Mr. Top Scholar Pei had thought it through clearly.
Since Pei Yanqi had agreed, Li Wanming naturally wouldn't refuse. She gave him a few more instructions and then turned to leave.
As usual, from beginning to end, Pei Yanqi never asked her why she wanted to open an academy.
——————
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the new store of the Li Family Wine Shop opened.
The sun was shining brightly that day, warm but not blinding, making people feel cozy in its light.
The smell of firecrackers, unique to the Chinese New Year, still lingered in the air, adding a festive touch to this clear winter day.
The new store still carried the name of the Li Family Wine Shop.
Although the name remained unchanged, Li Wanming had specially asked Xiao Jingnan to write a new plaque, which was hung right in the middle.
Xiao Jingnan's calligraphy was elegant and unrestrained, with an indescribable sense of freedom and ease, which complemented the mellow and pure taste of the Jin Yutang wine perfectly.
Li Wanming decided to make this new store the main store, while the old one would only be used for research and storage.
She appointed Caiwei as the shopkeeper of the main store.
Caiwei was overjoyed and could hardly believe it. She asked several times to confirm that she had really been entrusted with this important task. She was so happy that she almost cried and was about to kneel down and kowtow to Li Wanming.
Caiwei was bold and intelligent, and she was straightforward and efficient in both speaking and doing things. Li Wanming believed that she could do a good job.
As for Qinglan...
She was steady, meticulous, and literate. Li Wanming's academy needed a female dean like her who could take charge independently.
At the beginning of the new year, everything was renewed.
The whole capital city was bustling with carriages and horses, and the singing seemed to never end. It was as if it had been dyed with a festive and noisy color, and from the inside out, it was dyed into a colorful mess, exuding a kind of joy and hope that warmed people's hearts...
It was truly a good day.