"Renting a house costs only 2,500 cash a year, which is about 200 cash a month. A bowl of mutton noodles costs three cash, and with a pot of wine, it's only five cash."
"You're a court academician. The court provides you with grain for food and clothing, as well as a monthly salary. Wanming is being generous by giving you two taels of silver a month!"
Liu Yiyi, the daughter of a merchant, was extremely familiar with the prices in the capital and was well - versed in numbers.
"Moreover, you only come to teach during your days off. Counting it up, you teach only five or six times a month. And you still want two taels of silver a month?"
"In my opinion, your salary should be reduced to 500 cash a month. That's the proper thing to do!"
Hearing this, Pei Yanqi's face turned green.
He never expected that after his plea, his treatment would not only fail to improve but would be cut to a quarter of the original amount!
"That won't do!"
He immediately refused. "I've made an agreement with Li Wanming. She promised to give me two taels a month. One should keep one's word!"
Liu Yiyi frowned slightly. "Wanming is such a naive girl. Although her wine shop is making money now, she can't afford to spend like this. When I have time later, I must have a good talk with her. She must make her expenses match her income and spend within limits."
Saying this, she left the gate of Zhaoyu Academy and walked towards her family's carriage.
Hearing that his teaching salary might still be further reduced, Pei Yanqi got scared and quickly chased after her. "Miss Liu? Shareholder Liu? Business partner Liu? Let's have a good talk about the teaching salary..."
Seeing Pei Yanqi chasing after the Liu family's carriage in a hurry, Xiao Jingnan couldn't help but find it amusing.
Xiao Jingnan had read Pei Yanqi's articles. They were beautifully written and full of substance. This man was talented.
However, he didn't expect him to be so down - to - earth.
He was nothing like a pedantic scholar.
Previously, due to Pei Yanqi's relationship with Li Wanming, Xiao Jingnan hadn't had much contact with him. But now it seemed that he was another capable official worth recruiting.
Xiao Jingnan didn't think Pei Yanqi was greedy for money.
A gentleman loves wealth but acquires it in a proper way. Although Pei Yanqi was stingy, if he were really a scheming person, he could have accepted Guo Wei's recruitment and become the Guo family's son - in - law, waiting for a bright future.
But he didn't.
He even offended Guo Wei because of this and was transferred to the Court of Colonial Affairs to verify and organize documents related to foreign states.
For a top scholar, this was a waste of talent and a great humiliation.
But due to Guo Wei being the Minister of Personnel, no one dared to say anything.
However, Pei Yanqi had no complaints. Every day he happily sorted out the old files in the Court of Colonial Affairs.
After observing for some time, Xiao Jingnan thought this man was an optimist who was neither overbearing nor humble. He was worth making friends with.
So when Li Wanming hired him as a teacher in Zhaoyu Academy, Xiao Jingnan just made a couple of awkward remarks but didn't object.
Since they would become colleagues in the academy in the future, there would naturally be opportunities to gradually recruit him.
Thinking of this, Xiao Jingnan was in a good mood. He walked back to the main hall slowly with his hands behind his back.
As soon as he stepped into the hall, he saw Li Wanming sitting listlessly on a chair, drinking tea bowl after bowl.
She was really thirsty today!
Since Qinglan had gone out to handle the enrollment matters, when Fang Zhi and Lü Songyuan had an argument on the road, no one could help her.
Xiao Jingnan, Liang Xiong, Feng Xiao and the others were men and it wasn't appropriate for them to interfere too much. So she had to persuade one after another by herself. She had exhausted all her methods and was so tired that her mouth was dry.
Alas, fortunately Pei Yanqi was a top scholar and they still gave him some face. After making a few sarcastic remarks, they finally left... Otherwise, if it dragged on until lunchtime here, wouldn't they have quarreled for a whole day!
No wonder Pei Yanqi said his head hurt. Her temples were throbbing now too.
Xiao Jingnan walked over and stood behind her. He gently massaged her temples with the pads of his index fingers.
Li Wanming finally felt a bit more relaxed. She closed her eyes and praised, "Not bad. I didn't expect you to know this."
Just as she was enjoying it, Qinglan came back.
Her cheeks were flushed and her head was covered in sweat. As soon as she entered the room, she gulped down the half - cup of tea that Li Wanming had left on the table.
"I'm so thirsty!"
Qinglan slapped a register in front of Li Wanming.
" Cousin - in - law, guess how many people signed up today?"
She excitedly held up five fingers. "Fifty - two! We recruited fifty - two students in just one day!"
"So many?"
Li Wanming stood up at once.
Cangshan Academy had been in operation for many years, and there were only a little over a hundred students in the whole academy.
She didn't expect that her Zhaoyu Academy would recruit more than fifty students on the first day!
Qinglan poured herself another cup of tea and said with a smile, "It's not just that. They said they would call all their relatives and friends over to study after they got back. I estimate that there will be even more people tomorrow!"
She had been outside just now, counting money, registering, and constantly answering all kinds of questions from the public. She was so busy that her throat was smoking.
If it was still like this tomorrow, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold on...
Li Wanming was a bit worried. "What should we do? I only ordered thirty sets of desks and chairs. If the enrollment speed continues like this, the current hall will definitely not be big enough."
Xiao Jingnan smiled and gently pressed her back onto the chair.
"So now we should think about how to set up the courses."
"Your academy teaches reading, writing, arithmetic, and also plans to teach brewing, weaving, vegetable - planting, silk trade, and shop - management..."
"In my opinion, not everyone can learn so many things."
"Instead, we can let them choose the courses they want to learn according to their own wishes."
"Moreover, poor girls often have to do housework, so not everyone will have the time to come to class every day. We can stagger the time and divide all the students into two or three groups. Let them come to class once every two or three days."
Hearing this, Li Wanming finally felt a bit more at ease. She said happily, "This is a good idea! In this way, our classroom won't be short of seats!"
Xiao Jingnan also smiled. "If we're lucky enough to have a talented scholar like Scholar Pei come to teach, we can put all the desks in the yard. Anyway, the weather is warm now. Having classes among the green bamboo is quite a unique experience."
He paused for a moment and then said, "Wife, there's another thing I want to discuss with you."
"Previously you said you wanted to teach the girls how to grow vegetables. But poor girls mostly grow their own food. They may not be less knowledgeable than you about growing vegetables and raising chickens."
Li Wanming: "It's not that they're less knowledgeable than me. They must know more than me!"
"I originally planned to invite elder sister to teach vegetable - planting. She's much better than me. Who knew she couldn't come..."
Xiao Jingnan: "So I think we'd better teach them medicine instead."
"Do you mean teaching them medical skills?"
Li Wanming's eyes lit up.
"Yes. Identifying herbs, mastering medicine, and in the future going out to be a female doctor who saves lives. Isn't that much better than just growing vegetables?"