Making money, taking exams and supporting the family

chapter 36: The Test of Accepting Disciples

In the full knowledge that Lin Ze has a bad reputation and that students who enter his tutelage have no bright future, Li Guangcai still chose to send his son. Naturally, he must have had his reasons.

What do the offspring of merchants care about the most? It’s either passing the imperial examinations to change their family’s fortune or inheriting the family business and expanding it.

As for the former, Li Guangcai did not have high expectations for his son. After all, his son started studying at the age of three but had only just completed the “Thousand Character Classic” at the age of nine. This clearly was not the material for passing the imperial examinations.

So, Li Guangcai was currently focused on having his son read more books and become more knowledgeable, so that he could inherit the family shop in the future and make it prosper. This way, he would not be taken advantage of in business deals because of his lack of characters reading knowledge, leading to not understanding contracts or being deceived by others in written matters.

Furthermore, Li Guangcai may not know Lin Ze’s future prospects, but he was aware of recent developments involving Lin Ze in the town.

In just a little over a month, Lin Ze managed to develop a small stall with no shop into a business with a reputation that spread throughout the entire town. Could this really be explained by luck and having good-tasting snacks alone?

There were many people who excelled at making good food, so why didn’t they achieve the same success? Take, for example, the well-established Residence of Joyful Immortals*, which was also in the pastry business. Their snack flavors were renowned throughout the town, but it took them a long time to build their brand.

*(I don’t remember what I named this bakery, pinyin Lexianju)

Li Guangcai had lived for half his life, and while he had done decently in business, he had a good sense of judging people. In his eyes, Lin Ze was a born businessman.

So, he wanted to hire Lin Ze as a teacher, not to teach his son poetry and academics but to learn Lin Ze’s business acumen.

Lin Ze also had a suspicion about this, and he had some plans of his own. Otherwise, he would not want to waste his time taking on students; his time was quite precious now.

Glancing at the child who still seemed angry and unwilling, Lin Ze decided not to waste any more words and got straight to the point.

“Li Sheng, right? You’re not my student yet, no matter how much you say. This opportunity was your dad swallowing his pride to plead for on your behalf. If you don’t agree with what I say, then answer my questions properly, and let me see if you’re really as foolish as you seem.”

“First question, tell me, why did you curse at me like that initially? We don’t know each other, so how did you conclude that I’m a money-loving, lousy scholar? How did you think that without businessmen paying taxes, the imperial court couldn’t support us scholars?”

This question left Li Sheng momentarily speechless, and he began to feel uneasy as he stared at Lin Ze.

Initially, he had acted out of anger, unable to stand seeing his father being humiliated. But now, he realized how severe the consequences of his words could be. At best, he had insulted a scholar, but at worst, he had rebelled against the imperial court.

Li Sheng might be immature, but at the age of nine, even children in ancient times were somewhat precocious. Coming to his senses, he dared not repeat his earlier words, and his face turned somewhat pale.

“Be honest, there’s no one else in this room, and I don’t like flattery. If you don’t have the courage to answer such a simple question, you might as well go back with your dad…”