Chapter 281: What Should I Offer as a Welcome Gift?
Song Yingxing savored a bowl of rice noodles, feeling utterly refreshed and invigorated.
Throughout his journey so far, he had subsisted on dried rations and northern cuisine, never quite growing accustomed to the various tastes. Now, to actually find southern-style rice noodles in Gao Family Village, it was enough to bring tears to his eyes.
He indulged in a brief bout of sentimental melancholy!
Just then, a mother and son entered the rice noodle shop. It was Madam Gao San and Gao Sanwa. They sat down at the table next to Song Yingxing's and ordered two bowls of rice noodles.
Gao Laba prepared the noodles and brought them over. Instead of returning to the counter, he pulled up a chair beside Gao Sanwa and said, "Sanwa, you've arrived at a perfect time. Would you mind helping your Uncle Laba calculate the accounts for the last three days?"
Gao Sanwa smiled and said, "No problem at all."
Gao Laba brought out his ledger. It was an utterly muddled mess of accounts. He was illiterate and kept his books entirely by drawing pictures: a circle for every bowl of rice noodles sold, two circles for two bowls, an oval for every grain of rice purchased, and a few lines for a bundle of bamboo chopsticks...
The moment the ledger was produced, Song Yingxing, sitting nearby, gasped: How could anyone possibly make sense of this?
Yet, Gao Sanwa simply picked up a brush and began writing calculations on the paper. After a flurry of additions, subtractions, multiplications, and divisions, he quickly arrived at the answer: "Uncle Laba, in the past few days, your expenses were one thousand five hundred thirty-two coins, and your income was three thousand two hundred thirty-two coins. That means you earned one thousand seven hundred coins."
He discreetly glanced at the paper Gao Sanwa had spread out, only to find it covered in symbols he couldn't comprehend.
Song Yingxing frowned. Earlier, in the county town, a young child had already dazzled him with a display of physics, leaving him quite bewildered. Now, upon arriving at Gao Family Village, another child was astounding him with arithmetic, baffling him once more.
This Gao Family Village, it made him feel utterly overwhelmed!
Early the next morning, Song Yingxing was startled awake by a series of "woosh! chug-chug!" sounds. He scrambled out of the plastic bed in the inn, stretched languidly, pushed open the window, and saw an enormous, brightly colored vehicle rumbling off into the distance.
Song Yingxing: "!!!"
Two house servants rushed in from the adjacent room, their faces pale with fright: "Master, Master, there was a strange, massive vehicle that made odd noises as it drove by! It was terrifying!"
Song Yingxing asked, "Why the panic? It's undoubtedly some special machine manufactured by Gao Family Village. With careful study, we're bound to discover its principles."
Only then did the two servants manage to compose themselves.
Song Yingxing declared, "Today I must visit the school and request some books to examine. But I wonder what would be a suitable welcome gift to bring?"
The two servants replied, "Our travel funds are nearly depleted from the journey. We have nothing respectable to offer as a gift."
Song Yingxing furrowed his brow.
The three descended the stairs. Song Yingxing intended to ask for directions to the school when he noticed a fabric store open next to the inn. He stepped inside. He looked up, surprised. "Oh? The shopkeeper of this fabric store is actually a young woman?"
The woman wasn't strikingly beautiful, but she possessed a gentle, refined demeanor. She was clearly not a country peasant woman, but someone who had received an education. Yet, unlike the demureness of well-bred ladies from official families, she greeted Song Yingxing openly and confidently: "What can I help you with, esteemed customer? Our shop offers fine cotton cloth, ready-made cotton garments, and custom tailoring to your measurements. The prices are very reasonable, too!"
Song Yingxing mused inwardly: *Why does this woman remind me of a courtesan?*
He had guessed correctly. This young woman was Chun Hong, one of the four courtesans Li Daoxuan had acquired for a bargain price. Her name was Chun Hong—a name typical of a courtesan. Under the orders of Gao Yiye, she had specifically returned to Gao Family Village to manage the fabric store.
The fabric store was a collective endeavor run by all the women of Gao Family Village. Before, the accounts had been an utter mess, but under Chun Hong's management, business had improved, the bookkeeping was smooth, and everything ran like clockwork.
The village women purchased cotton from the village storehouse, wove it into cloth at home, then sold it at the fabric store or took on custom tailoring jobs, making clothes to customers' measurements. This system significantly boosted their income, which in turn gave them much more say in their households.
Song Yingxing apologized, "I'm not here to buy clothes. I just wanted to ask for directions to the school."
Chun Hong smiled, "The school? Of course. If you walk in this direction... you'll see a massive five-story building with pristine white walls, orderly and brightly lit. That's the school."
Song Yingxing said, "Many thanks, young lady."
As he turned to leave, another woman suddenly entered the fabric store. It was none other than Madam Gao San, whom he had seen last night at the rice noodle shop.
Madam Gao San was followed by two workers, who carried a dilapidated weaving machine.
The moment she entered, she addressed Chun Hong, saying, "Shopkeeper Chun, this is terrible! My weaving machine has broken down! I've brought it here; could you see if someone can fix it for me?"
Chun Hong smiled, "That's quite simple. I'll contact the Craftsman Well and find a carpenter to come over..."
As they were speaking, Song Yingxing suddenly darted over to the weaving machine. He peered at it from left to right, then shook his head: "This type of weaving machine is already outdated; there's no need to repair it. Madam, you don't seem to be short of money, so why not spend a little to have a new one built?"
"Ah?" Madam Gao San blinked in surprise. "Have a new one built?"
Song Yingxing nodded. "Your weaving machine isn't very efficient. They no longer use this model in the Jiangnan region. Here, I'll give you a blueprint for a new-style weaving machine. Take it to a carpenter to have it made."
With that said, he actually produced paper and a brush on the spot and began to draw.
This action left both Madam Gao San and Chun Hong utterly bewildered. *Who on earth is this remarkable person? Hand-drawing a weaving machine blueprint right here? Is he really that incredible? Surely he's not just bragging, is he?*
However, Song Yingxing was not bragging.
He was truly incredible.
He had long memorized every single part of the latest Jiangnan-style weaving machines, and drawing them now was no difficulty at all. With swift strokes, it took him no time at all for a weaving machine, incorporating the latest Jiangnan technology, to appear vividly on the paper.
However, drawing on Xuan paper lacked sufficient detail, and some intricacies couldn't be fully conveyed. He still needed to add textual annotations, which was a bit cumbersome.
Blowing the ink dry, he handed the blueprint to Madam Gao San: "Show this to the carpenter. If they have any questions, they can simply ask me. And once it's built, if you don't know how to use it, you can also come to me."
Madam Gao San took the paper with both hands, still feeling a bit dazed. *Who is this person? Should I trust him or not?*
Song Yingxing now felt a sense of certainty. He had just been wondering what to offer the school as a welcome gift. Now he knew: "I'll offer all the knowledge I possess to the school. I'll give them some of the knowledge I know, and in return, seek some knowledge that I don't. That way, it's a fair exchange, isn't it?"
With that resolve, he straightened his back, and his demeanor grew confident. "To the school, then!"
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