Chapter 67: The First Lesson of Initiation, Numbers

"You and Shengyuan have various industries spanning the entire country; can you even care about a small business like a restaurant?"

Ye Xiu shook his head helplessly. "Besides, Madam Wei probably wouldn't deign to look at such meager profits, would she?"

"To be honest with you, I do have my own selfish motives. Only by expanding my businesses can I broaden my social circle. Who wouldn't want to become the premier merchant of Jinling?"

Manager Wei sighed. "Originally, I wanted to follow your lead and secretly purchase some silk and porcelain, but by the time I was ready to act, the prices of tea, silk, and porcelain had all skyrocketed. As for strong liquor, that is your exclusive monopoly. I have no choice but to expand white sugar production and try to get a piece of the pie from maritime trade."

At this, Manager Wei looked utterly curious. "Even Madam Wei hasn't received any definitive news, so why does Young Master believe that the maritime ban will definitely be lifted? Besides, summer has already begun, and there's still not the slightest sign of it."

"Of course there are no signs yet," Ye Xiu said with an expression of utter exasperation. "Ask yourself, what is the imperial court busy with right now?"

"This..." Manager Wei pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly lighting up. "They are all waiting for the matter concerning the elder to be settled!"

"Exactly!" Ye Xiu nodded. "The day my grandfather's case is concluded will be the day the maritime ban is lifted."

"Then how long will that take?" Manager Wei asked again. "The Wei family has already partnered with the Imperial Brother-in-Law for maritime transport, but the Imperial Brother-in-Law hasn't said anything either, and the speculations of the people below are not worth trusting."

"Late April or early May, it will undoubtedly be revealed," Ye Xiu asserted with certainty.

"This..." Manager Wei was taken aback. "Why are you so sure?"

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand." Ye Xiu paused. "Since you want to open a restaurant, there happens to be a suitable location. As it happens, I have no time to attend to it myself, so I'll let you have the bargain."

"Really?" Manager Wei's eyes lit up. "May I ask where the location is, Young Master?"

"The Lanting Garden in Yangzhou remains idle most of the time, so Mr. He Jizhen is planning to open a restaurant with me there."

Ye Xiu wore an expression that seemed to say he had great faith in him. "Take the time to write a written proposal, and I will hand it to Mr. He. Consider it my favor in bridging the connection for you."

"Is the Young Master speaking of the leader of the Jiangnan Poetry League?" Manager Wei was completely stunned. He pinched his cheek hard; it hurt—this was real.

"When have I ever joked with you?" Ye Xiu took a sip of tea. "You really do need to scale up the white sugar production. A war is coming, and the price of white sugar is about to soar..."

Manager Wei didn't understand what white sugar could possibly have to do with war, but he didn't ask further.

After cadging a meal at Ye Xiu's place, he left in high spirits to prepare the joint business venture proposal.

In the evening, Ye Wuji returned with Li Weishan, closely followed by He Daoxuan.

Ye Xiu was stunned. "Didn't you go back to Yangzhou?"

He Daoxuan smiled triumphantly. "Transporting books is naturally something for the servants to handle. I might as well wait here."

The family sat around the table, ready to eat.

Just then, they heard a servant knock on the front door and enter to hand Ye Wuji a letter.

Ye Xiu glanced at it; the envelope bore the inscription "For the personal perusal of my virtuous brother Wuji."

He felt a slight pang of disappointment. The handwriting was vigorous and powerful; it was not a woman's hand.

"Father, who is this from?" Ye Xiu couldn't help asking.

"Never met him, a pen pal in the capital. We mutually appreciate each other's talents and have been exchanging letters frequently of late."

Ye Wuji paused. "This person possesses profound scholarship, and their poetry is majestic and stirring. There is much here for me to study."

After the dinner, Zhao Youyou finished cleaning up, brewed tea for both Ye Wuji and Ye Xiu, and then went home.

Li Weishan unfurled the portrait of Ye Xiren, hanging it right beside Ye Wuji.

Burning sandalwood incense, the two men took their seats and began studying the classics.

With impeccable timing, Ye Xiu left Ye Wuji with a few imperial examination questions from his past life in the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing this, Ye Wuji let out a helpless sigh: the bitter days were back again!

A desk had also been prepared in Ye Xiu's room.

Since He Daoxuan had returned, he naturally couldn't be left without instruction.

"The core of all diagrams and physical knowledge is mathematics. How is your foundation in mathematics?" Ye Xiu asked sternly.

"Teacher, don't look down on my literary skills, but I was born with a knack for numbers," He Daoxuan said with an air of proud arrogance. "Even if I use both my left and right hands to operate two abacuses simultaneously to calculate two different sets of accounts, I rarely make mistakes."

"Good, then I shall first impart a different kind of mathematics to you." Ye Xiu picked up a brush and wrote on the paper: 0, 1, 2, 3... 10.

"Teacher, what are these..." Looking at symbols that resembled ghostly talismans, He Daoxuan was instantly dumbfounded.

"The mathematics of the Great Qian are overly complex, and recording them is equally cumbersome. Therefore, these are numerical symbols I have custom-tailored just for you. As individual digits, when rearranged, they become entirely different numbers..."

Ye Xiu immediately gave He Daoxuan an example. "For instance, seventeen thousand eight hundred fifty-six only needs to be represented by the digits 17856. Or, for example, three hundred ninety-eighth, it only needs 1/398..."

"Respected teacher, you are truly a divine being!" He Daoxuan could not help praising, feeling immensely triumphant inside: My discerning eye for finding a master is truly formidable!

"Don't get too excited just yet. What your teacher has learned is rather miscellaneous and lacks systemic order." Ye Xiu felt a slight guilty twinge. "If there is anything you wish to know, or anything you don't understand, you can list your questions, and I will help you solve them."

"Yes, teacher." He Daoxuan's gaze was burning with anticipation; he could finally display the ambitions harbored in his heart.

The primary school curriculum from his past life made He Daoxuan renew his understanding and worship of his master once again.

When the time was right, Ye Xiu stopped the lecture and simply told He Daoxuan to review on his own.

He Daoxuan tidied up the draft paper, cross-referencing the Chinese characters and the new numerals to create a conversion table.

Most importantly, the kid actually knew how to draw inferences from one instance and created a multiplication table.

Sitting in his chair, Ye Xiu yawned repeatedly.

He Daoxuan sensibly fetched a basin of foot-washing water and prepared to serve Ye Xiu.

"I can wash them myself."

Ye Xiu refused immediately. Having a scion of a noble family wash his feet was something he truly could not accept. "It's getting late, you should go back and rest as well. Remember to come over for meals on time."

"Yes, Master!"

Tidying up the desk and emptying the foot-washing water, He Daoxuan quietly took his leave.

Accompanied by the resounding recitation of classics by Ye Wuji and Li Weishan, Ye Xiu gradually closed his eyes.

Early the next morning.

Two major events occurred in Jinling City.

The agency's tabloids, storytellers, and traveling poets began widely circulating the story that He Daoxuan had beaten He Daohan.

Upon hearing the news, the scholars of Jinling universally condemned and denounced He Daoxuan.

He Daohan had inherited the full legacy of the He family.

A master of the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, he was one of the Four Great Talents of Jiangnan.

Naturally, his being beaten caused a massive uproar.

Those who inquired further discovered something amiss: the one who beat him was his own cousin.

Consequently, some people initiated a manhunt online—or rather, through gossip—discovering that He Daoxuan was merely a scoundrel who only wrote doggerel poetry, driven entirely by jealousy.

Behind every talented person, there followed a group of sycophants.

Luo Shuheng was one of them, and He Daohan's most loyal bootlicker.

This man deeply resented Ye Wuji, because the latter's rising prominence threatened to overshadow the Four Great Talents.

Having learned that Ye Xiu had taken He Daoxuan as a disciple, he led a group to surround the Ye family courtyard early in the morning.

He even threatened that if He Daoxuan was not handed over, they would not leave.