The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune
Chapter 219 - 215: Panicked

Chapter 219: Chapter 215: Panicked

The masters from the three academies couldn’t quite believe it as they stepped forward to inspect the books.

They randomly pulled out a book to check, and found that the paper of every book they pulled out was very good, without any substitution of inferior quality goods for good ones, and the writing was also very good, no ink smears on the pages, no typos, pleasing to the eye, and the faint scent of ink was refreshing and delightful.

Books were tied up in bundles, with twenty in each bundle, and they didn’t count such a large pile of books, but since the other party dared to ask them for the remaining silver, it seemed that the quantity of the books was correct.

The expressions on their faces turned ugly.

Where on earth did Wenyuan Bookstore find the paper to print these books?

Shopkeeper Liu, unaffected by their expressions as if they had eaten shit, flipped through his ledger with a smile, pretending to be oblivious as he called out to them, "Lushan Academy ordered ten thousand volumes of books and paid one thousand taels as a deposit, still owing four thousand three hundred and twenty taels. Zhiyuan Academy ordered five thousand volumes, paid a deposit of five hundred taels, still owing three thousand six hundred seventy taels, and Wuya Academy also ordered five thousand volumes, paid a deposit of five hundred taels, still owing two thousand one hundred sixty taels."

The price differed with the books ordered, Lushan Academy had ordered ten thousand volumes, but mostly they were the Four Books and Five Classics. Since the Four Books and Five Classics were common and the bookstore had already arranged the printing blocks, they didn’t need to set the type again or proofread, so the price per book was cheaper. Even if ten thousand volumes were ordered, it would only cost a little over five thousand taels.

Other books that the bookstore had not printed before required setting the type, proofreading, or even recarving the type blocks, which was more time-consuming and labor-intensive. Plus, the fact that fewer volumes were ordered meant the price per book was naturally higher.

Due to the backwardness and monopoly of the papermaking technique, and the absence of printing technology for various reasons, books in various countries at this time were very expensive.

Since there were few buyers, and those who did buy were mostly not short of silver, the profit on a book was unimaginably high; otherwise, the previous bookstore would not have been willing to offer a high price of one hundred and fifty wen per copied book.

Selling one book, the bookstore could earn back several hundred and fifty wens, and if it were some precious books, even several tens or hundreds of hundreds and fifty wens.

It just so happened that the more precious a book was, the less it circulated outside.

And especially with unique copies, the big clans collected the most, but these were their heritage, a necessary condition for the growth and success of their descendants, so they generally wouldn’t bring them out.

That’s why Shopkeeper Liu was so happy these past days upon receiving the huge order for twenty thousand volumes, which, he calculated, would net him more than ten thousand taels.

Shopkeeper Liu had not suspected it was a trap, or that someone wanted to harm the bookstore, because the compensation amount requested in the contract was quite reasonable, which could be said to be very benevolent.

The contract stipulated that if the bookstore failed to deliver the ordered quantity of books on time after half a month, they only needed to pay five hundred taels in compensation.

All three academies demanded five hundred taels in compensation, which, relative to the total value of the books they ordered, was really negligible.

Therefore, Shopkeeper Liu thought that they had come with full sincerity to place their order.

He never expected it to be a trap!

They were just worried that this newly opened small bookstore would be scared off by a too-large compensation and wouldn’t dare to take the order, purposely setting a range that they could accept.

Or maybe the other party thought that one thousand and five hundred taels in compensation would wipe out the owner’s entire family fortune, with no way to pay if it was any more.

Little did they know that their owner had someone backing him, with so much paper produced by the entire city’s workshops,

The shopkeeper from Lushan Academy was the first to come back to his senses, laughing, "I came to see if the books we ordered were ready. Since they are all prepared, I’ll go back and bring people over to check. If there are no issues, we’ll transport them."

The people from the other two academies also said something similar.

Shopkeeper Liu couldn’t help but laugh, "Okay, then go back and bring people over!"

The three hurriedly left.

~

Shopkeeper Liu went back to the rear courtyard to report, relaying the other party’s words.

The brothers all laughed.

Ruo Jiang said, "Serves them right!"

Ruo He asked, "Do you think the other party will come to pay the remaining silver and take the books away? Several thousand taels is no small amount."

Ruo Hai: "They must be coming back for it, we’ve already paid a thousand taels for the deposit, it’s not like they’re going to let that benefit us for nothing. With a paper mill that makes a fortune every day, owning a large family business, a few thousand taels probably don’t mean much to them."

Ruo Shui: "That’s not necessarily true, if they take everything back, they will have to pay us a few thousand taels. They probably aren’t keen on giving us a discount. With those few thousand taels, we could open several more bookstores in other cities."

A few thousand taels is not a small sum, even for a prominent family, it’s a considerable amount of silver, and if they were to take it out all at once, it could severely injure an already declining family."

If they don’t come back to transport it, then the total of one thousand five hundred taels they’ve paid so far would be unrecoverable."

Without the books and one thousand five hundred taels gone, it would be a substantial loss."

After all, one thousand five hundred taels is not a small sum either.

If the Ruo Family can’t get the paper this time and fails to print the twenty thousand volumes of books, compensating one thousand five hundred taels would indeed be a disaster that could ruin them."

Ruo Chuan laughed, "Whether they transport it back or not, we won’t suffer a loss. The best scenario is if they do transport it back, with those few thousand taels, we can build our own paper mill."

"One thousand five hundred taels can also build a smaller paper mill."

Ruo Shui: "Without the one thousand five hundred taels, the bill for the paper hasn’t been settled yet."

Several horse carts filled with paper, including the most expensive Lianshi Paper, just buying the paper would cost seven hundred eighty taels.

～

The issue faced by the Ruo Xuan brothers is also a problem for the other party.

When they found out Wenyuan Bookstore could deliver the twenty thousand books on time, they were so furious they flipped a table!

"Investigate, I want a thorough investigation on who sold paper to Wenyuan Bookstore’s people. If I find out, they’ll never be allowed to sell a single sheet of paper from our mill to them again."

Several substantial horse carts of paper entered the city, the city guards definitely knew about it, so it wasn’t difficult to investigate.

By evening, the rival’s people had found out who delivered the paper to Wenyuan Bookstore.

Early the next morning, the Masters from the three Academies obediently came to pay the silver and transported away the twenty thousand volumes of books.

They couldn’t afford to offend them!

The thought of spending a few thousand taels to buy a competitor’s book, thereby increasing the rival’s strength, was also unacceptable.

They absolutely could not afford to fully offend them!

Ruo Chuan: "I’ll go home and share this good news with mother and Xuanbao, and while I’m at it, I’ll settle the payment for the paper."

The brothers naturally had no objections.

Thus, the twenty thousand volumes of books were finally sold, earning a few thousand taels!

It felt like a dream!

More than two months later, the first sheet of snow-white Lianshi Paper was finally peeled off the new papermaking wall by Ruo Xuan.

Lady Xuanyuan gently caressed the fine and silky white paper, "This paper is even better than that of the other two families!"

Granny Lei nodded, "It’s more than just good! It’s far too superior! Those who don’t know would think it’s made of silk."

Aunt Yuhua smiled, "With this paper on the market, the other two families will probably panic."

Shopkeeper Gu: "Haha, indeed, they will panic even more than when we bought the twenty thousand volumes of books!"

Ruo Xuan excitedly said: "Let’s hurry and send the paper to the bookstore to sell it, make them panic even more!"

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