Sister-in-law Cheng didn't know how to read when she was a child. After marrying into the Cheng family, Cheng Zhao read and wrote every day, so she could recognize it through her ears and eyes.
But she only knows some common simple words, can't write, let alone arithmetic, and can't even think about reading a ledger.
She opened her mouth to refuse, but when she thought about taking care of the accounts and letting a new daughter-in-law take care of her son's money, she felt uneasy no matter how much she thought about it.
What if there is some conflict in the future and the daughter-in-law takes away Zhao'er's money.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Cheng immediately said: "Although I don't know these things, I can learn it. I can always learn it."
Situ Man secretly rejoiced: "Every day after the reading pavilion is closed, I ask the shopkeeper's godmother for half an hour, half an hour every day. I should have learned it in two or three months. When the time comes for the assessment, as long as the husband nods, then All the account books of our family are left to my mother to take care of."
That's it.
Several people continued to work on various chores in the Reading Pavilion.
Today, all the Cheng family members are here, except for Brother Cheng... It's not because the injury is not healed, but because the old lady is afraid that he will be embarrassed when he comes out, so he is not allowed to step into the Reading Pavilion.
The two children in the second and third bedrooms of the Cheng family, one named Cheng Xiang and the other Cheng Rui, both about ten years old, acted as assistants sorting out books.
Old Mrs. Cheng and Sister-in-law Cheng were cleaning tables and sweeping the floor, while Old Man Cheng was responsible for guarding the door to prevent anyone from taking books out...
Situ Man counted the money with the shopkeeper Yu at the counter. It is free to enter today, but from now on you need to pay to enter. You can calculate the money according to the number of times, or you can apply for a membership card. After applying for the card, there is no limit to the number of times you can enter, but If you want to borrow books, you have to pay an additional deposit, which is calculated based on the number of days you borrow.
"So far, a total of 457 people have applied for membership cards, all of which are monthly memberships, with a total of more than 13,000,000,000 yuan." Shopkeeper Yu said, tapping the abacus, "Today, the total number of books loaned out is 1,200,000 yuan. One hundred and thirty-eight volumes, each book has a deposit of one tael of silver, totaling one thousand two hundred and thirty-eight taels of silver. There is also tea, boiled water costs one penny, ordinary tea costs three cents, and slightly better tea ranges from ten to twenty cents. This part of the income totals four taels and more than three hundred cents, making a total of one thousand two hundred and fifty-six taels and more than one hundred cents."
Situ Man became happy: "With this day's income, I have earned back the rent for this yard for a year. My husband finally doesn't have to put in money himself."
Shopkeeper Yu said soberly: "Most of these proceeds are book deposits and must be returned."
Situ Man made a copy of the account and said, "I'm going to tell my second aunt the good news."
She went to Cheng Wanwan's residence in a hurry.
Although Cheng Wanwan stayed at home, the rest of the family could go out, and they had already told her about the grand occasion of the Reading Pavilion.
Although this Reading Pavilion was founded for poor students, because many wealthy families donated some books that were not available on the market, it also attracted many children from aristocratic families, and many ladies from famous families also came to join in the fun. It can be said that the Reading Pavilion was the first to open. God, the reputation has already been established. As long as there are no mistakes in the business in the future, he will definitely be able to gain a firm foothold in the capital.
Cheng Wanwan took a careful look at the accounts and said, "I didn't expect so many people to borrow books. Most of them should be scholars with some background."
The deposit for borrowing books is one tael per book, and it is twenty cents per day. This price is to curb the borrowing of books, because if there are too many people borrowing books, the reading pavilion will be empty. Those who have applied for membership cards Aren’t people going to suffer?
Situ Man said: "Many people borrow more than a dozen books at a time. For example, the top scholar of the Fu family borrowed fifteen books, all of which were rare ancient books. How long did he have to read more than ten books? One book a day. Twenty articles and a dozen books are a lot of money."
"There are still too few books in the Reading Pavilion." Cheng Wanwan pointed to the accounts and said, "less than a quarter of an hour after opening, these ancient books were borrowed."
You know, she specially found someone to copy the ancient books. There were at least ten copies of each book, but all of them were borrowed by wealthy people.
The children from poor families who came here because of the reputation probably didn't even see what these books looked like.
Fortunately, the Reading Pavilion has kept the originals, and we can just find someone to copy some and put them on display.
"Let shopkeeper Yu pay attention to which books are frequently borrowed, and find someone to replace them in time." Cheng Wanwan closed the account, "Add another register, for example, who has what type of books they want to read, but the Reading Pavilion does not , write them all down, and we’ll slowly figure out how to get those books.”
Situ Man nodded and wrote down all the details.
Over the past few days, the Reading Pavilion has become increasingly popular.
Originally, Cheng Wanwan expected the number of members to be three hundred, but over the past few days, the number of members has exceeded a thousand.
The courtyard of the Reading Pavilion is only big enough to accommodate three to four hundred people reading at the same time, so I had to stop applying for membership cards. Fortunately, all the membership cards are issued are monthly ones. This month, the space is tight. Next month, I can control the number of members and make money. Secondly, the main thing is to make every member feel convenient and comfortable reading here.
"Second aunt, in just three days, the register has already been filled up." Situman took the booklet from the Reading Pavilion, "The Reading Pavilion has many books for men to read, and the types are also extremely rich. There is nothing special about men." There are many opinions, and most of them are women. Some ladies from aristocratic families like to read biographies, and they are biographies of female characters, but there are only a few biographies in the women's library, either Queen Xiaojia, Princess Taiping... and some ordinary ones. Women, they like to read story books, but currently there are only anecdotes and strange stories, and the words are too complicated. Ordinary women cannot understand these books. I hope there are some ordinary story books..."
Cheng Wanwan held his chin.
In this era, the only people who are qualified to be written into biographies are members of the royal family and some outstanding people among the people. The content needs real research and the process is too complicated... Even if she wants to do something, she can only do it in her heart. There is more than enough but not enough power.
But as for story books, you can give it a try.
This also fully shows that the spiritual world of women in this era is relatively lacking and empty. They want to read books, but 98% of the books on the market are prepared for men, and most of these books are for the imperial examination. Examination services also result in women having no books to read.
Cheng Wanwan thought about the ancient times of the original world and produced a drama called Romance of the West Chamber.
It tells the story of a scholar and a prime minister's lady who broke through the feudal ethics and finally got married. Due to its exquisite plot, ups and downs of plot, and brilliant literary talent, this drama became the most famous drama at that time and was sought after by countless people.
However, since she was in the feudal era, she had better not write stories that broke the feudal ethics. If she were not careful, it could easily be copied by others. She did not want to be the enemy of the entire era.
But lovers eventually get married. This is the ending that all women dream of. Taking this as a starting point and based on the customs and background of the Dayu Dynasty, a new story can be written...
That evening, Cheng Wanwan called all the maids and palace ladies in the yard over.
Everyone stood in a row. This was the first time. The Sui'an people had asked them all to come over to lecture them. For a moment, they couldn't guess what the Sui'an people were going to do.
"Why are you all so nervous?" Cheng Wanwan said, holding her chin, "I've been going crazy for a while. I even had a dream last night. This dream was very interesting. You all find a place to sit down and listen to me. Speak slowly."
Everyone: "..."
The people from Sui'an were so depressed that they actually wanted to tell them about their dreams at night.
