Xianjin took a deep breath and slowly unclenched her fists. She began calmly explaining to the gathered crowd, “Chen Paper’s blind bag sales are clearly written in black and white—120 wen buys you the paper inside the bag. Collecting four color cards to receive a sheet of Six-Zhang Xuan is just a bonus!”

She stepped forward, spread her hands wide, and called out, “Who can guarantee they’ll definitely get the bonus!?”

And what is a bonus? It’s both a lucky omen and a prize awarded after winning a contest! To put it plainly, a bonus isn’t something everyone is entitled to. If everyone could get it, then it wouldn’t be called a bonus!

This fat fool was just too obsessed with winning. He didn’t get the prize, so he came storming in—this kind of behavior is unacceptable!

Xianjin laid out her points one after another, each one crisp and clear. Her explanation was thorough and easy to follow. The onlookers thought it over and began nodding, their gazes toward Sun Shun now tinged with disapproval.

Sun Shun felt a surge of hot air rise in his chest, his rage so intense the oil on his face nearly started dripping. “You—you—you—!!”

“Scholar Sun! You are a man of letters! Idle words that do no good should not be spoken—choose your words wisely!”

Xianjin cut him off sharply, her gaze like a beam of light locking onto him. “Scholar Sun accuses Chen Paper of fraud. But Chen Paper has stood firm in Jing County, making paper with integrity for three generations, nearly a hundred years. And you accuse us of cheating just because you spent some money? That’s far too reckless!”

Suo’er looked at Xianjin as if witnessing a goddess descend from the heavens. She unilaterally declared: in this mortal world, the person she liked best was her own manager self!

Sun Shun squinted, grinding his teeth. “Empty words and bare teeth?” He yanked the leather pouch off the counter, pulled out two thick sheets of mulberry paper, and slammed them onto the ground. “At the end of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Paper set up a stall outside Qingcheng Academy and sold blind bags—eight hundred in total, all bought by our academy’s scholars! Every bag was numbered! More than ten of us searched one by one, bag by bag, and not a single one contained the moon-white color card!”

“If that’s not fraud, what is!”

Xianjin froze for a moment inside. Wait, they actually searched every single bag? Looks like the sample size still wasn’t big enough!

Also, this guy seriously has way too much time on his hands.

Though stunned, Xianjin showed no sign of it on her face. She calmly bent down, picked up the paper from the floor, squinted at it, then turned to Sun Shun and asked, “Can you guarantee that every single bag was checked?”

Sun Shun’s eyes darted.

Their group from Chuzhou Prefecture had already taken nearly five hundred bags. The rest were bought by students from other prefectures—mostly underachievers, all familiar faces. That knocked out another two hundred-plus bags. Later, he and that fool from Huaian Prefecture had a bidding war, offering high prices for the final color card, asking around one by one—that eliminated another eighty or so bags.

All told, up, down, left, right—they’d searched at least seven hundred ninety bags.

No. There really wasn’t one.

Sun Shun stiffened his neck. “Of course!”

Xianjin placed the two sheets of mulberry paper back down, crossed her arms, and waited calmly, smiling sweetly at Sun Shun. “Scholar Sun, you’re lying.”

That was a sky-shattering accusation for a scholar.

Sun Shun still hoped to pass both imperial exams and bring honor to his family! He jabbed a finger toward Xianjin’s nose. “You little whore! Watch your mouth!”

Xianjin’s fists clenched again. This time, she took two deep breaths to suppress the urge to rip his head off. “You’re the one who needs to watch your mouth!” She turned to face the crowd and raised her voice. “I recall that the son of Headmaster Qiao from your academy bought a blind bag from Chen Paper—but your list doesn’t mention him!”

Sun Shun blurted out, “Impossible! He would never buy one!”

Xianjin smiled and tilted her head, recalling, “It was snowing that day. Young Master Qiao looked at the wooden sign we’d set out, muttered something about ‘celestial formulas’ and ‘precise calculations,’ then paid for a leather pouch and left…”

“I remember it clearly. Later, our Steward Dong told me that he was the eldest son of Headmaster Qiao from Qingcheng Academy—well-versed in mathematics, and top scorer in the provincial exam two years ago.”

Just then, Steward Dong, who had rushed over from the storeroom upon hearing the commotion, was unexpectedly name-dropped. His expression said, What are you talking about?

Xianjin waved him over. “Uncle Dong, I’m not mistaken, am I?”

The confusion in Steward Dong’s eyes grew increasingly radiant. Suo’er was so anxious she nearly rolled up her sleeves to jump in and rescue her uncle.

Steward Dong mentally reviewed the situation, then quickly nodded. “Yes, yes! Who in Jing County doesn’t know Young Master Qiao? A brilliant young talent, famous since youth—his buying a blind bag was truly an honor for our Chen family!”

Xianjin nodded with satisfaction, then half-turned toward Sun Shun, lips curved in a faint smile. “I noticed your two sheets of paper don’t mention Young Master Qiao. If you weren’t lying, then did you actually ask him? Did he not tell you? Or did his bag also not contain the card?”

Sun Shun’s thick lips trembled as he looked toward the underachievers who had followed him. They quietly shifted away, pretending not to see their leader’s pleading gaze.

That was Qiao Hui! Qiao Hui, the top provincial scholar! Qiao Hui, who was about to compete for the top rank in the next national exam! Someone like that—how could he possibly mix with them?

They’d have to be out of their minds to casually throw an arm around Qiao Hui and chat like old pals: “Hey! Brother Hui, you bought a bag too? What was inside yours?”

Just imagining that scene sent a chill down their spines.

The atmosphere fell into a sudden silence. After a moment, a voice rang out from the crowd, full of grievance.

“Good old Qiao Hui! Bought one himself, and still mocked me!”

Everyone turned to look.

Zhang Wenbo clenched his fists, overcome with grief and indignation, like a wronged woman betrayed without cause.

Sun Shun suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He straightened his back, eyes wide with fury. “Right! You say he bought one, and that makes it true? I say he didn’t!”

Xianjin smiled, calm and unbothered. “Then go invite him here.”

Sun Shun leaned his neck forward like a fat frog, and his “Ah!” came out sounding like “Ribbit ribbit ribbit.”

Xianjin lifted her chin slightly. “You and I could argue endlessly, and the onlookers might enjoy the drama for a while—but every show must end. There must be a conclusion, and Chen Paper deserves to be cleared of these accusations.”

The crowd nodded again.

A passing merchant glanced at Xianjin with a hint of admiration and asked the person beside him, “Is this young lady from the Chen family?”

The person beside him was the owner of a carpentry shop on Shuixi Street. He recognized Xianjin—she’d once brought him a strange-looking object she called an “abacus” and asked him to try making one.

“…She’s the new manager of Chen Paper, supposedly the daughter of Third Master Chen,” the carpenter added. “But oddly enough, her surname is He.”

The merchant paused, intrigued, about to ask more when the young lady continued, “Wenbo, since you’re acquainted with Young Master Qiao, could you trouble him to bring his bag and make the trip?”

Zhang Wenbo hesitated. His relationship with Qiao Hui was tenuous at best. It mostly consisted of Qiao Hui mocking him, Wenbo choking on the spot, and then going home to cry because he couldn’t think of a comeback fast enough. That was the long-term dynamic holding their “friendship” together…

Xianjin noticed Zhang Wenbo’s hesitation. She leaned in and whispered softly, “Please let Young Master Qiao know—if he comes, I’ll share with him this Tianyuan-style solution.” She emphasized, “I won’t bluff. Promise.”

In business, one truly needs a thick skin. Who says the same trick can’t be used twice?