Seven or eight teenage boys stood stiffly at the counter, cheeks puffed out in indignation. When Xianjin looked up, she saw the leader—a scholar with unusually thick lips and two fleshy jowls hanging from his face—followed by five or six others, all visibly disgruntled.

Chen Paper’s good friend, Zhang Wenbo, was huddled in the back, looking quite anxious. The moment he saw Xianjin, Wenbo tried to rush forward to warn her, but someone beside him yanked him back, shouting, “Wenbo! What are you doing! We agreed before we came!”

Zhang Wenbo blinked his wide eyes. Agreed on what?

The academy had just reopened for the term, and a few of the underachievers—led by Sun Shun—had decided to stir up trouble for Chen Paper. They claimed they’d bought dozens of “blind bags” and still hadn’t collected all five color cards, insisting that Chen Paper’s beautiful bookkeeper was deceiving them. “We demand justice!”

Justice, his foot!

He’d bought over a hundred bags himself and didn’t feel cheated. These broke kids who bought ten or twenty bags were making a fuss over nothing!

No money—yet trying to play a collectible card game? When the bags were sold, no one promised you’d complete the set just by buying a few!

This was Six-Zhang Xuan! In recent years, Six-Zhang Xuan had practically vanished from the market! Why should buying a handful of blind bags guarantee you’d collect a full set of Six-Zhang Xuan? What about those who spent hundreds of taels of silver for a single stack—how would they feel?

Zhang Wenbo had no patience for this stingy, entitled behavior. He shouted loud enough to shake the rafters, “Agreed on what, exactly! I just got out of class and was dragged here! Let me be clear, Sun Shun—I have no complaints! Collecting cards is about betting and accepting the outcome!”

He lifted his chin and looked at Xianjin. “Accountant He, if you’re settling scores later, don’t count me in!”

“Manager He,” Suo’er gently corrected, subtly showing off, “After the New Year, she was promoted to Head Manager of the Chen Paper Jing County branch.”

Zhang Wenbo let out a delighted “Aiyo!” and beamed. “Congratulations on your promotion! I’ll have someone send over two gift boxes later to celebrate!”

Xianjin returned the gesture with a warm, smiling bow.

Sun Shun, seeing Zhang Wenbo turn their righteous crusade into a cozy celebration, was so agitated his hair practically stood on end. “Zhang Wenbo! If you’re not here to demand justice, then get lost. Don’t confuse the issue!”

Terrified that Wenbo’s muddled brain would derail the point again, Sun Shun planted his hands on his hips and cut straight to the chase. He slammed a thick leather pouch onto the counter with a loud thud, fuming. “Manager He, we bought all these blind bags just to collect your five color cards. It’s been over a month! I’ve searched high and low, asked everyone I could, and still only managed to get four. That last card is nowhere to be found…”

Xianjin lowered her gaze, opened the pouch, and pulled out the crumpled four color cards. She looked up with a smile. “Actually, with four cards, you’ve already qualified. After redeeming the paper each card represents, you can also exchange them for a sheet of Four-Zhang Xuan. Four-Zhang Xuan is no small thing—our shop sells a stack of it for a hundred taels.”

Sun Shun’s mustache practically bristled with rage. “I collected the cards to get all five and redeem Six-Zhang Xuan! Who wants Four-Zhang Xuan? If I wanted that, I could’ve just paid for it!”

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He’d spent all this time collecting cards, spending money, owing favors—and still couldn’t get that final card! Meanwhile, his father was buying land, servants, and books for the son born to his concubine, just because that boy passed the county exam and became a scholar!

And him? He just wanted to buy some paper!

All he did was buy two sheets of paper! And his damned old man started auditing his accounts, managing his money, and even froze his deposit slips at the silver bank! All because of that wretched bookkeeper!

The more cards he collected, the angrier he got. So when Chen Paper’s manager returned to Jing County for the New Year, he deliberately sent someone to investigate this “Manager He,” who was said to be quite good-looking. And sure enough, what he found out made him even more furious!

This scheming little vixen really was born of a concubine! And not even a true Chen family member!

“You filthy whore!” Sun Shun was so enraged that he lost all restraint. “You never even released the full set of color cards! You tricked us into running in circles! Businesspeople are all scum—they’ll do anything for money!” His voice was loud and coarse, and soon a crowd of nearby merchants and passersby gathered at the entrance of Chen Paper.

With an audience, Sun Shun grew even more energized. He turned around, raised both arms, and began riling up the crowd. “Chen Paper is a scam! Chen Paper must refund us!”

Behind him, a few scholars seized the moment to corner curious onlookers and began rattling off the details of “Chen Paper’s scam,” chattering like a chorus of Xianglin’s Wife.

Suo’er grew anxious, trying to block one spot only for another to flare up. Seeing Sun Shun grow louder and more vulgar, she panicked and began stomping her feet at the doorway. But out of instinctive reverence for scholars, she didn’t dare cover Sun Shun’s mouth—so she cried as she stomped.

“Everyone!”

Xianjin drew a deep breath from her core, planted her hands on her hips, and stood firmly on the threshold. Her voice momentarily drowned out Sun Shun’s—those Eight Brocade exercises hadn’t been for nothing. After consistent practice, her voice now carried with full strength and clarity.

“We at Chen Paper sell blind bags for 120 wen each. Inside, you’ll find Jia Tribute paper, Jade Tablet paper, Coral Notes, and Peach Blossom sheets! We’re all in Jing County, all in the paper trade! You tell me—are these papers inferior or not?”

The papers she listed were all high-quality.

Among the onlookers, some began nodding.

Just as Sun Shun was about to curse again, Xianjin cut him off with a sharp question: “You’re a scholar, so let me ask you—‘A ruler is enlightened by listening to all sides; he is blinded by hearing only one.’ Where does this quote come from?”

Sun Shun was caught off guard and didn’t respond.

“It’s from On Clarity and Obscurity by Wang Fu of the Han Dynasty!” Xianjin fired back without missing a beat.

In this dull era, there weren’t many entertainment options—what else was there to do but read? That whole “woman disguised as man sneaking into the red-light district” trope only existed in stories about extraordinary heroines. She was a businesswoman, not about to join that circus.

Fortunately, the Chen family’s old residence had a library. And by the hundred-hour rule—spend a hundred hours on something and you’ll be proficient—she stocked up on brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, found a stack of books, and copied them line by line. It trained her in calligraphy and gave her a glimpse into the mindset of this era.

Xianjin lifted her chin and declared loudly, “To hear all sides is clarity; to hear only one is blindness. Since Scholar Sun has had his say, it’s time for Chen Paper to speak too—only then can everyone judge fairly, don’t you think?”

Suo’er took the lead and shouted, “Yes!” She raised both hands and led the crowd in a round of clapping—pa pa pa.

People follow the crowd, and the onlookers, not quite sure what was happening, joined in the applause.

Xianjin nodded approvingly. This is how business should be done—thick skin is a must!

When you open your doors for business, you must greet guests from all directions with a smile. And those guests? They’ll include courteous gentlemen and petty troublemakers; generous spenders who don’t haggle and penny-pinchers who know how to stretch every coin; polite speakers and those who spend one cent and act like gods.

Business is, at its core, dealing with people. And when there are enough people, there’ll be a few devils mixed in.

She understood the logic, had mentally prepared herself—but when it actually happened, she still couldn’t help but clench her fists.