Zong Wenxiu said worriedly, "But Mr. Su only allows us to sell one egg for one coin and forbids lowering the price. Without a significant advantage, it’s hard to sell them quickly."
He Zheng nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Places that buy eggs want them cheap. Since our price isn’t low, they won’t take them."
Shen Yibai grumbled angrily, "That sly old man—he’s deliberately making things difficult for us, trying to force us to stay here for a few days. Hmph!"
Zong Jincheng tilted his head thoughtfully. "Since conventional methods won’t work, let’s take a different approach and think of another way."
"What way?" they all asked in unison.
The little troublemaker raised an eyebrow. "Still figuring it out, but you can brainstorm too. What do we have that others don’t?"
"What we have… good looks?" Shen Yibai suggested his first strength.
The others burst into laughter.
Zong Jincheng commented, "That counts too. When we were selling eggs earlier, they did stare at us a few extra times."
Wei Xinglu rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. "We’re also good at playing cuju… but we can’t exactly kick eggs around, can we?"
Zong Wenxiu chuckled. "We’re well-read too—our knowledge is our greatest asset."
The words struck like a wake-up call. He Zheng exclaimed, "Right! We’re Childhood Scholars!!"
Shen Yibai reminded them, "But we’re selling eggs, not books or knowledge. The two aren’t related!"
Zong Jincheng snorted. "If they’re not related, we’ll make them related. You all stay here and watch the stall. He Zheng, you and I will go negotiate with a bookstore."
"Got it!" He Zheng hurried after him.
Shen Yibai glanced around the bustling market and muttered, "This place is full of poultry and meat stalls. Is there even a bookstore here?"
Zong Wenxiu smiled warmly. "There is. Bookstores are usually tucked away at the quieter end of the street."
"Ah… I’m looking forward to this."
When Zong Jincheng and He Zheng arrived, business at the bookstore was slow. The owner, assuming they were customers, eagerly greeted them.
"What books are you young masters looking for?"
"Just browsing for now," He Zheng replied cheerfully.
After wandering around the small shop, they realized its selection paled in comparison to the grand libraries of the capital—mostly basic primers, nothing like the vast collection in their own study.
Zong Jincheng asked, "Owner, why don’t you even have Strategies of the Warring States or Geographical Records?"
Hearing the titles, the owner sighed. "No one buys them. Around here, even producing one entry-level examinee a year is considered lucky. Most families only purchase primers—barely anyone buys Elementary Learning."
Zong Jincheng pressed, "Is it because they’re too poor to study?"
"Because they can’t pass the exams. No one around here succeeds, so hope fades, and fewer people bother trying," the owner explained. "This is just the outskirts of the capital, not the city itself. We don’t see the wider world, nor do we yearn to."
The two boys exchanged glances, as if glimpsing an entirely different reality.
Zong Jincheng asked, "What if you saw someone who did pass?" Original content can be found at novel★fire.net
The owner shrugged. "We’d be excited for a while, I suppose. But most who pass the entry-level exams here are already old men. Seeing them only makes people feel more hopeless."
He Zheng perked up. "So if someone young passed, would that inspire hope?"
"Absolutely! If folks see even a child succeed, they’d think, ‘If they can do it, so can I.’ Confidence grows, and so does motivation." The owner paused, suddenly curious. "Why do you ask? Don’t tell me you’re entry-level examinees? Impossible—you have to be at least ten to take the exams, and you two look barely that age."
Zong Jincheng brightened. It seemed their status beyond being young masters would finally come in handy. He nudged He Zheng, signaling him to explain.
He Zheng cleared his throat and announced grandly, "Owner, what stands before you isn’t an entry-level examinee, but something higher—Childhood Scholars! The kind who can take the provincial exams alongside scholars!"
The owner’s weary eyes widened. His jaw dropped. "Childhood Scholars? The… the ones limited to 120 nationwide each year? The prodigies who pass the special exams?!"
He Zheng puffed his chest proudly. "Yes! I passed this year at eleven. My big brother here is even more impressive—he passed last year at nine. Top-tier talent!"
The owner trembled with excitement.
But a sliver of doubt remained. "How can you prove it? Anyone can claim anything on the road. How do I know you’re not fooling me?"
Zong Jincheng crossed his arms, radiating confidence. "Test me on the Four Books and Five Classics. I’ll recite any passage."
The owner’s excitement grew. Tentatively, he named one: "The… Doctrine of the Mean…"
Zong Jincheng flawlessly recited all 2,000+ characters, then asked if he should translate it too.
The owner’s eyes sparkled. He picked an obscure text next: "Gongyang’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals."
He Zheng took over, letting his brother rest. Halfway through, the owner waved him off—these boys genuinely knew every word, no matter how niche the text.
"Heavens… Childhood Scholars… in our humble town…" The owner shook their hands fervently. "Don’t leave, prodigies! I’ll fetch the dean of our local academy at once!"
Zong Jincheng hesitated, worried their identities might breach their agreement with Su Xi. He clarified, "We already attend an academy in the capital. We’re not transferring here."
"Oh? Then… why visit our humble shop? If there’s a book you need, I’ll scour the county for it!"
The owner, clearly a devoted scholar himself, kept muttering in awe: "Childhood Scholars… living Childhood Scholars… So young, so brilliant—utterly remarkable…"
Zong Jincheng and He Zheng scratched their heads at "living Childhood Scholars," but the admiration was secretly gratifying.
Finally, Zong Jincheng coughed and got to the point. "Here’s the thing—we have eight or nine hundred eggs to sell today, but selling them plain is too slow. We wondered if your bookstore could collaborate?"
"Eggs?!" The owner was baffled. "How?"
He Zheng proposed, "Raise your book prices slightly to include the eggs’ cost. Then offer a free egg with every purchase until we run out. Would that work?"
On the way, they’d agreed: since they couldn’t discount the eggs, they’d inflate the books’ prices instead. However much the owner profited, their goal was simply to finish the task.
The boss pondered for a moment and said, "That could work, but you won't sell anything here. You'll have to go to the entrance of the academy."