In ancient times, she gave birth to seven daughters and was divorced by her husband's family.

"If you'd like, you can stay in the west wing of the Marquis's mansion."

"Alright! Then I won't be polite!" Shen Congyun laughed, as if he had gained a huge advantage.

In the snowy night, the fire in the tent burned even brighter.

The next morning, the first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, gilding the thick snow with a golden edge.

The courtyard is not large, but it is decorated in an elegant and cozy style.

There was no grandeur or rules of a noble mansion, only the warmth and comfort of home.

When Shen Congyun's familiar figure appeared at the courtyard gate, the first to spot him was the sharp-eyed Bai Siyue.

She and her third sister were checking yesterday's accounts for the Seven Fairies Potato Noodle Shop under the eaves when she looked up and saw that figure, whose charm was still undeniable even when wrapped in a heavy cloak.

"It's...it's Uncle Shen!" Bai Siyue dropped the abacus in her hand with a clatter. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, then burst into a huge shout of surprise.

"What? Uncle Shen is back?"

"Where? Where?"

Before the words were even finished, several figures rushed out from the various rooms.

"Uncle Shen!" Bai Liuyue was the first to rush into Shen Congyun's arms.

She clung tightly to Shen Congyun's leg like a koala, tilted her little face, still covered in crumbs from pastries, and called out in a childish voice, "June missed you so much!"

Did you bring me any sugar figurines this time?

"I want the kind from the Western Regions, the kind that's transparent and has flower petals inside!"

Shen Congyun's weariness from two years of wind and sandstorms was completely melted away by this warm embrace at this moment.

He laughed heartily and picked Bai Liuyue up in his arms. "Little glutton, how could Uncle have forgotten you?"

"Not only do we have flower petal candy, but we also have cantaloupe that's sweeter than honey, and there's plenty to go around!"

Then, several other girls gathered around, chattering excitedly, creating a lively atmosphere.

"Uncle Congyun, you're finally back!" The gentle Bai Eryue's eyes were filled with joyful smiles. "Where have you been these past two years? All the letters we wrote to you have disappeared without a trace."

"Yes, yes!" The quick-witted Bai Sanyue squeezed forward, brushing the snow off his shoulders while looking him up and down. "You've gotten darker and thinner!"

"Are the sandstorms in the Western Regions really that bad? Is business bad and you're losing money?"

"Nonsense! With my Uncle Shen involved, how could we possibly lose money!" Bai Siyue immediately retorted, then leaned close to Shen Congyun's ear and whispered in a tone only we understand, "Uncle, how much did you make this time?"

"Is that enough to buy the largest jewelry store in the capital, Treasure Pavilion?"

"All you ever do is buy jewelry!" Bai Wuyue gracefully pushed aside her boisterous sisters. "Uncle Congyun, you must be tired from your journey. Look at me, don't I look even prettier than I did two years ago? Are there any women in the Western Regions more beautiful than me?"

Surrounded by Xiaoyue, Shen Congyun felt both happy and overwhelmed.

He remembered that the last time he saw them, they were still little children. In the blink of an eye, they had all grown into graceful young women, but the warmth and intimacy that belonged to them had not changed at all.

“They’ve all changed, they’ve all grown into young women!” Shen Congyun patted their heads one by one, his gaze sweeping over them before finally settling on the most composed Bai Yiyue and Bai Qiyue.

Bai Yiyue stepped forward and handed over a cup of warm ginger tea: "Uncle Congyun, warm yourself up first."

“Mother has already told us that we will need your help with our math for the next three days.”

“Yes,” Bai Qiyue said succinctly, nodding coolly, “Welcome back.”

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group moved to the Wenxinzhai, which was usually used as a school.

Although it was called a class, Shen Congyun couldn't really put on the airs of a teacher in front of these girls he had raised since they were little.

He simply tossed the serious teaching plan aside and pulled out the exquisite abacus made of sandalwood and ivory from his pocket.

"March, April, come here." He smiled and beckoned to the twins who were most proficient in arithmetic. "You two little housekeepers, you were almost as fast at calculating accounts as I was two years ago. Uncle will test you today and see if you've improved."

Bai Sanyue and Bai Siyue exchanged a glance, then immediately rubbed their hands together, their little faces full of eager excitement.

When they were little, their favorite game was to compete in mental arithmetic with this Uncle Shen.

“Listen carefully,” Shen Congyun said rapidly, “I have a batch of silk, costing 5,800 taels. Once it reaches Samarkand, the selling price will triple. I need to hire 1,200 taels for guards along the way, and 800 taels to bribe checkpoints. However, there's a 20% chance of encountering a sandstorm, resulting in half the goods being lost; and a 30% chance of being extorted by local tribes, requiring an additional 10% protection fee on the total selling price. So, if everything goes smoothly, what will the profit be? If luck is worst, how much will I lose? What should the expected profit be for this business?”

The two sisters, Bai Sanyue and Bai Siyue, each held an abacus and a charcoal pencil, quickly writing equations on paper.

Their teamwork was seamless; combining mental arithmetic with written calculation, Bai Sanyue quickly gave the answer:

"Everything went smoothly, with a profit of 10,800 taels! The worst luck was a loss of 3,740 taels!"

“Expected profit,” Bai Siyue added quickly, her eyes gleaming, “is six thousand three hundred and eighty taels!”

"Uncle Congyun, this business deal is risky, but the expected returns are even more substantial, so it's worth doing!"

"Clap! Clap! Clap!" Shen Congyun couldn't help but clap loudly, her eyes filled with amazement and admiration. "Beautiful! So beautiful! You two little girls have not only improved, but you've surpassed your teacher!"

"I only gave you a suggestion, and you've already taken it so far!"

The two sisters, beaming with pride, held their heads high after receiving the praise.

Over the next two days, Shen Congyun stopped teaching the basics and instead presented real business cases he had encountered over the past two years, allowing the seven girls to study them together and share their opinions.

He spoke of how to mediate between different tribes, taking advantage of their demand for salt and tea to obtain the cheapest horses and furs; he spoke of how to issue credit banks, allowing merchants to travel freely through the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions without carrying large amounts of gold and silver, simply by using a slip of paper stamped with the Bai family seal.

"...That time, we were transporting a batch of porcelain to the Yuezhi, but we encountered a once-in-a-century blizzard that blocked the trade route. Everyone thought the goods were going to be a loss." Shen Congyun took a sip of ginger tea, whetting everyone's appetite.

"And then what?" Bai Liuyue asked anxiously, grabbing his sleeve.

"Then, a brilliant idea struck me," Shen Congyun said smugly. "I told them that these porcelain pieces were no ordinary objects, but rather prayer vessels from the Eastern Celestial Empire. Using them to hold water and praying under the moonlight would bring divine protection and ensure a bountiful harvest in the coming year. I even hired a few magicians to perform a trick of retrieving objects from thin air, claiming it was a divine intervention. And guess what happened?"

"They believed it?" Bai Wuyue asked curiously.

"They believed it! Not only did they believe it, they even fought over it!"

"In the end, this batch of porcelain not only didn't result in a loss, but actually earned three times more than originally planned!"

"They held those bowls and plates as if they were precious treasures."

"Uncle Congyun, this is deception!" Bai Eryue frowned slightly, clearly not agreeing with this approach.

“February,” Shen Congyun said with a smile and shook his head, “this is not called deception, this is called giving cultural value to commodities.”

"Sometimes, people don't buy the product itself, but rather... its emotional value."

He vividly described the wonders of the desert, the thrilling business battles, and his interactions with all sorts of people.

These stories were more vivid and impactful than any knowledge found in books, captivating the girls.

They felt as if they were following Shen Congyun, personally experiencing the Silk Road, a route filled with both gold and danger.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The girls' holiday was over, and they were about to set off back to Bailudong Academy in Qingzhou.

Shen Congyun, the returning traveler, is about to embark on his westward journey once again.

On the morning of parting, the courtyard gate was crowded with people.

"Uncle Shen, are you leaving again?" Bai Liuyue tugged at his clothes, her big eyes filled with tears, reluctant to part.

"Silly girl, your uncle is going to make money for you." Shen Congyun squatted down and wiped away her tears. "When I come back, I'll build you a seven-story pastry shop, where you can have whatever you want to eat!"

"It's a deal!" Bai Liuyue immediately stopped crying and started smiling.

Bai Sanyue and Bai Siyue handed over a package, which was the wolf-hair cloak embroidered with the best trade route map.

This time, their faces no longer held the initial tentativeness, but were filled with intimacy and trust.

"Uncle Congyun, have a safe journey! Our algorithm is the best in the world. Just follow it and you're guaranteed to succeed!"

Shen Congyun solemnly accepted the cloak, a warm feeling welling up in his heart.

He looked at Bai Yiyue, the girl who most resembled Bai Lu.

"In January, tell your mother for me that I'm here for you in the Western Regions."

"I'm entrusting the family matters, and all of you, to her."

Bai Yiyue nodded emphatically: "Uncle, don't worry. We will take good care of ourselves and our mother."

Shen Congyun smiled, mounted his horse, and took one last look at the seven smiling faces.

"Wait for my good news!"

He cracked his whip and galloped off toward the western horizon through the morning mist.

The girls stood at the door, waving until the figure completely disappeared into the distance.

The day after parting with Shen Congyun, before dawn, the seven sisters had already packed their bags and boarded the carriage back to Qingzhou.

The carriage rumbled northward.

We bid farewell to the harsh winds and snow of the North.

Qingzhou, Bailudong Academy.

This is one of the most prestigious academies in the Great Wu Dynasty, renowned for its rigorous scholarship and profound knowledge of classical texts.

Those who can study here are all talented individuals carefully selected from various places.

Back at the serene Lanyue Xiaozhu, the sisters unpacked their luggage.

The seven sisters sat around a stone table with an oil lamp on it.

Bai Yiyue stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the brightly lit front courtyard of the academy in the distance.

“We will set up our own girls’ academy right next to the White Deer Grotto Academy.”

“That’s what Mother, Magistrate Lin, and Aunt Su all said, so we should also lend a hand.”

This thought, like a thunderclap, exploded in the hearts of all the girls!

"We...open an academy ourselves?" Bai Liuyue's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Can we do it?"

"Why not?" Bai Siyue's eyes instantly lit up with excitement. As expected of the most business-minded among her sisters, she immediately started to calculate. "Money! We have the profits from the Seven Fairies Potato Noodle Shop, plus the private savings from Mother and Uncle Congyun. Start-up capital won't be a problem!"

"Land! This White Deer Mountain is huge, isn't that abandoned tea garden next to the academy a perfect example? Let's buy it!"

"Where is the teacher?" Bai Sanyue calmly asked the crucial question. "The most important thing for an academy is its teachers. Where can we find someone to teach?"

Bai Yiyue said, "Go and invite them!"

“We can invite generals from the Mother Army, experienced farmers, and skilled craftsmen to serve as lecturers.”

“Our academy will not only teach the classics and literature, but also teach women how to keep accounts, how to see a doctor, how to farm, how to protect themselves, and all the skills that will enable them to make a living and create value!”

Bai Yiyue's words were like a fire, completely igniting the heroic ambitions in everyone's hearts.

They are no longer the sheltered daughters of noble families; they are pioneers who will create a new world!

"I agree!"

"I agree!"

"Done!"

The girls responded enthusiastically, their eyes sparkling.

"Seven Fairy Maidens Girls' Academy"

Bai Yiyue gently wrote these six characters on the paper, her brushstrokes calm yet powerful.

"What a great name!" Bai Siyue was the first to clap her hands and cheer, her little face flushed with excitement. "It sounds much more impressive than those girls' schools that emphasize virtue and gentleness!"

“A name is just a title; the underlying rules are the foundation.” Bai Sanyue was always composed. She pushed an account book to the center of the table, on which were the entries she had just quickly written down. “I just did a rough calculation. Since our Seven Fairies Potato Noodle Shop, which we invested in, opened, after deducting various expenses and the household expenses sent to my mother, we still have more than 7,800 taels of silver.”

"Adding the dowry money my mother gave me before she left, and the Western Region ruby ​​given to me by Uncle Congyun, the total amount should be around 15,000 taels."

"This sum of money would be more than enough for ordinary living expenses, but if we want to establish an academy..."

She paused, her expression turning serious: "Purchasing land, building houses, adding tables, chairs and utensils, buying writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones, and hiring a tutor... each of these is a huge expense."

"Fifteen thousand taels is probably just a drop in the bucket."

This bucket of cold water was just the right amount of time to calm down the girls who were just getting excited.

Establishing an academy is not child's play; it is a huge undertaking that requires enormous resources.

"Don't worry too much about the money." Bai Yiyue, who had been quiet all along, spoke up. Her voice was like a calming anchor, instantly stabilizing everyone's mind. "The money we have is our initial capital."

“The academy cannot be built in a day; we can proceed step by step.”

"The first step is to buy the land and build a few simple schoolhouses and lecture halls. There's no need to pursue elaborate buildings; just sturdy, bright, and able to shelter from the wind and rain will suffice."

"As for future expansion, we can continue operating the school while also finding ways to increase revenue."