28 - Chapter 26

As Meng Fan led Sa Bina to her first lesson, she made small talk with her newest student. Sa Bina was sharp yet polite. It was a strange dichotomy in a person so young. Sa Bina also seemed to carry herself with self confidence. Meng Fan had seen and dealt with many young nobles. For most of the veneer of self confidence was actually arrogance covering up for their insecurities.

Sa Bina certainly did not fit that description, she was very much at ease in this new environment. Meng Fan wished the headmaster would have given her additional details about this enigmatic student. She was sure she would find out at some point. Secrets didn’t remain secrets for long.

“Deputy head,” said Sa Bina. “Please do not mention my status when you introduce me in class. Please just introduce me as Lady Sa Bina. Let everything else remain a mystery for now.”

“Why would you not want your fellow students to learn about your background?” asked Meng Fan. Everything this girl did seemed to perplex the deputy head. Most students would want their status to be prominent, and boosted if possible. Here was this girl who wanted the opposite. Most of the noble’s thinking she was from an inconsequential house, would look down on her.

“I want to learn about the students and their personalities.” replied Sa Bina with a smirk. “This is a place of learning after all. What is there to learn if they all fawn all over me due to my status. If I wanted to watching a feeding frenzy I would go and feed the fish in any pond, and learn about the same.”

“As you wish.” responded Meng Fan. She was shocked by the answer. To talk about the noble scions, and compare them to mindless fish at feeding time. Just who was this audacious girl. She had no doubt the drama would abound. She would need to keep a close eye on the situation. “What about the professors, do you want to keep them in the dark also?”

“Yes I think that would be for the best.” replied Sa Bina after a moment of thought. ”Thank you for accepting my request.”

It did not take them long to reach the economics classroom. Meng Fan knocked on the door, and led them inside.

“Deputy head, to what do I owe this interruption?” asked Hou Bao, clearly a little annoyed at the interruption.

“Professor Hou Bao, may I introduce Lady Sa Bina,” replied Meng Fan. “She is a new student joining our academy. Today is her first day.”

Hou Bao looked her up and down, noticing that the girl was barely 13. “Surely you have made a mistake with her schedule. This is the advanced economics class.” he responded disdainfully. “She should be joining the elementary class, even though that would be too advanced for her age, I would wager.”

Hou Bao’s comments caused some snickering amongst the students. Sa Bina took a look around the class. The students in this class were generally older, most looking to be around 16 or 17, and all male. They were all clearly looking down on this young girl who was supposed to join their advanced class.

Meng Fan looked at Sa Bina at those words, wondering if Sa Bina would take offence and lash out. Sa Bina stood there with the same calm expression on her face. She looked at Meng Fan, urging her to respond with a raised eyebrow. Meng Fan decided she would have to talk to Hou Bao in private, his attitude was unacceptable.

“No professor Hou Bao. Lady Sa Bina was tested by the headmaster himself.” replied Meng Fan. “He is the one who assigned her to this class. Do you want me to tell him that you are dismissive of his instructions.?”

Hou Bao grumbled when hearing that, “No, I do not doubt the headmaster.” he replied in a surly tone. “Take a seat girl, I do hope you can keep up.”

“I had not finished,” said Meng Fan. “She will be joining this class as a teaching assistant.”

This last proclamation caused an absolute uproar in the classroom.

“You are saying that not only is this little girl good enough to join my class,” thundered Hou Bao. “But that she is good enough to pass the exam? I simply won't believe it.”

The students were not responding any better. Sa Bina knew why. The deputy head had just announced to the whole class that Sa Bina, at 13 years old, was better than every single student in the class. The boy’s egos obviously could not accept that. Sa Bina smiled to herself, this was turning out to be even more fun than she had anticipated. She wondered if she would get the same response in mathematics, her very next class. She hoped that class would have some girls. If all her classes were with just boys, it would be boring.

Since the deputy head had said everything that she had to say, Sa Bina decided to interject.

“And why is that old man?” asked Sa Bina in a taunting tone. “Is it because you are simply incapable of learning anything new?”

Meng Fan was shocked at this girl's audacity. The class had fallen silent at Sa Binas question. Hou Bao was becoming apoplectic with rage, how dare this girl speak to him in such a manner?

“How dare you address me as such.” Hou Bao shouted.

“Oh, I thought you had decided to ignore formality.” replied a calm Sa Bina. “Since you had the audacity to ignore my title and name entirely. I thought you were showing close familiarity.”

Sa Bina turned to Meng Fan and continued. “I was assured that this was the best school in the kingdom.” She chided. “However if your teaching staff, that my family are paying for, have not learned the etiquette to speak in a civilised manner, perhaps I should speak to the headmaster about his hiring practices.”

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Her pronouncements caused the whole room to be shocked into silence. No one had expected such a young girl to call into question the ability of Hao Bao directly. Even his rage was quenched as if drowned in an icy pond.

He made a visible effort to calm himself down. If this girl, no Lady Sa Bina, made a formal complaint about his conduct, he would be in trouble and he knew it. He had expected to cow the girl, but obviously he had misjudged her.

“My apologies Lady Sa Bina,” said Hou Bao. “It was wrong of me to address you so.”

“I am happy to let it pass this once.” replied Sa Bina. “Please do not test my forbearance in this matter again Professor.”

“Thank you Lady Sa Bina.” responded Hou Bao. “Though my presentation of my argument was at fault, the substance of my argument is still unaddressed. I do not believe a young lady such as yourself, to be capable of passing the examination for this course. Thus it would not be appropriate for you to be assigned to this class.” Hou Bao was making sure to remain polite, he did not want to see if Sa Bina would carry through with her threat.

The rest of the class was still watching in stunned silence. None of them had ever had the audacity to challenge their professor in that manner. They were shocked that not only had this girl challenged the professor so openly, but that she had forced him to address her with civility.

“So your conduct stems from your concern about my suitability for this course.” mused Sa Bina. “You are not satisfied by the test administered by the headmaster it would seem.”

Hou Bao gulped at that comment. In his anger he had forgotten that the deputy head had stated that Sa Bina had been tested by the headmaster.

Mang Fan had a very different reaction. This girl was something else entirely. She wanted to see how she would handle all the teachers. Even though she was the deputy head, the male teachers tended to look down on her. Oftentimes treating her like the headmaster’s secretary. She was going to take Sa Bina along to all her classes to introduce her, she really wanted to see the reactions of the rest of her male colleagues.

Before anyone else spoke, Sa Bina continued. “There is a simple solution that would allay your concerns Professor.”

“And what would this simple solution be, Lady Sa Bina?” asked the now apprehensive Hou Bao. He had to be polite, but could not allow his authority to be further eroded.

“Why to test me of course.” replied Sa Bina in a sweet voice. “Of course, since you have publicly called my results into question, it would only be fair to allow me to prove my abilities just as publicly. Don’t you agree, Professor?”

Hou Bao was annoyed with himself, he knew that he had no choice now. Had he spoken up first, he could have given her a written test, and increased the difficulty, making it impossible for her to pass. Thereby proving that he had been right all along. Now, he had no choice but to go through with a verbal test. If he tried to make the test too difficult the other students would notice, and realise what he was doing. He was in a lose lose situation. This girl was far more dangerous than he had realised. He would push this girl to the limits of what he could get away with, and hope that she failed.

“As you say, it would only be equitable to allow you the opportunity to prove your capabilities.” replied Hou Bao grudgingly. “Why don’t you take a seat and we will begin.”

“Why don’t you stay Deputy Head.” asked Sa Bina as she moved to the indicated seat.

Meng Fan nodded. “I think I will,” said she. Then proceeded to take a seat next to Hou Bao.

Once everyone was seated, Hou Bao launched into his questions. He planned to start off with the easier topics, but that did not mean that he had to make it easy to answer.

“Why don't we start with the basics,” said Hou Bao. ”What are the five basic theories of economics? Please provide definitions as well as examples.”

The students in the room stiffened up at the question. The professor was calling that a basic question? A few had sadistic smiles, they wanted to see this impertinent girl fail.

“The five basic economic principles include scarcity, supply and demand, marginal costs, marginal benefits, and incentives. Scarcity states that resources are limited, and the allocation of resources is based on supply and demand. Consumers consider marginal costs, benefits, and incentives when making purchasing decisions.” responded Sa Bina easily. “

Scarcity refers to the fundamental economic problem of having limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants and needs. Resources such as time, money, labour, and natural resources are finite. This forces individuals, businesses, and governments to make choices about how to allocate resources most efficiently. Scarcity drives the need for prioritisation, trade-offs, and opportunity cost.An example would be if a farmer has a limited amount of land. They must choose between growing wheat or corn, recognizing that the choice to grow one reduces the ability to grow the other.”

“Supply and demand principle describes how the quantity of goods supplied by producers and the quantity demanded by consumers interact to determine prices in a market. Law of demand states as the price of a good decreases, consumer demand typically increases and vice versa. The law of supply states as the price of a good increases, producers are more willing to supply it and vice versa. Market equilibrium occurs where supply meets demand, setting the market price. Shifts in supply due to resource shortages or demand for example changes in consumer preferences can cause prices to rise or fall. When a new food item is announced, demand for the item exceeds supply, driving up prices and creating a resale market.” continued Sa Bina. “Marginal cost refers to the additional cost of producing one more unit of a good or service. This helps businesses decide whether to increase production based on profitability. It includes variable costs for example raw materials, labour etc but may exclude fixed costs like rent if they don’t change with production. Rising marginal costs often occur due to inefficiencies as production scales. A factory producing glass figurines may find that adding an additional style increases costs due to the need for more workers and higher energy use.”

By this point the room was silent. No one had expected Sa Bina to provide such detailed answers. Sa Bina continued to provide answers. “Marginal benefit is the additional benefit received from consuming or producing one more unit of a good or service. This typically diminishes with each additional unit consumed, called the law of diminishing marginal utility. It helps consumers decide whether the benefit of buying one more unit outweighs the cost. For the producers, marginal benefit is tied to the revenue generated by selling one more unit. A tea drinker might value their first cup in the morning highly, a high marginal benefit, but the fourth or fifth cup offers much less satisfaction. Lastly incentives are rewards or punishments that motivate individuals or businesses to act in certain ways.It can be financial for example profits or subsidies, social for example prestige or recognition, or moral for example personal satisfaction. Positive incentives encourage behavior, while negative incentives discourage behavior. In the markets, incentives shape decisions by aligning personal interests with broader economic goals.For example the governments offer free rebuilding after a beast wave to encourage people to return to destroyed towns that are a necessity for the production of goods.”

“I hope that was detailed enough, professor?” asked Sa Bina.