The supplier Academician Ma brought in was Boss Huang, the proprietor of the restaurant designated as the official caterer for the Yangzhou Prefecture Academy.
Boss Huang was also the Academy’s largest creditor, with a total of 2,125 taels and 350 wen in outstanding dining expenses on the books. What kind of expenses were these? There were the costs of banquets for visitors from the Provincial Education Bureau, internal social functions for the Academy, expenses for officials visiting from subordinate counties, and, most frequently, tabs run up by the academic staff. While not exactly "official corruption," these were considered acceptable perquisites for school officials, recognized as legitimate expenditures.
If they were to be settled at sixty percent of their face value, Boss Huang would only recover about 1,300 taels. That was nearly half gone—enough to make anyone’s heart ache. With no other choice, he had to ask Academician Ma to bring him to plead his case to the new Principal.
Chapter 98