Integrity is the real gold.

by wssfivy9 on 2010-04-11 21:27:33

The previous article talked about "When will trust return?", and this article tells a little story called "Integrity is Real Gold". In short, sincerity, integrity, and trust are already rare things in the deceitful and fraudulent times we live in now. So, we can only find some old stories to console ourselves.

In our country, scales used to weigh sixteen taels per catty, hence the saying "half a catty equals eight taels". Back when scales weighed sixteen taels per catty, there were two rice shops on South Street of the county town. One was named "Yongchang", and the other was called "Fengyu". The old shopkeeper of "Fengyu" rice shop, seeing the chaos and poor business, came up with an idea to make more money.

One day, he invited the scale maker to his home, away from prying eyes, and said: "Please trouble yourself to create a scale that weighs fifteen taels and a half per catty, and I'll give you an extra string of coins." The scale maker, for the sake of an extra string of coins, forgot his moral duty and readily agreed. After giving the instructions, the old shopkeeper left the scale maker in the yard to work on the scale while he went back to the rice shop to handle business.

The old shopkeeper had four sons, all of whom helped him manage the rice shop. His youngest son had married the daughter of a private tutor two months before. The new daughter-in-law was doing needlework inside when she overheard her father-in-law's instruction to the scale maker. After the old shopkeeper left, the new daughter-in-law thought for a moment, then stepped out of the bridal chamber and said to the scale maker: "My father-in-law is old and somewhat confused. He must have made a mistake just now. Please create a scale that weighs sixteen taels and a half per catty, and I'll give you two extra strings of coins. But, under no circumstances should my father-in-law know."

The scale maker, for the sake of two extra strings of coins, agreed.

A scale that weighed sixteen taels and a half per catty was soon made, and the scale maker indeed did not tell the old shopkeeper about the change. The old shopkeeper had frequently asked him to make scales before and trusted his craftsmanship. That very day, he took the new scale to the rice shop and began using it. After a period of time, the business at "Fengyu" rice shop flourished, and the regular customers of "Yongchang" rice shop also joined in the excitement, flocking to "Fengyu" to buy rice. Another period passed, and people from East Street and West Street of the county town also bypassed closer options, walking through streets and alleys to "Fengyu" to buy rice, including self-igniting carbonization furnaces. Meanwhile, the "Yongchang" rice shop directly across the street was almost deserted. By year's end, "Fengyu" rice shop became wealthy, while "Yongchang" could no longer operate and handed over their rice shop to "Fengyu".

On New Year's Eve, the family gathered around to eat dumplings. The old shopkeeper, feeling elated, posed a riddle for everyone to guess, asking who could figure out the secret to their wealth. Everyone chimed in with various guesses—some said it was due to divine protection, others credited the old shopkeeper's good management, some attributed it to the rice shop's location, and still others believed it was the unity of the entire family... The old shopkeeper chuckled and said: "None of your guesses are correct. What did we rely on to get rich? It was our scale! Our scale weighs fifteen taels and a half per catty, so for every catty of rice sold, we save half a tael. Selling hundreds or even thousands of catties daily, we earned hundreds or even thousands of coins, accumulating wealth over time." Then, he recounted how he had spent an extra string of coins at the beginning of the year to have a fifteen-tael-and-a-half-per-catty scale made. Upon hearing this, the children and grandchildren were all astonished, forgetting to eat their dumplings. After the astonishment subsided, they all praised his ingenuity, saying that without making a fuss, even the family hadn't noticed, yet he had managed to earn money. The old shopkeeper was extremely pleased, stroking his beard repeatedly. At this point, the new daughter-in-law slowly stood up from her seat and said to the old shopkeeper: "I have something to tell father. Before I do, I hope you will forgive my mistake."

After the old shopkeeper nodded, the new daughter-in-law calmly recounted how she had spent two extra strings of coins at the beginning of the year to have a sixteen-tael-and-a-half-per-catty scale made. She said: "Father is right, we did get rich because of the scale. Our scale adds half a tael per catty, so customers know we conduct business honestly and are willing to buy our rice, making our business flourish. Although we gain less profit per catty of rice, selling more means greater overall profits. We got rich because of our honesty!"

Everyone was even more astonished, mouths agape. The old shopkeeper couldn't believe it was true, so he fetched the daily rice-selling scale to check, and sure enough, it weighed sixteen taels and a half per catty. The old shopkeeper was speechless and slowly walked into his bedroom.

The next morning, after eating breakfast on the first day of the new year, the old shopkeeper gathered the whole family together and, untying the account room key from his waistband, said: "I'm old and no longer useful. I thought about it all night and have decided that starting today, I will hand over the position of shopkeeper to my fourth daughter-in-law. From now on, we will all listen to her!"

For the scale, the difference of half a tael was as clear as looking in a mirror. Doing business requires "integrity," and isn't being a person the same way?

[Url links omitted]