Lionel stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the hurrying pedestrians on the streets of Paris.
"Georges, let's think further ahead. What is at the core of Minister Ferry's education reform? It is compulsory, free, and secular education. What does this mean?
It means that in the next few years, or even a decade or more, the enrollment rate of school-age children across France will sharply rise, and the population base receiving basic education will greatly increase."
He turned around, his eyes burning as he looked at Georges Charpentier:
"Schools and students will become more numerous, and textbooks will be standardized.
So, what is the next inevitable outcome? It's selection! It's competition!"
Georges Charpentier didn't react immediately:
"Selection? Competition?"
Lionel's tone was very firm:
"Of course! High-quality educational resources are always limited. The Sorbonne, the École Normale Supérieure, the École Polytechnique, engineering schools…
To get into better secondary schools and eventually into better universities, various entrance exams and selection exams will inevitably become more and more important, and more and more brutal."
He walked closer to Charpentier, lowering his voice:
"Where there are exams, there will be exam preparation. As long as exams exist, exam preparation will flourish and explode as competition intensifies.
Georges, this is truly untapped fertile ground, an invisible gold mine!"
Georges Charpentier struggled to understand this somewhat unfamiliar term:
"Exam… preparation?"
He came from a wealthy merchant family, entered university with letters of recommendation, and had never worried about exams.
Lionel explained:
"It's the learning and preparation specifically aimed at tackling exams. Think about it, what happens when 'Two Children's Tour of France' becomes mandatory reading for all children and a key focus for exams?
Students need to understand it, analyze it, memorize it! Teachers need to explain it, and create questions to test it! But not all teachers can explain it thoroughly, and not all students can understand it through self-study."
Lionel paused for a moment, allowing Charpentier to digest these words, before slowly continuing:
"At this point, if there was a book, or a series of booklets, that could meticulously interpret the key and difficult points of these mandatory texts, analyze their writing techniques and ideological connotations, and even…
predict how exam questions might be set, and provide mock exercises and standard answers. Georges, tell me, would parents and students be willing to buy such books?"
Georges Charpentier's eyes lit up completely, but as a literary publisher, he was still somewhat unfamiliar and hesitant about the concept of "exam preparation":
"This… this sounds somewhat… utilitarian?
And Lion, compiling textbook analyses and test questions… that requires very professional teaching experience, doesn't it? You are talented, but after all…"
Lionel laughed, his smile full of absolute confidence, even arrogance—an expression rarely seen on his face.
He raised his hand and tapped his temple with his finger:
"Teaching experience? Georges, perhaps in literary creation, I still need to learn from Mr. Flaubert and Mr. Zola.
But when it comes to how to tackle exams, how to analyze test points, how to extract every possible question angle from a designated textbook…"
He paused, patted his chest, and declared resolutely:
"Believe me, no one in all of France—perhaps even the whole world—is better at this than I am!"
Georges Charpentier stared blankly at him, then suddenly remembered Lionel had asked him a few weeks ago to collect recent baccalauréat exam questions…
And then he recalled that Lionel was the only student from the small town of Montiel to be admitted to the Sorbonne in nearly fifty years…
Although a trace of doubt still lingered deep within him, he was involuntarily conquered by Lionel's confidence and the grand blueprint he painted.
Georges Charpentier excitedly rubbed his hands, looking at Lionel with burning eyes:
"Lionel! This must be led by you!
No one understands literary analysis better than you, no one knows those works better than you! You write it! You compile it! The royalty percentage is negotiable!"
However, Lionel slowly shook his head:
"No, Georges, I will not personally write these interpretations and test questions."
Georges Charpentier was stunned:
"Why? Didn't you just say…"
Lionel interrupted him:
"I can do it, but that doesn't mean I have the time to do it. Georges, my value isn't in that.
My value lies in… knowing the essence of 'exam preparation,' knowing how exams will be conducted, and how questions will be set."
Georges Charpentier cautiously asked:
"Then what do you mean?"
Lionel smiled:
"I will tell the specific compilers which angles to take when interpreting the text in the textbooks, which knowledge points to focus on extracting, what common question types there are, and what the typical logic behind setting questions is…
I can formulate a standard, replicable compilation process and set of specifications. Then, you can hire a group of excellent, impoverished university graduates, or even secondary school teachers, to specifically compile these materials."
Georges Charpentier suddenly understood:
"You provide the ideas and framework, and they are responsible for execution and filling in the content?"
Lionel nodded:
"Exactly. This way, efficiency is higher, costs are lower, and we can quickly cover multiple subjects and grade levels.
My individual energy is limited, but the strength of a team is infinite."
Georges Charpentier was completely won over.
He looked at the man much younger than himself before him, as if he were looking at a prophet.
He was so excited that he was somewhat incoherent:
"Lionel… I… I really don't know how to…"
Lionel smiled:
"Georges, this is a new business. It doesn't require talent and inspiration like literary creation; it requires efficiency and scale.
It will be the key for 'Charpentier's Bookshelf' to establish itself in the future educational publishing market.
Therefore, I demand that the royalty percentage for this 'new business' be higher than the royalties for all my novels.
Because what it brings will be continuous, steadily growing, enormous profits."
Georges Charpentier had no hesitation:
"No problem! Absolutely no problem! Let's do as you say! We'll sign the contract immediately!"
Lionel waved his hand:
"The contract isn't urgent. The top priority is to form a team immediately, while Belin and Hachette are still overwhelmed!"
Georges Charpentier nodded repeatedly:
"Yes! Yes! Yes! You're right! I'll go look for candidates right away!
We need people with good writing skills, quick minds, and some understanding of education!
Paris has no shortage of such impoverished but clever people!"
Only then did Lionel get up, put on his coat and hat, and bid farewell to Georges Charpentier.
Before he left, Georges Charpentier asked:
"What should we call these 'booklets'?"
Lionel thought for a moment:
"Let's call them 'Montiel's Secret Scrolls'!"
"What a strange name…" Georges Charpentier mumbled.
However, at this point, whatever Lionel said was law; even if he called it "The New Bible," Charpentier would dare to print it.
————
By the time Lionel returned home, it was already night.
Alice was the first to greet him, handing Lionel a bound contract:
"Lion, a gentleman specifically delivered this today…"
(End of Chapter)