"So I told Cai Xian that Beijing's Sui Mei has all purple socks. I don't know what else I know that might be helpful."

"If you'd be willing to come talk to me once a week, or more often if you notice an emergency, and tell me everything you noticed in that week, I'd be willing to offer -" Mana! Not a lot, but some! Or discounts on spells worth that much mana; she's willing to do either and has a fairly impressive selection of low-mana utility spells. There isn't higher pay for more useful information (Jinye decided the incentives balanced better that way) but there also isn't less pay if you happen not to pick up anything useful. "If you notice someone dating someone new, or breaking up with someone, or quarreling, or if anyone has more mana than you'd expect - or less - or if anyone's in poor health, or hasn't been coming to classes..." Jinye is prepared to list the kind of information they're buying in fairly exhaustive detail! It is pretty exhaustive information! "The costs to not knowing that purple socks mean an association with Sui Mei are usually nothing, but might matter."

This seems like a good deal to Huang! When shall she meet Jingye?

Here! Jinye maintains a store for homework and spells and usually hangs out in the cafeteria when she isn't clutching her head and cowering behind wards exercising or in class, so you can drop in any time she isn't actively with a customer.

"There's just one thing that you should understand before you commit." She pauses. Xian hopefully explained this but if he chickened out -

It was a strategic consideration of comparative advantage.

(Yeah I bet.)

- "People might not be happy that you're telling us things; a lot of people don't like being gossiped about, or having other people know about their private business or talking about who they're dating. If you don't want to work with us given that that's fine, but we really do think it's worth trying to know everything, even things people might think were inappropriate, so we can make plans for how to avert catastrophes like the war that almost happened over Masozi."

"That makes sense," agrees Huang. "Is the deal still good if I keep back things that might be especially private? Anyone can see Sui Mei's socks when she rolls up her pant cuffs."

Slightly less mana if she does that, since she's providing slightly less service, but otherwise, sure. "That's perfectly reasonable as long as you tell us that you might in advance, so we don't end up confident nothing's happening if you don't report anything interesting." 

"I would not want to poorly recompense Tianjin for my slot."

"That's very pious of you," she says, with a good deal of sincerity. (All she can muster.) "Whatever you're comfortable with, we'll pay for."

"Thank you very much."

Jinye smiles. "First week's report, anything you can tell us," and she will pay for the socks and anything with mana! Unless Yushi Huang exhibits a preference for something else. But otherwise, mana!

Mana's good! They probably don't have a bunch of carrots hiding somewhere! So-and-so tried to preposterously overcharge her for sword polish. Thus-and-such-a-person has been assigned the same repair request in the gym several times and traded it away each time and all of the people who tried it have been grievously injured, one later died. The Australians' sophomore maintenance minion is down with a nasty cold and they're borrowing a minion from Hong Kong. Chengdu has changed minions from this-one to that-one, and that-one used to work for Shenyang, and this-one does not seem to have new employment, and Shenyang has been assigning their chores to an enclaver freshman who doesn't seem to be keeping up well with the more advanced rotations.

INFORMATION. Information is now HERS.

(They did not bring carrots, no. Taipei's only trade goods are mana, homework, spells, and whatever random stuff the seniors left, most of which the juniors grabbed.)

Jinye is happy.

Huang, once she has been paid, is also happy!