Copying Books (please read more)

Time passed day by day, and before I knew it, it was May.

The temperature in Kyoto continues to rise, and after several heavy spring rains, the vegetation grows wildly.

The peach trees in the small courtyard were in full bloom, and the pink and juicy peach blossoms were first covered with buds, and then began to bear fruit, becoming less beautiful.

The matter of Lin Yushi's rehabilitation has been settled, and the martial arts uncle and his son "committed suicide out of fear of crime" in prison, which brought a perfect end to this wave of hot spots.

early morning.

Qi Ping squatted under the peach tree and brushed his teeth carefully.

Although there are powders similar to toothpaste these days, their whitening capabilities are insufficient.

At any rate, it was better than dipping willow branches in coarse salt, and Qi Ping was already very satisfied.

"Pooh."

He spat out his cheeks, and a cluster of water arrows shot out, creating a deep pit on the ground. This was a characteristic of the second level of the Qi-entraining realm.

In the Qi Sea, the true energy becomes more and more abundant. The true energy in the Qi-Entraining Realm is still in the "gas state". After mastering it skillfully, it can "exhale and hurt people".

Of course, its power is limited, and it's a bit of a bummer.

Qi Ping couldn't imagine that he learned this dirty trick from Jin Yi in the Yamen.

"Hey, you have learned this trick. When fighting someone, spitting in the opponent's face at the critical moment will do wonders!" said Jin Yi with a loud voice.

So Qi Ping learned it.

…

"It's time to eat!" Behind me, the little girl called from the dining hall.

"Come on, come on." Qi Ping walked into the room, his eyes lit up.

The meal this morning was good, white and big meat buns, shelled eggs, a bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup in the middle, and pickled cucumbers sprinkled with vinegar.

After taking a bite, it was sour, crisp and refreshing. Qi Ping was full of praise:

"Girl, this side dish is pretty good, better than the ones served outside earlier."

Qi Shu wiped her hands, sat at the table, with pretty eyebrows, and said seriously:

"I plan to open a small stall to make money in the future."

There's really no need... You look like a useless brother like this... Qi Ping couldn't laugh or cry.

After receiving his monthly salary a few days ago, he handed it to Qi Shu, but the girl turned around and gave him two sets of clothes, saying that he was a "camp captain" after all, and he couldn't wear brocade robes all year round. He had to wear them for occasional entertainment and so on.

Going out in plainclothes.

As a result, most of the salary was lost if it was not warm... The prices are really expensive.

"Fan Er? What's wrong? No appetite?"

At this time, Mr. Fan Er, who was wearing a long gown, a round face and small eyes, walked into the hall and sat at the table with a drooped face, looking very depressed.

Qi Ping couldn't help but asked curiously.

"Sigh." Shopkeeper Fan sighed deeply when he heard this and didn't want to speak.

She looks like a little lady who has been ravaged and ruined by society.

"He finished calculating the accounts last night, and that's it." Qi Shu said while sipping the soup and taking a bite of the meat bun.

Settle accounts?

Yes, counting the days, it has been almost a month since Fan Er opened. Qi Ping leaves early and comes home late, so he doesn't pay much attention, but intuitively, the business is not very good.

"Don't hold back what you have to say, say it and I will give you some advice." Qi Ping put down his chopsticks and said.

After hearing this, Young Master Fan felt so aggrieved that he wanted to cry, but he buried his head and remained silent.

"bad business?"

"kindness."

"How many did you sell last month?"

"...It's not enough to pay the rent." Fan Er said shamefully.

When Qi Ping heard this, he lost his appetite. He didn't ask about "net profit", he only asked about "turnover", just to take care of the second master's mood, but this was the result.

After deducting the cost, miscellaneous expenses, and some of the books that Fan Er first sold at a loss in order to build his reputation.

It can only be described as bleak.

If there is no change and continues, the second son's entrepreneurial project may be in vain again and he will lose all his money. He will have no choice but to return to the northwest county to inherit the family property...

Well, I don't seem to have anything to sympathize with... But if Fan Er leaves, Qi Ping's financial pressure will increase sharply, let alone achieving his sister's life goal of buying a house.

"Er, you can't give up!" Qi Ping said solemnly: "How can you do business without paying tuition? The current setbacks are just the darkness before the dawn."

Fan Er was shocked and nodded seriously: "I know."

After saying that, he became depressed again: "But... what should I do?"

He was at a loss. It only took a month from the high ambitions at the beginning of opening the store to the current feeling of despair.

"Have you reflected on the reasons for your failure?" Qi Ping said seriously.

"It should be mediocre." Fan Er thought for a while and said:

"Although there are residents around, there is no demand for most of them. All the imperial examination books are ordered in the schools. The common people don't like the literary miscellaneous books. The best sellers are novels and daily pamphlets, but the profit is very small, and there are not many.

money."

Qi Ping asked out of curiosity: "Are the novels sold very cheaply?"

Fan Er nodded:

“This sells well, so everyone is selling it, but for used books, most people have read or heard about them, so the price is very low.

If there are new books on the market, they are controlled by several large bookstores in Kyoto, and they produce large quantities, thousands of copies at a time... If I want to buy new books for my small shop, they won't let me buy them."

Qi Ping's eyes were bright: "What if you have a new book? Can you print it yourself?"

Fan Er was stunned for a moment: "That's fine. I can find a small workshop and engrave them, but where can I get new books?"

Qi Ping coughed and was about to speak when he suddenly looked at Qi Shu:

"See if the fire in the house is out."

"Went out."

"You go and have a look again."

??The poor girl stared at him with suspicion, but after thinking about it, she turned around and entered the house.

After everyone left, Qi Ping said: "I recently wrote a book, you can read it later."

Fan Er had a look of disbelief on his face and wanted to complain, but he held back.

Write a book? How can you, a military commander who suppresses and protects the school, and a martial artist who fights and kills, can write a book?

Qi Ping smiled and said nothing.

A few days ago, he was thinking about selling books to make money, but he didn't take the time. After the revenge case was over, he had time. Because of his reincarnation, the words he read in his mind were still vivid in his mind.

How to write it was a problem, after all, there were a lot of words, until he found that the magic pen could do the job for him...

So, in the past few days, when he practiced every day, he coded a little bit.

…

After meal.

Qi Ping did not wear brocade clothes, but put on a brand-new robe. He secretly took out a stack of manuscripts from his bedroom, entered the Liujiao Bookstore, and gave it to Fan Er.

The latter didn't have any hope, but it was hard to refuse. He just took it, glanced at it, and muttered:

"Let's talk it over first. I'll take a look. It's not necessarily true. People in Kyoto have a high level of vision. Many of the things written by talented people are not good enough. You... Huh?"

Halfway through his words, he suddenly paused and was completely absorbed in the manuscript. At first, he was surprised by the writing style, but soon he was quickly caught up in the plot.

Holding the scroll in both hands, he looked intently and read two more pages. Suddenly, he saw an illustration. His face turned red, his cheeks were burning, his eyes were shining, he leaned forward, and his mouth was filled with saliva.

"How?" Qi Ping asked with a smile: "Is it practical?"

Only then did Fan Er wake up, come back to his senses, and realize that there was someone standing next to him. He wanted to crawl into the ground in embarrassment, but soon, his eyes lit up:

"This golden vase... was it really written by you?"

Qi Ping laughed: "How can I do this? This is just a fragment of an ancient book that I occasionally obtained in the past..."

Fan Er grabbed him and said, "Don't say useless words. How many words are there?"

"Several hundred thousand."

"Give it to me?"

"Otherwise, it's still a profit, so we'll split it 50-50."

"Don't say five or five, you can do eight or two!" Fan Er stood up excitedly, his whole body trembling. Based on his understanding of the Kyoto book market, he can bet that this book will definitely be a hit.
Chapter completed!