Chapter 17 Selling Books
After lunch together, Han Jian, Sima Jie and Ruan Ping came downstairs and arrived at the door of Qingxu Yashe. He was facing a gentle young master who was light-steading. It was Mr. Yang who had dinner together and visited Luoyang City yesterday.
"Three, I'm really here." When Mr. Yang saw the three, he looked happy and came up. He handed over the book holding the ground. "Brother Han, I left in a hurry yesterday and didn't say goodbye. Today I will send a meeting gift to express my intentions."
Han Jian frowned. Mr. Yang didn't say much when he visited Luoyang yesterday afternoon, but before leaving, he said something else. Why did it become "before farewell"? Today he came to send a "meeting gift"?
"Young Master Yang is so polite." Han Jian took the "gift" over and his perfunctory smile froze. What Mr. Yang gave him was a commentary on Su Zhongxian's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but the pages looked newer.
Han Jian was speechless when he published a book himself, and was pirated by someone, and even sent it to him as a gift.
Mr. Yang smiled and said, "I heard Mr. Han talk about the Three Kingdoms yesterday. I seemed to be very interested in this book. After I went back, I found the same one and sent it to Mr. Han. The book is new, so please accept it with a smile."
"Thank you, then." Han Jian smiled awkwardly, "Mr. Yang has something to do?"
Young Master Yang smiled shyly and said, "Sister, I want to learn from you three...."
Han Jian looked up and down at Mr. Yang, thinking that no wonder this kid is like a sissy, and it turns out that he lives in the shadow of his "sister", so it's no wonder.
"Then Mr. Yang please wait upstairs. We will go out to do some private affairs and come back soon." Han Jian said.
Mr. Yang wanted to go with him, but when Han Jian said he wanted to do "private affairs", he knew what to do. After saying a few words, he went to the second floor of Qingxu Yashe to wait.
Sima Yi looked at Mr. Yang's back and said in confusion: "Where is Mr. Yang's origin?"
"Don't you care." Han Jian said, "Didn't you say you didn't have the money to go to Qingyuefang to see Miss Xiliu? That's it."
Ruan Ping was stupid and asked, "Where is it?"
Sima Yi was smart like a monkey spirit and took Ruan Ping's head: "I can't even think of this? Young Master said he sold this book. Su Zhongxian commented on the "Three Kingdoms" and could he buy a few taels of silver back."
Ruan Ping shouted, "How can this be? This is Mr. Yang's meeting gift, and how can the books be sold casually?"
"Have you heard of 'There is a golden house in books'?" Han Jian glared at Ruan Ping, who looked at the book as life, and had already taken steps under his feet. "Sima, know where is the bookstore that collects books in Luoyang City? You can find a book market. Let's go to a few more and sell them at a good price."
"Okay!" Sima thought that he could go to Qingyuefang to "see" without spending money, so he was naturally happy and followed Han Jian after he was exhausted.
Ruan Ping also followed and shouted: "What is the 'there is a golden house in the book'? Why haven't I heard of it? Which book is it? You made it yourself again, right?"
The three of them were young and energetic and fast. They soon found the largest chain bookstore in Luoyang City under Ruan Ping's guidance. The name of this bookstore was only one word, "Mo". Han Jian looked up at the plaque with one word, and thought to himself that those who didn't know thought it was a seller of inkstones.
"We all said that this is the largest in Luoyang City. I have been here twice before. The shopkeeper's surname is Song. He is very kind to others and allows him to read books casually. When I came, someone came to sell old books, and the price was also good." Ruan Ping did not forget to introduce Han Jian.
"That's good, go in and take a look." Han Jian not only came to sell books, but also inspected the form of the bookstore in Luoyang City and prepared for the Three Kingdoms Bookstore to move to Luoyang City.
When I arrived at the bookstore, I saw that the bookstore was not large in size, but there were many bookshelves and bookcases, which were densely packed with books. There were many thread-bound books, and there were even some bamboo slips. This kind of thing was rare in the Wei Dynasty.
The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. He was not tall and wore a long blue gown. When he saw a customer coming, he walked out from behind the counter.
"Three guests, do you want to buy books?" One of the three people who came here twice, only read books but not buy them. There were two other people who had never seen them, but they had a very good cloth. At first glance, they were rich.
"No, we are here to sell books." Sima Yi handed over the commentary book of the Three Kingdoms, "Shopkeeper Song, right? Let's see what price this book can sell?"
When Manager Song heard that he was here to sell books, his expression changed slightly, but he was still very polite, so he read the book first.
Sima Yi was responsible for selling books, while Han Jian walked around and looked around casually. He also wanted to know what books are sold in the bookstores now. At roughly, except for the four books and five classics, those who took the exam, those who took the provincial exam, or those who took the exam, were similar to those who sold "college entrance examination and high school entrance examination review materials".
"This book..." The shopkeeper carefully looked at the book Sima Yi handed over, and his tone became very cautious. "It's rare on the market. I see, I have to find someone to read it before I can give you a satisfactory reply."
"Hurry up." Sima Zhi urged.
"Those guys, wait first, I'll ask someone to come and have a look." Manager Song didn't seem to be afraid of being stolen from the book. After he held the book directly into the curtain, Han Jian was afraid that the other party would change the book, but since the other party trusted them, he would repay it with trust.
"Old Liu, come out and have a book."
Soon, Manager Song came out with an old man in his fifties and sixties but tall, thin and vigorous. The old man came out and glanced at the three people outside, then held the book in his hand. He didn't open it to read it, but looked at the hard pages outside, then looked at the title page, and then opened it to read the contents inside.
After the old man finished reading it, he glanced at the three of them, said something in the shopkeeper's ear, and then turned around and went into the curtain.
The shopkeeper's Xiao Yingying came forward and handed the book back to Sima and said, "I'm going to hide it from you, we dare not accept this book."
"What does it mean?" Sima Jie looked bad, "Fake it?"
"It's true, and it's Su Zhongxian's handwritten commentary, not a replica sold outside. However, this book... is probably not the right way, right?"
Sima Yi was angry and shouted, "Shopkeeper Song, are you saying that this book was stolen by us? Are we here to sell the stolen goods?"
"Don't get me wrong, I don't mean this." Manager Song saw that Sima was arrogant and he was old and weak, and was afraid of hurting the harmony. This young young man, who was like a ruffian, would fight. "But it is reported that the original version of this book is in the palace and will not flow outside the palace."
Han Jian was watching the book coldly when he heard this, and he couldn't help but sigh: "In the palace?"
The three old friends looked at each other and saw the questions in each other's eyes. Could it be that Mr. Yang's journey is mysterious?
Han Jian thought that it was possible that the Yang surname was the imperial surname of the Wei Dynasty. Han Jian mentioned it when he first met. The current queen is the eldest princess of the former emperor Wen. Although she was not married and had no children, she had several younger siblings below. However, when Emperor Wen passed away, his sons were all young. Emperor Wen did not want to entrust his or her orphans to ministers, so he allowed the older princess to succeed the throne, which was actually restricting his cousin, the King of the West and King of the North to seize the throne.
Facts have proved that Emperor Wen's eldest princess, the current queen, has a good ruling ability and can stabilize the court, at least not lose the throne of the emperor. At this time, the queen's younger brothers gradually became adults.
Han Jian thought to himself, no wonder Mr. Yang said it was his sister's order. It turned out that the "accidental encounter" with Mr. Yang in Qingxu Yashe yesterday was also premeditated.
"Then we won't sell this book." Han Jian said, asking Sima Zhi to take back the book.
"This is the best..." Manager Song didn't want to cause trouble, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the other party didn't want to sell.
Han Jian walked up in person and said, "Shopkeeper Song, do you have "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" here?"
Manager Song said with a hint of dismay: "There are, but there are too many people who have been buying recently, and the books have been sold out of the market. The quality of the "Three Kingdoms" printed below is uneven. I'm afraid we will not be able to buy new goods in a short period of time."
Han Jian nodded and continued to ask, "Where can I buy the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Bookstore from the Three Kingdoms Bookstore in Luoyang City?"
"This..." Manager Song smiled and said, "I wish I could say that the Three Kingdoms Bookstore has no semicolon in Luoyang City. The books they published may be available in the Huaihe generation. In Luoyang City, if you want to buy them, you will find opportunities. There will be no ordinary bookstores."
"Oh." Han Jian nodded again, "Then I will tell the shopkeeper that I am the owner of the Three Kingdoms Bookstore. I want to cooperate with your "Mo" bookstore to launch "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and comic strips together. I wonder what to talk about?"
Chapter completed!