Shangjing City is the most prosperous place in Da Rong. Not only are all kinds of businesses flourishing here, but scholars also enjoy unprecedented freedom.
Because of this, there are quite a lot of bookstores in Shangjing City.
Shen Minqing brought her maid to one of the houses and walked in hesitantly. She looked a little embarrassed when she saw the man who greeted him with a smile.
In the past, when I went to a bookstore, I would buy books, and I would buy whatever book I liked.
This is the first time I went into a bookstore not to buy books or anything else, but because I wanted to find a way to make money...
The clerk came up to her and asked, "Miss, what story books do you need to read?"
Shen Minqing's face immediately turned red, and it was very difficult for her to make up her mind, "Little brother, I'm not here to buy books today, but I want to ask you if there is any copying work here that I can take over?
"
After finishing what he wanted to say in one breath, Shen Minqing found that it didn't seem that difficult.
The clerk really didn't expect that the well-dressed lady in front of him was not a customer, but someone who came to work, and he was a little stunned for a moment.
It took him a while to react, "Please wait a moment and I'll ask the shopkeeper."
After all, he is a clerk in a bookstore. He has been in contact with literati all the year round, and he is not that powerful. Even if he is not doing business, his attitude is not that bad.
Soon, the shopkeeper's assistant came to Shen Minqing in person.
"Is the girl looking for her brother?"
Although Da Rong has become a lot more civilized now, the people who study are still men. The only thing that women can do is to read more about women's rings and other things. It is impossible to copy books.
Shen Minqing didn't find it strange that he had such thoughts, but naturally he was looking for work, so he couldn't lie to others anymore.
"To be honest, I am the one who copied the book."
The shopkeeper was very surprised, "Miss you?"
I don't know if this tone of voice meant that I didn't believe what Shen Minqing said or that I didn't believe what I heard.
"The little girl has been writing with her father since she was a child. She has read all the Four Books and Five Classics. If the shopkeeper doesn't believe me, you can take a look first. I just hope the shopkeeper won't reject me because I am a woman."
A dozen or twenty years ago, books copied by women would not have been accepted, but these have now changed. The impression of women in the entire Dajong, especially those in the capital, has changed greatly.
And all this is because of the Princess Regent - Song Chen!
Although her handwriting has never been seen by outsiders, she often said things to improve women's status and often supported women.
As a result, the status of women in the capital has undergone earth-shaking changes compared to before.
"The girl misunderstood. It's not that she doesn't want the book she copied because she is a woman, but she is a little shocked. Since the girl is here, how about we give it a try?"
Shen Minqing understood what he meant. He wanted to give it a try first to see how her handwriting was.
"You're trying to trouble the shopkeeper."
"No problem~"
Soon, the bookstore prepared the four treasures of the study. Considering that Shen Minqing was a girl, the location for the trial copying was chosen in the back hall, where there were no customers coming and going.
"Girl, you can choose an article to copy by yourself. What I want to make clear to you is that in addition to having good handwriting, our copying should also be done quickly. Otherwise, sometimes we have urgent work and can't finish it.
.”
Selling such copied books in bookstores can be considered a relatively large part of the business. Firstly, copied books are cheaper than original ones, and secondly, some books are harder to find.
Shen Minqing also knew this, "Shopkeeper, don't worry."
In about half a stick of incense, Shen Minqing had already finished copying an article. When the clerk in the bookstore went to ask the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper was a little surprised.
He walked quickly to Shen Minqing and picked up the article she had copied and took a look.
Then he turned to look at Shen Minqing, and then looked at the article in his hand.
I really can't believe that this handwriting in small regular script was written by such a girl. I'm afraid a few more copies of the book copied in this handwriting will be sold.
"I am ignorant of Taishan, but I don't know that it is really rare for a girl to write so well!"
The shopkeeper couldn't put it down while holding this article written by Shen Minqing, and couldn't bear to put it down.
Shen Minqing just smiled lightly and said, "Thank you, the shopkeeper."
When I was a child, my father was very strict and every word must be written to his satisfaction.
But now that she had to rely on her good calligraphy to make a living, she never thought about it. It was actually a bit ironic when she thought about it.
Perhaps, she should take the money to find a place to stay in the suburbs of Beijing. With a rent of forty taels a year, she can buy several acres of land in the suburbs of Beijing.
"Young girl's handwriting is really good. It's a pity that you can copy this handwriting. But since the girl has found me, I will give her a guarantee. You can definitely copy this handwriting. It's just that I can't copy this handwriting."
The price seems not high, can the girl accept it?"
"Of course it's acceptable."
Shen Minqing had already thought about it before coming here. It is better to have income than no income, so she doesn't care how much the price is. What they have to hold on to now is the remaining money. If they can make daily income, their life will be pretty good.
Yes.
When the bookkeeper saw her saying this, he immediately felt relieved. He would definitely not let her copy the book if she had such good handwriting. If she was willing to copy it, he would give her an honest price.
"Originally, the price for copying books in our bookstore is forty cents per copy, but the girl's handwriting is very good, so I will give her fifty cents per copy. She must deliver the book in three days at the latest."
Fifty cents!
Shen Minqing didn't expect this price. She originally thought it would be twenty or thirty cents at most, but she didn't expect it to be fifty cents.
"Three days is enough time, but I wonder if I can continue copying if I send the book in advance?"
"Of course it is possible."
finally……
Shen Minqing first brought a book back to copy. According to her speed, she could finish copying the book in basically one and a half days.
Of course, this is without much rest.
She wanted to copy more books now when she had something to do, so that when she couldn't copy anymore in the future, or something else, she would at least have more money on hand, which would make her feel more at ease.
When she was copying the book, Danyu was very sensible and didn't bother her. After taking it back, she started copying. Except for eating and going out, she spent the rest of the time copying there.
In order to save some money on the oil lamp, she simply moved it outside when the light inside the house was no longer good.
Danyu looked at such a young lady and felt a little worried, but at this moment she just felt that her young lady might have been interested from the beginning.
She thought that in the future, her young lady would still go to the Lu family no matter what. After all, this was the madam's natal family. Even if she was living in the Lu family, she would still be a member of the imperial court. It was better than living outside like this.
It's just because the Lu family has unresolved matters of their own, and they will definitely be disliked if they come to disturb them now.
But she never thought that her young lady would end up copying this.
As soon as it dawned outside the next day, she saw her young lady sitting there and starting to copy books again. The light was not good at the moment.
"Miss, why did you start copying books so early? Your eyes will be damaged."
Danyu said once, pretending to go to get the book in Shen Minqing's hand, "You go and rest for a while, I will call you when it gets daylight."
Shen Minqing refused, "It doesn't have to be like this. I can finish copying it today. You can send it to the shopkeeper early tomorrow morning and bring back two more copies."
"Miss, what are you doing? Although we are short of money now, it is not to this extent. Why do you bother yourself like this? Besides, I should be the one to make money."
Danyu felt extremely guilty. As a maid, she actually asked her own lady to make money. She was too incompetent as a maid.
This time Shen Minqing finally stopped what he was doing and looked up at Dan Yu, "I don't agree with what you said. If you go out to work, you'll only be doing laundry for others. I originally asked you to eat these with me.
I already feel sorry for you, so how can I make you suffer like that again?"
Having said this, Shen Minqing looked at the book he was copying and said, "You also know that I have always liked reading. What I am doing now is actually what I like more. Copying it once is the same as reading it once. It's also
There is money to be made, isn’t it the best of both worlds?”
These words sounded comforting, but Shen Minqing said them so sincerely that Dan Yu couldn't say anything else.
"Then you can't get up so early and copy books."
"I woke up so early last night because I couldn't put down the contents of this book. Since you're up too, you might as well go and prepare breakfast."
Hearing that the young lady wanted to have breakfast, Danyu had no time to think about anything else.
"Wait a moment, I'm going to prepare breakfast."
After saying that, he hurried to the kitchen.
Shen Minqing continued to copy the book at hand, saying that he couldn't let go of the content in the book, which was only half-truth, but it was true that he couldn't let go of the half-copied book.
As long as I finish copying this book, I will earn fifty yuan.
Although compared to the forty taels spent on renting a house, this fifty cents is just a small thing, but it is better than nothing.
They can earn fifty cents a day and a half. Leaving aside their daily expenses, they still have a balance of ten to twenty cents, which means they have half a tael of silver in a month...
Excluding the wages paid to Danyu, the money she has will last for two years.
Anyway, she has already paid out the rent for the house this year, so she will just copy books and earn more money. When next year, she thinks it is better to go to the suburbs of Beijing to find a place to stay and see if she can settle down.
Just buy a few more acres of land and learn farming from farmers.
This way you won't starve to death.
As for the Lu family... she doesn't plan to go there again.
That's not the life she wants.
"What about your husband? A grown man actually lets a woman work so hard to support the family. How can he still be considered a man?"