Poor Family

  Chapter 26 New book fire

This time when he came to the county town to participate in the Boys' Association, Li Daqi gave his son the usual pocket money, which was put in the inn. Li Yanqing only had a small deerskin purse in his arms, which contained one hundred Wen coins. The heavy copper coins jingled, making Li Yanqing Yanqing has a strong desire to spend them.

They hadn't walked far when they came across a stall selling snacks. The four of them surrounded it. Li Yanqing treated the guests and bought each person a jiao hammer and Chengsha dumpling, wrapped in wool paper, and spent a total of Twenty Wen, Jiao hammer is the hemp dumpling of later generations, deep-fried with glutinous rice flour, hollow inside, coated with a layer of caramel on the outside, three Wen each, Chengsha Duanzi is fried bean paste dumpling, two Wen each.

  Li Yanqing also saw his favorite syrup cooking cakes, but unfortunately they were going to the bookstore, and it was inconvenient to have sugar on their hands, so he had to give up temporarily.

The four of them ate and walked, looking around, the snow under their feet creaked and creaked, Wang Gui and Tang Huai couldn't help but build a snowman. Among the four, only Li Yanqing came to the county for the first time. Everything in it is full of curiosity.

   Not far away, a group of children were playing in the snow, clapping their hands and singing nursery rhymes:

  Tang Seng rides a horse and thumps that thump,

   Followed by Monkey King.

  Monkey King, run fast,

   Followed by Zhu Bajie.

   Zhu Bajie has a long nose,

   Followed by a sand monk.

   Monk Sha, carrying a basket,

   An old witch came from behind.

  . ． ． ． ． ．

   Li Yanqing's heart felt hot, as if a flame had been ignited inadvertently. This was an additional nursery rhyme at the end of his new book, which had already spread unexpectedly.

   Li Yanqing was excited, and couldn't wait for the others, so he ran forward. Wang Gui and the others chased after him. Wang Gui put his hands together and shouted: "Brother Qing, turn left at the intersection ahead!"

  After running for about a mile, they turned a corner, and Wang Gui pointed to the front, "It's just ahead."

  Li Yanqing also saw it. The street in front of it was full of various shops. The first shop had a big signboard with three characters of "Shilinyuan" written on it, and it was here.

  Walking to the door, I found a sign in front of the door, with a row of large characters written on it in white paper: "The new book "The Great Sage Hunting Monsters", our store is selling!"

Li Yanqing walked into the door of the bookstore with everyone excitedly, and a gust of heat rushed towards their faces. Only then did they realize that the lobby was full of people, including well-educated scholars in dark Confucian robes, and young scholars from the county school. son.

  Wang Gui was very anxious, and as soon as he entered the door, he dragged Tang Huai around to look for the book he wanted to buy, while Yue Fei picked up a book of Tang poetry and hid in a corner.

Li Yanqing was more interested in the bookstore. He found that the layout of the bookstore, like the medicine store, has basically remained the same for thousands of years. There are rows of tall bookshelves on both sides. All kinds of books are placed in different categories, but the books are not placed vertically. Instead, it was placed flat, with a row of long and wide tables in the middle, filled with books, and the floor was paved with wood, so many people sat on it.

  At this time, a strange cry came from the side, "Four little deer are here too!"

When Li Yanqing turned his head, he saw a bunch of young students crowded on the left side of the gate, they were the ones who attended the Boys' Association with them, four of them were from Weinan Town School, and the other three seemed to be from Tang Beixiang School. It turns out that they are very familiar with each other.

Li Yanqing saw that each of them had three or four books in their hands, all of which were his own "The Great Sage Catching the Monster", he stepped forward and said with a smile: "At the county government office this morning, I saw that the seniors had already bought it." Yet?"

  A student from Weinan Town rolled his eyes and said, "Can't I buy it for a friend? It's so rare!"

  Another tall student from Tang Beixiang smiled kindly and said, "This book is very popular. If you want to buy it, hurry up! If you can't buy it, don't cry."

   "Brother Qing, I got it!"

  Wang Gui ran over excitedly, holding four books in his arms, "I'll buy this book, and each of you will give you one copy. I'll pay first, and I'll give it to you later."

   "Thank you very much."

  Li Yanqing turned his gaze, and found that Tang Huai, who was following Wang Gui, was actually carrying a bundle of books, there were as many as thirty books, he couldn't help being stunned.

  Wang Gui chuckled, and said to Li Yanqing in a low voice: "If you buy it back to make money, you can earn ten coins for a book, so you can get back the money you paid for buying books."

  Li Yanqing gave him a kick. This kid's brain is flexible, but he is not enlightened enough. There are more than 100 students in the school, why not buy 100 copies?

  He thought of something again, and looked back at a few students, who had already paid their bills and left. Each of these people held three or four books, and they probably planned to take them back to make money.

   "Brother Qing!" Suddenly someone called him from behind.

  Li Yanqing turned around and saw shopkeeper Luo walking over with a smile on his face. Li Yanqing quickly stepped forward and saluted, "Treasurer Luo, long time no see."

   "I heard from your father a few days ago that you are going to participate in the boys' association. I said that if Lushan Town doesn't let you come, then there must still be no hope for this year."

   "The treasurer Luo has won the prize!"

   Shopkeeper Luo warmly invited: "Go! Go up and have a cup of hot tea."

  Li Yanqing turned around and said to Wang Gui and Tang Huai: "I'll go up for a while, I'll be right back."

  Wang Gui and Tang Huai were watching the clerk sharpen their silver with scissors, afraid that the clerk would use a trick to cut off an extra piece, so they waved him to let Li Yanqing go.

Li Yanqing followed shopkeeper Luo to the room on the second floor and sat down. Shopkeeper Luo poured him a cup of hot tea and said with a smile, "I planned to find you at the inn some time today and tomorrow. Since you are here, then No need to go."

  Li Yanqing sighed: "I didn't expect the book to come out so soon. I thought it would be at least a year later!"

"This time, the proprietor personally sits in the town, and the eight bookstores are divided into engravings. The engraving was completed in five days, printed and bound by the main workshop of the Daming Mansion, and the sale was officially launched ten days ago. This speed is also the first time for Shilinyuan. If it is It takes two months for a general book to be lithographed."

   "The book seems to be selling well!" Li Yanqing laughed.

   "More than good!"

Shopkeeper Luo laughed until his eyes widened, "In just ten days, Daming Mansion and Xiangzhou have sold more than 5,000 copies, and our Tangyin County alone has sold more than 500 copies, not counting today's volume. I’m about to send people to Daming Mansion to urge the goods, and there are only 300 copies left in the store. This is the best-selling book in my 30 years of selling books, and the proprietor has a vision!”

Li Yanqing quickly made a calculation in his mind. According to the agreement, if he sells more than 2,000 copies, he will give him 20% of his income. Now that he has sold 5,000 copies, he will give him 30,000 Wen. State ten-day sales volume.

  Li Yanqing was secretly happy. At this moment, he thought of another important matter, and hurriedly asked, "Is this book only sold by Shilinyuan?"

"How come? We have contacts with many bookstores, such as the three major bookstores in Bianjing, and the big bookstores in Hangzhou, Liangzhou and other places. We all have interests. Their books are sold here. Ours They will also sell the book at a profit, but don't worry, the money for your finishing touch will still be calculated according to the agreed price."

Li Yanqing promised his father that he would stop writing only three books, because he did not expect that the sales would be so popular. If he continued to sell like this, the income from the first book alone would be at least a few hundred. This kind of opportunity to make money was simply lost. Being stupid, he decided to ignore his father and continue writing.

  He laughed again and asked, "Why did you choose the name Lushan Xiaoxiaozi?"

   "This is your father's name, and we have no choice but to use it."

  Li Yanqing frowned, "So it's my father's name, no wonder it's so low-level."

Shopkeeper Luo leaned forward, and said in a low voice: "Other bookstores have already asked who the author is, and now only me, the proprietor, your father and you know the truth, I hope you don't reveal it, even if you Don't talk about those good friends."

   "Don't worry! I won't go out to publicize, shopkeeper Luo, if the book keeps selling well, we will continue to cooperate."

   Shopkeeper Luo was overjoyed, he was worrying about this matter! The proprietor scolded him severely, how could such a popular book be written only three times before it was finished.

  He knew that Da Qi wanted his son to be admitted to the exam, and it was difficult to persuade him, but he didn't expect Li Yanqing to propose it himself, which made him overjoyed. This kid is much smarter than his father.

   "But don't tell my father about this for the time being."

   "There is a lot! There is a lot!" Shopkeeper Luo's eyes narrowed into a smile, revealing the nature of a businessman, how could Li Daqi ruin this good deal.

At this moment, Wang Gui shouted impatiently from downstairs, and Li Yanqing got up to say goodbye. Shopkeeper Luo gave him four books and told him: "The next book must be written as soon as possible. It is best to write it after the Chinese New Year." If you can give me the manuscript, it will not be easy to sell if it takes too long."

   "I understand, I will start writing when I get back."

  When Li Yanqing went downstairs, Wang Gui stepped forward and complained, "Why did it take so long?"

  Li Yanqing raised the book in his hand, "The shopkeeper gave it to me, keep your book and sell it!"

  Wang Gui and Tang Huai were overjoyed. Originally they could earn 300 Wen, but now they can earn 500 Wen.

  The three pulled Yue Fei and happily returned to the inn.

   Continue to ask for recommendation tickets!

  (end of this chapter)