The road was paved with bluestone bricks, with shops standing on both sides. The scorching sun was burning the pedestrians. The father and daughter walked towards the bookstore.

Father Li thought about coming to town today and finishing copying the manuscript overnight.

The bookstore owner was an elegant middle-aged man. When he saw Li Erlang come in, he stopped fiddling with his abacus and said with a smile, "Brother Li, you haven't been here for a long time. I almost sent someone to urge you to come."

Li Erlang bowed and said, "I've been busy with family matters lately. Has it delayed Manager Wen's work?"

At this time, two men who looked like scholars walked out from behind the bookshelf. One of them, a fat man, said sarcastically, "Isn't this Brother Wenzhi? Are you here to take a job? I'm still short of an accountant. Brother Li, would you consider it?"

The fat man looked at Li Wenzhi and sneered angrily, "Some people just don't have that kind of fate. I think it's better to accept it!"

Li Yan clenched her hands as she looked at her father standing beside her. After a moment, she replied calmly, "Don't worry about me, Brother Liu."

The fat man was about to taunt him again, but the thin scholar tugged at his sleeve. The fat man, realizing it was boring, snorted and turned away. The thin scholar bowed to Li's father and also left the bookstore.

The owner of the bookstore watched this scene with embarrassment.

He quickly said, "I still have a few volumes of books that need copying. Brother Li, are you willing to take it?"

Li's father quickly agreed. Li Erlang took out three copied volumes from his arms and handed them to the shopkeeper. Shopkeeper Wen took them and flipped through them. He couldn't help but admire the powerful writing style.

Shopkeeper Wen quickly put away the books and took out one tael and eight qian of silver from under the counter and handed it to Li Erlang.

Li Yan was looking at the various papers in the shop and curiously asked the waiter beside her, "How much are these red and blue papers?

As the young waiter was tidying up the bookshelf, he replied, "This kind of paper is the best we have here, and a dozen of it costs three taels of silver!"

He pointed to the shelf next to him and said, "But the paper for official announcements is cheaper, at one ounce and five cents a dozen. The cheapest, like this seven-page paper with rough edges, is only five cents a dozen."

Li Yan was shocked when she heard this. How could ordinary people afford this?

After the father and daughter left the bookstore, Li Yan curiously asked Li Erlang, "Was that scholar hostile to my father just now?"

Father Li said sadly, "Those two were my classmates. They must be laughing at me because I've failed the exam so many times!"

After a moment of silence, he touched Li Yan's head and said, "Yan'er, what do you want to eat? Father will buy it for you!"

Li Erlang led Li Yan to a grocery store, which was full of all kinds of goods, including daily necessities, food, clothing and daily necessities, which were displayed in rows on the shelves.

Various kinds of food were placed on the shelves near the door. Li Yan saw rice. In the past few days since she came to this world, she had been eating whole grains and pasta for every meal. She missed rice.

Blinking her big watery eyes, she looked at Li Erlang. Li Erlang could feel his daughter's emotions. This child had always been introverted and silent in the past, and he, as a father, didn't know how to get close to her.

He smiled and asked, "Want some rice?"

Then he turned around and asked the waiter, "How much is this rice?"

The waiter saw the customer coming and hurried over to greet him: "This rice is shipped from the south. It just arrived yesterday. One liter costs 18 wen. How much do you need, sir?"

Seeing that Li Erlang didn't respond, he hurriedly introduced: "We also have broken rice, old rice, and brown rice here, which are 12 wen, 15 wen, and 10 wen respectively. Which one would you like?"

Li Erlang said, "Give us a bushel of new rice! Also, two liters of sugar and one liter of coarse salt."

The waiter counted the money swiftly on his abacus, "One dou of new rice is one hundred and eighty wen, two liters of sugar is sixty wen, and one liter of coarse salt is twenty wen. A total of two hundred and sixty wen!" Father Li pulled out his purse and paid the money.