Chapter 9 Chapter 9 The distance from the south to the north of the city...
The distance from the south to the north of the city was quite far. Shen Xuan walked at the fastest speed, in a straight line, but it took him almost an hour to arrive.
He went out early in the morning and rushed all the way. By the time we arrived at Koi Street, it was almost 9 o'clock. All the shops on the street were open, and many people were coming and going on the street.
Lezhou City is very large, and the south and north of the city are very different. Most of the people living in the south of the city are ordinary people, and the market at the South Wharf sells daily necessities for the common people.
However, the Koi Street in the north of the city is different. Because it is close to Lezhou Academy, many wealthy people live nearby. Most of the shops are elegant ones such as teahouses, jade articles, calligraphy and paintings, and the pedestrians on the street are all dressed in silk and satin, which is obviously much wealthier than the south of the city.
Shen Xuan was carrying a backpack and wearing old clothes full of patches. He was very eye-catching on the street and looked quite out of place.
He first looked for Guiyun Tower on the street. After walking for a while, he saw a large restaurant with three floors in the distance.
The entrance of this restaurant is more than ten feet long and looks magnificent. There is a huge plaque hanging under the eaves of the first floor, with three big characters "Guiyun Tower" inscribed on it.
This is it! Shen Xuan was shocked. He didn't expect that Chen Caimai had some background.
When he reached the entrance of Guiyun Tower, he saw that many guests were already seated in the elegant rooms on the first floor drinking tea.
Most of the guests were scholars and students as could be seen from their attire. They were gathered together reciting poems, composing couplets, quoting scriptures and discussing classics, and it was a lively scene.
It turns out that Guiyun Tower is the largest gathering place in Lezhou City. Those famous scholars and literati usually love to come here to meet friends and make friends through literature. Guiyun Tower provided them with wine, tea, and entertainment performances.
"What are you looking at? This is a place for scholars, and it's a place of respect. My dear brother, look up and see if you can read the words above. Don't barge in and offend the gentlemen inside."
Shen Xuan was watching the excitement when he saw a gatekeeper who looked like a servant coming over and stopped him with a haughty look on his face.
“I’m here to find Chen Caimai to deliver something.” Shen Xuan said quickly.
"Chen Caimai? Wait a minute." When the gatekeeper heard Chen Caimai's name, he stopped driving Shen Xuan away and asked him to wait in the corner next to him.
After a while, a woman named Shi came out, looked at Shen Xuan, and after seeing the big bamboo basket on his back, she said, "Are you the one introduced by Chen Caimai? Come in with me."
Chen Xuan followed behind Shi Pozi, carrying a bamboo basket on his back, and walked along the path along the wall to the backyard.
"Put your things down." Mrs. Shi took the person to the back kitchen and pointed at the ground and said.
Shen Xuan then put down the bamboo basket, lifted the wet linen cloth on it, and showed the eels and loaches inside to Shi Pozi.
"The food is quite fresh." Mrs. Shi is used to cooking in the kitchen and is an expert at knowing what's good. You can tell at first glance that these eels and loaches were freshly caught.
"Let me weigh them." She took out a scale and weighed all the eels and loaches in the basket. She picked out a few that were crushed to death and threw them away before saying, "Eels and loaches are the same price, both are ten cents per catty. These weigh a total of twenty-eight catties, six ounces and five cents. I'll give you a good price, and you can give me some extra."
Chen Xuan thought that he would have to deal with Guiyun Tower again in the future, so he said generously: "Madam, please count the 28 kilograms for me, and the extra copper coins will be considered as my tea treat for you."
An old woman like this who helps out in the kitchen doesn't get much money on a daily basis, so she can only skimp on some small things.
Chen Xuan rounded off the amount by more than six taels, but she didn't need to round it off when she reported it, so she could keep the difference of six cents.
Seeing Shen Xuan being so sensible, Mrs. Shi was quite satisfied. So he happily found two hundred and eighty copper coins for him and personally led him out.
On the way out, Shen Xuan chatted with Shi Pozi and asked, "I didn't expect that these rich gentlemen in the city like to eat these wild game so much."
Granny Shi said, "They have been eating delicious food at home all day long, and they are tired of all the good things. They want to try something new when they come out, right?"
"Even so, they still think that our Guiyun Tower doesn't have enough variety, and often ask the servants to go out and buy some snacks for them."
"Ah? Those on the street?" Shen Xuan thought about how he had indeed seen quite a few small stalls and vendors on Jinli Street, mostly selling tea eggs, five-spice dried fruits, candied haws and the like, and their business was pretty good.
"Isn't it?" Granny Shi walked him to the door and pointed at a few stalls not far away and said, "These few stalls have made a lot of money. I see that they used to wear cloth when setting up stalls, but now they wear silk."
Granny Shi’s words gave Shen Xuan some inspiration. After he left Guiyun Tower, he strolled around Koi Street carrying a bamboo basket. Carefully inquire about the business situation on this street.
In addition to the large shops along this street, there are also many small stalls and vendors. In addition to snacks, there are also small items such as dough figurines, scented fans, or head decorations and handkerchiefs.
After Shen Xuan walked around the whole place, he stopped in front of a bookstore.
He saw a piece of white paper pasted at the door of the bookstore, on which was a recruitment notice for copyists. The handwriting had to be neat, and the fee was one tael of silver for copying a book.
So much for copying a book? Shen Xuan's heart moved, so he walked in.
Although he did not learn many characters when he was young at the Shen family, he continued to learn calligraphy after traveling to the modern era.
The handwriting is not very good, but it is neat enough for copying a book.
Shen Xuan went straight to the counter and asked the shopkeeper inside how to apply for the job of copying books.
The shopkeeper looked him up and down, and seeing that he was dressed in rags, he asked in disbelief, "Can you write? You don't look like someone who can afford to go to school."
Shen Xuan said, "I am in this situation because my family fell into poverty. I have studied the Four Books and Five Classics. If you don't believe me, can you test me?"
The bookstore owner believed him a little, and took him to the backyard. He pointed to a large room full of desks and said, "Everyone in this room comes to copy books. If you want to copy, just do the same as them."
After that, he took Shen Xuan to a small compartment, took out a document and asked, "What's your name? Who are your family members? Do you have any identity documents or letters of recommendation?"
Before Shen Xuan could answer, the shopkeeper said, "It would be best if you have a letter of recommendation from a reliable person. If you don't have one, an official identity document will also work. After we check it, we can sign the contract and start copying the books."
Shen Xuan was silent. The main room where he had just copied books was filled with men. He is just a boy, and even if he brought his identity documents, the shopkeeper would most likely not want him.
When the bookstore owner saw that Shen Xuan couldn't produce his ID, he put away the documents and stood up and said, "Young man, please go back. Those who come to copy books from us must have a clear origin. We don't dare to accept someone like you."
After Chen Xuan came out of the bookstore, he went to several restaurants and shops to inquire, only to find out that no matter which store hired someone, they needed written proof.
Not only that, if it is a job that involves money, such as accounting, a celebrity must be the guarantor. Ordinary people cannot find a job at all if they don’t have connections. They either went to work as laborers at the dock in the south of the city to carry goods, or sold themselves to wealthy families and became slaves.
If you are smart enough, you can set up a stall and do some small business, making a little money, which is already quite capable.
It was already past noon, and Shen Xuan was very hungry.
He took out a copper coin and bought a meat bun from the stall. The prices on Koi Street are higher than other places. A meat bun costs ten cents.
He sat on the steps eating a meat bun while carefully observing the roadside stalls. Then I found something interesting on this street. There was a crowd of people in front of a stall selling sacrificial paper, and passers-by actually stopped to buy some.
Shen Xuan suddenly remembered that today was already July 12, and the Ghost Festival would be in three days.
In Dajin, paper is very expensive. Although sacrificial paper is a bit rough, it is not cheap either. Poor people couldn’t afford sacrificial paper, and they didn’t have the custom of sacrificial offerings, so Shen Xuan forgot that the Zhongyuan Festival was about to come when he was in Yunshui Village.
However, on Koi Street, most people who come and go can afford to buy sacrificial paper. As the festival is approaching, the business of buying sacrificial paper is naturally very hot.
"I'm selling sacrificial paper. A knife of sacrificial paper costs 100 coins, a bag of paper ingots costs 300 coins, and a paper pagoda costs 500 coins."
It’s really expensive! Shen Xuan was shocked when he heard the price. It turned out that he was so poor that he couldn't even afford paper for the sacrifice.
"Stadium owner, can the sacrificial paper you sell be used to write petitions? I bought so much sacrificial paper, but I don't have a petition. Who should I ask to write it?" asked an old lady who was buying paper.
The stall owner shook his head and said, "I am not good at writing, I just know a few words, how can I write a petition? There is a calligraphy and painting seller over there who is willing to write a petition for you. He charges one tael of silver per letter. You can take the paper and go find him to write it yourself."
"Why is a letter of petition worth one tael of silver so expensive?" the old lady said with a frown.
"Who says that those who read and practice calligraphy are always a bit arrogant?" The stall owner said with a smile, "Besides, those who can afford to read and have money at home don't need to do such unlucky things."
When burning sacrificial paper for relatives, in order to prevent the paper money from being taken away by other ghosts by mistake, family members have to write a petition for the person for whom the paper is being burned.
Generally, this kind of work is done by someone in the family who is proficient in writing. But if there is no one in the family who can write, it is necessary to find some literate scholars or talents to help.
Because sacrificial paper was considered unlucky, most scholars were unwilling to take on this kind of work, so the price of writing a petition went up sharply, becoming only one or two taels of silver per letter.
If it were someone else, they would just listen to this conversation and forget about it.
However, when Shen Xuan heard this, his eyes lit up and he found a way to make money...
He turned and walked into a nearby stationery store.
There were not many customers in the stationery store at this time. When the shopkeeper saw Chen Xuan walk in, although he was dressed in shabby clothes, his appearance and temperament were quite outstanding. He thought that he was probably a poor scholar from some family, so he greeted him very politely.
"Excuse me, sir, is there anything you need?" asked the shopkeeper.
"An ordinary mixed-hair brush will do. It doesn't have to be a very good one," said Shen Xuan.
The shopkeeper was well-informed and knew at a glance that Shen Xuan was short of money. After thinking for a while, he took him to the counter. He took out a green bamboo brush and said, "This brush only costs two taels of silver. Most of the candidates and scholars in the neighborhood usually use this kind of brush. Do you think it's suitable?"
It actually costs two taels of silver! Sweat broke out on Shen Xuan’s forehead.
Looking down, I found that the pen was indeed ordinary. The pen holder is just an ordinary bamboo joint, without even any engraving. It is only a little more expensive because of the weasel hair sandwiched inside the mixed-hair brush.
However, he couldn't even afford such an ordinary mixed-hair brush now.
"This..." Chen Xuan paused before saying, "I don't want a mixed-hair brush. Just give me the cheapest brush in your shop."
The shopkeeper was stunned when he heard this, and the expression on his face was indescribable. But after all, he has good self-control and didn't say anything unpleasant. He took out a brush from the corner of the counter and said, "If it's the cheapest, this is the only one I have. It's only a hundred coins. Do you want it, waiter?"
Shen Xuan: “…”
The cheapest brush costs a hundred coins, and Shen Xuan was silent for a while.
But in order to make money, this money has to be spent.
Shen Xuan gritted his teeth and bought a brush and the cheapest ink stick. Since he couldn't afford an inkstone, he bought a less smooth ink dish. All in all, he spent two hundred and ten coins.
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