"Color albums? Aren't they all ink albums?"
Song Hua: "Just now in the inn lobby, I saw several elders hurried in from outside, holding a picture album as if they had found a treasure. I was curious and asked the innkeeper, and he said that their boss had brought back hundreds of color copies of the Hundred Beasts Picture Book a few days ago. The beasts on them were not only lifelike, but many of them were unfamiliar to them... Those elders didn't buy the Hundred Beasts Picture Book in their own county, so they came to Huayang County..."
Song Linyuan became interested after hearing this. "Are those elders still in the lobby? I want to go and see them."
"It should be gone by now. We can go directly to Haoyue Bookstore."
Song Hua asked the shopkeeper for the address, asked for directions along the way, and arrived at Haoyue Bookstore in three quarters of an hour.
The shopkeeper Lu Tao wore a typical professional fake smile and enthusiastically escorted an elder who looked like a country gentleman out of the back hall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Song Linyuan and his servant enter the hall.
"Don't worry, Mr. Wang. I'll send someone to inform you as soon as the next batch of goods arrives, so you don't have to come back empty-handed."
"Okay, don't let me down again. If you still can't do it next time, I'll go talk to Master Lu and have a good talk with him."
"Of course, of course. I promise not to let you down."
Lu Tao saw Wang Yuanwai off and walked towards Song Linyuan and his servant.
These two are new faces, and they might have come here to look for the Hundred Beasts Picture because of its reputation.
"My two guests, I am Lu Tao, the shopkeeper here. I will show you what you need."
Song Hua: "Shopkeeper Lu, I heard you sell color picture albums of a hundred beasts here?"
Sure enough, I guessed it right!
"Yes, yes, the Hundred Beasts Picture is from our Haoyue Bookstore," Lu Tao said proudly. "The color album is an exclusive product of our Haoyue Bookstore. Now, the Hundred Beasts Picture sold in bookstores and bookshops in various counties in Beiyi is supplied by our Lu family."
Seeing Lu Tao's proud face, Song Hua pursed his lips slightly and said, "Shopkeeper Lu, please bring out the Hundred Beasts Illustrated Book. We sincerely want to buy a few more copies to take home for our collection."
Lu Tao glanced at Song Linyuan, who had a resolute temperament. It seemed that he was a big customer. It was a pity that the goods were in short supply!
"I'm sorry, you're late. There's only one copy of the Hundred Beasts Picture in the bookstore right now. It's our treasure and won't be sold to the public."
Song Hua said with regret, "We have come from far away, could you please let us have some time to think?"
Lu Tao did not refuse. The young master had instructed him to spread the name of "Ning An Jun", so he took the two of them to a private seat nearby.
Soon, a waiter came over holding a large box, followed by four strong men who looked like thugs.
Lu Tao took out the key and opened the box. He took out a picture album with three large gold-plated characters "Hundred Beasts" printed on the cover through the brocade handkerchief and placed it on the desk covered with a layer of red silk.
Lu Tao looked at Song Linyuan and said, "Sir, please take a look. This is Ning Anjun's painting of a hundred beasts."
The master and servant looked at each other when they heard this. Who is this Ning An Jun?
Song Linyuan hurried forward, took the handkerchief from Lu Tao's hand, and couldn't wait to open the picture of a hundred beasts.
Seeing the lifelike ferocious beasts, Song Linyuan was shocked!
Each ferocious beast in the painting is not only lifelike, but also has multiple expressions.
For example, a tiger can be seen in many different ways, such as when it is roaring in the mountains, sleeping, strolling in the mountains, or basking in the sun with its belly exposed...
It doesn't look like it was drawn based on imagination at all. Only by having a deep understanding of their daily habits can they be drawn so realistically.
However, there is still a lot of room for improvement in painting skills.
At this moment, Song Linyuan felt a sense of crisis in his heart. It seemed that there was not much room for improvement in his painting skills.
"Shopkeeper Lu, are you sure this isn't Ning Anjun's manuscript?"
"It's not a manuscript! This is a color photocopy, almost identical to the manuscript. Ning Anjun was dissatisfied with the ink-colored picture books on the market that depicted tigers as big cats and wolves as big dogs, which could easily mislead students. That's why he decided to develop color printing so that scholars and enlightened children around the world can see what real tigers, foxes, wolves and other ferocious beasts really look like..."
Lu Tao vividly described the origin of the colorful picture album "Hundred Beasts" to Song Linyuan and his servant. Other customers who came into the store to buy the four treasures of the study stopped to listen.
Lu Tao glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and was very satisfied. He spoke more and more enthusiastically.
I will tell everyone who comes here because of my reputation.
Su Ningjie pondered over this for two days before he came up with the idea of using the storybook method to spread Ning Anjun's name more far-reachingly.
＊
"Master Su, it's very late. Riding on the road at night can be dangerous." Su Yun reminded.
Su Xingyi looked up at the crescent moon in the night sky and said, "There should be an inn thirty kilometers ahead. Let's stay there."
At the same time, Xiao Lingyu and his group had reached the post station thirty kilometers away.
"Mom, should we rush back to Huayang County overnight?" Xiao Xier forced her eyelids open and took a look at the post station.
"You're so sleepy, it'll be more comfortable to sleep in the inn."
Xiao Xier's eyelids drooped as if she had lost weight.
Xiao Lingyu said a few words to Baishou Qingluan and her son, then carried Xiao Xier to the largest room.
Because the food stored in the post station was "plundered" by the Song family army.
Baili Qingluan gave most of the food he brought with him to Su Ning'an.
"Mother, you'll get hungry if you eat too little."
"Mother is too weak to eat too much. From now on, you should eat only 40% to 50% full for dinner. Otherwise, if you don't exercise at night, you will get a big belly."
Upon hearing this, Su Ning'an looked down at his round belly, which indeed did not look very good.
Daddy's tight belly with some abdominal muscles is what looks good.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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