Su Ning'an said in an adult tone: "Boss, listen, am I right?"
The shopkeeper was helpless. It seemed that this album could not be sold today. Judging from the attire of the visitors, they all came from wealthy families and he could not afford to offend them.
"Young Master, the entire Beiyi album is like this. We can't really catch a tiger and print it, right?"
Su Ning'an thought about it and realized that tigers eat people and have blinded his father, so he really couldn't catch them to print a picture album.
“But it’s certainly not like that.”
"Boss, let mother take a look."
Xiao Lingyu saw that the animals in the album were all printed in ink, and the painter's level was average. The tiger's majestic temperament was not portrayed vividly, which was indeed misleading. The quality of the paper in the album was also not good.
"Shopkeeper, how much is this album?"
"Eight hundred wen."
Xiao Lingyu frowned slightly. The quality was poor but the price was quite high. Fortunately, she didn't get cheated if she didn't buy it.
Su Ningan said, "Mother, we don't want to buy that. If we want to buy that colorful picture book, we can go to another bookstore to buy it."
"Young Master, our bookstore also wants the colorful picture albums you mentioned. You can find them in other bookstores. They have been like this since the invention of printing. Unless someone invents the color printing you mentioned, we will not be able to have color picture albums. If you want to see color ones, you can only look at the artist's manuscripts."
"Then I want a colored manuscript."
"That kind of thing would cost dozens of taels of silver, and you might not even be able to buy it."
Su Ningan glanced at the album and said, "Boss, this painter may have never seen a real tiger, so the painting doesn't look like it."
Su Ning'an looked up at Xiao Lingyu and said, "Mother, I've seen real tigers. I want to draw tigers, rabbits, wolves, and other ferocious beasts. But can't they be printed in color? I'll just draw a few more manuscript albums and sell them to children who want to see ferocious beasts."
Color printing?
Xiao Lingyu remembered that her family's art gallery had held a series of exhibitions on ancient color printing techniques, and her eldest sister had taken her to study them for a period of time. It might be possible to give it a try in this era.
If the experiment is successful and color printing is released, wouldn’t it be very popular among scholars?
To be honest, she had never thought about this at all. If she hadn't come to the bookstore, nothing would have happened today. She would never have thought of doing color printing. Since it wasn't available at that time, she decided to do it.
This is thanks to her eldest son.
There are only a few enlightenment books in this era, and the enlightenment method of learning to read through pictures is really needed.
Su Ning'an stretched out his chubby little hand and gently shook Xiao Lingyu's arm. "Mom, when I came here just now, I saw there was an art studio over there. Can you take me there to learn painting?"
Xiao Lingyu said seriously, "Do you really want to learn painting? Painting is as hard as studying. Are you afraid?"
"I'm not afraid. The main reason is that the children in the county have never seen a ferocious beast. Wouldn't it be harmful to them to look at this picture book?"
Xiao Lingyu didn't expect that his eldest son had a loving heart inside his chubby little body.
"You don't have to go to a studio to learn painting. Mother can teach you."
Xiao Lingyu thought about it and found it hard to imagine his eldest son, who could kill a wild boar with one punch and had a huge appetite, painting with a pen.
Since he actively wants to learn, teach him well.
If he is a first-class painter, there is no need to find an artist for color printing. She and her eldest son can do it. Then all that is needed is a master of seal carving. This will most likely be successful.
"Thank you, mother. I will study hard."
Xiao Lingyu casually said, "Boss, we don't have that kind of color picture album right now, maybe Beiyi will have it soon."
"Really?"
"Really, it's all because of you."
The quick-witted Su Ningjie seemed to understand the hidden meaning. Could it be what he thought?
Xiao Lingyu looked at the shopkeeper and asked, "Do you have any copybooks of Mr. Yin Zhang's running script calligraphy?"
The shopkeeper finally smiled. "Madam, yes, they do. 500 wen each. 80% of everything you buy today is yours."
"Okay, four copies, eight blank books at thirty wen each, two hundred sheets of writing paper at fifty wen each, one hundred sheets of rice paper at three hundred wen each, eight brushes at eighty wen each, and an inkstone weighing twenty liang..."
Su Ningan and Su Ningjie were stunned when they saw Xiao Lingyu buying so many things related to reading.
Su Ningan asked weakly, "Mother, these should all be bought for my third brother, right?"
Su Ningjie echoed, "Isn't that right, mother?"
Xiao Xier frowned and said, "You're overthinking it. This is what Mom bought for the four of us siblings. And big brother, you've added painting to your arsenal now. No matter how hard or tiring it is, you have to learn it."
Suningan:!!!!
"Ma'am, it's packed, please keep it."
After Xiao Lingyu paid the money, the two brothers resigned themselves to their fate and obediently moved these things into the carriage, rushed to the studio not far away, and bought the relevant items needed for painting.
"Boss, keep these to yourself. I'll teach you how to paint when I have time."
"Mother, I will keep it well."
After carefully loading his painting supplies onto the carriage, Su Ning'an smiled and said to Xiao Lingyu, "Should we go buy some pork?"
"Yes, let's go now."
Arriving at Caishikou, Su Ningan swiftly got into the carriage and picked up a large empty backpack. "Mother, my second brother and I will go in. It's very dirty and smells bad in there. I'll let my younger sister stay with you, okay?"
Xiao Lingyu: “…” The tone of his voice, like that of a boss, became more and more skillful.
"good."
Xiao Lingyu took out eight hundred coins from the shoulder bag behind him and said, "Take it. Buy pork and beef, and some fruit. Try not to have any money left over."
Su Ningjie quickly took the silver and money, put on his mask and followed Su Ningan into the vegetable market.
When I arrived at the pork stall, I happened to see the stall owner putting a piece of pork on the chopping board.
"Boss, how much is a pound of raw pork?"
The butcher held the butcher knife in his hand, glanced at the two brothers, who were both wearing fine clothing and covering their mouths, and pursed his lips. "Thirty-five cents a pound."
Su Ningjie frowned. The pork in front of him had more fat and less lean meat, and the quality was not as good as the pork in the next village.
"Fifteen cents a pound, we want ten pounds."
The butcher said, "Young gentlemen, this is freshly-baked pork. It's thirty-five cents a pound. Fifteen cents a pound is not even this price."
Su Ningjie said, "Your meat is too fat and too lean. It's not worth 35 or 20 cents a pound. If you don't want to sell it, forget it."
The butcher didn't expect two wealthy young masters to bargain, "35 wen a pound, no bargaining."
Su Ningjie pulled Su Ning'an away without saying a word, and took advantage of the meat stall owner's inattention to go around behind him.
"Brother, look at this meat, it's definitely not thirty-five cents a pound."
As soon as the words fell.
A woman dressed in ordinary fabrics and dressed fairly neatly came to the meat stall carrying a basket of vegetables.
"Just like yesterday, three pounds."
Soon, the butcher cut the meat and handed it over. "Forty-five cents."
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