Chapter 19
The two of them joked around and soon arrived at the destination.
A shop assistant saw Jun Qingmo sitting in a wheelchair at the door and came forward to help carry him in. The inside was flat, so it was not a problem, but the main problem was the threshold at the door, which needed help.
"Go ahead, I'll wait for you here."
While walking on the street, a group of people came over, with a large number of servants. It seemed that another rich lady was going out.
Tsk tsk, it’s good to be rich and powerful. Look at this show of travel. No wonder so many people want to climb up the social ladder. Who wouldn’t be confused after seeing this?
She was also a member of the army that traveled through time and space, and seemed to be the worst off. Others were either princesses or legitimate daughters, or relatives of high-ranking officials or wealthy families.
She is a low-income person and her job is not stable.
She also thought to herself that it was a good thing that she traveled through time and space and was a commoner, otherwise, with her intelligence and personality, she would have died long ago.
It’s still better like this now. I have food to eat and clothes to wear and no one cares about me. Life is not bad.
When Zhang Yunniang arrived at the bookstore, she found a place slightly out of sight and took out the old cloth she had prepared in advance and covered her face with it. She originally wanted to put on a hood, but hoods are something that easily attract attention.
It’s better to order casually, and no one will care.
Arriving at the bookstore, she didn't go straight to the manager, but instead wandered around. The shelves were filled with a dazzling array of books.
Although she was illiterate, she could tell the difference between serious books and storybooks by just flipping through them.
I pretended to pick out a few storybooks and asked about the price, but I didn't expect that these storybooks were quite expensive.
Although movable type printing technology is now available, the production of printing molds is complicated, and the audience for storybooks is limited. Most of them are handwritten copies, so the price is naturally high.
However, serious books such as imperial examination textbooks and technology promotion books were sold in large quantities, so the cost was reduced by using movable type printing, and they were sold at a much lower price.
"Miss, you have good taste. These storybooks are the most popular serials recently. Our shop sells 70 to 80 copies of each every day. They've been published for quite some time now. When they first came out, they sold hundreds of copies every day."
"Can you accept books here?"
"Of course we do. That's what we do." The waiter grinned. "But we have very high requirements for books."
"Can I talk to the manager? I just happened to bring some chapters here today."
The manager of the bookstore was called over soon. He was a very young man and looked like a scholar.
"Miss, please come in."
The two sat down. Zhang Yunniang, still thinking about Jun Qingmo, said directly, "The shopkeeper is a cultured man, so I won't beat around the bush. What price can you offer for this book?"
Zhang Yunniang handed over the book she was hiding and explained, "This book is expected to have a total of 120 chapters. We already have the first 30 chapters, and I brought the first 10 chapters today. I'll send you the next 30 chapters every two weeks."
The shopkeeper took the book and read it quickly. He had read all the storybooks sold in the store, and most of the plots were so worn out that he didn't need to read them in detail.
Many writers pad their writing to lengthen the book, and often a plot drags on for more than a dozen chapters before it is finished.
At first, he didn't pay much attention to it and skipped through a few chapters. When he found that he couldn't understand the trend, he was happy but didn't show it, and started reading again from the beginning.
The story has a tight rhythm, the writing is concise, there is no nonsense at all, and every sentence contains some foreshadowing in it.
In just ten chapters, there are two major reversals, and the reversals are not abrupt at all. Everything is traceable, but in the situation at the time, there is nothing that would make people notice that there is anything wrong.
Wonderful, wonderful.
The shopkeeper looked through the documents front and back, and Zhang Yunniang did not urge him. Although the shopkeeper's expression did not show any reaction, this deal should not be difficult to negotiate.
Since she couldn't read, Jun Qingmo dictated the stories to her, and she became the first "fan" who could ask for updates in person.
Estimating the time in her mind, she tapped the tea table and said, "Boss, do you think this is okay?"
"Here, it's like this. For serialized novels, we settle accounts in stages."
Zhang Yunniang nodded to show her understanding. After all, they all wanted to make money, and they didn't know the quality of the product in the future, so it was impossible to buy it out directly.
"Give the girl a fair price, two taels of silver per issue, a total of eight taels of silver for four issues. If the market response is good, I will give you another one to five taels of silver as a reward."
"But initially, you can only pay half the fee each month. The remaining half will be used as a deposit, and the remaining fee will be settled upon the submission of the final issue. What do you think, young lady?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunniang said nothing and just shook her head.
"What's wrong with you, girl?"
Zhang Yunniang found the payment method understandable. After all, such large bookstores focused on reputation, and she could naturally accept the requirement of paying a portion of the money as a guarantee of quality.
“The price is not good.”
"Two taels of silver per issue is not a small amount. If we can complete two issues per month, that's four taels of silver per month."
"If that's the case, then there's no room for negotiation. Boss, please return the manuscript to me."
The shopkeeper thought for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said, "How about this: the bonus after the completion will be calculated based on the highest level of five taels of silver. You can also go out and ask around. We are notoriously expensive for books in the capital."
Zhang Yunniang had just observed that there were quite a lot of customers here, and the sales of storybooks were also quite high.
Most importantly, this bookstore has branches in many places across the country, which means that its sales area is extremely wide and it targets a wide range of audiences.
Seeing that no one spoke, the shopkeeper explained, "It's not easy for us to run a business. We need to find someone to copy the book, and copying a book costs a lot of money. It also costs the rent of my shop and the labor costs."
"Besides, we bear all the risks. Whether we can recoup our investment in the future is still unknown..."
"Shopkeeper, this book is sold all over the country, and I don't ask for too much. Five taels of silver per issue, twenty taels for four issues, and a bonus of twenty taels for the completion of the manuscript, for a total of forty taels. I can accept payment in installments."
"This, this, hey, wait a minute." The shopkeeper was also a little embarrassed, but seeing that the man was about to leave, he had to agree.
Zhang Yunniang took out the other twenty chapters from her bosom and signed a contract with the bookstore in Du Ruoyi's name.
She had pretended to have brought it only ten times before, but when she took it out now, the shopkeeper felt that this girl looked honest but actually had a lot of ideas.
Putting the silver in her pocket, Zhang Yunniang felt very happy. The monthly expenses of ordinary people here were less than two taels, so the price asked was not low.
After all, the first cooperation should give people some benefits so that they can be in a more advantageous position when cooperating again.
Only when you put it in your mouth can you know how fat the meat is.
The tug of war lasted a long time. Zhang Yunniang was a little worried about Jun Qingmo at this time, so she walked quickly towards Wenmoju.
Inside Wenmoju, Jun Qingmo walked around by himself and soon selected the items he needed.
With customers coming and going in the shop, it is inevitable that there will be some bumps. Although the shop owner didn't say anything, he knew that it affected other people's business.
He took out the silver that had been given to him in advance and settled the bill. Seeing that the man didn't come back for a while, he asked the waiter to help him out the door. After looking around for a while, he found the tea stall next to him.
Not far from the tea stall, there is a storyteller. Many people drink tea here and listen to the story.
In order to wait for someone, he ordered a pot of tea and two plates of snacks, intending to stay here for a while.
He paid no attention to the noise in the distance. The tea stall was set up outdoors, the sun shone down, and the breeze blew. He tilted his head back slightly to feel the sun, feeling very comfortable.
After he took down the black cloth on the window, he began to enjoy basking in the sun, and his previously fair skin became much darker.
The tanned skin did not affect his handsomeness, but rather added some masculinity.
"Hey, look, what a big scene! Whose house is this?"
"The Sixth Prince brought the young lady of the Weiyuan Marquisate to burn incense outside the city, so naturally there was a big scene."
"The Sixth Prince? That reckless Sixth Prince?"
"Isn't it?"
"Oh my God! The Sixth Prince is uneducated, frivolous, and cruel. I don't know how many people he has killed. He was rejected when he asked to marry Miss Xu, so why did he agree now?"
"That's not the case. Marrying a daughter will make you a royal relative. There are plenty of people willing to do that."
"Then there is no one to control the Sixth Prince?"
"The Sixth Prince relies on his mother, Concubine Gao, being favored by the Emperor. He acts arrogantly and domineeringly outside the palace, but he tries to please and flatter people in the palace. His dirty deeds never reach the ears of the higher-ups. Who dares to speak out? Who dares to intervene?"
"I still want to know, why did Ms. Xu refuse the marriage in the first place? And why did she agree now?"
"Miss Xu had a sweetheart back then, a young man from a declining royal family, full of talent and quite famous. Since they were both royal relatives, of course she would choose the one she liked to marry."
"But things happen unexpectedly. The prince of the palace had an accident and became paralyzed. This is not the case now."
"Miss Xu has been waiting and waiting, but she hasn't received any news of her lover's recovery. Now she is old. If she doesn't get the Sixth Prince back, how can she have the chance to become a royal relative?"
"Isn't the Sixth Prince very vindictive? I remember that the courtesan of Tianxiang Tower accidentally offended him with her words. Not only did she lose her good looks, but she was also stripped naked and thrown into a pile of refugees. It was a truly horrible sight."
"Miss Xu rejected the marriage proposal and made him lose face. How dare you marry him?"
"Miss Xu is at least backed by the Marquis' Mansion, which is a family of meritorious service. The Sixth Prince is already overjoyed to have such a beautiful woman in his arms, so why would he bother with such a thing?"
"It's a pity. We were supposed to have a good marriage, but now, ah."
"What happened to the young master of the palace?"
"His legs are broken, he's paralyzed. I heard he never leaves the house, and there's no news about him."
"Look, probably similar to that guy." He nodded and motioned people to look at Jun Qingmo over there.
Then, everyone's eyes shifted over.
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