The character Yuan Ji arranged for himself in this world was a poor scholar whose parents had both passed away. To call him a poor scholar was only relative. At least this scholar had a small courtyard left by his parents where he could live, and a room full of books.
This room full of books alone is worth a fortune.
On weekdays, he made money by copying books, writing articles and selling paintings. He didn't do anything else with the money he earned, but mostly used it to buy books. He was very frugal in his food, clothing, housing and transportation.
That's why they look poor, but they are not really poor.
Scholars copied books, wrote articles and sold paintings through various bookstores in the city. The one Xue Huan was visiting was one of them.
The scholar was quite talented, with good calligraphy and writing skills, and his paintings were easily sold, so the bookstore was very polite to him, and the remuneration he received was getting higher and higher, and no one dared to deduct money from him.
Therefore, when Yuan Ji came out, the clerk recognized him and hurriedly bowed to apologize: "So this young lady is here to buy books for Master Yuan. I really didn't recognize you. I hope you won't blame me. How about this? Today, all the books you buy will be discounted by 20%."
Xue Huan didn't agree immediately, but looked at Yuan Ji: "What do you think, sir?"
Yuan Ji felt that she was quite good at climbing the ladder, but he didn't refuse her. Instead, he said, "You decide for yourself. If there's any book you like, buy it too."
A heavy purse was thrown over.
Xue Huan took it in her hand, feeling the weight of the money, and couldn't help but smile, "Thank you, sir!"
I went to pick out books happily.
The two men talked to themselves, completely ignoring the waiter and the master and servant.
The woman wearing the veil hat is Shen Xin, the daughter of the wealthy Shen family. She has always admired the talented Yuan Ji. She has bought many of his works to read and appreciate them carefully at home, and has always fantasized about having a beautiful encounter with him.
She found out that Yunlu Bookstore was a place he often visited, so she avoided it and came to this bookstore which was quite far away from the Shen family, just hoping to meet him by chance.
As a result, we have encountered it now, but it is under such circumstances.
Her own maid had mocked Master Yuan's maid, and the key point was that she hadn't stopped it just now. It would be very embarrassing if she went up to her now.
She couldn't help but glare at her maid with some annoyance.
The maid felt aggrieved when the young lady glared at her, because the young lady had not expressed any objection just now.
Despite feeling awkward, Shen Xin didn't want to miss this rare chance encounter with Yuan Ji, so she stepped forward and said softly, "Master Yuan, I've always loved your painting of 'Spring Orioles Flying.' I bought it home and admired it for several days. I've also tried to copy it several times, but I can never quite capture the lively and agile demeanor of the spring orioles. Do you have any tips? Could you teach me?"
Yuan Ji descended into the small world with his sole target in mind: Xue Huan. In his eyes, everyone else was no different from the stones on the ground. After hearing Shen Xin's obvious flirting, he said, "It's just a casual drawing. There's no secret to it. If you can't draw it, then you're just too stupid."
Xue Huan: ...Even though this guy is her target, she still has to say, "What a jerk! What a straight man's statement!"
Shen Xin never expected that she would get such an answer. She was so ashamed and angry that her face under the veil quickly turned red. She couldn't help but feel lucky that she didn't take off the veil because of her modesty, otherwise she would be even more embarrassed now!
She turned and left without saying a word.
This Yuanji is really ungrateful!
She had admired his talent before, but she didn't expect him to be like this. Her fantasy was completely shattered.
She will never buy his works again!
Yuanji still doesn't know that he has lost a wealthy fan, but even if he knew he wouldn't care.
Xue Huan pretended to choose in front of the bookshelf, and finally picked out a law book of this dynasty and held it in her hand, looking at Yuan Ji with a questioning look.
Yuanji nodded in agreement.
The book of law was a large, thick volume that felt heavy in the hand. Its original price was one tael and three qian of silver, but after a 20% discount, it was one tael and forty wen. The clerk took the initiative and removed the forty wen from the price. He put the book in a cloth bag for Xue Huan, handed it to her with both hands, and said with a smile, "Welcome back next time, young lady."
This guy perfectly embodies the phrase "arrogant at first and respectful later".
He looked down on her before, but now he smiles at her.
Xue Huan nodded lightly, took the book, and followed Yuan Ji with it.
Yuan Ji did not leave, but went to a room in the backyard of the bookstore. The room was arranged like a study, with several long desks and five or six people writing furiously at the desks.
They are all doing copying work.
In this era, movable type printing had not yet been invented, so it was very difficult for books to be circulated, which is why they were sold at such high prices.
In order to save money, many people would choose to copy a book, which gave rise to the profession of copyist.
Yuanji also does this part-time, but he is at the top of the pyramid in the book copying industry.
The better and faster a person writes, the more popular he or she is in the book copying industry. The price is calculated based on thousand words. Some copied books can even be sold at a higher price than the original version.
Because copying books is done manually, each book cannot be exactly the same, making it unique. Such unique calligraphy works are very popular.
The price of Yuanji copying books was as high as one tael of silver for every thousand words.
One tael of silver is equivalent to one thousand coins, which means that he can earn one coin for writing one character, while Cao Liu and her daughter may not earn ten or eight coins by washing clothes for a day. The gap is really huge.
However, the reason why Yuanji can earn one penny per character is entirely the result of his previous hard work in practicing calligraphy. It is precisely because of the previous hard work and efforts that it has become "easy" now.
Yuan Ji walked to his dedicated copying station and naturally instructed Xue Huan, who had followed him in, "Grind the ink for me."
At the same time, Xue Huan heard the system issuing a task in her mind: "Daily Task 3: Grind ink for Yuan Ji. Completion reward: one tael of silver."
This is a good opportunity to return the one or two taels of silver I just spent to Yuan Ji!
The system is so thoughtful.
Xue Huan put the book aside and happily started grinding ink for Yuan Ji, while watching him write.
He writes very fast, but each word is beautiful and pleasing to the eye. It is also extremely neat, with each column of words being a straight line, as if measured with a ruler.
After finishing a piece of writing, Yuanji put down his pen, waited for the ink on the paper to dry, and exercised his wrist.
"Why are you here?" he asked at this time.
Xue Huan whispered back, "I heard you could make money copying books. I can write, so I came over here to see if the bookshop needed any help. I was too embarrassed to ask, so I pretended to buy books. Luckily, Master Yuan, you came to my rescue, otherwise I would have been kicked out by the staff."
Yuan Ji glanced at her and said, "Write a few words for me to see."
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