The people watching the excitement around were noisy again, scrambling to catch the flying papers. Some of them caught them, brought them close to their eyes, read them out loud in a frivolous tone, and commented on them with exaggerated expressions after reading.
"Sour! Too sour. Even the vinegar from Old Man Chen at the corner of the street isn't this sour."
"Ha ha ha ha."
The scholar turned around and tried to grab it, showing a face of shame and anger towards Xu Jiang.
"Is it him?" I met the mask-painting stall owner at the night market.
Xu Jiang saw him being teased and wanted to help, but as a woman and alone, she feared that stepping in would backfire. Just then, her clothes were tugged at. She turned around and saw that the donkey had grown impatient because she had stood there too long, and it was chewing on her clothes.
She pulled the hem of her clothes out of the donkey's mouth and had an idea in mind.
The group of people were surrounding the scholar, mocking him and hitting him with his poems. The scholar wished he could find a crack in the ground and escape.
Suddenly, a delicate cry came from behind everyone.
"The donkey is startled, get out of the way!"
Everyone looked back and saw a black donkey with its eyes drooping charging towards them.
"Where did this donkey come from!"
“Get out of the way!”
"Ouch, who stepped on my foot?"
When the scholar saw that the donkey was about to step on his poems, he did not try to avoid it. Instead, he rushed forward, grabbed the donkey's head and pulled it back.
Xu Jiang quickly ran over, grabbed the donkey's reins, and said to the crowd with an apologetic look on her face, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the donkey was bitten on the leg by a group of ants, and suddenly it went crazy and broke free, bumping into you all. I apologize to you all."
The scholar looked up and saw her, was stunned at first, then lowered his head and silently went to pick up his poem.
When the people who were scattered saw that the person leading the donkey was a young woman, they wanted to scold her but were afraid of losing their composure, so they held it in for a long time, said a few frivolous words, and left in a pretentiously elegant manner.
Xu Jiang raised his head and glanced at the spacious door of Jisheng Bookstore, but felt that there was no need to go in.
The donkey chewed her clothes again. She lowered her head and touched its spanked bottom, trying to comfort it, but it bit back. Fortunately, she quickly withdrew her hand and avoided being bitten. She was so angry that she slapped the donkey's butt again, making it scream "ahh ...
"Miss, please stay." A voice came from behind.
She turned around and saw that it was the scholar. He smiled and said, "What's the matter, sir?"
The scholar bowed to her and said, "Thank you for that."
Xu Jiang smiled, "You're very polite, sir." Then her eyes fell on the paper in his hand and she asked, "Could I borrow your poem to read?"
The scholar withdrew his hand and said with a dejected look, "This is a crude work. I'm afraid it will dirty the girl's eyes."
"Sir, you've come to this bookstore to request a collection of books. I don't think you're afraid of people looking at it. My eyes aren't that discerning either. I only judge what's good and what's bad, regardless of status." Seeing him in a dilemma, she smiled and said, "But if you find it difficult, then so be it."
The scholar hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and handed her the paper. "These poems are no longer useful. If you want to read them, I will give them to you. You can read them as jokes to entertain yourself in your spare time."
Xu Jiang took it seriously, put it into the donkey's saddlebag, and bowed to the scholar.
"Thank you, sir. It's getting late, so I'll take my leave now."
"Take care, girl."
Xu Jiang walked a few steps with the donkey, then turned and said to him, "Sir, a new bookstore has recently opened in Huailiu Lane, Yonghefang. If you have some free time, you can go there and take a look."
The scholar bowed to her and said, "Sure."
At the restaurant opposite Jisheng Bookstore, Lou Yunchun saw the two of them part ways, drank up the tea in front of him, and staggered downstairs.
After a while, several screams were heard downstairs.
"The Dali Temple is handling a case, and outsiders must give way!"
It was already dark, and Shoukangfang was ablaze with lights. However, Xu Jiang had no desire to wander around any longer. She just wanted to get back to her bookshop and read the poems she had just received. She jumped on her donkey and drove it towards Yonghefang.
When she returned to the bookstore, it was pitch black all around. She groped her way into the backyard through the corner door, found a tinder, lit a lamp, and read the manuscript under the light.
As soon as I saw it, I was fascinated.
These poems are plain and easy to understand, without elaborate rhetoric, and are inspired by resentment and satire, with concise and comprehensive expressions. Although they are not the majestic and grand works sought after by contemporary literati, they are catchy to read, with good words and meaning, and are easy to understand and quite interesting.
His poems are like this, but I don’t know what his writing is like.
Xu Jiang read the poems over and over again, and liked them more and more. Seeing that the paper on which the poems were written was damaged a lot due to the snatching, she immediately cut the paper and copied it for fear of losing it.
When she finished copying, the lamp oil had burned out. She felt dizzy and dazed, so she put down her pen and lay down on the bed. She didn't even bother to wash up and fell asleep in her clothes.
A few days later, the weather was sunny and rainy, with few customers coming and going, and the shop was quiet.
This was the downside of its remote location. After the Double Ninth Festival, rain or shine, Huailiu Alley was utterly deserted. Even on weekdays, there were barely any pedestrians. Xu San and Uncle Cao had been there several times, but hadn't seen a single customer. They couldn't help but feel anxious for Xu Jiang, but Xu Jiang herself remained unfazed.
As usual, she cleaned the shop inside and out every day, waiting for customers to come. But she was not idle, and her work never stopped.
She opened this bookstore in a hurry. Although the major tasks were almost completed, the small tasks were still piling up. She took advantage of the few customers these days and had some free time to sell off the tasks quickly, so that the tasks would not pile up more and more and she would become lazy and put it off.
It was a fine day. After noon, she took out the damp and damaged bamboo slips, books, calligraphy and paintings she had sorted out to dry in the sun. Then, under the large tree in front of the door, she built a small stove and boiled a pot of paste to repair a set of books that were missing pages and words due to insect damage.
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