"So strong?" Xu San's mouth was watering. He quickly picked up the wine glass and took a sip to appease his craving. However, he felt his interest was waning. "Now that you mention it, this chrysanthemum wine tastes bland."
Seeing that he had been tempted by alcohol, Uncle Cao kept it a secret and said, "Want to drink? There's plenty of it in the capital."
Xu San's eyes lit up immediately, and he quickly asked, "Where can I buy it? Is it expensive?"
"If you want to negotiate the price, it's definitely not cheap, but if the owner doesn't sell it, you can't buy it even if you have money."
Xu San's expression suddenly fell when he heard this. "Then why leave? I won't get any drinks anyway."
Xu Jiang recalled how she had whetted Du Hui's appetite earlier, and thought it was similar to what Uncle Cao was doing. She couldn't help but laugh and said, "Uncle Cao, could this be you, the owner of this house?"
Xu Sanda was shocked. "What? Uncle, when did you get such good wine? Why don't you bring it out for people to see?"
"That's right." Uncle Cao glanced at Xu San and stroked his beard proudly. "A few days ago, my brother-in-law came to the capital from Shuzhong to seek refuge with me, and he brought two jars of potato wine. However, the long journey made the wine muddy, so it needs to be left for two days to clear up before it's good to drink. That's why I didn't tell anyone about it. Now it's almost cleared up." He looked at Xu Jiang, "I'll send a jar to the boss tomorrow. You can try it and see if it tastes the same."
Xu Jiang was flattered and waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no, this wine is so precious, please keep it for yourself."
Uncle Cao insisted, "This wine should be drunk by someone who understands it. If someone else asks for it, I won't be willing to give it to them. But you are different, sir. You understand this wine and can explain the brewing method in detail. It shows how much I love it. I won't be throwing it away if I give it to you."
These words touched Xu Jiang's heart. In fact, she was also craving for this wine, so she reluctantly accepted the favor and said, "Then I won't be polite." After saying that, she raised her glass to toast him again.
Seeing this, Xu San and Ah Yang quickly begged, "Uncle, please let me taste your wine, just one cup will do."
"Yes, yes, Uncle Cao, I want to drink too!"
Uncle Cao laughed and scolded, "How can I miss you two? I can give you two without even half a jar."
Drink till you drop."
Xu San and Ah-chu were unconvinced and immediately clamored to challenge Uncle Cao to a duel. After two or three rounds, they had drained all the wine on the table. Still not satisfied, they insisted on going to Uncle Cao's house to drink his potato wine. Uncle Cao was also in high spirits that day, so he dragged the two drunkards and Xu Jiang away, saying goodbye and heading home.
Xu Jiang cleaned up the mess and continued to run the store. Being a sedentary merchant is not as good as being a traveling merchant who can come and go freely. He needs to be patient and able to endure loneliness.
As Cao Shu had said, after the hour of You, the market opened in full force, and the streets gradually filled up, bringing even this secluded alley to life. Neighboring shops set up stalls in front of their doors, calling out to attract customers. Xu Jiang followed suit, displaying popular works of the day, including vernacular novels, legends, myths, and quzi ci, which surprisingly attracted quite a few people.
"When did a bookstore open here?"
"Let's go and take a look."
"OK!"
A group of beautifully dressed girls and their maids gathered around, looking like young ladies from a wealthy family who were out for fun together.
"'Chivalrous Legends', 'Heroes of the Children', 'Soushen Zhuan', wow, there are so many books I haven't read."
"There are even copies of 'Strange Stories from the Night Studio' and 'Banana Rain'."
"Look at these two books, 'Persian Scenery' and 'Loulan Notes'; they are both travelogues I like."
"And this, 'Three Wife's Brave Fight against the Bully' and 'Female Master'. Just looking at the names, they sound like good stories."
The girls chattered like little sparrows, looking through the items for a long time. Then, a girl in green, who looked a little older, came forward to bargain. "Boss, if we want all of these, can you give us a lower price?"
Xu Jiang smiled amiably, "Of course you can. Today is Double Ninth Festival, and it's also the first day of business. Folk tales, myths, travelogues, and other books are all 100 wen each. Buy three and get one free. As for these legends and storybooks, buy the complete collection and get one free. The more you buy, the more you get. Ladies, take your pick."
The girls cheered, and a girl with a round face suggested, "It's so cheap, let's buy more together so we can exchange them."
"Of course that's good!" The girls reached a consensus and began to pick up books with great interest.
Travel notes, myths and folk tales are usually single volumes, while legends and vernacular novels are more numerous and have rich plots, mostly in sets of four or five volumes. The girls selected them all and took away most of Xu Jiang's bookstall.
This rush of stockpiling as if it were a stocking-up spree stunned the surrounding vendors. Wasn't that shop considered a dead end? How did it become so popular the moment it opened? Look at those little girls, buying books like they were robbing someone.
"That's all, boss, please settle the bill." The girls waved their hands with great generosity.
"Girls, wait a moment." Xu Jiang counted the books they had chosen, then thought for a moment before quickly quoting a price. "Six sets of legends, eight sets of vernacular novels, six volumes of travelogues and folk tales, and three sets of quzi ci. Minus the discount, the total is six thousand two hundred coins."
"It's much more cost-effective than other bookstores." The girl in green took out her purse and grabbed a handful of silver peanuts and handed them to Xu Jiang. "Here, each of these silver peanuts weighs one ounce, and one ounce is one thousand coins. There are seven of them in total, so I'll give you eight hundred coins."
Xu Jiang took the silver peanuts, counted them, took one back, and said with a smile, "It's an opening discount. We agreed that more purchases, more gifts. Consider this two hundred coins as a discount for the girls."
The girl in green looked at her in surprise, then said politely, "Thank you very much."
Xu Jiang replied calmly, "Miss, you're welcome to come back after you finish reading the book. I'll keep the same price next time."
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