Chapter 015 New Books Sell Well

When he got home, it was lunchtime. The whole alley was filled with the aroma of food. Yuan Ming subconsciously quickened his pace, thinking in his heart that he must not let his young husband get too hungry.

However, when he arrived at his door, he actually saw the smoke rising from the kitchen. He was stunned for a moment and quickened his pace.

Putting down the bookcase, Yuan Ming hurried to the kitchen and ran into a woman.

"Second Sister-in-law Yang?" Yuan Ming asked in confusion, "Why are you here?"

Ji Qingyue ran out when she heard the commotion and said happily, "Is my husband back?"

Recently, the noodle stall business was good, and Yang Chao gradually put the plan of renting a shop on the agenda. Seeing that the dream of many years was about to come true, the couple could not help but mention Yuan Ming and thank him for his recipe.

Thinking that Ji Qingyue came from the county and probably didn't know how to use a clay stove, after the busy business hours, Yang Ersao came to their house with the ingredients. Upon

hearing this, Yuan Ming thanked her repeatedly and rolled up his sleeves to help Yang Ersao, but was pushed out by Ji Qingyue and Yang Ersao.

"Sister Yao wants to teach me how to cook. You go change your clothes first and take a rest. I'll call you when the meal is ready."

Yuan Ming stood outside the kitchen door, looking at the very harmonious scene inside, shook his head and smiled and left.

Arriving in the study, Yuan Ming opened the book that Zhao Yucheng gave him. There were indeed real questions from the imperial examinations in previous years. According to his many years of experience as an official in presiding over the imperial examinations, what was written in the book was indeed not false, and some of the annotations and explanations were also quite standard.

But why did Zhao Yucheng do this?

Yuan Ming stood up and recalled while changing his clothes. In his previous life, Zhao Yucheng seemed to have asked him whether he would participate in this year's imperial examination, but he had no confidence at that time, and was afraid that failing the exam would be detrimental to his reputation, so he gave a negative answer.

Therefore, Zhao Yucheng naturally would not give him a reference book for the imperial examination, and he successfully passed the examination and became a scholar that year, entering the officialdom one year earlier than him.

The two served in the same court for more than ten years. Although they belonged to different camps and did not have much friendship, Zhao Yucheng was upright all his life and would never do anything mean. This is why Yuan Ming did not ask the other party why he gave him the book, and took the book back.

Before he could come up with any idea, Ji Qingyue's voice rang out: "Husband, it's time to eat!"

The young husband was healthy and energetic, and Yuan Ming's lips curled subconsciously: "Here it is."

Lunch was simple, a stack of mixed grain pancakes and a pot of mixed stew with meat and vegetables. Yang Ersao had to go back to the noodle stall to help, so she didn't stay for lunch and only took away a small portion of the pancakes. Ji

Qingyue served Yuan Ming soup very attentively, and handed him a pancake, looking at him eagerly: "How does it taste?"

Yuan Ming nodded: "Very good." Ji

Qingyue smiled.

Yuan Ming didn't have to go to school in the afternoon, so he stayed in the study to review his lessons. Ji Qingyue entered the studio and began to work on his "business".

More than an hour later, Ji Qingyue sneaked in with his hands behind his back, hiding something.

"Something?" Yuan Ming put down his book and looked at him.

Ji Qingyue snorted, "I'm your husband, can't I come to you if I don't have anything?"

"Of course," Yuan Ming walked to his side, picked him up in his arms and put him on his lap as he screamed, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have left my husband alone next door."

Ji Qingyue blushed, slowly moved her buttocks, and said embarrassedly, "Actually, I have something to ask my husband."

Yuan Ming raised his eyebrows and looked at him.

After a moment of hesitation, Ji Qingyue took out the paper hidden behind her back, which had something written on it that Yuan Ming couldn't understand.

Ji Qingyue explained, "I have written down the tools and materials needed to make incense. It may cost more than twenty taels of silver."

His voice was a little low: "I don't have much cash on hand. I'm afraid there won't be much left after buying these..."

Yuan Ming frowned as he looked at the paper. He knew nothing about making incense, so naturally he didn't know what to buy, but he remembered that Ji Qingyue had told him that a mature aromatherapy would go through at least a dozen processes, and the tools used were very delicate and expensive. The more expensive the tools, the purer the incense.

Although he didn't know the exact amount, it was definitely more than twenty taels.

Seeing Yuan Ming's face change, Ji Qingyue's heart sank. Her husband could support his hobby, but when he knew that this hobby would cost a lot of money, he probably wouldn't agree to let him continue.

Just as his heart was sinking, Yuan Ming suddenly said, "Twenty taels, isn't that enough?"

Ji Qingyue was stunned.

"I don't have much money, so I can only give you ten taels for now," Yuan Ming said, taking the purse from his waist and putting it in Ji Qingyue's hand: "Add the money in your hand to buy better equipment. I promised to support you, but I'm short of money, and I'm really ashamed."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Qingyue threw herself into his arms and hugged his waist tightly: "Husband, you are so kind."

Yuan Ming stroked his back, but his brows did not calm down because of this sentence.

It seems that he has to continue to make money.

The next day, the school was about to start teaching. Yuan Ming went out earlier than usual and took a detour to go to Qingshan Bookstore.

There were no customers in the store early in the morning. The waiter who was tidying up the bookshelf saw him and immediately came up to him: "Mr. Yuan! Are you here to buy books or to see the shopkeeper this time?" His attitude was much more attentive than before.

Yuan Ming's heart moved. It seemed that the book of storybooks he bought was not bad.

"I won't look for the shopkeeper. I'll take a look around."

He walked towards the storybook area and saw a book placed in the most conspicuous place at a glance - Peach Blossom Wine.

The name is not very eye-catching, but the cover of the book depicts a thin and elegant young man, who is wearing a blue shirt and holding an oil-paper umbrella, standing under a peach tree. The flowers are in full bloom, and the petals are falling freely, which makes the young man look lonely and sad.

"Are you satisfied with this painting, Mr. Yuan?" Zhao, the shopkeeper, appeared behind Yuan Ming without knowing when.

Yuan Ming turned around to greet him, and then said, "The artistic conception is excellent, and the characters fit the story very well, which adds a lot of color to this book. Thank you for your hard work."

Zhao, the shopkeeper, laughed when he heard this: "The painting is secondary, the main thing is that your story is well written."

The waiter ran over with the money bag and handed it to Yuan Ming.

The heavy touch told him that there was a lot of silver in it.

"What is this?"

The shopkeeper said with a smile, "We agreed on the split. In the past few days, several branches have sold more than 200 copies."

Yuan Ming looked at him quietly, waiting for his next words. If each book cost twenty wen for two hundred books, he would only get a few hundred wen, which was impossible.

Sure enough, the shopkeeper continued, "Our boss has seen this book and wants to sell it in the capital. I am not in charge of the store there, so it is naturally inconvenient to give you the account to verify the quantity sold. The boss means that if you are willing, you can still get a share of the books sold by the entire county branch, but you have to buy out the books in the capital."

After speaking, he carefully observed Yuan Ming's expression. This was a role arranged for him by the boss himself. It was a good opportunity to show off, and he couldn't mess it up.

Yuan Ming lowered his eyes and thought, and shopkeeper Zhao couldn't help but sweat for his own future.

He had been the shopkeeper of a bookstore for decades and was well aware of the ups and downs of the vernacular novel industry. Therefore, he was even more aware that a vernacular novel author with his talent and literary talent was hard to come by.

After a moment, Yuan Ming raised his head and looked at him again, and what he said shocked the shopkeeper.

"Not only the bookstores in the capital, but also the bookstores in Chengxian County."

The shopkeeper looked at him strangely. The share of the income seemed to be unstable, but for the book of Peach Blossom Wine, making a lot of money was already a foregone conclusion. Why should Yuan Ming go against him?

Yuan Ming saw his confusion, but he didn't intend to explain it to him. He said, "I have to go to school. I will come to the store again at noon today. I hope the shopkeeper can give me a satisfactory price then."

After coming out of Qingshan Bookstore, Yuan Ming had an extra book in his hand, which was the best-selling storybook Peach Blossom Wine. He

wanted this book not for himself, but for Ji Qingyue.

At the beginning, his purpose of writing the storybook was for Ji Qingyue. He wanted to write a story with a not-so-good ending, so that Ji Qingyue could be more vigilant about her life after reading it.

The storybook made him money, but his original intention would not change.

At noon, Yuan Ming went to the bookstore as scheduled. The shopkeeper was very sincere about cooperating with him and gave a price that made Yuan Ming very satisfied. Afterwards, the two agreed that if Yuan Ming published a new book, he would definitely sell it to Qingshan Bookstore.

Holding the heavy silver, Yuan Ming's steps became much lighter.

When he returned home, Ji Qingyue had already lit the fire, and the hot water in the pot was bubbling. Ji Qingyue originally wanted to cook, but she had no idea where to start, and was afraid that the kitchen would burn, so she had to sit still. She didn't do anything.

But even so, Yuan Ming was already very moved.

He leaned over and kissed Ji Qingyue on the face, and said, "Leave this to me, go to the bedroom and see, I have prepared a gift for you."

Ji Qingyue's eyes lit up, and she couldn't wait to get out of Yuan Ming's arms, and ran away skipping.

Yuan Ming's heart was suddenly empty, but he was full inside. He smiled and went to pick vegetables.

After a while, Ji Qingyue came back, still holding the storybook in her hand.

"Husband, is this a new book? I didn't even know!"

Yuan Ming said while cutting vegetables: "The clerk at Qingshan Bookstore said it was the best, and even people in Beijing were scrambling to buy it."

Ji Qingyue laughed and said: "Husband is so nice, thank you for cooking, I'll go read a book first."

Lunch was simple to make. There were dried noodles sent by Yang Chao at home. Put them in the pot and add a handful of green vegetables. After cooking, pick them out and sprinkle them with green onions, garlic and vinegar. A bowl of simple and delicious noodles was ready.

Yuan Ming also fried two eggs and put them on the hot noodles, which made people salivate.

The kitchen was located next to the wall at the entrance, a little far from the bedroom. He called out but didn't hear Ji Qingyue's response, so he planned to go to the bedroom to call for help.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked out of the door, he was hugged.

Ji Qingyue's face was full of tears, and she was crying and gasping for breath.

Yuan Ming panicked and asked quickly: "What happened?"