Chapter 76 Gentle Wants to Copy the Book "I've already bowed, what more do you want..."
"Let's go get something good to eat!"
Yao Xiaoyu put away the finished manuscript of "Plum Blossoms," went downstairs, and waved to Tao Xiaoxiao. Tao Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she quickly followed behind Yao Xiaoyu.
This woman never skimps on food. When it's hot, she'll eat simple meals of white flour, refined rice, and meat. Now that it's cooler and she can sit still outside, she goes to a restaurant and orders a few stir-fried dishes with a hearty meat dish to satisfy her hunger, making sure she enjoys the good life too.
Even so, Yao Xiaoyu doesn't say these five words often—if she does utter them, it's guaranteed to be a feast at a restaurant!
Tao Xiaoxiao followed behind Yao Xiaoyu, feeling both happy and worried: With Ms. Yao's tiny appetite, wouldn't she be full before she even finished tasting all the dishes on the table?
This kind of thing has happened before!
Tao Xiaoxiao learned how to address Ms. Yao from the editorial staff. It sounded a little strange at first, but after repeating it a few times, the two of them got used to it.
Yao Xiaoyu didn't pay attention to the slight change in address and excitedly took Tao Xiaoxiao to open blind boxes. Actually, Yao Xiaoyu had many hobbies, but if you removed those that might cause injury, those that didn't even exist in this era, those that could only be enjoyed in other places, and those that would be risked by others, then all that was left was food and clothing.
She does listen to audiobooks and watch plays, but only occasionally to pass the time. Yao Xiaoyu can't say she's not interested, but it's more of a waste than a chicken rib, better than nothing.
While buying ready-made clothes doesn't yield immediate results, food is different. In a short while, the table can be completely filled, turning Yao Xiaoyu, a promising young woman with a wide range of interests, into a pure foodie!
However, the food at this time was indeed quite good. I wonder which region's signature dish Lucky Restaurant is promoting today?
Hunan liver? Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan? Or the later-developed Northeast?
...Okay, it's Western food.
I don't know what's wrong with today. It seems like all the big restaurants and high-end hotels have attracted the God of Wealth. We looked at one place and there were no seats available. We looked at another place and there were still no seats available. In the end, Yao Xiaoyu simply gave up on Chinese food and took Tao Xiaoxiao by tram to eat Western food.
The meal included braised chicken in red wine, lamb wraps, and clams baked with lily bulbs and garlic. It featured French dishes paired with a modified version of British taro and fried flatbread, accompanied by German dark beer. Finally, a pineapple pizza was served. Yao Xiaoyu couldn't tell which country the restaurant was from, but the portions were indeed generous, and the fresh flavors were quite good. It was an unexpected but still satisfying meal.
The surprises weren't over yet. As the two rode in a rickshaw, eating walnut and coconut ice cream, they encountered Wenrou, who was clearly waiting for Yao Xiaoyu.
"...You mean, you also want to make money by copying books?"
Yao Xiaoyu repeated the words in a daze, unable to believe her ears. She had previously tried to persuade Zhou Chunhua and Wenrou to learn to read, and had even brought up the promise that they could make money by copying books after they learned to write. But in the end, she could only move forward by coercion.
She gave up on the idea after that, but now Wenrou actually has the idea of making money by copying books?!
"Making a living with a pen earns more money and is easier than doing handicrafts."
Wenrou didn't say anything profound. She used to think that writing was something only cultured people, like Yao Xiaoyu, or capable people, like Yao Ping'an, could do. Even if one could read, it was something that one had to squeeze out time to earn money because of the threat of tuition fees hanging over their head.
Yao Xiaoyu organizes exams every week, but that doesn't stop Wenrou from feeling that reading and writing have nothing to do with her. This idea is contradictory yet reasonable, a shackle formed by discipline from childhood.
Until she was sent to the hospital for surgery, apart from when Yao Xiaoyu came to study and it was somewhat interesting, she could only lie in bed bored the rest of the time. In order to pass the time during this difficult period, she took the initiative to choose what she considered to be the most time-consuming activity: learning to read.
Then Wenrou discovered that learning to read wasn't as difficult as she had imagined, and the same went for arithmetic.
But the handicrafts that followed distracted her, and with the mosquito coils she sold after returning home and Yao Tianrui starting school, she was relieved as long as she had some income each day, and she simply didn't have time to do arithmetic.
It wasn't until October, when the mosquito coil business officially stopped, that Wenrou had the energy to do housework and handicrafts, and only then did she realize that her income from working all day was less than what Yao Ping'an earned by copying books for a period of time each day.
If she hadn't known about copying books before, that would have been one thing, but she had actually written a few words with a pencil in the hospital. Compared to her various handicrafts, copying was much easier.
"What I want today is a straight answer—if I improve my handwriting, can I also earn money by taking books from you?"
Practicing calligraphy, especially penmanship, involves the cost of ink, paper, and brushes. If it weren't for Yao Xiaoyu, Wenrou wouldn't have made up her mind so quickly.
"able."
Yao Xiaoyu didn't hesitate for long. Editor-in-Chief Bei had too many books worth copying down for her own use. Not to mention that they couldn't be bought outside, even if they could, a thin book of tens of thousands of words would start at ten silver dollars.
The price she paid for Yao Ping'an's handwritten copy was not low, but compared to readily available books that were priceless, it was still considered good value for money.
Writing traditional Chinese characters takes time and effort. Yao Ping'an's daily workload is limited, and the efficiency of the gentle novice is not much higher either. Together, they can only write a few million words a year at most. However, after deducting royalties, other pseudonyms, and unexpected income, Yao Xiaoyu only needs to write 40,000 words a month to earn 120 yuan. Calculated this way, her income is more than enough, and the number of books she can obtain is also very worthwhile.
"However, like my father, I only had three years to copy books."
Yao Xiaoyu's stated excuse was that her daughter would be married in three years, but the real reason was that World War I would break out in four years, and there would be some turmoil at that time. She still cherished her own life.
In addition, she also has plans to move in a few years...
A blurry thought flashed through her mind. Yao Xiaoyu took a piece of copy paper that Yao Ping'an had to discard because of typos and gave it to Wenrou so that she could compare the font sizes.
"If you can train to this level, you can earn money by copying. Will your money be given along with your father's, or will it be given to you separately?"
As Yao Xiaoyu handed over the papers, she asked, "I have so many books to copy, the two of us aren't really in competition."
"Give it to me separately."
Wenrou didn't hesitate for a second. Her husband was everything to her, but this money was earned by her.
"Then come find me when you've practiced enough."
With an extra person to copy the text, Yao Xiaoyu went upstairs in a good mood, and for once, she thought of the publication of her biography of Ding Xian.
It's said that there were some issues with the online binding of this book. It was supposed to be available for sale much earlier, but the advertising was delayed until half a month ago. It's said that it only started going on sale a couple of days ago, but she's been engrossed in writing "Plum Blossom" lately and is currently thinking about filling her stomach, so she doesn't know how well the book is selling.
Let's go check it out tomorrow.
Yao Xiaoyu wrote this down in her notebook, hoping that its sales would be better. If the sales of the first book went up, the publication of the second book would be smoother.
Thinking of Miao Youjin, Yao Xiaoyu wanted to curse the Japanese again. How could those bastards be so petty? It was Miss Qiu who cursed them, and it was a small fish who wrote "Shanghai's Road to Wealth". And these scoundrels actually prevented Miao Youjin from publishing her work.
Now things are really messed up. The publishers who were already arguing halfway through the book have all fallen silent. One by one, they've started reassessing Miao Youjin's value—if Ding Xian's Biography sells well, then the threat is nothing but a fart; if it doesn't sell well...
Yao Xiaoyu took several deep breaths to calm herself down. Don't get angry, don't get angry, anger will make you sick and no one can take your place... Get lost, her breasts are breasts too. Only by venting your anger can you feel better, and only by swearing can you clean your mouth!
Yao Xiaoyu, who had originally intended to rest, sat down at the table without hesitation, pulled out a new stack of manuscript paper, and began to write furiously. At the very top, a title, clearly two sizes larger than the main text, stood out prominently:
"I've already bowed, what more do you want!"
...
After staying up all night, Yao Xiaoyu forced herself to get up in the afternoon. After using cold water to force herself to turn on, she and Tao Xiaoxiao ate meat buns and went to check on Ding Xianchuan's sales according to the schedule set yesterday.
During the Republican era, book sales relied solely on newspaper advertisements. To increase sales, the most common approach was to have a celebrity write a preface. There were no elaborate designs like standees or book covers. If Yao Xiaoyu and her friends wanted to find a biography of Ding Xian, they had to either go to a bookstore and search for it themselves or ask the owner where the book was.
As someone with a bit of social anxiety, Yao Xiaoyu silently circled around the bookstores that clearly sold the biography of Ding Xian, looking from the most conspicuous places to the most obscure corners, but in the end she couldn't find a single copy of the biography of Ding Xian. Finally, she had to bite the bullet and ask the owner.
"You must have just arrived in Shanghai. The Ding Xian Biography is already sold out."
They had noticed that their boss relaxed immediately upon hearing their question, as if he didn't think she was easy to bully or trying to take advantage of them.
"Didn't this book only go on sale a couple of days ago?"
Yao Xiaoyu was somewhat surprised. The logistics and purchasing power of today were incomparable to those of later generations. Ten thousand books, when distributed among a consumer market of several million people, might be a drop in the ocean, but this consumer group was only the surface. Literacy did not necessarily mean wealth, and those who owned newspapers were not necessarily willing to buy books. Yao Xiaoyu had imagined that the books would sell out in a month, but now…
"Yes, but a lot of people come to buy."
Feng Zhen was most proud of three things in her life. First, after discovering that she was not the one who could not have children, she felt that it was only reasonable to have her youth spent in vain. Just the other day, she saw that the capable eunuch borrowing money everywhere to pay the rent.
Secondly, between returning to her parents' home and remarrying, she chose to change her name from Feng Liu to Feng Zhen, and bribed the blind fortune teller on the street corner with fifty copper coins to spread the word about the great success of her literary career, thus allowing her shop to gain a foothold.
Thirdly, when purchasing copies of Ding Xian's Biography, others tentatively took two or three hundred copies, but she was convinced that the book would be a hit, so she directly ordered eight hundred copies. Then, when people lined up to buy the book, she realized that she had ordered too few and went straight to the printing factory. Relying on the goodwill of her large order, she bought many more copies. Although she couldn't keep all the benefits for herself, she still got a piece of the pie.
"Many people have read this book, and many people not only want to buy it for themselves, but also for others. The line on the first day stretched from here all the way to the pastry shop."
The shop Feng Zhen pointed to was a good ten meters away from her own shop. Yao Xiaoyu and Tao Xiaoxiao looked at each other, their emotions telling them that what the boss said was true, while their reasoning exclaimed that businessmen are always good at exaggeration.
But the sales scene that day was far more exaggerated than Feng Zhen described.
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Author's note: A little trivia: Feng Liu is the Liu in pomegranate, which has many seeds, so it means many seeds; Feng Zhen is the Zhen in treasure, meaning be your own treasure.
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