Chapter 69: Book Repair
"Mr. Su!" Lin Changqing ran back quickly. He usually paid special attention to his behavior and rarely felt so hurried.
Seeing Su Fengzhang still there, Lin Changqing took a breath and carefully placed the broken scroll on the table: "Excuse me, can you see if it can be repaired?"
The book on the table was badly damaged. It was torn in two and also soaked in water and crumpled into a ball, looking wrinkled.
Su Fengzhang felt distressed after taking a look at him, and his impression of Mu Wei became even worse.
Why don't all of us who read books have a heart that loves books? Even if there is a contradiction in itself, it is incomprehensible that we are not against people but against books. This kind of small action does not hurt people, but it disgusts people.
"It can be repaired, but it's too badly damaged. Even after repairing it, there will be traces." Su Fengzhang said this. After all, he was not an expert in repairing ancient books, and there were no suitable tools in ancient times.
Lin Changqing was a little disappointed, but still said, "As long as it can be repaired, it's good. Whatever it is, it's fine."
"Then I'll take it back and deal with it slowly, okay?" Su Fengzhang asked.
Lin Changqing said without hesitation: "Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Su. I wonder what else you need to prepare?"
"No need, I have all the tools at home." Su Fengzhang said with a smile. He also had old books at home, and he repaired them himself, so he did have all the tools.
That day, Lin Changqing accompanied him to the door, and when he was about to leave, he seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Su Fengzhang just smiled and didn't say much. He helped Lin Changqing more out of his love for books than out of friendship between classmates.
"Second brother, why are you so late today? I'm getting anxious waiting." Su Lanzhang shouted when she saw him.
Su Fengzhang smiled and ruffled his hair, "Something delayed me."
Su Lanzhang jumped onto the carriage, leaned against Su Fengzhang in a somewhat flattering manner, and gave him a flattering smile.
Su Fengzhang raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Tell me, what happened?"
Su Lanzhang hugged his arm and said coquettishly, "Second brother, can I come to the county town to see the lanterns during the Lantern Festival next year?"
It is winter now, and another year will soon pass. If you calculate carefully, the Chinese New Year is not far away.
In Su Lanzhang's memory, the Lantern Festival was always lively when he was a child. Although Su Dianli was a conservative person, Su Zhaoshi liked the lively atmosphere and would allow them to go out on this day every year.
However, after Su Dianli passed away, his family observed mourning and moved from the county town to the countryside, so watching lanterns became a luxury.
"My classmates in the private school all said they would go, and I want to go and have a look too." Su Lanzhang said, feeling a little embarrassed.
Su Fengzhang raised his eyebrows and felt that he had neglected something. He was not a child and naturally did not care about these festivals, but he forgot that his younger brothers and sisters liked them.
He didn't agree directly, but instead said, "If you can get into the top three in the end-of-year exam, I'll convince Mom to take you out to play. How about that? Are you confident?"
Su Lanzhang's face suddenly lit up with joy, and he shouted, "I have confidence."
After returning home and having dinner, Su Fengzhang closed the door and started repairing the book. He must have thought that Lin Changqing was also waiting for him to finish repairing it.
There was no commercial paste available in those days, so before repairing the book, one had to make homemade paste. Su Fengzhang added pyrethrum and alum to the flour, mixing it thoroughly and letting it cool before using.
The process of repairing a book requires carefulness and patience, and the force must be even. Otherwise, impatience will only make the damaged book worse. A steady hand is very important during this process.
Su Fengzhang may not have anything else, but he is very patient and steady.
He was so obsessed with this repair that it was already dawn when all the pages were repaired. He had been repairing the whole night, and now everything except the cover was repaired.
Su Fengzhang rubbed his eyes and went to bed quickly to avoid being exhausted the next day.
After repair, you still need to do some simple cleaning, lay the pages flat with an iron, apply glue and gauze to the spine.
Finally, the whole book is dried and put together, and the book is considered repaired.
The traces of repairs are still clearly visible, but it is finally a complete book.
When revising the book, Su Fengzhang took a look at the contents and found that this book was not an ordinary Four Books and Five Classics, but a notebook. Rather than a book, it was more like a person's diary.
This was probably a relic of Lin Changqing's father, so he cared so much about it. Although the book was not precious, it was unique to Lin Changqing.
When he placed the book in front of Lin Changqing, the taciturn scholar's eyes suddenly turned red. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes to hide it, and then opened the book to read.
It was obvious that Lin Changqing was not calm, but he quickly put down the book and said sincerely: "Su Xiucai, thank you very much for this time. If it weren't for you, this book would probably be ruined."
Su Fengzhang smiled modestly and said, "Even if it wasn't me, it would be fine if I took it to someone else to repair it. Who knows, they might even be able to do a better job than me."
Lin Changqing brushed his fingers across the book cover and shook his head, saying, "Actually, I've asked the study. Regardless of whether they'd accept this small business, even if they did, the price would be quite high. I'm so broke that I can't afford it."
When talking about his financial difficulties, Lin Changqing looked calm and nothing seemed unusual.
"Brother Su, this book means a lot to me. I'm deeply grateful for your help," Lin Changqing said. "If you need my help in the future, please let me know."
"Mr. Lin is so polite that it makes me feel embarrassed." Su Fengzhang said with a smile, "We are classmates, and it is only natural for us to help each other. There is no need to be so distant."
Lin Changqing also smiled. He was usually taciturn and serious, but when he smiled, he looked a bit childish. "You're right, I'm crazy."
"Brother Su, I actually envy you," Lin Changqing suddenly mentioned something.
"In the past, I saw you getting close to other students and having a good relationship with them. I privately thought you were too slick and lacked the integrity of a scholar, so I looked down on you."
"After this incident, I realized that Brother Su is truly a good person and treats his classmates sincerely. It was I who was narrow-minded and secretly criticized you. This is not what a gentleman does."
"I'm not a talkative person myself, and I can't even talk to the people in the same room. I've been like this since I was a child, and I can't change it even if I want to. Now that I see that you're so popular, I'm jealous. That's really inappropriate."
"Brother Su, I apologize to you, please don't take it to heart."
These words stunned Su Fengzhang. In fact, Lin Changqing was complaining about him in his heart. If he didn't say it, no one would know. But he apologized to him solemnly at this moment. It was not clear whether to say that he was sincere or straightforward.
However, Su Fengzhang didn't dislike such straightforward people. It was better than beating around the bush countless times in his heart: "Brother Lin has never done anything to let me down. Why do you need to apologize?"
Lin Changqing said, "I'm jealous of you and I'm complaining about you, but that's not right."
Su Fengzhang smiled: "How do you know I'm not grumbling about you in my heart? Jealous of you?"
Lin Changqing was slightly stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously asked back: "You are better than me in everything, why are you jealous of me?"
Su Fengzhang said matter-of-factly, "You are a great poet. You are extremely talented. Even the teacher often praises you. I am not like that. I am always told that my poems are too artificial and lack spirit."
Lin Changqing couldn't help but laugh again: "Writing poetry is just a minor art, it's nothing. Your contemporary writing has even been praised by the county magistrate."
"Poetry can be passed down through the ages, so how can it be considered a minor art?" Su Fengzhang said this sincerely. "It's a pity that I don't have the talent for it. I'm afraid I'll never be able to write a poem that amazes people in my lifetime."
Seeing that he was serious, Lin Changqing shook his head and laughed, "How can a poem be passed down through the ages?"
Su Fengzhang disagreed and said, "Look back, the poets are the most likely to leave their names in history."
Lin Changqing followed his thoughts and thought about it. It seemed to be true. Then he said quickly, "I am almost lost after being praised by you."
"I'm just being honest. When it comes to poetry, Brother Lin's skills are unmatched in the county school. This is universally acknowledged."
After chatting for a few sentences, Lin Changqing began to understand why Su Fengzhang was so popular. Just like the others in their room, they were still sarcastic about him in their words and deeds at the beginning, but after a few months, their reputation for Su Fengzhang improved a lot.
He was indeed a very likable man, and even more so, it was very pleasant to talk to him.
Lin Changqing's expression also softened a lot. "If you are willing to learn, I can teach you. In fact, writing poetry is not difficult. As long as you master the tricks, you will be fine."
Su Fengzhang didn't refuse and agreed very naturally: "I'd love to have you do this. Brother Lin, please don't look down on my stupid head. When Mr. Wen first taught me how to write poetry, he was so angry that he wanted to knock my head open and stuff it in."
Lin Changqing thought he was being modest and said, "Don't worry, I'm patient."
Suddenly, the two of them looked at each other and laughed in unison. Lin Changqing touched his nose and said embarrassedly, "Why do we seem to be praising each other? It's quite embarrassing."
Su Fengzhang was much more shameless and said with a smile: "What kind of compliment is this? Aren't we both telling the truth?"
Just at this moment Liu Xiong walked in from outside, and saw the two of them sitting opposite each other with smiles on their faces, his face suddenly turned horrified.
As soon as he saw him, Lin Changqing stood up, nodded, and turned back to his seat.
After Liu Xiong sat down, he whispered, "Did Lin Changqing smile just now? When did you two become so close?"
Su Fengzhang explained: "I helped him fix the book, and then we chatted a little longer."
Liu Xiong was surprised and said, "Such a broken book can really be repaired, Brother Su, do you know everything? What on earth can't you do?"
Su Fengzhang said helplessly: "That's too many. There are 360 professions, and I probably don't know 359 of them."
When Liu Xiong heard this, he laughed and said, "I don't believe it. You can't do 300 lines at most, but you can definitely do the remaining 50 lines."
Liu Xiong didn't turn around until the teacher came in. He even winked at him secretly. Su Fengzhang still had a smile on his face. The teacher seemed to have seen their quarrel and just laughed it off.
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The author has something to say: Yesterday, Shengge saw everyone’s comments saying that they couldn’t see the latest chapter.
However, everything is normal in the backend, and I can't re-tweet or edit it.
What can Shengge do? I am helpless too. Hahaha
Please let Guan San come out and get beaten
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