"Thank you, Uncle Chen," Chen Qingxuan bowed and thanked him, and took out five coins from his purse and handed them to Uncle Chen. He smiled and said to Uncle Chen, "Uncle Chen, I will pay half for the girl. You can just take five coins from her when the time comes."
Uncle Chen frowned, looking puzzled: "Qingxuan. That girl and you..."
"Uncle Chen, don't worry. The girl is from another place and just came to Ningguta this year. You can see how young she is. She is so pitiful. Even grandma takes good care of her. That's why I gave her the embroidery work." Chen Qingxuan said hurriedly, patting the bundle in his hand and instructing Uncle Chen. "But Uncle Chen, don't tell the girl. She is very stubborn. If she knew that I paid five cents for her, she would definitely confront me again."
"Okay then. I'll keep it a secret for you, kid. You've always been kind-hearted, just like your grandma." Uncle Chen nodded and went back into the house with a shovel.
"Oh! Thank you, Uncle Chen." Chen Qingxuan said hurriedly.
…
What did Achou want to say to Chen Qingxuan just now?
She wanted to borrow some books from Chen Qingxuan. Zhong Mingwei stayed at home all day, and although he never complained, Ah Chou knew that Zhong Mingwei must be bored. Ah Chou knew that these nobles liked to read books and listen to operas when they had nothing to do. Although she couldn't listen to operas, she could think of a way to get books.
Chen Qingxuan is a teacher, so naturally he has a lot of books at home, but he reads them on a daily basis, and maybe he even needs to use them when teaching, so Ah Chou didn't have the courage to ask Chen Qingxuan to borrow them just now.
Since she was embarrassed to lend, she could just buy a few books for Zhong Mingwei. Although she didn't have the budget for this, she had saved money for a rocking chair some time ago. Besides, she had finished her embroidery work and at least had some money in her pocket, so Ah Chou was willing to buy a few books for Zhong Mingwei.
There were really not many bookstores in the market, only two in total, one at the east end of the street and the other at the west end. Achou didn't dare to go into the one at the east end of the street when he saw its imposing gate tower, so he went to the one at the west end of the street. The bookstore was not big and didn't even have a sign. It was dark inside and there was no light. There was a faint musty smell in the room. Achou didn't dare to go in and he wandered around the door of the bookstore for a long time before he went in.
"Girl, do you want to buy some books?" The shopkeeper asked with a smile, leaning on the counter, eating melon seeds and looking Achou up and down.
"Well, I'm here to buy some books," Ah Chou looked at the bookshelf inside and asked in a low voice, "What kind of books do you have at home?"
"That depends on what kind of books you want to buy, young lady," the shopkeeper smiled with his eyes curved, "I'm not bragging, but whatever books you want to buy, I have them in my little shop! This is what we call... a small shop may have all the necessary facilities!"
"It's not for me to read. I can't read very well," Ah Chou said hurriedly. After a pause, she blushed a little and said, "It's... I bought it for my man to read."
"There are so many good books like that in our store!" The shopkeeper smiled even more brightly, and while busy throwing away the melon seeds in his hand, he came out from behind the counter, and led Ah Chou inside with a smile, while laughing, "Young lady really knows how to find a place, hehe."
No matter how Ah Chou looked at it, she felt that the shopkeeper's smile was a little strange, but she couldn't tell what was strange. She just heard the shopkeeper change "girl" to "young lady", and her face turned even redder. She felt shy and embarrassed, but she couldn't help feeling sweet in her heart.
"Oh, then find me two more." Ah Chou nodded, lowered his head and followed the shopkeeper.
"Look, young lady, these are all really good books. I'm not exaggerating, any normal man would like to read these books." The shopkeeper took Achou into a palm-sized ear room, then bent over and pulled out a large wooden box from under the bed, took out a dozen books from it, and smiled mysteriously and proudly at Achou.
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