"My dear, I am the only one in the whole Ningguta who has such a good book. You really have a good eye!" The shopkeeper became more and more proud as he spoke, with saliva flying everywhere.
Ah Chou stared at the books and picked one up at random. There were words and pictures on the cover, which looked very interesting. Ah Chou asked the shopkeeper, "How much is this book?"
"Young lady, you are so knowledgeable. I will charge you less," the shopkeeper said, pointing his index finger at Ah Chou. "There are twelve books in total, and the total price is only one penny. How about that?"
"One penny?" Ah Chou suddenly felt that the books in his hand had become a hot potato. "Twelve books. You ask me for one penny? You are simply robbing me!"
"Young lady, you can't say that. You get what you pay for. Look at the quality of the paper used in this book. The printing is also very clear. This book is not made in a small workshop, and it is a good book that is not easily available." The shopkeeper stopped laughing immediately and pretended to put the book away. He looked down at Ah Chou and said, "Young lady, it doesn't matter if you don't know the value of the book. There are many people who know the value of the book! At worst, I won't sell it to you!"
"Don't be in such a hurry! It's not allowed to bargain when buying something." Ah Chou was anxious and rushed to grab the book from the counter. After a pause, he frowned and asked the shopkeeper, "Do men really like to read books like this?"
"Young lady, take it back and show it to your man. If he doesn't like it, I will refund you ten times the price!" The shopkeeper looked very confident, and he lowered his voice while laughing. "Young lady, if you buy this good book, your man will not only like it, but he will like you more!"
"Don't... don't talk nonsense!" Ah Chou blushed terribly, and immediately took out his money bag and gave the shopkeeper a penny, saying fiercely, "If he doesn't like it, I will really come back and return it!"
"Okay!" The shopkeeper agreed readily and put the pile of books into Ah Chou's big bamboo building. He sighed, "The young lady is so kind to her husband. She even came to buy books for him in person. If there are good books like this in the store in the future, I will keep them for her! I will definitely give you a cheaper price next time!"
"Thank you very much!" Ah Chou was so happy that he hurriedly carried the bamboo basket out of the bookstore, then went to buy a lot of vegetables, meat, rice and noodles, and went to the cloth shop to buy two feet of cloth.
…
"What mirror do I look at when I get up early in the morning? What flower fragrance do I have on my hair? What flower powder do I put on my face? What flower red is the rouge on my lips? I get up early in the morning and look at myself in the mirror with a diamond pattern. I comb my hair and smell of osmanthus. I put on peach blossom powder on my face and the rouge on my lips is red like apricot blossom..."
Ah Chou came back humming a little tune. In the past, the stage in the palace was always busy almost every day. Although she was just a palace maid, she had heard little tunes from afar. She certainly couldn't understand Kunqu or Yue opera, but she could understand these popular little tunes and learned them quite well.
"What kind of flower sister, what kind of flower boy, what kind of flower curtain, what kind of flower bed, what kind of flower pillow is on the bed, what kind of flower mattress covers the bed. Red flower sister, green flower boy, dried plum curtain, ivory flower bed, mandarin duck flower pillow is on the bed, osmanthus flower mattress covers the bed..."
Zhong Mingwei listened to the crisp sound coming from outside, from far away to near, and then stopped outside the gate. Then there was the sound of unlocking, and then the sweet and crisp voice of the little girl came into the yard. Zhong Mingwei sat on the bed, leaning against the quilt, tapping his fingers to the beat of the little tune.
He didn't like listening to opera in the past, nor was he averse to it. He just didn't have the time to sit under the stage and listen to the people on the stage singing in a melodious manner. A song could not be finished in less than an hour. He didn't have the time or the patience. But now he was shaking his head and clapping to the beat of Ah Chou's not-so-standard singing.
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