Chapter 46 Chapter 46 Handwritten Copy
When Yu Li entered the study, there were not many people in the room, only two scholars in scholar's clothes were looking for books in front of the bookcase.
The shop assistant was packing the books carefully.
The study has three storefronts and is very large. It can be considered the largest study in the county. I heard that the owner of the study is from the provincial capital.
As you enter the door you will see a place selling pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and further inside is a bookcase filled with books.
This bookcase is very delicately made, and the books on it are placed one by one, looking very valuable.
Yu Li took a look. There were both new and old books in the bookcase, some with thread binding, some with butterfly binding, and some with back binding. Most of them were very exquisite, but most of them were handwritten copies.
Printed books were too expensive and many people could not afford them. Handwritten copies were much cheaper, so most people bought handwritten copies. This also supported many people who made a living by copying books.
While Yu Li was observing, the shop assistant saw her and came over to her, "What do you want to buy, young lady?"
Business people have good eyesight. Although Yu Li is dressed very simply and looks like she can't afford to buy books, very few women come to the study. However, there are exceptions. Sometimes some women come to the study to buy some pens, inkstones, or books for the scholars in their families.
Even though Yu Li couldn't afford it, the shop assistant didn't look down on him.
Most of the people who come to the study are scholars. Most of the scholars are noble in nature and attach great importance to morality. If the shop assistant is someone who looks down on others, he will inevitably have a bad impression of the study.
Yu Li asked: "Is your shopkeeper here?"
Fu Wenxiao said that he would give his manuscript to the shopkeeper. He should be familiar with the shopkeeper, so it would be a good idea to find the shopkeeper.
The shop assistant heard this, looked at her again, and said, "The shopkeeper is in the backyard, please wait, I will go call him."
Yu Li stood there waiting.
Meanwhile, the two scholars who were looking for books turned around and saw a woman in plain clothes. They didn't look at her any further and continued looking for their books.
After a while, the shopkeeper came out. It was a strange face, dressed so simply that it seemed a little shabby to him - because he had to work, Yu Li didn't dress well - so he was a little confused.
Yu Li didn't say much. He took out a book wrapped in cloth from the backpack and handed it to him.
The shopkeeper wiped his hands first before taking the cloth-wrapped book. From his actions, it can be seen that he is a book lover.
When the shopkeeper turned over the cloth and saw the flamboyantly written words on the page, his expression changed slightly. He hurriedly turned over the page and saw the words with great style.
He first admired the words for a while, and then looked carefully at the content.
When he saw it, he was fascinated and did not move for a long time.
Yu Li stood there for a while, and finally couldn't help but remind him, "Shopkeeper?"
The shopkeeper finally came to his senses and asked hurriedly, "Miss, is this the only handwritten copy by Mr. Songhe?"
Before Yu Li could answer, the two scholars who were looking for books over there shouted, rushed over quickly, and carefully snatched the book from the shopkeeper.
They flipped through the pages eagerly and carefully, talking in surprise as they did so.
"Look at this calligraphy, it is bold and dignified, resolute and unrestrained... It is indeed the handwriting of Mr. Songhe. What kind of unique copy is this? How come I have never heard of it before..."
"It seems to belong to a great man from the previous dynasty. Mr. Songhe actually has such a unique copy..."
"Hey, Mr. Songhe has sent another rare handwritten copy - Shopkeeper, I want this book. I'm willing to pay twenty taels of silver!"
One of them, a scholar who was dressed in a noble manner, immediately called out a price.
The other scholar was anxious, and immediately gritted his teeth and started bidding: "I'll offer thirty taels, give it to me!"
"No, this is what I like. I'll pay fifty taels!" The scholar in elegant clothes was unhappy, "Brother Fang, how can you snatch it from me?"
"Brother Yan, how can you steal my love? Just give it to me!"
“…”
Seeing the two men fighting over the book, the shopkeeper wiped his sweat and reminded them carefully: "My two lords, this book..."
The shopkeeper also knew the two of them, and they both had the title of scholar.
The scholar is called "sir", and the juren is called "master".
The two scholars turned to look at the shopkeeper. The elegantly dressed Yan said, "Shopkeeper, I want this manuscript. Name your price."
"Brother Yan..." The scholar surnamed Fang was very unhappy.
Yan Xiucai said, "Don't worry, Brother Fang. I will buy the book and lend it to you when the time comes."
How can borrowing be better than collecting it yourself?
Not to mention that this is a rare handwritten copy from the previous dynasty, even Mr. Songhe's handwriting is worth collecting, and he wants it too.
However, his family was not as well off as Yan Xiucai's. If he competed with him for it, he was afraid that the two of them would raise the price higher and higher, and in the end he would not be able to afford it.
After weighing the pros and cons for a moment, Mr. Fang had to give up with regret.
When the shopkeeper saw that Yan Xiucai wanted to buy something, he sighed. He knew this would happen.
Every time Mr. Songhe sent books over, they were rare and only copies. The shopkeeper also made a lot of money from these rare copies, and he always looked forward to Mr. Songhe sending books over.
It’s a pity that not many books were delivered throughout the year. I was looking forward to it so much. Today, Mr. Songhe finally had someone send more books over.
He said, "Mr. Yan, you know this is a unique copy. We have to make a copy before we can sell it in our store."
In fact, what he wanted to sell more was the handwritten copy. Mr. Songhe's handwritten copy could be regarded as the treasure of the store.
Of course, this treasure of the store was eventually snatched away by those scholars and could not be kept for long. Over time, people recognized Mr. Songhe's handwriting and flocked to his manuscripts.
It was three years ago that Mr. Songhe had a handwritten copy delivered to his study for the first time.
The shopkeeper didn't pay much attention to it at that time. He was attracted by the words at first glance and then noticed the content.
However, he was not very talented and had limited knowledge, so he did not know that the contents of the manuscript were a unique copy from a certain dynasty. It was only when a scholar from the provincial capital came to visit a friend in Shanping County and noticed it when passing by the study that he mentioned the name of the unique copy and made the owner aware of it.
This scholar was extremely famous in the city. He was a teacher at Yanshan Academy in the city. Naturally, the news of his personal verification spread quickly.
Finally, the only handwritten copy was bought by a scholar at a high price.
At this point, Mr. Songhe had become famous in the county, and even many people from the provincial capital came here specially to see if they could find another unique handwritten copy of Mr. Songhe's work.
The shopkeeper was also secretly surprised. He wondered who this Mr. Songhe was and how he knew so many rare copies and could even copy them down.
You know, historically, the only copies have always been in the hands of aristocratic families, and it is difficult for others to borrow them to read.
Many people secretly speculated that perhaps Mr. Songhe was a disciple of a famous family. Looking at his handwriting, one could tell that he must have received instruction from famous masters since he was young and had his own style. It would take more than ten or twenty years to have such a foundation.
Besides, some of the contents of the rare handwritten copies are rarely seen even by those families that claim to be from a scholarly family.
Mr. Songhe's identity is even more mysterious and it is really hard to guess.
I don't know why Mr. Songhe asked someone to take the unique handwritten copy to a border county to sell it. If it was sent to places like the provincial capital, the price would definitely be high.
The scholar who bought the only handwritten copy at that time also got a great bargain.
Later, the shopkeeper became smart and knew how to raise the price. Even so, there was still an endless stream of people asking for books.
Yan Xiucai nodded hurriedly, "Of course, but after you finish copying, you must sell Mr. Songhe's handwritten copy to me. I want it!"
He had decided to stay here until he finished copying the book in the study to prevent it from being snatched away.
Mr. Fang even said that if the shopkeeper did not mind his handwriting, he could help copy it for free, so that he could also see the unique copy first.
Shopkeeper: “…”
Several people talked to themselves, completely ignoring Yu Li who was standing aside.
Yu Li had not expected that a handwritten book could cause such an excited fight between two scholars. He suddenly realized that Fu Wenxiao's copying of the book was more than just a simple copy.
It’s mainly about content.
Look at Mr. Yan, he is willing to spend fifty taels to buy it.
Fifty taels!
Since coming to this world, Yu Li had never seen so much silver. Not counting the ninety taels from the Yu family, if it was split up, each family would only have twenty taels.
She seemed to understand why people in this world valued studying so much. It turned out that people who study are really good at making money.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper quickly remembered Yu Li.
Now the way he looked at Yu Li was not that of a down-and-out woman, but of a god of wealth, and someone who was related to Mr. Songhe, otherwise why would Mr. Songhe let her send him the only handwritten copy after a year?
"Miss, I wonder what your relationship with Mr. Songhe is?" he asked in a friendly manner.
The two scholars who were obsessed with the rare handwritten copy also looked over.
They didn't pay much attention to her before, thinking she was just a woman from an ordinary family. She was dressed very simply, without even a piece of jewelry, and she looked very thin - although she was a little fatter than a month ago, but in the eyes of normal people, she was still thin, and she was obviously a commoner from a poor family.
I wonder what the relationship is between this kind of woman and Mr. Songhe?
No one knows Mr. Songhe's identity, where he lives, or why he sent the only handwritten copy to Shanping County to sell.
Some people wanted to find out, but unfortunately Mr. Songhe had only published two handwritten copies, and the person who delivered them was a woman in her forties. She said nothing and looked a little timid and too silent, so it was impossible to get any questions from her. In the end, no one cared much about it and so they couldn't stop her from asking.
Yu Li already understood that this "Mr. Songhe" was Fu Wenxiao. It should be another name he used when copying books, equivalent to a pen name.
Seeing how excited these people were, she naturally wouldn't say anything, so as to avoid them disturbing Fu Wenxiao.
Fu Wenxiao is so weak that he can't stand being disturbed. He is about to die, so let him spend the last part of his life in peace.
She skipped the question and said, "Shopkeeper, how much is this book?"
The shopkeeper was about to speak when Yan Xiucai said, "I'll give you 100 taels!" At this point, he felt a little embarrassed and asked, "Is 100 taels too little?"
This is a unique handwritten copy. The word "unique copy" alone is worth more than one hundred taels.
Whenever a rare copy of the book appears in the world, it will attract scholars and writers to scramble for it, and sometimes it can even be sold for a thousand taels of silver. However, this is a handwritten copy, so it is naturally not so expensive, but Mr. Songhe's calligraphy is so good that I always feel that this calligraphy alone is worth collecting, not to mention its content.
Yu Li was startled at first, and just as he was about to speak, he saw the shopkeeper immediately said, "No!"
He turned to Yu Li and smiled, saying gently, "Miss, Mr. Songhe's handwritten copy is always precious. If you believe me, I can send it to the city for auction."
Ever since Mr. Songhe's handwritten copy became famous, many people have been asking for it. If it were sent to an auction where scholars in the capital gather, the price might even be raised to three or four hundred taels.
There are quite a few wealthy and leisurely scholars in this world, not to mention those pretentious businessmen who spend money lavishly.
The shopkeeper also told Yu Li that their study would take 20% of the hard work fee and give the rest to her.
If she trusts the study, she can sign a document immediately and pay her a deposit of thirty taels first, which is equivalent to depositing it here first.
The two scholars became extremely anxious and wanted to say something several times, but were stopped by the shopkeeper.
At the end, Yan Xiucai even said that he could offer two hundred taels.
If this unique handwritten copy was really sent to the provincial capital, there would be a lot of wealthy people there, and he would definitely not be able to snatch it away from them.
Yu Li glanced at their anxious expressions and finally decided to accept the shopkeeper's advice.
Although she didn't know much about auctions, she could tell the value of this rare handwritten copy from the attitudes of these people, so this was naturally the best option.
I'm sure Fu Wenxiao would agree after knowing this. After all, he also said that we can just find the owner of the study.
Under the disappointed gaze of the two scholars, Yu Li and the shopkeeper signed a document and kept one copy of it.
The shopkeeper said, "There will be a result in half a month at most, and you can come back then." At the same time, he gave Yu Li a deposit of thirty taels.
With thirty taels in his pocket, Yu Li realized once again how easy it was to make money from scholars.
There are many poor people in this world, but there are also many rich and free people.
When Yu Li walked out of the study, he saw the two scholars following him.
"Miss!" Yan Xiucai bowed to her and said sincerely, "I really like Mr. Songhe's handwritten copy. I wonder if you can introduce it to me?"
Mr. Fang also sincerely expressed that he felt the same way.
Since Mr. Songhe was able to copy a unique copy, he could definitely copy a second one.
If you can see the person, wouldn't it be better to just ask him to copy it?
Moreover, Mr. Songhe's identity must be extraordinary. If you can make friends with him, it will be of great benefit.
Yu Li said: "Sorry, I can't."
This straightforward answer choked the two scholars. Since they became scholars, few people had been so rude to them.
Before they could say anything, they saw Yu Li turned and left, and the two of them subconsciously chased after him.
But they were all weak scholars, and although they were young and strong, they were no faster than Yu Li. In a short while, Yu Li left them far behind.
Two scholars: “…” What a fast speed.
**
In the afternoon, Yu Li returned to the Fu family.
For the first time, she did not go directly to the main room to eat, but went back to her room first.
Fu Wenxiao was sitting by the window reading a book. He was slightly surprised to see her come in exhausted. Then he smiled and said, "Mother Li is back. Have you eaten yet?"
Yu Li glanced at him. In her eyes, the frail man in front of her was not a useless scholar, but a gold nugget who was very good at making money.
She originally thought that she could earn a few hundred taels a day, but she didn't expect that if someone didn't make a move, it would be thirty taels. After the subsequent auction, there might be more than a hundred taels...
"What's wrong?" Fu Wenxiao looked at her in confusion, thinking that her eyes were a little strange.
The look he gave the "gold nugget" was too direct, making him feel a little embarrassed.
Yu Li slowly told him what happened in the study today.
Fu Wenxiao listened calmly, with no change on his face, as if he thought this was a very normal thing. After she finished speaking, he said, "It's up to Li Niang to decide. I'll listen to you."
Yu Li: “…”
Yu Li took the thirty taels of deposit out of the backpack and was about to give it to him, but Fu Wenxiao said, "You keep it."
Yu Li looked at him in confusion.
"Now that you are the head of our family, you will naturally be in charge of the family's money." At this point, Fu Wenxiao looked apologetic, "It's also because my health is not good enough that I can't share the burden with you. You will have to bear more for me in the future."
Yu Li: “No problem!”
She did not force a weak person to be the housekeeper. He just needed to stay in the room and read or write quietly. She and Zhou would take care of the rest.
Yu Li put the thirty taels of silver into the money box.
She turned to Fu Wenxiao and said, "Your medicine is almost finished. I'll go to the pharmacy to get you a few doses tomorrow. Take the medicine well." Try to live longer.
Fu Wenxiao responded with a smile.
Then Yu Li finally went to the main room to eat.
Zhou sat in the main room waiting for her. This was her habit. Knowing that Yu Li would come back in the afternoon, she would wait for her here and serve her food.
Seeing her come back and go straight to the room, she didn't care but smiled.
Yu Li took out the money from selling the table screen today from his backpack and gave her a total of six taels.
"Isn't it five taels?" Zhou asked doubtfully. The shopkeeper once said that the embroidery shop could give three to five taels for the table screen, and because she worked hard on it, he estimated that she could get five taels.
Yu Li told her what the shopkeeper had said, and Zhou suddenly understood.
After staying in Qingshi Village for a long time, she always forgets that the embroidery techniques she learned were from the embroiderers in the capital. Moreover, they were from aristocratic families. Naturally, her skills were not comparable to those of ordinary embroiderers. Any shopkeeper with vision would know its value.
She felt a little uneasy, afraid that it would cause trouble, but then she looked at Yu Li and suppressed her uneasiness.
It’s been three years, so it should be... nothing, right?
-
In the afternoon, when Yu Li woke up from a nap, he saw Yu Yin sitting in the main room embroidering.
Now Yu Yin follows Zhou to learn embroidery. She comes in the morning, goes home to eat around noon, and comes again in the afternoon and stays until the evening.
Although Zhou enthusiastically offered to stay for dinner, she felt embarrassed to eat for free. Every household has its own difficulties, and there was no way she could stay at someone else's house and eat for free.
Seeing Yu Li, Yu Yin called her "big sister" obediently and stood up to pour her some tea.
Yu Li took out the pieces of cloth given by the embroidery shop and gave them to her so that she could use them to practice.
This was also proposed by Zhou. Zhou's main business now is embroidering table screens and he doesn't think highly of these scraps of cloth.
"How much does this cost?" Yu Yin was very happy to see so many scraps of cloth. Although these scraps of cloth were fragmentary, some of the fabrics were relatively large and could be used to make purses. She could make a lot of purses.
Yu Li said it was free and the embroidery shop gave it to him for free.
Yu Yin happily accepted it and thanked her softly.
Then Yu Yin chatted with Yu Li while embroidering, mainly talking about the Yu family.
"…The wall of our house has been built, separating it from Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle and Third Uncle. When Second Sister asked people to send bricks and mud to build the wall, Grandpa and Grandma were very unhappy, until Second Sister said that it was you, Big Sister, who agreed, then they didn't say anything."
Old Mrs. Yu and the others will definitely not be happy.
Although the family has split up, everyone still lives together, just not eating from the same pot, so it looks almost the same as if the family had not split up. This also makes it convenient for Grandpa Yu to continue to control his sons.
But who would have thought that the second room would actually build a wall to separate them.
What made him even angrier was that when the third room saw this, they also wanted to build a wall, but in the end they didn't do so because they were scolded angrily by Old Man Yu.
But looking at the situation, if any conflicts arise in the future, the third room will definitely build a wall.
By then, the old man and the first wife will be isolated.
"Oh, by the way, my aunt, sister Qin, and brother Zong have gone to the county town. I heard that my uncle is very ill and has been sick for several days. It seems that he started to get sick the day he returned to the county town from the village. My eldest cousin and his family have no choice but to ask the villagers who went to the county town to come back and tell my aunt to take care of him."
When Yu Yin said this, he wondered if his uncle got sick because of the division of the family.
Of course, it could also be that he was stimulated by the incident of being forced to kneel by his elder sister that day, which caused him to fall ill when he returned home.
Yu Li said "oh" and didn't take it to heart at all.
What does her uncle's illness have to do with her? It's not her job to take care of him anyway.
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