The next morning, Li Yan moved the enlightenment books her uncle had given her yesterday onto the carriage, and then said goodbye to her two aunts.
"This bundle contains rabbit fur scarves for your mother, and this bundle contains some side dishes I made in the spring. They are not good things, but you can take them back and try them!" After saying that, he put the two bundles on the carriage.
"Thank you, auntie. Mother will definitely like it!"
Guo was very happy to hear Li Yan say this. She accompanied Li Yan to the village entrance and watched the carriage disappear in the distance before turning around and returning home.
With the help of a horse-drawn carriage, the group quickly arrived at the market outside the city.
The carriage stopped in front of the shop. Li Yan jumped off first. Lin Qing helped with the luggage. Her cousin who came over helped with the books. The two of them returned to the shop first.
"Go ahead and do your work. I'm going to the shop!" Looking at her uncle who was about to leave with the horse, Li Yan suddenly remembered the medicinal herbs harvested at home.
So he immediately caught up with him in a few steps and said, "My uncle harvested some Isatis Leaf and Honeysuckle from the fields a few days ago. Please help me find out the market price at the market first. I will send them to you after the herbs are dried in a few days!"
Lin Feng nodded, "Okay, I'll go to my father-in-law's place later and learn about the market prices of these two medicinal herbs!"
When Li Yan heard what her uncle said, "Then please wait a moment, uncle."
So he ran back to the shop, got two cans of freshly brewed milk tea, and put them on his uncle's carriage.
"This is a new drink, and I've been wanting to give some to Dr. Zhou and the others to try. My uncle is the perfect person to bring it to me!"
Lin Feng sighed in his heart at this girl's familiarity with the ways of the world. He agreed with a smile and then left with the carriage.
After returning to the shop, Li Yan saw that it was still early, so she prepared to go to the bookstore. Yesterday, her uncle gave her four sets of enlightenment books. She was afraid that her uncle would be angry if she asked for money, so today she thought of going to the bookstore to buy some paper and ink that she used in daily life and give it to her uncle!
Li Yan said something to her cousin and went directly to the bookstore where her father usually went.
Li Yan walked into the bookstore, and the shopkeeper recognized her at a glance. At this time last year, because of her father's beautiful handwriting, she asked him to copy books for her. In the blink of an eye, he had become a celebrity in front of the county magistrate and was no longer someone she could afford to hire!
The shopkeeper suppressed his sigh, stepped forward with a smile and said, "It's been a while since I've seen you in the shop, young lady. What do you need?"
Li Yan walked over to the wooden shelf where the papers were placed, pointed at a stack of papers and asked, "How much is this paper, shopkeeper?"
"Miss, this is the most expensive large blue paper in our shop. One cut costs two taels of silver!"
Nowadays, a day's hard labor in the city only pays ten cents. To buy this piece of large blue paper, ordinary people need to work hard for two hundred days without food or water to buy such a piece of paper. Li Yan couldn't help but be shocked!
As if seeing through Li Yan's thoughts, the shopkeeper smiled apologetically and said, "Miss, it's not that our shop is intentionally selling at a high price. Even if you go to other shops, the price will be the same. It's just that the process of making this kind of paper is complicated and numerous. I heard that it takes nearly half a year just to make a single piece of this paper!"
Worried that the girl would find the paper too expensive, the shopkeeper immediately walked over to the wooden shelf where the paper was placed, took out a piece of paper and handed it to Li Yan, introducing it to her, "Miss, this is the best rough-edged paper we sell in our store. It's also the paper that students love to use for practicing calligraphy!"
Li Yan took the paper from the shopkeeper and rubbed it with her hand. The paper was very rough and would probably be easily smudged when used for writing.
"How much does this paper cost?"
The shopkeeper said with a smile: "Miss, twenty-five coins a knife!"
Li Yan scanned the paper on the shelves. The paper in her hand seemed to be of the worst quality. She asked again, "Boss, is this the cheapest paper in the shop?"
Li Yan nodded. Compared with the large blue paper, it was indeed much cheaper, but for most people, it was still unaffordable! They couldn't afford the cheapest paper even if they worked two days outside!
The shopkeeper didn't know what Li Yan was thinking at the moment. He just thought she wanted to buy some paper, so he asked her how much she needed and he would help her pack it.
Li Yan returned the paper in her hand to the shopkeeper and said with a smile, "Shopkeeper, I need paper that can be bound into a book. This kind of paper may be suitable for practicing calligraphy, but it is not suitable for copying books!"
The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly in agreement, then took another piece of yellow paper from the wooden shelf and handed it to Li Yan, "Miss, this is the kind of paper that books should be made of. The price is thirty-five coins per piece!"
Li Yan saw that this kind of paper was not much different from the paper used for the books her uncle gave her, so she nodded and said, "Give me one or two taels of silver worth of this kind of paper!"
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper immediately turned around and told the waiter behind him to pack up. He then asked Li Yan attentively if she needed anything else.
"Shopkeeper, how much do you charge for the ink sticks?"
The shopkeeper returned to the counter and brought out a box containing dozens of ink sticks.
The shopkeeper opened the box and explained in detail to Li Yan, "The ink sticks inside range in price from one to five taels of silver. You can take your pick, young lady!"
Looking at the pitch-black ink stick in front of her, she really didn't understand it, so Li Yan smiled awkwardly at the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, please help me introduce it. I really don't know how to choose this thing!"
"Ink is divided into different grades. The best ink sticks are priceless. My shop doesn't have such high-quality goods, but my main focus here is practicality. The ink is all good, more than enough for daily calligraphy practice. Don't worry, young lady!"
Li Yan thought about it and decided to choose two ink sticks worth 200g each so that her uncle wouldn't feel any burden when accepting them. "I'll take these two. Please help me pack them up, boss!"
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper immediately packed up the two ink blocks. At this time, the waiter also packed up the paper that Li Yan had just bought and put it on the counter.
Seeing that Li Yan had bought so many things at once, the shopkeeper readily took two pens from the counter as a gift to Li Yan, and said, "I hope you will continue to support our business next time!"
Some of them also wanted to make friends with this girl. After all, one should not consider the monk's face but the Buddha's. This girl's father is now the most trusted person in front of the county magistrate, so he is naturally happy to make friends with her!
Li Yan thanked him and was about to pay when she felt the purse in her arms. Then she realized she didn't have enough money. So she said to the shopkeeper awkwardly, "I'll pay you a two-liang deposit first. Could you please have the waiter take me back to the shop outside the city to pay the rest?"
"Of course you can!" If their bookstore comes across a big deal, they will pay a deposit first, and the remaining money will be paid when the goods are delivered to the door!
So the shopkeeper waved his hand, and the boy carried the things and followed Li Yan to the shop!
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