53 Chapter 53: Buying Brush, Ink, and Paper
Even though he was forced to, Mr. Song actually got married during the mourning period.
To a scholar, this was a huge stain.
In this way, even if Mr. Song were to embark on an official’s career in the future, he would still be criticized for this.
It was a pity that a rare genius was destroyed just like that…
“If Mr. Song is willing to continue copying books, we’ll be more than happy to let him.”
“The rules are the same as before. The deposit for one book is 70 copper coins. After the copying is completed, the bookstore will pay 45 coins.”
“You will have to get your own brush, ink, and paper used for copying books. In addition, during the copying process, there can’t be any omissions or mistakes, and there can’t be too many changes,” the shop owner explained.
Qin Xiaoyao was a little shocked.
These conditions were really harsh.
With such stringent requirements, he could only earn 45 copper coins by copying a book?
If he deducted the money for the blank book, the brush and ink, how much would he have left?
Qin Xiaoyao looked at the shop owner with a smile.
“Deal! Then I’ll have to trouble you to arrange two books, two stacks of book-matched copying paper, one stack of low-grade white paper, plus one block of ink,” she said.
In this era, one stack was equivalent to a hundred sheets of paper.
The paper used for copying books was different from white paper. There were lines drawn on it, and the size of the paper was the same as a normal book.
If one used needle and thread to sew the sheets of paper together, it could be made into a book. It was similar to the notebook she used in her previous life before the apocalypse.
On the other hand, white paper was all blank. The paper size was relatively bigger, and the price varied according to the quality.
Don’t ask her how she knew.
Of course, it was her predecessor who asked around and found out after she got married to her attractive husband.
The shop owner was a little surprised, but before he could reply, Qin Xiaoyao continued, “Oh, and a small writing brush. The smallest one will do!”
She would have to deliver goods to Fortune Mansion more often in the future, so if she had her own writing materials, she could settle her own accounts, right? In addition, perhaps she could also make a book to record the accounts.
“Alright. Please wait a moment, Mrs. Song.” The shop owner didn’t ask much and agreed.
Then, he asked the shop assistant to get the stuff for Qin Xiaoyao while he went to the counter to settle the bill.
“The deposit for each book is 70 copper coins. Two books will be 140 copper coins.”
“The paper used for copying books is 15 copper coins per stack. Two stacks will cost 30 copper coins in total.”
“One block of ink, 15 copper coins.”
“Low-grade white paper, 30 copper coins for one stack.”
“A small writing brush is 5 copper coins each.”
As the shop owner read out the prices, he wrote them on a bill.
After recording them, he began to check the numbers on the list while fiddling with the abacus.
“That’s 220 copper coins in total.”
After calculating the total, the shop owner wrote the final figure on the bill.
Then, he passed the bill to Qin Xiaoyao.
Qin Xiaoyao took it, glanced at it, and took out the money.
After the shop owner made sure the sum was correct, he then asked the shop assistant to help Qin Xiaoyao bring the things out.
Qin Xiaoyao quickly thanked the two with a smile and walked out to get her bamboo basket backpack.
After putting her purchases into the backpack, she thanked the shop assistant again, then carried the backpack and left with her straw shoes balanced on her shoulder.
The shop assistant stood at the door and watched Qin Xiaoyao leave, sighing in his heart.
After leaving Cirrus Loft Bookstore, Qin Xiaoyao didn’t waste any time on the way. She headed straight for the market on West Street, peddling straw sandals along the way.
Her luck was pretty good, as she sold four more pairs of straw sandals along the way.
As soon as she arrived at the market on West Street, she heard the noisy atmosphere immediately.
Qin Xiaoyao hurried towards her father’s pork stall.
When she arrived, she realized that her father was busy with the stall’s business.
She quickly went up to help.
When Qin Dazhuang saw his daughter and the large number of straw sandals she brought, he began to talk loudly that he was also selling straw sandals as he cut the meat for his customers.
When the customers saw that the quality of the straw sandals was good, many of them paid for them.
In this way, the father and daughter were busy for a long time before they managed to deal with this surge of customers.
“It’s fine if it’s during normal times, but Father, you won’t be able to handle this big fair day by yourself.”
“If you can’t cope, why don’t you let Big Brother or Second Brother come over to help?” Qin Xiaoyao sat down heavily on the shoulder pole and looked at her father.
Qin Dazhuang chuckled.
“I know! I’ve already told them that they’ll take turns to help me out at the stall in the morning on big fair days, so don’t worry!”
Qin Xiaoyao heaved a sigh of relief then.
“Okay!”
Qin Dazhuang looked at his daughter with a big smile.
...
“Did you deliver the 200 catties of Chinese yam that Fortune Mansion asked for?” he asked.
His good brother had come to Qin Dazhuang yesterday, telling him that his daughter had made a name for herself.
He still felt happy when he thought about that envious look on that guy’s face at that moment.
His daughter’s personality had indeed changed. She was more motivated and sensible than before.
“I have delivered them. I also sold some straw sandals on the way here, and I’m left with these.” Qin Xiaoyao replied.
Qin Dazhuang nodded.
Then, he went to the money basket to take the money.
“21 copper coins for the seven pairs of straw sandals from last time.” He then passed the copper coins to Qin Xiaoyao.
“Hehe! Thank you, Father!” Qin Xiaoyao didn’t refuse. She stood up and accepted the money happily.
Qin Dazhuang smiled and looked at the remaining straw shoes in his daughter’s wicker basket.
“Count how many you have left. I’ll settle the bill for you first.”
...
Qin Xiaoyao was about to refuse when Qin Dazhuang said, “Your Aunt agreed to it.”
“She knows that I’m helping you sell straw sandals and that I can earn a copper coin per pair, so she asked me to continue buying from you in the future.”
“You can just treat my place here as a grocery store!”
Even if his daughter sold straw sandals to the grocery store, they also paid her upfront.
When it came to his place, there was no reason for him, as the father, not to pay a single cent upfront.
Qin Xiaoyao was surprised.
She looked at the remaining straw sandals in the wicker basket.
“Alright then,” she finally agreed.
Then, she began to count the straw sandals in the wicker basket.
After counting, she found that there were 52 pairs left.
After some calculations, Qin Xiaoyao realized that while peddling along the way and selling to the grocery stores before arriving at her father’s stall at the market on West Street, she had already sold fifty pairs of straw sandals.
After complimenting herself in her heart, Qin Xiaoyao reported the leftover quantity to Qin Dazhuang.
“A total of 52 pairs, 156 copper coins.”
Qin Dazhuang turned around to get the money.
“Wait! I want two catties of streaky pork! After deducting 26 copper coins, you can give me 130 copper coins, Father!” Qin Xiaoyao said hurriedly.
Now that the family was making money, the food could also be improved.
Qin Dazhuang was stunned.
He didn’t want to take the money initially, but after thinking about it, he smiled and nodded.
“Alright! Two catties of streaky pork for my daughter!” After saying that, he went to prepare his daughter’s order.
When he was chopping, he deliberately added two more taels.
Qin Xiaoyao didn’t keep an eye on her father, so she did not see how much her father had cut for her.
She only heard her father say that he had finished weighing two catties and believed him.
She then took the meat and money from her father.
At this moment, Big Girl Li finally arrived.
Seeing that Qin Xiaoyao was still there, Big Girl Li finally let out a sigh of relief.
She ran to Qin Xiaoyao’s side, huffing and panting.
“Fortunately, you’re still here. I was delayed at my parents’ place, so I came late!”
“Uncle Qin!” Seeing Qin Dazhuang looking in her direction, Big Girl Li turned her head and quickly greeted him.
Qin Dazhuang smiled and nodded.
After learning that his daughter was getting along well with the daughter of the Li family, Qin Dazhuang looked at his daughter with much tenderness.
“Sit down and rest for a while. Uncle will cut the meat for you first!” he said.