There were a lot of people in Niujiao Town today. Walking with Li Qiu on the bustling and dirty streets, Yunjing realized that this happened to be the day when villagers from all over the country came to attend the market.
Realizing this, his heartbeat accelerated slightly.
Will your family members also come to the market? Will you have the opportunity to meet them?
After being away from home for so long, although he has become accustomed to the current study life, Yunjing still feels homesick deep down in his heart. He wonders how the crops are doing at home, whether his family has forgotten to eat while they are busy working, and whether his younger brother is naughty.
…
It would be great if you could meet your family members going to the market, call them grandpa or dad, take a look at their smiles, tell them about their current study and life, let them not worry about themselves, and let their faces be filled with proud smiles.
Perhaps sensing Yun Jing's subtle emotional changes, although Li Qiu didn't say anything, he led Yun Jing intentionally or unintentionally through the street where bamboo products were sold.
Unfortunately, Yunjing could not see his grandfather and father until he finished walking down that noisy street.
Let alone his family, he didn't even see a single familiar face in Xiaoxi Village.
In fact, this is normal. It is not easy to go to the town from Xiaoxi Village, and there are safety risks on the way. The villagers come to the market with many people, and they look after each other on the way. They rarely come alone, and they do not see familiar people.
People, indicating that there was no market activity organized in Xiaoxi Village that day.
Although he didn't see anyone he knew from Xiaoxi Village, Yunjing saw Zhang Changgui on that street.
He is not selling toilet chips like he did a few years ago, and I don't know if he met someone last time when he attended Yunjing's apprenticeship ceremony. Now he has opened a shop on this street and is the boss.
Yunjing only realized this when he heard someone calling him to the store to buy something.
His store is not big, and the items he sells are not expensive, but bamboo products, but they have a complete range.
When Yunjing saw Zhang Changgui, he was busy greeting customers in the store, and there was a little boy of three or four years old beside him. The little boy had a tiger-like head and a big head, and kept shouting around Zhang Changgui's father.
When passing by his store, Yunjing called Uncle Zhang.
But his voice shocked Zhang Changgui.
Well, Yunjing finally realized that his face had been changed by his master, and Zhang Changgui didn't recognize him at all.
The acquaintances met but did not recognize each other. Hey, he said that he had recognized the wrong person. Yun Jing and Li Qiu left...
Soon after, the master and apprentice came to a relatively clean street. There were not so many miscellaneous vendors and goods on both sides of the street, and there were almost no cattle, sheep, or livestock.
Here, there are many small stalls quietly placed on the street at regular intervals.
There are pens, ink, paper and inkstones placed on the tables of these stalls, and some also have books. There are also calligraphy and paintings hanging behind the stalls.
On this street, everyone setting up a stall is not as shouting as the vendors in other places. They are all quiet. They are either reading a book or writing with a brush. After setting foot on this street, Yunjing smells the fragrance of ink.
.
Well, the fragrance of ink is actually a more elegant way of saying it. Ordinary ink is actually smelly. Only high-grade ink with spices has a fragrance. But most people can't afford that kind of ink, and even if they can afford it, they won't be willing to use it.
After looking around for a while, Yunjing found that there were less than ten stalls on this street, which was not too many.
Yunjing and Li Qiu came to this street without attracting anyone's attention. They found a shady tree. Li Qiu put down his backpack and put the wooden boards he brought in the basket onto the basket. A simple small table was completed.
.
He then put the pens, inks, paper and inkstones in the book box, and put two books on them. The master and apprentice each took a small stool that Yun Jing brought, and sat down behind the simple table. It was now open, and they were waiting for customers to come.
.
Looking at the extremely simple little stall in front of him, Yunjing felt a little tangled in his heart, always feeling unreliable.
Look at the other people. Their tables are covered with a piece of cloth, there are chairs, and there are calligraphy and paintings hanging behind them. It looks very high-end at first glance. Looking at his own stall, Yunjing doubts that someone will really come?
"Jing'er, if you feel bored, just practice calligraphy. I have brought all the slates for you." After sitting down, Li Qiu said to Yun Jing calmly, as if he didn't care at all.
People come to your door.
Yunjing didn't know what Master had in mind, so he only got: "Okay Master"
So, he took the slate he usually used to practice calligraphy, put it on the ground, dipped his brush in water and started practicing calligraphy.
In the past few days, in addition to learning to read and write his own name, he also learned another hundred or so characters, from one to ten, and then common characters such as heaven, earth, people, sun, moon, new wind, fire, and water.
On average, I can learn more than ten words every day.
This progress is very slow. After all, they have four classes every day, and three of them are learning literacy. However, this progress is normal. After all, Yunjing and the others are learning literacy for the first time. I think they will gradually speed up the progress in the future.
They practiced calligraphy quietly for half an hour. No one came to their place. Their hands were a little sore. Yunjing stopped to rest. He couldn't help but look at Li Qiu who was reading leisurely and asked: "Master, are we just going to wait like this?"
"Otherwise", Li Qiu said calmly without raising his head.
Well, Yunjing thought for a while and said: "Master, what I mean is that other people's stalls are all well-organized, but ours is a bit shabby. Will anyone really come?"
"Haha, Jing'er, don't you understand? Those people, although they look stylish, are actually trying to catch big fish. Our stall may look simple, but believe it or not, the business
It's definitely better than theirs, because, the more glamorous they make it, the more expensive it turns out to be. On the contrary, ours is simpler and more approachable, and more customers will come. After all, you need to spend money to find help from pen and ink.
"We are not rich, so we can save a little bit," Li Qiu explained with a smile after hearing Yun Jing's words.
Well, Yun Jingxin said that his master was actually playing tricks.
Such a method is not very clever, he can figure it out by himself with a little thought, but having said that, a simple stall like theirs may attract customers, but it will not make a lot of money, because those who need to spend a lot of money to find help will definitely
I'm going to find something better, right?
I have to say that Li Qiu's strategy was very successful.
About forty minutes after they set up the stall, customers started coming.
It was a man of about forty years old, wearing patched clothes and an honest face. He was very reserved when he came to this street, cautious and seemed at a loss.
Facing those "gorgeous"-looking stalls, he didn't seem to have the courage to ask. It wasn't until he saw Yunjing's simple stall that he hesitated for a moment and stepped forward to talk.
"Excuse me, sir, can you help me write letters here?" the man came to the stall and asked.
Li Qiu put down the book, looked at the other person, nodded and said, "Of course it's okay. Who do you want to write to? What do you want to write about?"
To put it bluntly, this is a kind of transaction. There is no need to be polite, just ask directly what your purpose is.
"I want to write a letter to my brother. He has been away from home for more than six years and is working for people in Linshui County, hundreds of miles away. Now my mother is old and misses him so much that she is afraid that something unexpected will happen and she will never see her again.
I have been talking about him all day long, so I want to write a letter to my brother and ask him to come back and read it when he has time."
The man first briefly explained his situation, and then asked the question he was most concerned about. He asked: "Sir, I wonder how you charge here? I don't have much money, and I don't know if I can afford you."
Yunjing watched curiously, secretly guessing how the master would charge.
Nodding, Li Qiu expressed that he understood the other party's situation, and then replied: "Your situation can be written clearly in just a few words. As for the fee, it is very cheap. The paper costs five coppers per piece, and the content is one copper per word.
If you need an envelope, I can provide you with eight copper coins per envelope. If you write the address and recipient, you will also be charged per word. After writing it for you, you can take it directly to the inn to mail the letter. They vary according to the distance.
The charges are also different, what do you think?”
"This... is so expensive..."
Li Qiu's answer obviously frightened the other party, and he stuttered when he spoke.
Not to mention anything else, a single word and a copper plate is a bit scary. You have to know that you can buy a pound of wheat flour with a single copper plate. If you write a letter and the content is a bit more "watery", you won't be able to get it.
When it comes to providing a family with more than a month's worth of food, if they are more determined, the price will be bottomless!
Not to mention the other party, Yunjing was shocked by the price. If he didn't believe in his master's character, he would have guessed that his master wanted to deliberately bully honest people.
Thinking about it instead, in all fairness, is this price expensive?
After all, this was not a time when communications were developed in Yunjing's previous life. It was not easy to transmit messages. Even in Yunjing's previous life, when telegrams first came out, they were not charged by the word. He was relieved when he thought about this.
Li Qiuwen said: "This price is not expensive anymore. You charge by the word when you go to other places. I can't mess with the price. Moreover, my charge is really not high. If you can accept it, I will write it for you."
, if you can’t accept it, go and look elsewhere.”
He didn’t say that you should compare the prices before coming back. This kind of thing is different from other transactions. After comparing the prices and then asking the other party to come to you, you are actually slapping your peers in the face. And scholars care about face the most, so then
Offending people for no reason or even making enemies...
