Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 36 Angry from shame

Gao Jingming came to the desk, beckoned Chen Xuan to come closer, and placed the book on the table. He pointed at the cover and said with a smug smile, "Ah Xuan, this is the latest volume of 'The Legend of the White Horse Swordsman' that I made Luo Jin and the others queue up for three days to buy. I almost didn't get it because it was sold out. How about it? Amazing, isn't it?"

Seeing his attitude, Chen Xuan thought it was some awesome thing, but it turned out to be a vernacular novel, and he immediately lost interest.

I don't understand why I'm so proud of buying just a novel. It's hard to understand a child's thinking.

And who is Luo Jin? He should be a guard, servant, or errand boy.

Gao Jingming seemed to sense that Chen Xuan was a little indifferent, and he became a little anxious. He hurriedly said, "Xuan, let me tell you, this book, let alone the latest one, even the previous ones are hard to come by. Do you know what it means for me to be able to buy this latest one?"

"What does it mean?" Chen Xuan asked curiously. Forget it, I'd better cooperate with him, otherwise it would be very embarrassing.

Gao Jingming regained his complacency and said, "It means I get to see the latest content before everyone else. Wouldn't they be envious to death?"

"Oh, so that's it!" Chen Xuan said with admiration, and tried to coax the child.

Gao Jingming was very satisfied with his reaction and said happily: "Yeah, I can't wait to see their envious faces."

Ah, yes, yes, yes. Chen Xuan was speechless. This was too perfunctory, so he asked, "Master, is this book great?"

At this point, Gao Jingming suddenly became excited and couldn't wait to say: "This book is not only amazing, it's selling like crazy. Didn't I just say that it's hard to get a copy of this book? Do you understand?"

Is it really that popular? Chen Xuan always felt that this was probably a hungry sales tactic, but he had no evidence.

It was just a storybook, so Chen Xuan pretended to be curious and asked, "Since so many people are following it, what is it about? Can you tell me about it, young master? Otherwise, when people talk about me in the future, I won't know anything about it, which will be embarrassing for you, young master."

"That's right," Gao Jingming nodded and thought it made sense. He thought it was a bit embarrassing to see his own servant looking confused when other servants were discussing.
Then he continued, "This book mainly tells the story of a young swordsman who roams the world with his sword. He wears white clothes and rides a white horse, singing freely, enjoying beautiful women and fine wine. He fights against the strong and supports the weak, punishes evil and promotes good, and treats money as dirt, with unparalleled benevolence and righteousness..."

He gave a serious introduction, but there was nothing substantial at all.

But we also have to consider their age. They are only seven or eight years old. How can they describe the content in an attractive way? It is so dry that it can't even be considered a summary.

And no matter how Chen Xuan listened, the content probably felt like it was full of the same old cool writing routine.

In fact, he really wanted to interject, that so-called White Horse Swordsman was doing justice all day long, going through wind and rain, and regarded money as dirt, so how did he find time to make money?
Forget it, let’s not ruin the beautiful romantic feelings of young people.

As Gao Jingming spoke, his face was filled with longing, as if he wanted to take over. Chen Xuan had to admit that everyone had such fantasies when they were young.

When he couldn't explain it clearly, Chen Xuan said: "Wow, that's amazing, I'm so envious."

Damn, I felt embarrassed and almost dug out another Gao family manor with my toes.

"Right, Xuan, you think so too?" Gao Jingming immediately looked like he had found a close friend.

Nodding, Chen Xuan followed his lead and said, "But Master, I remember there are masters in the mansion. Why would you go so far away to envy the fictitious White Horse Swordsman in the book?" "What do you mean by fictitious? This is a compilation and publication of real-life deeds," Gao Jingming seriously corrected Chen Xuan's mistake, then added, "And how can they be the same? The White Horse Swordsman is a world-renowned hero, respected by everyone. What kind of reputation do those guards and servants in the mansion have?"

Wow, this typical star effect, how attractive is it to kids who are beyond their age, especially those who are rich and have the means?

But is it a true story? Even if there are elements of artistic processing, I think we can still understand some basic conditions of this time from it.

"Come, come, Xuan. I bought this latest volume and haven't had time to read it yet. I had to rush home. Now let's read and appreciate it together. Don't be polite with me. We are just friends. I won't lend it to others easily. What if it is damaged? I want to collect the whole set," Gao Jingming turned the pages of the book and greeted Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan was about to say that he couldn't read, but when he saw the page he turned, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

I thought it was some masterpiece, but it turned out to be just a picture book. In Chen Xuan's hometown dialect, it could be considered a comic. Of course, there were text descriptions on the pages, but not many, and Chen Xuan still didn't recognize a single word.

After coming to this world, although people spoke with different accents, Chen Xuan could still understand them, but he did not recognize the characters. This made him a little confused. It did not make sense. He did not know what went wrong. Could it be that the characters here had not yet been unified?

At present, the only countries Chen Xuan knows of are Jingguo and Rongguo. If the languages ​​spoken in different countries are similar but the writing systems are different, that is understandable. After all, in Chen Xuan's hometown, before the First Emperor unified the six countries, the writing systems of different countries were different even for the same Chinese people.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Chen Xuan also took a look at the book that Gao Jingming had opened. Not to mention, the pictures on it were quite exquisite and realistic. The ink painting style described the characters and environment very well. As he looked at it, Chen Xuan was attracted.

He finally understood why Gao Jingming was so fond of this book. Not to mention the lack of entertainment here, even in his hometown, comics were quite popular among adults, especially in the West, where they were even regarded as a soft knife of cultural invasion!
Gao Jingming became so fascinated as he watched that he even forgot that Chen Xuan was standing next to him. When he saw the exciting parts, he couldn't help but dance with joy, as if he had transformed into a knight in the picture, killing everyone and doing justice.

Chen Xuan no longer doubted what Gao Jingming had said before. This book might be really hard to buy. While the pictures themselves were extremely attractive to children, printing would probably also be a problem.

In any case, during those days in the dog cage, Chen Xuan never heard any child talk about learning to read.

When Gao Jingming was fascinated by it, Chen Xuan suddenly said, "Master, there are words on it. What do they say?"

It would be very embarrassing if you are illiterate. If you could read, the books on the two bookshelves in Gao Jingming's study would be enough for Chen Xuan to get a general understanding of the world with his current identity.

Gao Jingming suddenly realized that there was Chen Xuan beside him. He looked up and said, "Xuan, I was so engrossed in watching it just now. What did you say?"

So Chen Xuan repeated the question again.

Gao Jingming then said with a slightly unnatural expression, "Well, Ah Xuan, the words above are not important. Don't you think the picture is wonderful?"

But seeing Chen Xuan's expression of being a reasonable young master, he suddenly became angry and said, "I've only been in school for a little over a month, and I don't know many words. How would I know what's written on it? Besides, just read the book. Isn't this exciting enough to shut you up?"

Chen Xuan felt a lump in his throat. "No, your family is so awesome, and you tell me you can't read? Shouldn't you be nurtured carefully from a young age?"

Or is it that children in this world learn to read and write very late?

……

(End of this chapter)