I trade in both worlds

People came and went in the concierge, and all kinds of sounds intertwined together, forming a busy and messy picture, but they seemed to be forgotten in the corner, and no one cared about them.

Whenever a new yamen runner passed by, their eyes would light up involuntarily, but then dim again because no one came to inform them of any progress.

The two talked in low voices, trying to distract themselves and ease their inner anxiety.

Half a day passed quietly, and when the sun was high in the sky and the light in the gatehouse became bright and dazzling, a bailiff finally walked up to them.

However, he did not bring the good news they were expecting, but a cold remark: "The clerk for handling household registration is not here today, please come back another day."

After saying that, the bailiff gave them another cold look, then turned and left. The two looked at each other, feeling an indescribable sense of loss and helplessness in their hearts.

After leaving the county government office, Xu Ziqi stood at the corner of the government office and looked at it silently. Those yamen runners only did their jobs based on money.

Judging from the attitude I saw today, I don’t know how much money it will cost to get a pass. It seems that it’s better not to go to the government office if it doesn’t matter.

Among those who have connections in the yamen, he currently knows Chen San, so perhaps he can go and ask him.

Thinking of this, Xu Ziqi pulled Xu Ziqing to the wonton stall: "Wait here for me first, I'll go find Chen San and ask him if he can help with the pass."

"Okay, go ahead." Xu Ziqing nodded. Looking at the treatment they received in the government office today, he knew that it would take a long time for them to get the pass on their own.

It would be best if they could find someone to spend some money to get the pass, rather than spending money and energy on their own and still not being able to get it.

Xu Ziqing ordered a bowl of wontons and ate it slowly. She thought Xu Ziqi would not come back so soon.

Who knew that Xu Ziqi came back before she finished eating her wontons.

Xu Ziqing half-bite the wonton and looked at him worriedly: "Why so fast? Can Chen San do it?"

"Yes, it's just a matter of money, it can be settled in two sentences." After Xu Ziqi finished speaking, he shouted to the boss: "Boss, another bowl of wontons, a big bowl."

After he finished ordering, Xu Ziqing asked, "That Chen San is also helping people get travel permits?"

She had always thought that brokers helped people rent or sell houses and introduced some business, but she didn't expect that they even did business with the government.

Xu Ziqi nodded: "Just give me the money."

"How much?" Xu Ziqing asked.

Xu Ziqi stretched out a palm and waved it towards her: "Fifty taels per person."

"50 Wen is about 5 Yuan, Wen is about Liang, which is about Yuan, and Liang is about Wen." Xu Ziqing counted on his fingers and exclaimed, " Yuan per person? Why don't you just rob them?"

Xu Ziqing calmly took a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder and stared at the wontons in the pot on the stove: "Nothing that can be solved with money is a problem. One hundred taels will buy you a few months of trouble. Will you spend it?"

"Spend it." Xu Ziqing took a bite of wonton fiercely: "This money is too easy to make, but it's a pity that we don't have such a way."

"You just think it's easy to earn." Xu Ziqi lowered his voice and said, "They have been dealing with those yamen runners for a long time. I don't know how much filial silver they have to pay every month."

Xu Ziqing thought about it and it made sense. The income from working was always the lowest.

Make money, make money. The money in ancient times was too short-lived. We must find a way to make more money here.

After eating and drinking, Xu Ziqi wanted to go to the bookstore to see what books were on sale and whether he could find some ancient books that had been lost in modern times.

After paying the bill, Xu Ziqi walked towards the bookstore: "Let's go to the bookstore and see if we can find any lost ancient books."

Every time he sees a video about ancient books, he feels regret and sadness for those lost ancient books.

He was saddened by the loss of those ancient books, the destruction of that wisdom, and the fact that future generations would no longer be able to access those precious heritages.

Every ancient book is a witness to history, a heritage of culture, and a crystallization of wisdom.

Their loss is not just the disappearance of paper and ink, but also a fault in human civilization and a loss of memory.

Since he has such an opportunity to come to ancient times, he must try to find it, even though this time and space is different from where he is.

Xu Ziqing looked up at Xu Ziqi, a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes: "Parallel space, can it be found?"

"I don't know. You have to try it to know." Xu Ziqi glanced at her and continued walking forward: "But I asked Xuxu, and the imperial examination here is also based on the Four Books and Five Classics."

"Really?" Xu Ziqing unconsciously raised his voice, attracting the attention of passers-by.

He quickly caught up with Xu Ziqi and asked in a low voice, "Then are there Confucius, Mencius, Shangshu, and Yijing as well?"

"Yes." Xu Ziqi said affirmatively: "The cultural system here is very similar to ours, but the trajectory of historical development is different."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Xu Ziqing happily waved his hands and walked towards the bookstore with Xu Ziqi.

Xu Ziqing's eyes were filled with symbols of coins. As long as she could find the ancient books, she would be rich.

If she knew that Xu Ziqi was thinking of donating, she probably wouldn't be so happy.

They walked along the street to East Street and found a bookstore.

There is an ancient signboard hanging in front of the bookstore, with the four big characters "Yuehua Bookstore" engraved on it in vigorous and powerful fonts.

The interior of the bookstore is simply furnished, but filled with the scent of books.

As soon as you step into the bookstore, a faint scent of ink hits your nose, making you involuntarily intoxicated by it.

The bookshelves are filled with all kinds of books, and they exude the fragrance of new books.

The bookshelf at the back of the bookstore is filled with old books, and there are several piles of tattered books next to the bookshelf.

These books may be thick or thin, new or old, and each one carries traces of history and cultural heritage.

The brother and sister began to search the bookshelf, flipping through the ancient books one by one.

Walking past two bookshelves, the two looked at each other blankly. They didn't know the list of ancient books that had been lost or incomplete in modern times, and they only roughly remembered a few famous ones.

For example, the existing version of "Shui Jing Zhu" is less than one-third of the whole book. There are also "Huangdi Waijing", "Lianshan Yi", "Yongle Dadian", etc.

"Boss, what are the prices of these new books?" Xu Ziqing asked curiously.

The bookstore owner looked up at her and continued to work with his head down: "It depends on what book you want to buy. The cheap ones are one tael of silver, and the expensive ones are more than ten or twenty taels, or even hundreds of taels."

This is too expensive! Xu Ziqing was shocked by the price.

No wonder there were so few scholars in ancient times. A farmer could not even spend one or two taels of silver a year, but the cheapest book here costs one or two taels of silver.

If you can’t even afford to buy books, what’s the point of reading?