You are unlucky and I am tough

At night, the sky, which had been shrouded in haze for many days, finally ushered in a heavy rain, which lasted for two whole days.

On the third morning, the rain finally stopped.

After getting up, Cheng Shuang looked at the sky where the dark clouds had dispersed and breathed a sigh of relief. She no longer had to take a bus into the city in the heavy rain.

Because they had to take the village ox cart into the city, Cheng Shuang got up very early and pulled Wei Qinglang, who was still lying in bed, out of bed.

The two of them had just finished washing up and hadn't had breakfast yet when Zhao Xiuwen arrived.

Zhao Xiuwen changed out of the scholar's robe of the academy and put on a long gown that was washed out. The fabric of the gown was rough and the stitches were worn. He tied an old cloth belt around his waist, but it still couldn't hide his scholarly air.

The scholar's robe of the academy is like a symbol of honor. It shines so brightly on the scholarly student that Cheng Shuang only remembered at this moment that this man is also a poor student supported by his entire family.

Afraid of causing others to miss the ox cart, the two of them didn't even have time to eat breakfast after they finished cleaning up. They said goodbye to their younger siblings and went out.

All the necessary reminders about household matters had already been given last night. This trip would be at least three days, so they also asked Cheng Lizheng to help look after the house.

The three of them hurried to the meeting point at the bridgehead, and fortunately the ox cart was not full yet.

The uncles and aunts on the oxcart had no idea that Cheng Shuang and the others were going to the provincial capital. Their attention was focused on Zhao Xiuwen, the scholar, and they pulled him aside to ask him questions, their eyes sparkling with curiosity.

After the ox cart arrived at the county town, there was still plenty of time before departure, so Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang went to Moxiang Bookstore to submit their manuscripts.

As soon as they arrived at the bookstore, they saw that it was crowded and bustling, with many people queuing up early in the morning.

The shopkeeper, who was originally busy at the counter, was as happy as if he had seen the God of Wealth descend upon him when he saw them. He immediately invited them into the tea room at the back with a big smile on his face.

Entering the teahouse, Wei Qinglang took out the manuscript of chapters six to ten and handed it to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper's eyes lit up instantly and he took it eagerly.

After the deal was done that day, he did not dare to stop for a moment and immediately had people start printing movable type.

Two days ago, this book went on sale, and only more than ten copies were sold on the first day, which is similar to the sales of those ordinary vernacular books.

However, on the second day, there were more than a hundred people coming to buy "Liang Shan". By the third day today, as soon as the bookstore opened, nearly two hundred people were queuing up to buy it.

Given the current popularity, their printing speed simply cannot keep up with the demand, and the shopkeeper is already carefully considering whether to limit the sales to a daily quantity.

At this moment, what he was holding in his hand was not cheap jute paper, but pure silver.

"Hey... why is this handwriting different from the last time?" The shopkeeper raised a question after reading just a few lines.

Wei Qinglang smiled slightly and said, "My wife wrote these five chapters. We will complete Liangshan together in the future."

The shopkeeper looked at Cheng Shuang and felt a little dissatisfied. He continued reading with concern.

He secretly decided to take a look at the content first. If the quality of the book written by this Madam Wei was not as good as the first book, he would definitely suggest that Wei Qinglang write it herself.

But the more he read, the shopkeeper's dissatisfaction gradually disappeared. It was simply too well written. The story was coherent and not at all disconnected. The writing technique was even more in-depth and subtle, and the emotional details were portrayed with great delicacy, which was more touching and resonated with the readers.

After reading the first chapter of nearly 8,000 words, the shopkeeper looked up at Wei Qinglang. His thoughts now had changed a bit, and he hoped that this lady Wei would write it herself.

Wei Qinglang saw what the shopkeeper was thinking and said, "Shopkeeper, this story was written by my husband and me together. Do you have any objections?"

"No, no objection. As long as the story is coherent, we can complete it together." The shopkeeper quickly put on a smile.

This is actually quite good. He might be able to use this as one of the selling points of the storybook to add more fuel to its popularity.

The shopkeeper gave them two hundred taels of silver as a fee, and also gave them a copy of the first volume of the Liangshan storybook, and then personally sent them out.

There were a lot of people in the bookstore, all queuing up to pay. Cheng Shuang took a look and found that almost all of them were holding "Liangshan", so she quickly pulled Wei Qinglang.

Wei Qinglang looked over, smiled triumphantly, and said in a low voice, "The Four Great Classics aren't called that for nothing. Capturing these people shouldn't be a piece of cake."

The two of them shuttled through the crowd and after a lot of effort, they finally found Zhao Xiuwen who was sitting in a corner, concentrating on reading a book.

Wei Qinglang walked up to him and called out, "Let's go, Brother Zhao."

"Brother Wei, wait a minute. This storybook is indeed quite interesting. Its contents are worth a closer look. The author, Wuming, must be a learned and erudite person."

Wei Qinglang leaned over to take a look and saw that Zhao Xiuwen was also holding "Liangshan", but this was just a trial version provided by the bookstore to customers, and it only contained one-third of the content.

All the books are sealed and can only be opened after paying for them.

"Brother Zhao likes it?" Wei Qinglang felt quite accomplished after hearing Zhao Xiuwen's praise. He smiled and said, "Then buy a copy?"

"It's indeed interesting, but I'm short of money, so forget it." Zhao Xiuwen carefully smoothed out the folded corner and put the book back to its original place.

The two could see that Zhao Xiuwen liked the book very much, but he did not show any complaints or disappointment about the practical problem that he could not afford to buy it.

Zhao Xiuwen turned to the two of them with a natural look and said, "Let's go, we should go to the dock."

The three of them walked towards the pier together. As the surroundings became more and more lively, the hawkers' cries could be heard one after another.

"Baozi, freshly baked baozi, thin skin, big filling, juicy and delicious!!"

"The hot pancakes are fresh from the oven, so fragrant and soft."

“Wontons, delicious wontons, fresh and tasty, come and try them!”

The breakfast stall was emitting steaming hot aroma. Cheng Shuang's stomach was growling with hunger, so she bought a few steaming buns from a stall, gave a few to the two people behind her, and then continued walking towards the pier while eating the buns.

Zhao Xiuwen was a scholar and felt a little embarrassed to eat while walking on the street, but when he saw Wei Qinglang eating as if no one was around, he took a bite as well. Immediately, his appetite was aroused by the hot buns, and he didn't care about being polite anymore and started eating with big mouthfuls.

The wharf of Qushan County wakes up in bustle and noise day after day. Merchant ships are docked neatly at the shore, and their sails flutter gently in the breeze.

The busy boatmen shouted loudly and directed the guys who were carrying the cargo. The sound of the ship's horn, the shouts of the workers, and the collision of cargo were intertwined.

Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang followed Zhao Xiuwen, carefully avoiding the boatmen who were moving cargo, and came to the boarding registration office.

Zhao Xiuwen asked if there was any space on the boat, and the two of them immediately went over to pay the boat fare of 500 coins per person, and then took the receipt to the dock office of the county government to get it stamped.