Scholar's Sweetheart

Mo Xuan was located on the street outside the academy. Soong Xintong found him very quickly.

Because it was still ringing, the academy was still in the midst of studying, so there was no one at the brush and ink shop. It was extremely cold and cheerless.

A pretty shop assistant saw Soong Xintong, who was dressed very plainly, walking in with two children. He quickly made some guesses and asked, "Miss, are you going to choose the book for young master to read?"

Soong Xintong had originally wanted to choose her own store, but upon second thought, she realized that the shop assistant wasn't as knowledgeable as him, so she nodded. "Yes."

The shop assistant did not exaggerate and directly found an old handwritten book with three words, "Girl, this was all copied and sold by the previous students. If it was just to enlighten them, then it would be enough. You don't need to buy a new printed book."

Soong Xintong nodded. She felt that this shop assistant had thought it through quite thoroughly.

"When young master is able to write, I can just make a new copy myself. It will allow me to read and be familiar with the content." The shop assistant continued to explain, "Moreover, it is not expensive. It only costs three hundred gold coins."

Soong Xintong flipped through the pages. She felt like flipping through the pages twice more would ruin her life. How expensive could it be?

The assistant saw through her thoughts, "The new printed version of the Three Character Classic requires 13 taels of silver, and the copied book costs 3 taels of silver. I just don't think that enlightenment is necessary for such a good thing."

Soong Xintong was slightly surprised. It was true that poor people could not read books. A new Three Character Classic would cost 13 taels of silver. The more they read, the more books they would have to study. No wonder so many scholars from the academy went to copy books.

"Then let's have an old Three Character Classic first." Soong Xintong said.

"Fine." The shop assistant put the book away, "Wait till the two young master know these words, then come over to buy other books. At that time, I can recommend a few useful books to the girl."

Soong Xintong nodded as she looked at the corner of the bookshelf with the book in it.

"Miss, do you want to buy a book?" The assistant said, "These words are all well written. Some of them are even written by the Elementary Scholars, just like the lady from the Elementary Scholars' house. The smell of the pot is pretty close to life, and there are still some suspenseful cases here.

Soong Xintong smiled. "I'm just looking around casually."

The shop assistant did not force it, "Oh yeah, do you want to buy some paper for young master to practice with?"

"Yes." Soong Xintong almost forgot, "There's also ink and pens, are there all of them?"

The shop assistant hurriedly nodded, "Of course there is."

The shop assistant took out three ink sticks and introduced them one by one. "These are the three types of ink sticks that students often buy. This ink stick is light, easy to fumble around and is also the cheapest. This piece was mediocre. It was not easy to faint, but it was rather thick. Two taels of silver. This piece of ink is made of gold. Even if you don't faint, it shouldn't be too thick or light. There's even a faint fragrance. Five taels of silver a piece. "

Soong Xintong nodded. She naturally knew that the more expensive it was, the better.

"Ladies don't buy this kind of medium grade paper. The students in the academy all use this kind of ink, only slightly thicker, but it has no other effect. Once the two of you, young master, have written well enough, then you can buy this type of golden ink." the man said.

Soong Xintong nodded. She felt that this shop assistant was really sincere. No wonder the owner of the cloth shop told her to come to this shop.

"Where's Yan Tai?" Soong Xintong asked again.

The shop assistant took out a piece, "The surface of this inkstone is more exquisite, the ink is very fast, and it is light and easy to carry."

"How much?" Soong Xintong asked.

The assistant said, "We are selling it at a lower price, two taels for one."

Soong Xintong was rather satisfied. "There's also a pen and paper."

The worker became more and more happy. He took out a brush and said, "This kind of pen is pretty good. It's very suitable for kids like young master who just started learning calligraphy. It's very cheap."

"Where's the paper?" Soong Xintong asked again, "I can't tell if it's good or bad with so many pieces of paper."

"There are over a hundred kinds of Xuan paper. It's normal for a girl to not know about them." The shop assistant took out a dozen of white paper, "However, the better ones are tough but can moisturize, light but not slippery, pure white and dense, pure texture, undamaged by rubbing, and strong in moistening ink. Girl, touch it."

Soong Xintong touched it and found it was indeed shiny, but not smooth.

"Girls can buy one blade of this kind of Xuan paper, we can give girls this kind of coarse yellow paper. young master can use this kind of yellow paper when he practices it." The assistant recommended, "This kind of paper is of better quality. Most teachers of the academy and academy would require this kind of paper."

Soong Xintong felt that she was just an inexperienced parent, a teacher in the tutorial class saying whatever he wanted to say. In any case, she would have to pay in the end.

Soong Xintong nodded helplessly. "Alright then."

"Okay, then I'll wrap it up with the girl?" The shop assistant asked, "Do you have a copy of the ink and pens?"

"Of course." Soong Xintong nodded.

"Okay, a three word scripture, two pens, two pens, and two pens, a total of twelve hundred pens. This piece of good Xuan paper, a total of one tael." After saying that, the assistant took out a large bundle of yellow paper. "This is the yellow paper given to the young lady by you."

The assistant tapped the abacus with his fingers. "A total of thirteen, two, five hundred coins."

"Sister, Sister, come and look at this." Big Treasure's happy voice rang out.

Soong Xintong quickly turned around and walked to the back of the bookshelf. She saw two kids squatting beside a row of books. Their lips couldn't even close from laughing.

"What is this?" Soong Xintong asked.

Big Treasure said, "There's a picture on it. It looks really good."

Soong Xintong took it over and saw that it was similar to a children's comic book. There were pictures and words on it. She could even guess what those words meant.

Big Treasure and Little Treasure both looked at her expectantly. "Big Sis, can we buy it?"

This was the first time Dabao had brought up a request from her. Soong Xintong naturally did not disappoint him. "Alright, give it to Sis. I'll go and pay."

Soong Xintong brought the book to the assistant's side and asked, "How much is this book?"

The shop assistant took a look and said, "Three taels of silver."

"Sister, why is it so expensive?" Dabao was a little regretful now. "It's better not to buy Sis."

Soong Xintong said, "Didn't you like it?"

"Sister, I don't want it anymore." They did not expect it to be so expensive.

The shop assistant felt that the two young master were too sensible, "Girl, or what?"

"It doesn't matter." Soong Xintong lightly patted their foreheads and then said to the shop assistant, "Let's calculate together."

"Alright." The shop assistant did some calculations and said, "A total of 16 taels of 500 taels of gold."

A man, who had been waving his fan outside the shop, walked in and said to the shop assistant, "I want to send the two of you, young master, a Three Character Classic and two pieces of Stone Town."

"Ok, boss." The shop assistant turned around and went inside to find the goods.

Soong Xintong said anxiously, "How can we do that?"

"It's nothing, I'm just recruiting for more customers." The man looked at the two men with a smile, "The two of you are smart and studious. I believe you two will buy a lot of ink and paper from now on. At that time, invite the young lady to my store to buy some."

"Thank you, boss." Soong Xintong sighed. This person really knew how to do business.

He put all the pens, ink and paper he had bought into the basket and then slowly walked into the bustling city with the twins.