The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

100. Buy Books

Translator: Iris Guo

“Thank you, Uncle Chen.” Chen Qingxuan hastened to bow and thank him. Then, he took five qian of silver ingots from the wallet, gave it to him, and smiled: “I’ll pay half for her, and you could just charge her five qian the day after tomorrow.”

Uncle Chen frowned and became confused: “Qingxuan, you and her…”

“Uncle Chen, don’t worry. She just came to NingGuTa this year. See, she’s so young and poor, so my grandma also cares for her and got her some job.” explained Chen Qingxuan hurriedly. He patted on the package A’Chou gave him, and continued: “Don’t tell her I paid. She’s very stubborn. If she knew that I helped, she would have said no again.”

“Well, I’ll cover for you. Boy, you’ve always had a kind heart, like your grandmother.” Uncle Chen nodded and went into the house with his shovel.

“Ah! Thank you, Uncle Chen.” answered Chen Qingxuan hurriedly.

…

What did A’Chou want from Chen Qingxuan just now?

She wanted to borrow some books. Zhong Mingwei had been staying at home all day long. Although he hadn’t complained about a thing, she knew that he must be bored, and noble people like him loved reading and watching operas in their spare time. She couldn’t get him to the theater, but she could get him some books.

Chen Qingxuan was a teacher, so there must be a lot of books in his house. However, A’Chou couldn’t borrow from him because she figured he would use them for teaching or read them. Although there was no budget for books, she saved some money for that deck chair. Moreover, she had finished the embroidery and would get at least one qian of silver ingots, so she was willing to buy some books for Zhong Mingwei.

There were only two bookstores in the market. The one in the east had an air of luxury, so A’Chou dared not go inside. Then, she went to the bookstore in the west. The bookstore was tiny, dark, smelled of mildew, and there wasn’t even a sign. She hesitated to enter the store. After wandering at the door for a while, she had no choice but to walk in.

“You want some books, miss?” asked the shopkeeper. He bent over the counter, looking A’Chou up and down will eating sunflower seeds, and grinned.

“Yes.” A’Chou looked at the shelves and asked in a low voice: “What books do you have here?”

“Anything you want.” said the shopkeeper with smiling eyes. “I’m not bragging. Anything you want, you could find them here. Just as the saying goes…the sparrow may be tiny, but it has a complete set of inner organs [1].”

Note: The expression is used metaphorically to mean something small that has all the properties of something bigger.

“I don’t read. I’m barely literate.” answered A’Chou hurriedly. Then, she paused and continued, blushed: “It’s for my husband.”

“Good books for men! There are so many in my store!” The shopkeeper smiled more brightly. He hastened to threw away the sunflower seed shells, came out from the back of the counter, guided A’Chou inside, and grinned: “You lady really know how to find me, haha.”

A’Chou thought the shopkeeper smiled weirdly, but she didn’t know why. She just continued to blush after he began to call her “lady”. She felt shy and awkward, but couldn’t help having a good mood.

“Well, find me some good stuff then.” A’Chou nodded and followed the shopkeeper inside with his head down.

“Lady, check it out. These are real good stuff. Let me tell you the truth, every normal man would love them.” The shopkeeper took A’Chou to a tiny side room, bent, and pulled out a large wooden box under the bed. Then, he took a dozen of books from the box and smiled at her mysteriously and proudly.