Linxia

Chapter 168, On Sale

Today, the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" finally went on sale.

Xuan Mo Zhai.

Early in the morning, before the store opens, many people have already come and crowd outside the door, chatting and making it as lively as a vegetable market.

This time, the government sent ten yamen runners to maintain order.

"Why are there so many bailiffs?"

"You don't know this, right? When the first part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms was being written, there were many fights over a book. These yamen runners were necessary."

"Luckily I reserved a book in advance, otherwise I might not be able to get the book today. Quick, quick, look, the door is open!"

……

As the doors opened, guests poured in, holding out their reservation credentials.

"Don't be anxious, take your time, we have everything! We have everything!" Fang Lin opened the door to welcome the guests and ushered them into the store.

Huang Di, Chai Yiwei, Liu Hongwen and Geng Shi were already prepared. Each of them had a pile of books in front of them and started the sales mode.

Soon, the store was filled with customers who had only made pre-sales. In order to improve efficiency, they had no choice but to hang up a sign saying 'No formal sales today, only honoring pre-sale orders'.

As soon as the news came out, many guests who had not made reservations sighed. It can be said that as soon as the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was released today, it became so popular that it was hard to get a copy.

……

"Hahaha, I got it!" Hong Yingheng squeezed out of Xuan Mo Zhai, and his hat fell off, but he didn't care, and his face was full of joy.

A few days ago, he told Fang Lin that he was a fan of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and it was not a lie - when the first part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was on sale, he came to gather information, and since then, he has had an indissoluble bond with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Half a month ago, Hong Yingheng followed a book dealer in Beppu, Jianghuai, and read a sample book, which was the first ten chapters of the second part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It would have been fine if he hadn't read it, but after reading one-third of it, it was so exciting that he couldn't stop reading it. He was thinking about it while eating and sleeping these days.

Therefore, he also contributed a pre-sale copy. Today is the official sale day. He came here early in the morning and finally got the actual book. How could he not be happy?
As soon as he got the book, Hong Yingheng couldn't wait: "My brother is looking after the store, don't worry, I'll find a place nearby to have a sneak peek!"

When we arrived at the teahouse, most of the people were already sitting there. Unlike usual days, it was surprisingly quiet. Most of them had a book in their hands, flipping through it without even looking up.

It turned out that many people had the same idea as him. After getting the book, they were reluctant to waste time going back home, so they just found a place nearby to start reading.

It can be said that with the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" on sale today, the teahouses and restaurants near Xuan Mo Zhai have benefited greatly and are doing booming business, making the owners of these teahouses and restaurants very happy.

In the teahouse, everyone reads quietly. If someone makes a noise, they will be glared at. The other party will shut up as he dares not to anger the crowd.

Hong Yingheng whispered to the waiter and ordered a pot of tea.

Coincidentally, as soon as he sat down, he saw Zhong Zongdian coming in with a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and waved to him to come and sit with him.

The two of them were focused on the books. They exchanged a few words in a low voice and then started reading their own books.

"Finally I can read a book."

Hong Yingheng turned directly to Chapter 41, "Liu Xuande led the people across the river, Zhao Zilong rode alone to save the lord", and began to read on. He was fascinated by it. On one side, "Zhang Fei made a scene at Changban Bridge, Liu Bei fled to Hanjinkou in defeat", and on the other side, "Zhuge Liang debated with the scholars, Lu Su rejected all opinions", and then there was the counter-espionage plan, the willing fight and the willing beating, the chain plan, borrowing the east wind, and burning the ships... Guan Yu released Cao Cao at Huarong Pass, angered Zhou Yu three times, Cao Aman cut off his beard and threw away his robe...

It was truly a climax with many twists and turns, and his face became red from being too excited.

On the opposite side, Zhong Zongdian was also staring intently, immersed in it.

"Okay!"

In the teahouse, from time to time someone would see something exciting and stand up with a loud shout and slam the table. When they were glared at by everyone, they would quickly cover their mouths and sit down to continue watching.

They were all so nervous that the teahouse owner felt itchy after watching them, and secretly complained, is the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" so good?
As for the first part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he had also read it, which was indeed wonderful. Looking at the reactions of the customers in the store, he knew the quality of the second part was also very high, so he decided to buy a copy later.

Hong Yingheng and Zhong Zongdian were drinking tea and reading books, and before they knew it, it was noon.

"Brother Zhong, I'm going to the toilet. Please help me look after some books!" Hong Yingheng was holding his urine and wanted to finish his urine before going, but he couldn't hold it any longer.

"Let's go together! Let's go together!" Zhong Zongdian had also been wanting to go to the bathroom, but the contents of the book were so fascinating that he couldn't bear to put it down.

When two people go to the toilet together, if one person were alone, he might really disregard his dignity and go into the toilet with a book, reading while defecating or urinating... But when two people go together, they still have to care about their face.

After putting down the books, the two people went to the toilet and came back in a hurry, only to find that the two books on the table were gone.

"Where's my book? Where's my book? Where's such a big book of mine?" There were only the last two chapters left to read, and the book was stolen. At this moment, Hong Yingheng was furious and even wanted to kill someone.

Zhong Zongdian also stepped forward and saw that a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms had been stolen from the table, leaving only the jade pendant that was used as a bookmark. He could not help but sigh, "What a sin! If you want to make money, just take my jade pendant. Why steal my book?"

……

A small and happy home.

Gu Yuyan and Shi Wenjun got up, dressed up, and asked the maid to come over and ask if the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" they had ordered could be delivered. If it had been delivered, she asked them to bring two copies.

After a while, the maid only brought one book.

It turned out that even with the pre-sale system, there were still too many people coming to Xuan Mo Zhai. Many young men couldn't wait and came directly to Qing Huan Xiao Ju to have a look, causing the 200 copies delivered by Qing Huan Xiao Ju to be in short supply.

"Forget it, we sisters can just read the same book."

Just like last time, they avoided seeing guests, brewed a pot of tea, prepared a plate of snacks, lit a stick of sandalwood, and the two girls began to read.

Needless to say, the content of the book is so wonderful that Gu Yuyan and Shi Wenjun forgot to eat lunch while reading it. They only finished reading it in the afternoon. After finishing it, they felt disappointed.

“It’s even better than the first one!”

Gu Yuyan commented: "In this second part, I particularly like Mr. Zhuge Kongming, who visited Zhuge Liang three times, proposed the 'three-way division of the world' in Longzhong, burned Xinye, debated with scholars, borrowed arrows from straw boats, cleverly borrowed the east wind, and angered Zhou Yu three times... This character is absolutely perfect."

She spoke in a daze, thinking of someone, and it seemed that the two characters overlapped.

"I feel more sorry for Zhou Gongjin."

Shi Wenjun turned the page and read in a clear voice: "The difficulties of life are like a long river that never stops flowing. Although it has the ambition to flow east to the sea, its flow is slow and the journey is difficult. However, rivers will eventually flow into the sea, but the ambitions of life are often difficult to achieve, which makes people regret for the rest of their lives... These words express all the regrets."

"A beauty is like a famous general, she cannot grow old, and so is it for us?"

"Well, I see that the characters in Mr. Fang's books are all flesh and blood, and they come alive on paper. What kind of talent is this? What kind of life realm is this?"

Gu Yuyan sighed, and suddenly she had an urge to go to Fang Lin and meet him.

Shi Wenjun was very smart and saw something. She said softly, "Mr. Fang has already married. Sister Yuyan, don't forget what we said before. You don't have to be Mr. Fang's concubine. You need to show your value, such as your paintings and my studies and management. These are always useful. Maybe you can stay with Mr. Fang with them... But as you said, we need to wait for another year or two, both to wait for Mr. Fang to make further progress and for our friendship to deepen. It won't be abrupt to bring this up."

"Okay, I'll continue drawing the character cards now. I think Mr. Fang will need them." These days, the two girls have been doing this whenever they have time. By comparing it with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", most of the characters in the second part have been drawn.

...government office.

"Sir, the second volume of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is on sale in the city today." Master Tang handed over a copy and said.

"Okay, put it down, I'll take a look later. By the way, keep an eye on Xuan Mo Zhai, don't let anything go wrong during such a grand event."

Prefect Pu gave some instructions and continued to review the documents. Mr. Tang did not dare to disturb him and left quietly, closing the door.

Later, after he finished reviewing a piece of paper, he thought about taking a break and planned to open the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to read for a while, just to relax. Who knew that while reading, he forgot about time.

When he came back to his senses, it was already noon. Looking at the large number of documents that had not yet been processed, Prefect Pu slapped his thigh and said, "How could I be so decadent? I should be careful this afternoon... ahem, I'd better finish reading it in one go and then concentrate on my official duties."

He felt a little hungry, so he called out to his two servants, Qingfeng and Mingyue, to go get him some food. However, after calling them twice there was no response, so he went out to look for them.

Somewhere, there was a loud noise, and it sounded very lively.

It turned out that a man was reading the second part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. A large crowd of people gathered around him. The clerks stopped doing their official duties and gathered around to listen. Not only them, but also the two servants Qingfeng and Mingyue, and even the cook in the kitchen ran over with a spoon in hand, listening with great interest.

Prefect Pu followed the sound and came over. When he saw this scene, his face immediately turned black. However, at the same time, a thought came to his mind: "The second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is so exciting, and their reaction seems... not surprising?"

……

The private school where Xu Xianwen studied.

Early in the morning, a group of elementary school students came. Master Yu asked them to recite their lessons and said he would ask questions about dictation later, and then he left.

It took about an incense stick of time for him to come back. His scarf was askew and his clothes were disheveled, but he brought back a book.

The sharp-eyed little schoolchildren below have already seen the name on the cover: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Part Two.

In front, Master Yu seemed to be so immersed in it that he even forgot to ask questions and write down his thoughts.

Below, a group of elementary school children were practicing writing, but they were all absent-minded. From time to time, they raised their heads and looked forward, as if they wanted their eyes to fly over and read with the teacher.

In the afternoon, Mr. Yu finally finished reading it and improvised a lesson on "Borrowing Arrows from a Straw Boat" from the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Before the lecture, he praised the book without reservation: "The book Romance of the Three Kingdoms is full of brilliant strategies and tactics, which are amazing. It shows that the author has a lot of strategies... You can read this book in your spare time."

Afterwards, he began to tell the story of "Borrowing Arrows from a Thatched Boat". When he came to Zhuge Kongming in the book, the elementary school children in the audience became excited. They knew this person. This was the only gold card among the character cards that was drawn in advance.

In this class, they were all very focused and their efficiency was unprecedentedly high.

After school, a group of elementary school children called their friends and prepared to go buy books.

"Xu Xianwen, we are going to Xuan Mo Zhai to buy books together, do you want to go?" a classmate shouted.

"You go ahead, I won't go."

As Xu Xianwen said this, he picked up the book basket and ran home quickly without looking back. He knew that there must be some books at home.

……

Xu family.

When Xu Xianwen came back, as expected, he found the housekeeper reading the second part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. His father and mother were sitting next to him, listening with great interest.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back." Xu Xianwen said loudly.

"Okay, got it." Xu Kuo Lao nodded, stretched out his big hand, and pushed him aside as he was in the way.

In the past, whenever her son came back, Xu's wife would greet him warmly, take the book basket and ask, "Are you hungry? What would you like to eat in the evening?" But today, she just said, "You must be hungry. Here's some money. Go buy something to eat."

Normally, Xu Xianwen would be happy to be able to eat out by himself, but today, he had only one thought in mind: reading! Reading! Still reading!

The boy observed the situation and realized that if he dared to snatch the book away, he would be in trouble. He thought to himself, "If I can't read the book, I can listen to it."

I put the book basket down, sat down next to my parents, and started listening to the book. Soon, I was immersed in it.

I don't know how long they listened. As the sky gradually darkened, Mr. Xu and his wife turned their heads and saw their son sitting next to them obediently. They asked, "Did you eat out? That's great. Bring some back for us."

Xu Xianwen responded by making some nodding and groaning noises, but it was as if there were nails on his feet and he wouldn't move.

To be honest, he was a little hungry, but... he believed that he could endure hunger better than his parents!

……

The branch on Guangfu Street where Liu Hongru is the manager.

To be honest, as soon as the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" came out today, Liu Hongru regretted coming to Fang Lin to be the shopkeeper. The book was right in front of him, and he sold it one by one, but he could only look at it but could not read it. It was such torture!
After a long wait, finally, the day was over, this batch of books was sold out, and it was time to close.

Liu Hongru stood up immediately and said, "It's time to close the shop. We're out of books now. We need to go back to pick them up. Come back tomorrow!"

"Don't you have another book in your hand?" the man in front said unwillingly.

"This is mine." Liu Hongru shook his head. He bought this book with his own money.

After closing the shop, he turned on the light, came back and sat down, and told the waiter in the shop: "You guys go and have dinner. I won't eat tonight."

Fang Chuanhui stayed at the end, rubbing his hands as if he wanted to say something, but seemed embarrassed.

"Chuanhui, what's the matter?"

"Boss, what are you looking at?"

"The second volume of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You've been selling it for a whole day, and you don't know this?"

"As for the second part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I haven't read it yet..."

"No, Chuanhui, we can talk straight if we have something to say."

"Ahem, well, boss, I told you, can we watch it together?"

Fang Chuanhui is Fang Lin's relative, and even his cousin, but he couldn't open a new one to read it. What would it look like? But he had to pay for it himself. How could he afford to spend that money when he grew up in He Village? With that money, he could buy countless delicious foods for his sister.

So... you just want to follow Liu Hongru for a while?
Liu Hongru: …

You, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, are you coveting my precious book?

……

(End of this chapter)