Linxia

Chapter 74, Investment

Early the next morning, Fang Lin went to Xuan Mo Zhai and went out for a stroll with Manager Liu. Halfway through, he helped up a primary school boy who had fallen down while playing with his friends.

This is nothing, and it can't be considered a favor, but it is the greatest achievement of the past month or two.

"Many things are like this. You won't see immediate feedback from your efforts. Only by persisting for a long time can you seize the opportunity when it comes." Fang Lin was patient and didn't take it seriously.

Shopkeeper Liu watched all this, deep in thought. After the little boy thanked him and left, he suddenly asked Fang Lin, "Tell me, kid, was it planned before you followed me for a walk?"

He is not a stupid man. He didn't realize it for some time, but he should understand it now.

"I noticed there were mad dogs around nearby, so I thought of following the shopkeeper and protecting a few." Fang Lin did not hide anything and gave an affirmative answer.

"You!" Shopkeeper Liu looked over and said nothing.

He would not say, "Why didn't Fang Lin remind you earlier? What if I failed to protect him and he got bitten by a mad dog?" After all, the two of them didn't have much of a relationship at that time, and the mad dog wasn't caused by Fang Lin, so Fang Lin had no obligation to help - in other words, helping you was a favor, and not helping you was his duty.

On the contrary, Fang Lin followed him and really helped him in the end. Regardless of whether he had deliberately waited for this day or not, it was true that he had saved him from a disaster, and he had to accept this favor.

Manager Liu paused, but did not hide it: "I said I was frightened at first, so I went back to calm down, and then I went to inquire about it... We are even now!"

He didn't say what he wanted to know, but Fang Lin naturally understood that he was trying to know whether the appearance of the mad dog was caused by him.

"I know." Fang Lin said with a smile.

Whatever he did, there would be traces left. He only dared to go with the flow and did not dare to deliberately set up a trap and pin his hopes on the stupidity of others.

"You kid, don't underestimate me. The waves behind will always push the waves ahead!"

"The shopkeeper is not bad either!"

Manager Liu and Fang Lin looked at each other and laughed. Now that the matter had been made clear, this incident was over and there was no more grudge between them.

"Let's go and continue strolling!" Shopkeeper Liu took the lead.

Fang Lin followed.

Behind him, a gentle breeze blew across the river water under the white stone arch bridge, causing duckweed to ripple slightly on the water surface. Then the wind swirled away, heading towards the sky, brewing a storm.

This means: The wind starts from the tip of the green duckweed.

……

Today, Huang Di is on his turn to rest, and Liu Hongwen, the eldest son of the store manager Liu who was conscripted into the shop, is also here.

Liu Hongwen was a pale and thin man. He was a scholar and a scholar. However, he was not as good as Dong Zugao and did not pass the imperial examination until he was in his twenties.

Now, he is also preparing for the next provincial examination. When no one is in the store, he either reads a book or practices eight-part essays, and he is very hardworking.

At this moment, Liu Hongwen might be tired. He stood up to relax his muscles and walked to Fang Lin's side. He stood with his hands in his sleeves and looked at the words Fang Lin wrote in the account. He nodded slightly and commented: "Fang Lin, your handwriting is not bad!"

"It's just average!"

Fang Lin smiled. Although they had not been together for a long time, he had already figured out the other person. Although he appeared to be friendly on the surface, there was a sense of arrogance hidden behind the scenes. It was difficult for him to get close to him, and it was not very comfortable to get along with him. However, he did not show it. He maintained a superficial relationship and did not intend to make a deep friendship.

Some people are just like this. If they can't get along with the other person at first impression, then there's no need to make things difficult for yourself - it's not that you can't humble yourself, but that just because you have a feeling, the other person doesn't treat you as someone on the same level. So it's all in vain no matter what you do. Besides, the other person's status is not to the extent that he has to "put his face on someone else's back".

"Not bad? Go away, you are so bold to say that. His calligraphy is obviously much better than yours. Your calligraphy only has the 'form', while Fang Lin's calligraphy already has the 'spirit'!"

Shopkeeper Liu admired and regretted it at the same time, and sighed: "Just based on the characters, Fang Lin would not be held back in the examinations for Juren or Jinshi."

Chai Yiwei, who was cleaning nearby, was shocked when he heard this. He knew Fang Lin's handwriting was beautiful, but he didn't expect it to be so good. Liu Hongwen was not convinced. He admitted that Fang Lin's handwriting might, seemed, and probably was better than his, but not to that extent, right? However, this was his father's evaluation, so he didn't dare to refute it and could only nod in dismay.

"Thank you for the compliment, shopkeeper."

Fang Lin saw Liu Hongwen's expression and said modestly. After thinking for a while, he proposed something: "I just want to talk to the shopkeeper about something. I am learning and practicing calligraphy. I want to buy some straw paper in the store. Over time, the amount may be quite large. Can the shopkeeper give me a discount as a regular customer?"

Recently, he has made considerable progress in learning Chinese characters. He can recognize, read and write commonly used characters with little mistake. Recently, he asked a caravan to deliver a letter to his family in Xiaohe Village, and he did not ask for the help of Manager Liu, but completed it independently. Now, it is time to go a step further and practice with pen and ink.

"I can practice calligraphy on paper and write down the Romance of the Three Kingdoms at the same time. I can practice calligraphy and save the manuscript of Romance of the Three Kingdoms at the same time. It can be said that I can kill two birds with one stone." Fang Lin thought.

In his previous life, he had no entertainment when he was young. He preferred quietness to activity. He did not run around like other children. He did most of the reading at home. There were not many books at home. His parents gritted their teeth and bought the Four Great Classics after he mentioned them several times. They were in classical Chinese. It was difficult to read at first, but he got used to it later.

Throughout my childhood, during the summer and winter vacations, I read the four great classics countless times. In the end, the pages were yellowed, the spines were loose, and the corners were rotten. Every night, when my parents asked me to go to bed early, I would imagine the plots and scenes in the books and what I would choose if I were in them...

Thanks to these experiences, it was impossible for Fang Lin to reproduce the four great classics word for word, but it was not too difficult to write down the plot in complete form in semi-literary and semi-vernacular language.

"There are no major problems with the storyline, but the biggest problem is the choice of words and sentences. Some of my sentences naturally use plain language... But this is not a problem. At most, I can ask Mr. Dong to help polish it after I finish writing it." Fang Lin thought to himself.

“To learn calligraphy, you have to practice on paper and use pen and ink.”

Manager Liu thought for a moment and said, "I won't give you a discount for being a regular customer. So, you can use my set of brushes, inkstones, and the straw paper in the store as long as it doesn't go to waste. Well, it would be best if you could find a book to copy, bind the straw paper, and sell it in the store. If you can sell it, I'll give you 50% of the money."

This 50-50 split was already a great consideration for Fang Lin - you know, some poor scholars would consign their copied books to the store, and according to the rules, the store would take 30% of the profit.

Besides, Fang Lin had no reputation, and the copied books were unlikely to sell well, which meant that the store had to bear all the risks and let Fang Lin use pen, ink, paper and inkstone to practice calligraphy for nothing - don't underestimate these, they were a considerable expense every month.

"Brother Fang, the shopkeeper values ​​you!" Chai Yiwei said happily.

Unlike Fang Lin, he was not good at reading and writing. It was like he had nine out of ten holes open but was still unable to understand anything. This was something he could not envy.

Liu Hongwen also glanced at Fang Lin and knew that his father valued Fang Lin and was willing to do him a favor.

In fact, it was true. After what happened in the morning, Manager Liu valued Fang Lin even more.

'This kid is very measured and patient. He sets his mind on one thing and sticks to it for months... With this kind of character, what can't he accomplish? His future achievements are just a matter of size.' He believes in his own judgment and will not make mistakes in judging people.

Now, it depends on whether Fang Lin dares to take on this investment.

"There is no need to rush to finish "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". You can copy the book first to practice your classical Chinese skills, and you will be able to do it more perfectly in the future." Fang Lin thought so and agreed: "Thank you, boss."

He decisively accepted the investment from Manager Liu.

'Who has made a career from a humble beginning without the help of noble people? You don't have to refuse the investment of noble people. If you accept them, these noble people will become your helpers! It is always a truth to reduce enemies and increase friends. Besides, the people who help you are likely to help you again next time. This is a sunk cost; but the people you help may not be the same.' Fang Lin saw it clearly.

As for the return on this investment, that will come in the future, after some achievements have been made.

"Okay, okay, that's settled then." When Shopkeeper Liu heard Fang Lin's agreement, he laughed and clapped his hands, as if he had gotten some advantage.

This made Chai Yiwei a little confused. He felt that Fang Lin was very powerful and the shopkeeper was eager to give him benefits.

Next to him, Liu Hongwen had a strange look on his face and stared at Fang Lin for a while. He understood that this was because his father was very optimistic about Fang Lin.

However, he did not see anything special about Fang Lin, and shook his head secretly: "He is good at writing, so what? It's too late after all, and he has missed the age to go to school!"

……

(End of this chapter)