Princess of Nongmen

Chapter 220 Buying Books
Liu Ya looked at the few books on the shelves and couldn't help frowning.Asked: "I want to buy some medical books and books on medicinal materials. Are there any books here? There are also books for children who are beginners in poetry and prose. Where are they?"

"Yes, Miss, follow me." The shopkeeper didn't notice Liu Ya's frown, and just led the way.Leading Liu Ya through a large bookshelf, pointing to the two rows above, he said: "These two rows are all simple poems and essays. Starting from the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, and Thousand Character Classics, beginners buy these. The last is poetry books. Girl, let’s see which poet you want to buy, and choose by yourself.”

After speaking, he led Liu Ya to go inside again, walked to the corner, pointed to a small book and said: "The medical books are on it. Seven books on medical techniques are sold in sets from the shallower to the deeper, and they are not broken apart; There are [-] medicinal herb books, you can choose at will. Miss, which one do you need?"

After hearing what the shopkeeper said, Liu Ya's brows frowned even tighter.This bookstore looks quite big, but there are very few books, and I don't know if there is anything I need.

Liu Ya asked, "Why are there so few medical books? Is it okay if I read them first and then buy them?"

The shopkeeper said: "Of course, you can read it as you please. But the girl said that I have few books here, and that is wronging me. You must know that my bookstore is the largest one in Anji City, and some small bookstores only sell some pens and inks. and miscellaneous books, you want to buy medical books but you don’t have any.”

When the shopkeeper said this, Liu Ya just smiled.He picked up a medical book and flipped through it.

This medical book was handwritten, and the handwriting was quite neat, but Liu Ya put it down after reading a few pages.Because it's too simple, I don't want to waste time.I took another one from the back, which should be the deepest among the seven medical books, but after a few glances, I still found it simple.

Liu Ya thought for a while, then guessed which doctor wrote this?Then he asked: "Shopkeeper, you just said that this medical book can't be bought anywhere else? Why is that?"

"Oh, it's good for a doctor to teach his apprentices by word of mouth. How can I waste time writing medical books. Not everyone wants to be a doctor, so no one buys medical books. My set of medical books was consigned by a doctor a few years ago. Here, I said I didn’t want to bury all my medical skills, so I wrote it for future generations to read. But after so long, no one came to buy it, and I still think it takes up space.”

After finishing speaking, the shopkeeper pointed to the herbal books and said: "There are people who buy herbal books, but they all buy them from the mountains and go back to look at them. They go to the mountains to collect herbs according to the above. Really learn Doctors will not always study this. Without a doctor with them, who dares to read the pharmacopoeia and prescribe medicine? If everyone can learn to be a doctor by reading a book, wouldn’t all the doctors starve to death?"

Hearing this, Liu Ya understands that in ancient times, productivity was low, and there were not many people who could read and write. Indeed, no one would be free to study medical books and pharmacopoeias.What's more, the circulation of such books is small, and fewer people can really understand them.It's no wonder that the shopkeeper of Anhetang said that the books in their pharmacy were all for their own people and they no longer sold them.If such a set of medical books is written, it is estimated that even the money for the paper cannot be sold, and most of them are passed down from the master to the apprentice.

From this, I can understand how precious the medical handbook left by my mother is.Especially the medical skills in it are very exquisite, Liu Yacai has already got an idea after reading it a few times, and it is not worth reading the medical books here.

Liu Ya simply didn't plan to buy medical books, and only concentrated on choosing two books introducing medicinal materials.There is also a book that introduces herbal medicine. Liu Ya didn't plan to go to the mountains to collect herbs and waste time, so she didn't plan to buy it.But she accidentally turned to the back and saw that there were a few pages introducing Gu, Liu Ya's eyes lit up, and she also received the book.

Then, Liu Ya turned to the bookshelf introduced by the previous shopkeeper, skipping too simple books like the Three Character Classic, and went directly to the poetry books at the back.But after flipping through it, it's a big headache, because these poems and books are so bad, they barely rhyme, and there are almost no quatrains that can make people feel emotional.

In this way, it is not as good as the poem that Liu Ya bought in Lijiatun before.

Liu Ya searched carefully again, and found that even well-written poems were not as beautiful as the Tang poems and Song poems she had read.Especially after reading a book similar to "Historical Records", I realized that the era I traveled through was completely fictional. It didn't follow Qin and Han, and it didn't follow Tang and Song Dynasties, and there was no Li Bai and Du Fu at all.

I found a few other bookshelves, and more of them were miscellaneous books.Some are interesting collections of jokes, some are slightly ambiguous love poems and miscellaneous sentences, there are also some anecdotes about the world, and strange legends. Anyway, there are all kinds of miscellaneous books, but there are few that can catch Liu Ya's eyes.

Liu Ya felt that if she showed these books to Xiao Shu'er, it would be a mistake.He didn't choose any of them, and came to the counter with only the three herbal books he had selected before.He asked again: "I'll buy some more pens, ink, and paper. The shopkeeper will bring some pens to choose from."

The shopkeeper said: "Papers and pens are divided into three categories: upper, middle and lower. Miss, see which one you want to choose, so I can pick it for you."

Liu Ya didn't know how to distinguish between the price and the quality, but although she had some money now, Xiao Shu'er was still a beginner after all, so she didn't have to just buy the best one, so she said, "Let me have a look at the middle price."

The shopkeeper agreed, and brought rice paper and brushes.

Liu Ya first took the brush and looked at it. There are Yanghao, Langhao, and Jianhao. There are seven or eight brushes divided into three types. The smallest ones are of course small script and small seal script. Put big characters, the kind that can't write couplets.

Liu Ya looked at the brushes, and picked out the smallest size of Jianhao, and the medium size of Langhao.She uses the small one for herself, and the medium one for Xiao Shuer to practice writing big characters.As for the quality of the pen, you have to go back and soak it in water, and you can only know after writing and writing.

Looking at the rice paper again, Liu Ya chose the one that costs eight cents a knife.Not the most expensive, but not cheap either.This kind of paper does not smudge, feels good to write on, and has many uses.You can write the prescription in large characters or cut it down.It's good to write a small diary even when you're free.

Seeing that Liu Ya didn't need to introduce herself when choosing brushes and rice paper, the shopkeeper knew that this little girl was very knowledgeable.Therefore, when calculating the price for her, she didn't raise the price too high, but gave her a very fair price, and then gave Liu Ya a bottle of ink.

Liu Ya is quite satisfied, she likes to do business with real people.He said: "My younger brother is learning to write, and he will come here a few more times in the future. Remember to keep any good books from the shopkeeper for me."

(End of this chapter)