The happy little days of the Ye family

There are a total of three bookstores of different sizes on South Street.

The largest and most popular bookstore is Li's Bookstore next to the academy.

The books sold there are basically about imperial examinations, and there are many precious and unique copies, as well as examination papers from previous years.

The four treasures of the study are also for sale, and the prices are even more expensive than the first bookstore we visited.

Although it was not yet time for classes to end, there were still quite a few people inside and it looked like business was pretty good.

In addition to these two, there is also a smaller bookstore at the end of the street. It is more affordable. The books and reading supplies are of average quality, but the prices are cheap.

The father and son had never expected that there were three bookstores on this street.

As for the pastry shop that Wang Chunyu wanted to open, there were already two on the street, one right next to the gate of the academy, and the other at the end of the alley on South Street.

The two of them also went in to take a look. The pastries inside were very exquisite, and the prices were similar to those of Liu's pastry shop in the town, but it seemed that the business was average.

If they wanted to sell cakes, they could only do the same as other people in the town, selling cheap cakes and taking the route of small profits but quick turnover.

In addition, the father and son also inquired about places where vegetables were sold. In the morning, people from nearby villagers would set up stalls on the street to sell vegetables, and there would also be stalls selling meat.

But it's usually only available in the morning, and the stalls will be closed if it's late.

After a tour, the father and son had a general understanding.

On the way back, the two began to discuss what to sell in the two shops.

Ye Donglin suggested: "I think the business of the two pastry shops on South Street is average, so why not convert the small shop into a place dedicated to renting books?"

"There are many storybooks and travel notes in the town's grocery store. I'll go back and find someone to copy some and put them in the store. It won't cost much."

Father Ye nodded in agreement. "There are many bookstores here, and they have a wide range of books on various scientific research subjects. We can find another way and focus on travel notes and storybooks."

"Besides, books on scientific research are too expensive. I have hundreds of vernacular novels and travelogues at home. If I just hand-copy them, I can save a lot of money."

"As for the pastries, put them next to the bookshelf just like the grocery stores in town. These half-grown boys are now ready to eat them."

Ye Donglin thought for a moment and said, "But these are all students from the academy, so we have to get a set of books for the imperial examination."

"New books are too expensive. We can buy some used books. They are for renting anyway, so it doesn't really matter whether they are new or old."

Father Ye also thought that buying used books was a good idea. The contents were the same anyway, and the old ones could be half the price.

The father and son talked back and forth, and by the time they returned to the house, they had basically reached an agreement.

The 30-square-meter shop is set up as a small bookstore, mainly renting miscellaneous books, and also selling study tools and pastries.

The large shop of 50 square meters was turned into the second Ye family grocery store.

As before, he used vegetables, grains and dry goods to attract nearby women, and also sold groceries in the shop.

After the shop is opened, Ye's father will live here. It is not convenient to bring fresh vegetables from home, so he has to find people from nearby villages to provide them.

There are many things that need to be purchased to open two shops.

The books on scientific examinations and the goods that the grocery store needs to stockpile would conservatively cost more than 100 taels of silver.

The cost of investing in it is not small, and it is impossible for one person to manage two shops.

So the father and son decided to run the two small shops together, sharing the capital and profits equally.

There were ten shelves in the small shop. The father and son moved out six of them, leaving only four.

In addition, the house has a study with four large bookshelves. The two moved all the bookshelves to the small shop.

Then he moved two desks from the house.

The two of them made some rough arrangements, moving the bookshelves to the left and the shelves to the right.

Two desks are placed opposite the counter, where those who want to read can read.

…………

After two months at the academy, the three brothers had finished learning the "Three Character Classic".

When Master Ming came in the morning, he gave everyone a copy of "Hundred Family Surnames", which we would study later.

Of course, this book is not free. Each book costs 50 cents. You must bring the money when you come tomorrow.

These books were copied by Master Ming in his spare time, in order to save up travel expenses for next year's imperial examination.

Master Ming cleared his throat and asked everyone to open their books.

"Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li; Zhou, Wu, Zheng, and Wang; Feng, Chen, Chu, and Wei; Jiang, Shen, Han, and Yang."

"Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li; Zhou, Wu, Zheng, and Wang; Feng, Chen, Chu, and Wei; Jiang, Shen, Han, and Yang."

"Zhu Qin You Xu, He Lu Shi Zhang. Kong Cao Yan Hua, Jin Wei Tao Jiang."

"Zhu Qin You Xu, He Lu Shi Zhang. Kong Cao Yan Hua, Jin Wei Tao Jiang."

……

Master Ming read a sentence in front, and the little ones below followed him in tacit understanding.

The sounds of reading sounded very orderly, but the little ones below had different expressions and were in different states.

Amid the sounds of reading, the good students in the front row looked serious and their voices were very loud.

The little ones at the back who didn't want to study couldn't help feeling sleepy and yawning when they heard the sound of reading.

Especially Zhu Zhixin and Hu Yang, who were just filling in the gaps. Although their mouths were moving, their minds were already flying somewhere else.

Li Guang had already dozed off under the cover of the upright book.

After reading it twice, Master Ming came down with a ruler. If anyone was not taking it seriously, he would hit him with the ruler.

Zhu Zhixin, Li Guang and Hu Yang, who were not fond of studying, finally perked up under the teacher's special care.

Compared with "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Surnames" is easier to remember.

After reading it several times, the little ones have almost remembered what they have just learned.

He led everyone to read it from beginning to end twice, and Master Ming asked everyone to recite and recognize the words on their own.

Then he got up and went to teach Class B next door.

We just got back from vacation. We played at home for two days. We all had a lot of fun and our minds were not on studying.

As soon as the teacher left, the classroom became chaotic.

In addition to Xiao Shitou and Chenchen in the front row, there were a few hardworking little guys who were still reciting there.

Everyone in the back row relaxed, some were sleeping, some were in a daze, and some were whispering to each other.

Although Master Ming separated the noisy little guys, people are still alive and can always find a solution.

Zhu Zhixin moved his chair to the outside, then stretched his neck and chatted animatedly with Hu Yang who was doing the same thing.

The two little guys were happily chatting about where they had gone to play in the past two days and what delicious food they had eaten, and they were laughing very loudly.

Soon, Yang Biao, who also didn't like studying, was attracted to the conversation. The little guy turned around and stuck his head out to join the conversation.

Xiaoqi is lively and active. He can't sit still at all. He is either scratching his butt or biting the pen, making small movements all the time.

But unfortunately, he was surrounded by students who were studying hard and no one wanted to chat with him.

Besides, everyone was studying diligently, and he felt embarrassed to be lazy, so he had to bite the bullet and study hard with them.