Help! I just woke up and was stabbed by a big kid

Gu Yue, who slept till dawn, had no idea what happened last night.

He got up early and took Uncle Beideng's ox cart to the town.

He grabbed the little medicine boy who helped drive the cart to the backyard and said, "Young sir, please stay."

"What's the matter?" The little medicine boy felt comfortable all over when he heard the name, and there was no impatience on his face.

"You live and work in Liuli Town every day, so naturally you have more knowledge than a commoner like me in the village." Gu Yue laid the groundwork briefly, mainly because he didn't want to pay for finding out about things.

"It's just average. Beiqin is vast, and I'm not omniscient and omnipotent." The little medicine boy said modestly.

"I heard from someone a few days ago that there seems to be a place called Hangdou Bookstore in Beiqin? But I guess it's not very famous. I have never heard of it." Gu Yue asked in a roundabout way, so that even if the little medicine boy didn't know, it wouldn't be embarrassing.

"Oh! That's not an unknown thing. Many people in this town should know about it." The little medicine boy said arrogantly, "This bookstore publishes something called a magazine, which records various legends and folk stories. It's sold at the bookstall at the east end of Liuli Town."

"So that's how it is. I'm ignorant. Thanks to you!" Gu Yue said with a smile.

"No, no. Why are you asking about this bookstore? I heard that you can't read." asked the little medicine boy.

"Oh, it's Xiao Xu. I want to get some books for him to see the world." Gu Yue explained.

"Then you can just go to the bookstall and buy it. But you have to go early, otherwise they will be sold out." The little medicine boy drove the ox cart into the backyard.

"Thank you." Gu Yue said sincerely.

……

The bookstall at the east end was deserted. Early in the morning, the clerk was huddled inside the shop taking a nap.

"Hello, do you have any Hangdou magazines?" Gu Yue felt that they were definitely out of stock after seeing the situation, but he still asked.

Sure enough, the guy didn't even open his eyes and said vaguely, "They were sold out right after they were put in stock at the beginning of the month! You should get the magazines earlier..."

Gu Yue walked into the store.

"Hey, little brother, let me ask you something."

The waiter opened his eyes impatiently, but before he could see Gu Yue's face clearly, a handful of heavy copper coins fell into his hands.

"...Oh! Okay, okay. What's the matter?" The guy's expression softened, and when he saw Gu Yue and the centipede scar on his forehead clearly, his expression looked better.

"Where is this Hangdou Bookstore?" Gu Yue asked.

"You, what are you doing?" The guy became alert, wondering if it was someone from the same industry.

"I have a friend who has written some manuscripts. I want to try submitting them to Hangdou Bookstore to see if I can make some money." Gu Yue had a good attitude.

"Oh, I see." The guy breathed a sigh of relief.

But thinking that the location of Hangdou Bookstore was no secret, and even if people knew it, there was no internal purchasing channel, the clerk told everything in a blurt.

"The headquarters of Hangdou Bookstore is naturally in Luoyang, the capital. However, business has been booming in recent years, and branches have been opened everywhere. Sushui County also opened one a few months ago, right on the downtown street. A town of our size is not yet qualified to have one."

The waiter looked him up and down again and said, "Does your friend have any achievements? You should be careful. Don't submit your imperial examination papers to the bookstore in a pedantic style. They will definitely not be accepted! They value humorous and catchy words."

"I see. Thanks for the tip!" Gu Yue said sincerely, and continued to flatter: "Thanks to this young man in the store today, I really gained a lot. You are also knowledgeable and experienced!"

"Oh, one more thing, could you tell me how much the magazines of Hangdou cost?"

"Since you asked me that, I won't hide it from you." The waiter sat up straight. "Although the magazine is issued in large quantities each time, you know that the nobles in the capital always collect one, read one for themselves, and occasionally give it as a gift. There are more common people, and those who have a little money also collect one and read one, so the number distributed to the various provinces of Northern Qin is really limited."

He went on to say, "It costs a lot to transport the books from various branches to a small town like ours, so even if we sell them for 100 wen each, they are still in short supply."

So expensive? Gu Yue was stunned.

Seeing him dumbfounded, the waiter slapped his thigh and said in dissatisfaction, "Hey! Don't look like that. If it were in the capital, the price of a copy would be even higher. There's even a collector's edition, and it can be sold for ten taels of silver."

"I understand..." Gu Yue said with difficulty, "Then who is the most popular scholar in Hangdou Bookstore now?"

"Of course it's Mr. Zhuyou from Guilin!"

"Oh? I have never read it. What story did this gentleman write?" Gu Yue asked, trying to find out some information about the hot list.

"It's a story about a legitimate son of a noble family being mistreated by his biological father and stepmother, and surviving all the hardships. It's very exciting!" The waiter was fascinated and immediately immersed in it: "I still remember the scene when I first read the first chapter. The legitimate son was punished by his stepmother to wash clothes in the backyard in the cold winter, and his hands were covered with frostbite... Then he... his biological father actually... Then he actually... It's really gratifying! Afterwards... the stepmother..."

Gu Yue listened very attentively at first, but then he felt dizzy. The constant chattering was a bit hypnotic. He pinched his thigh suddenly, clasped his hands together, and thanked loudly: "Thank you for your advice! My friend is waiting for me to go back and pass on a message. I'll take my leave today. We'll meet again another day."

The guy was reluctant to leave: "Then go quickly!"

Gu Yue left.

He was not surprised. Although the people of Northern Qin were open-minded, it was still a feudal society after all. It was reasonable that male-oriented harem stories were the mainstream. However, the popular articles of Guilin friends did give him some ideas. He was familiar with counterattack stories!

After buying some snacks from the shop and carrying them in his hands, Gu Yue went to the martial arts hall to see Gu Xu.

Wu Yun had gone to the martial arts gym to report earlier, so when Gu Yue walked in, he saw Gu Xu doing horse stance with a group of children in the yard.

The young men in black on the side provided attentive service. They brought a chair to Gu Yue and placed it in the shade, asking him to sit down and wait.

Gu Yue looked at Gu Xu's distant figure. He was obviously a little fatter than when he first arrived. Good!

Not too long after, the head of the museum waved his hand and let the children take a break.

Gu Xu picked up the towel to wipe the sweat off his face.

He had been practicing martial arts before Gu Yue came, and was trying his best to train himself. At this moment, he was sweating and walked towards Gu Yue.

Gu Yue was stunned when he saw Gu Xu coming in front of him.

I felt a bit helpless—it seemed like I wasn’t very familiar with the male lead!

Gu Xu looked at him eagerly.

"I, I came to see how you were doing." Gu Yue's fingers sank, remembering the snack he had forgotten, and quickly handed it over, "Are you happy?"

Gu Xu was confused for a moment.

"Happy," he replied.

Why ask if he was happy? It was really novel. Gu Xu thought Gu Yue wanted him to work hard and learn something.