Chapter 98

98. Chapter 98: Mistaken for a Book Thief

Some wealthy merchants, even if not for the sake of obtaining an official title, would send their children and grandchildren to Suiyang Shuyuan to study, for no other reason than to build good relationships with the people inside.

One must know that the people who could come to Suiyang Shuyuan to study were almost all from wealthy or noble families. If one could build a good relationship with some of the government-supported students inside, that would be even better!

They were the selected official students, and those who ranked in the first tier of the annual and provincial examinations were the students with the most hope of obtaining official titles and having a bright future. If one or two of them passed the promoted scholar examination and became officials, then once a good relationship was built, no one without eyes would dare to covet their family's property.

The bookstore located near Suiyang Shuyuan naturally became one of the places that the students of Suiyang Shuyuan often visited, so even though Jiang Xiaoxiao was dressed plainly, the bookshop attendants inside didn't dare to look down on her.

Jiang Xiaoxiao walked up to a few bookshelves and looked around; the books, paper, and brushes sold inside were much more expensive than the ones she had seen before in Yong'an Town.

The writing brushes sold started at one tael of silver, inkstones started at two taels of silver, and the paper sold was mostly precious Lianshi paper, which was as white as jade and as smooth as silk. This was a type of paper even more precious than Xuan paper, its color and quality remained unchanged for a long time, and it was mostly used for calligraphy, paintings, stone rubbings, and some valuable books.

Ordinary Xuan paper sold for a few hundred wen at most, but this Lianshi paper was already as expensive as over a thousand wen!

Jiang Xiaoxiao clicked her tongue in wonder.

She walked to the other side of the bookshelf; what was sold here were all Four Books and Five Classics, as well as enlightening reading materials like the "Thousand Character Classic" and "Three Character Classic" that she had bought before.

In ancient times, the Four Books and Five Classics were almost required reading for those who wanted to obtain official titles, and the examination questions for the annual Imperial Examination were also selected from them. Jiang Xiaoxiao didn't want to buy these types of books, but unfortunately, the books in this era were truly too few. Besides enlightening reading materials like the "Thousand Character Classic" and "Three Character Classic," there were only these Four Books and Five Classics left in the bookstore.

Jiang Xiaoxiao wandered around twice and suddenly saw different books in the corner.

She gave a light "oh," and then bent down to pick up the books.

Upon looking, it was actually a medical book!

However, the cover of the book was already tattered and broken, as if it were a rare copy. Flipping to the last page, one couldn't tell who had written this book on the tattered pages.

But this still couldn't stop Jiang Xiaoxiao's love for this book.

Perhaps this world was a fictional world that had never appeared before; the settings for many things inside were incomplete, and things that should have appeared were missing.

Just like the "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" that had existed since the Eastern Han Dynasty, this world didn't have it, and as for books like the "Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon" and "Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica," she hadn't even heard of them in this world.

But thinking about it, this era was just a world fabricated by the author, not the descendants of Yan and Huang passed down generation after generation, so naturally, it didn't have the precious culture they had inherited for thousands of years.

The appearance of this medical book was clearly something that surprised Jiang Xiaoxiao and made her unable to put it down.

She picked up the medical book, preparing to go to the counter to pay for it. She had a few taels of silver in her money pouch, so it should be more than enough to buy a tattered book.

However, the next instant, the medical book in her hand was snatched away by a large hand that rushed out from the side.

"Where did this wild girl come from! How dare you run to the bookstore near Suiyang Shuyuan to steal things; you've got some nerve!"

Jiang Xiaoxiao frowned tightly and looked at the person in front of her. It was a boy of twelve or thirteen, wearing a crescent-white brocade robe, looking at her with his nose in the air.

"Which eye of yours saw me trying to steal a book?" Jiang Xiaoxiao pursed her lips and retorted unceremoniously, "Do you have any evidence? Don't go around wrongly accusing people."

This person looked like a second-generation ancestor studying at Suiyang Shuyuan, used to judging people by their appearance. As soon as he entered the bookstore, he wrongly accused her without distinguishing right from wrong.

"Heh, this dead girl has a sharp tongue!" The boy sneered, his eyes full of disgust and disdain as he looked at Jiang Xiaoxiao, "For a wild girl from the countryside like you who doesn't even know a single character, isn't coming here just to steal books?"

Jiang Xiaoxiao was so angry she laughed: "You say I don't know how to read?"

As a modern person in the era of big data and information explosion, she had studied hard for twenty years, knew astronomy and geography, and yet he said she didn't know a single character!

Very well, now she would let this second-generation young master see what it meant to have mountains beyond mountains and heavens beyond heavens.

Just as she was about to speak, a group of people walked over from the other side of the bookshelf, all dressed in expensive and magnificent clothing: "Hey, I say, Brother Zheng, haven't you bought the books you were asked to buy yet?"

The young boy who had been high and mighty toward her just a moment ago immediately put on a fawning expression and hurriedly bowed and bent over toward the group of people walking over: "Brother Duan, how could I trouble you to come to this bookstore in person? I will buy the books you want immediately and send them to your study."

It was noon, the academy's lunch break, and the students were out relaxing.

The boy at the head of the group wore a cloud-pattern brocade robe, looking spirited and elegant. Upon hearing this, he only glanced at Zheng Yaocai indifferently, and then looked at Jiang Xiaoxiao opposite.

Seeing this, Zheng Yaocai hurriedly said: "Brother Duan, let me tell you, don't look at this wild girl as young; she is a thief who specializes in stealing books from this bookstore. Fortunately, I caught her in the act!"

As he spoke, he triumphantly raised the book in his hand, as if showing off his sharp eyes.

Duan Yu's gaze fixed on the tattered medical book for a few seconds, then turned to look at Jiang Xiaoxiao. Afterward, he spoke calmly: "A little girl doesn't steal the valuable paper, brushes, calligraphy, or paintings inside the bookstore, but instead steals a tattered book?"

"This, this..." Zheng Yaocai choked, suddenly unable to speak, "She, she must not know that the paper and brushes in the bookstore are more expensive than this book..."

He tried to quibble, but the group of people beside the boy were clearly not fools and all sneered: "I say, Brother Zheng, stop joking. She's just young, not stupid. With so many papers and brushes clearly marked with prices written below, how could she not know?"

"She, she is a wild girl from the countryside who doesn't know a single character, so naturally, she wouldn't know the prices of these papers and brushes!" Zheng Yaocai seemed to have grasped a loophole in his words and hurriedly defended himself.

As he spoke, he glared at Jiang Xiaoxiao on the side, "Brother Duan, you must not be fooled by the appearance of this wild girl! In my family's mansion, there are such things that cannot be brought onto the table. Don't look at her as young; her mind is very vicious! She came to this bookstore alone; if not to steal things, what else could she be doing?"

Hearing this, the group of people also seemed to feel that Zheng Yaocai's words made some sense and looked at Jiang Xiaoxiao opposite with half-suspicion.

Jiang Xiaoxiao met the gazes of this group of people and said word by word: "I know how to read."

"Heh, you know how to read? Who are you trying to fool?" Zheng Yaocai immediately let out a sneer.