Chapter 9: Selling Calligraphy

Early in the morning, Jia Cong went to Wenhan Street. In the past, he would pass by here when he left school in the clan school, but at that time he had no money in his pocket, so he generally didn't go into those shops with literary and ink fragrance.

He walked around the street. He skipped those shops with large facades and gorgeous decorations. Big shops bully customers, which is the same in ancient and modern times.

He found a shop that was neither big nor small. The utensils inside all revealed a sense of newness, and it looked like it had just opened not long ago.

The shop was deserted, with only a young man calculating accounts at the counter, and an old man sweeping the shop hall slowly.

Just as Jia Cong walked to the door, the young man behind the counter put down the abacus, with a warm smile on his face, and walked towards him.

"This little young master, do you want to buy any books? Although this shop hasn't been open long, it has complete imperial examination classics, word books, anecdotes, miscellaneous works, legends, and storytelling books. You can choose at will."

The young man looked like the shopkeeper. He didn't show any neglect because Jia Cong was a child. His attitude was sincere, his speech was sharp, and he made people feel good.

"I'm not here to buy books today. I see that the shop hangs a lot of calligraphy and paintings, so I think it also sells calligraphy and paintings. I have three pieces of calligraphy that I want to consign in the shop."

The young man saw that Jia Cong was holding three rolls of xuan paper, looking a bit youthful, and the robe on his body was washed white, and the stitches of the patches could be seen on the cuffs.

It seemed that this child's family was poor, otherwise he wouldn't come to consign calligraphy and paintings, but this child's warm and calm eyes had a different kind of steady calmness, which made people dare not look down on him.

The so-called two-percent commission was a two-percent agency fee. Jia Cong felt it was reasonable, so he opened the three pieces of calligraphy he wrote and spread them on the counter.

Seeing Jia Cong's warm and calm eyes, which were filled with unquestionable confidence, not looking like he was lying at all.

The way he stood on a stool to write was a bit funny and childish, but the young man beside him had long since put away his doubts.

An expert knows if there is one as soon as he reaches out. He saw Jia Cong pick up the brush, and this half-grown child actually produced an aura of standing like a mountain, which shocked him and made him lose his mind.

The young man was shocked and subconsciously sized Jia Cong up: "What did you say? You wrote this..."

He only saw Jia Cong write on the xuan paper: "People are idle and osmanthus flowers fall, the night is quiet and the spring mountain is empty. The moon comes out and startles the mountain birds, singing from time to time in the spring stream."

The counter was a bit too high for Jia Cong, so he took a stool, placed it horizontally, and stepped on it, the height was just right.

"I wrote it."

The calligraphy on the paper was warm, moist, ancient, simple, elegant, and free, a font he had never seen before, already having the aura of a master.

If you don't have a few brushes, it's not easy to gain a foothold here.

Even so, the young man was still a bit suspicious.

The young man thought that to write such calligraphy, it couldn't be achieved without years of hard practice. Jia Cong was only at the age of a child, so how could he have such calligraphy cultivation?

Jia Cong wasn't angry, picked up the brush in front of the counter, but his eyes were looking around.

This kind of bearing shouldn't appear on a child, the young man felt a bit surprised in his heart.

So this young man was not only well-versed in literature and ink but also had a good eye for identifying calligraphy and paintings.

Since he opened a bookstore and opened it on Wenhan Street, the street of bookstores in the Divine Capital, where peers gathered, the competition was so fierce.

He recognized that what the other party was holding was high-quality snow-wave paper. The price of this xuan paper was not cheap, and poor families couldn't afford it. In short, this child was strange.

The young man suddenly realized and immediately took out a sheet of xuan paper and spread it on the counter.

"The shop can consign calligraphy and paintings, and will charge a two-percent commission after selling. Can I see the calligraphy and paintings the little young master is consigning?"

As soon as the young man saw the calligraphy on the paper, his eyes widened.

"Good calligraphy, really good calligraphy. I've never received such exquisite calligraphy here. Little brother, I don't know which master wrote this?"

The font was exactly the same as the three pieces of calligraphy just now.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, the young man wouldn't have believed that such condensed and superb calligraphy was written by the child in front of him.

No wonder this half-grown child had an extraordinary bearing when he first saw him. At that time, he felt it was eye-catching.

And the aura he revealed when he wrote just now couldn't be cultivated without years of immersion in calligraphy.

But at the age of a child, to have such amazing calligraphy cultivation, there really was such a person in the world.

"Little brother has such high talent, it's really amazing. These three pieces of calligraphy, no, four pieces of calligraphy, the shop will buy them for fifty taels each. I don't know if little brother is satisfied?"

Although Jia Cong's calligraphy was amazing, he was after all an unknown child, and his status was different from those famous masters.

The calligraphy and paintings consigned in the young man's shop all came from calligraphy and painting masters with a certain reputation. Even so, few calligraphy and paintings were sold for fifty taels.

So the price given by the young man was already very good.

He saw that Jia Cong was so young and had such amazing calligraphy, so he would definitely be a person in the future. This was almost unquestionable.

He could receive his calligraphy at this moment, which was a big step ahead of others, which was very valuable, so he didn't skimp on the price.

Jia Cong had lived enough bitter days during this period. Because he had no money, he was even hungry every night and couldn't sleep peacefully. Naturally, he deeply understood the importance of money.

That day, Zhao Mama sold the couplet he wrote and only got ten taels of silver, which was already more than half a year's monthly allowance for him.

Now one of his calligraphy pieces could actually be sold for fifty taels, which made him a bit stunned. Happiness came too suddenly, because he would never be hungry again.

"I want twenty taels of cash, and help me exchange the rest into silver notes."

Jia Cong wouldn't be stupid enough to take two hundred taels of silver home. If the news reached Lady Xing's ears, it wouldn't take long for her to scrape it away.

Exchanging it into silver notes made it easy to collect. With this silver, even if he didn't get half a wen of monthly allowance, it would be enough for him and Zhi Shao to live peacefully for a few years.

As long as there were a few years of relatively peaceful days, he would try every means to study and enter school, and obtain a title. This was the only shortcut he could take at present.

Only in this way could he have a foothold in the Jia family, and even have the qualification to move out of the prefecture to live separately.

Only then could he escape the abuse and control of the Jia She couple, and it would be difficult for them to hold him again.

And he also had more space to accumulate strength. Only when the Jia clan mansion was about to collapse would he have the power to protect and save himself.

The young man took out two ingots of snow-patterned silver from the counter.

He also took out four small-denomination silver notes, totaling one hundred and eighty taels.

The young man smiled: "The inscription on the little brother is surnamed Jia, named Cong, so I will take the liberty to call him Brother Cong. My name is Xiao Jinding, and I am the shopkeeper of this bookstore.

Brother, come to me if you consign calligraphy in the future. I will make you satisfied with the price. This is twenty taels of cash. And the silver notes of the Huanming Bank can be exchanged at any branch in any county in the Great Zhou Dynasty at any time."

Jia Cong saw that the silver notes had been divided into several small denominations, which was convenient whether for taking or collecting. This Xiao Jinding handled things quite properly.

He looked at the bookshelf in the shop again and said: "I also want to buy a set of Four Books, which I happen to need."

Xiao Jinding took down a brand-new set of books from the bookshelf and said: "This is the set-red pine ink double-printed hardcover version just released by Yuwenxuan, worth twenty taels. It is the best Four Books version on the market."

Half of a scholar's future and career were in the Four Books. Although it was a bit expensive to sell this set of Four Books for twenty taels, it was a bit ridiculously expensive, but it was exquisite, with snow-white paper, black and fragrant ink, and red set-printing on important annotations, which was worth the price.

He flipped through it, saw that the paper was snow-white and tough, the ink was black and fragrant, and there were red set-prints on some important annotations, which was very exquisite, so it was worth the price.

He placed the twenty taels of silver on the counter, picked up the books, and prepared to leave.

It was really fast to make money, and even faster to spend it.

Xiao Jinding smiled and pushed the twenty taels of silver back to him: "It is my honor to get the brother's calligraphy today. I will give this set of books to the brother, wishing the brother to win the laurel in the palace early."

Jia Cong declined several times, and seeing Xiao Jinding insist on giving it, he didn't be polite anymore, which could be considered making the first friend outside the Jia Prefecture.

He also asked Xiao Jinding to keep the matter of him selling calligraphy today secret and not to talk about it outside. Although Xiao Jinding was a bit strange, he agreed with his mouth full.

Although Jia Cong signed on the calligraphy, he had been confined to the East Road Courtyard since he was a child, and very few people outside the Jia family knew him.

Even if his calligraphy was bought by people familiar with the Jia family, they wouldn't guess it was him for a while.

So as long as he sealed Xiao Jinding's mouth, it was almost impossible for Lady Xing to know that he had made a small fortune.

Watching the figure of the youth carrying a bundle of books and leaving, the old man who was originally cleaning the bookshelf in the shop walked to Xiao Jinding's side.

Squinting his eyes and looking at Jia Cong's back, he muttered in a low voice: "This child, looks familiar."

"Second Uncle, what are you talking about?"

The old man looked at Xiao Jinding and suppressed the strangeness in his heart.

He looked at the pieces of calligraphy on the counter, and surprise appeared in his eyes again.

"You bought them for two hundred taels? Jinding, you made a good deal."

Xiao Jinding smiled: "Second Uncle, just watch. In a few years, this kid will be worth a thousand gold for a word."

The old man looked at the figure of Jia Cong walking away, thoughtful and asked: "What is this kid's name?"

Xiao Jinding appreciated the calligraphy in his hand and said casually: "The inscription is written on it, named Jia Cong, and he is the young master of the Rongguo Prefecture."

The old man's eyes flashed with essence, and he whispered: "People from the Rongguo Prefecture in Juede Lane..."

(End of chapter)