Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 170 Buying Books

"It's really not bad." Doctor Lin nodded slightly.

Song Ying was delighted. Did this count as Dr. Lin's approval? Could she stay here forever?

"Where is the little girl from?" asked the Shun'an County Lady at the top.

Song Ying followed the etiquette of the Shen Mansion that she had learned these days and replied, "To answer the old lady's question, I am from Xinghua Village."

"Xinghua Village?" Princess Shun'an frowned slightly. "This village sounds familiar. Is it in Qinghuali?"

"Yes."

The Shunan County Lady smiled and said, "She is from the same hometown as our master."

Then he called out, "Qiu Ju."

A maidservant came over and handed Song Ying one or two taels of silver: "This is a reward from the old lady."

"Reward, reward for me?" Song Ying was a little stunned. Why should he reward her for no reason?

The maid named Qiu Ju smiled and said, "In our Shen Mansion, merits are rewarded and mistakes are punished. Miss, you are meticulous and thoughtful, so you deserve a reward."

That doesn't need to be so much, one tael of silver is equivalent to her monthly salary. And this silver is of good quality, if it is exchanged for copper coins, it will be more than one hundred yuan!

Song Ying glanced at Doctor Lin and seeing that she had no intention of denying it, she happily took it.

It’s so good to work in Shen Mansion. Not only do you get wages, but you can also get bonuses!

Shunan County Lady sighed and continued, "There are many things to do when moving. I haven't figured it out in half a year. The small kitchen will probably be completed by the end of October. During this time, I will prepare two servings of medicinal food."

Song Ying blinked and looked at the silver in his hand. It turned out that this was the payment for another portion of medicinal food. In fact, he didn't need to pay more. It was the same for one portion or two portions, and it wasn't much extra work.

However, I am still very happy to get the reward money!

Wait, the extra medicinal food was specially prepared for the people in Fengheyuan to prevent them from snatching it again. Wouldn’t that be too wasteful?

The people from Fengheyuan don’t come to grab the medicinal food at every meal.

Song Ying became even more curious about Aunt Lian of Fengheyuan. What kind of person is she? She stole the medicinal food of the old lady in charge, but not only was she not blamed, but she had to go along with her and have extra medicinal food specially prepared for her to steal?

I got an extra tael of silver out of nowhere, plus what I saved before, it’s 9 taels and 500 coins. I will also get paid at the end of the month. Although it’s less than half this month, it’s still a lot.

The most important thing is that she now lives in the Shen Mansion and does not need to spend her own money on daily food, accommodation and clothing.

With plenty of free time every day, Song Ying planned to go to the bookstore tomorrow to buy a medical book to study on his own and also look at calligraphy.

At noon the next day, after preparing two servings of medicinal meals and watching Chuntao walk away and making sure that nothing had happened, Song Ying asked for leave from Doctor Lin, went back to his room, changed into his patched clothes, and left the house.

After entering the Shen Mansion, the steward gave her two sets of standard clothes for the maids in the Shen Mansion. Since two sets were not enough to change, the maids in the kitchen who were similar in size to her gave some of their extra clothes to Song Ying.

After buying the books, Song Ying wanted to go to the clinic to ask if there was any news about Luo Yanxing and the others. Fearing that he might run into people from the village, he changed back into his patched clothes.

After leaving the house and walking along the street, I soon saw a bookstore called Xiuwentang.

At this time, there were already several guests inside, all of them were scholars. Some were reading books attentively, while others were talking in low voices.

She walked in and looked around, and found either classics, history, and miscellaneous books or various libraries and question banks. She searched for several times but did not see a single medical book.

Song Ying frowned and went back to look again.

At this time, the shopkeeper came over and said, "Little girl, do you want to buy books for your brother? Our store has recently received a new batch of essays on various topics, including those written by the top scholars in the recent college entrance examinations."

"College Examination?" Song Ying was very surprised. There will be a college examination this year?

"You do not know?"

Song Ying explained, “There is no scholar in my family, I am here to buy books for myself.”

Except for those with educated people in their families, who among the common people would care whether this year is the year of the college entrance examination? It is not held in this county, and they cannot even join in the fun.

"Wow, I didn't realize that you, a little girl, are quite ambitious!" The shopkeeper was a little surprised, and many customers in the store also looked over with surprised expressions.

Immediately, the shopkeeper asked again: "What book do you want to buy?"

"Medical book."

The shopkeeper shook his head regretfully: "We don't have any medical books here."

"Oh, I see." Song Ying was a little disappointed. He turned around and walked out, deciding to look in other bookstores.

Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper stopped her and said, "No other bookstore has it either."

"Not even one?" Song Ying was puzzled.

The shopkeeper looked her up and down and said, "I can see you don't understand. Books are different from other goods. To sell books, you first have to make engravings and then print them.

Many people have bought these collections of classics, history, and literary works, as well as the almanac. A set of carved plates can be used for many years and the investment can be recovered quickly.

But in our small county, few people buy medical and agricultural books. Who would choose to print them? It’s not cost-effective.”

Song Ying was stunned. "Without books, then all the doctors in our county are studying medicine?"

"Of course it's passed down from master to apprentice. Have you ever heard of anyone who could learn medicine by himself?"

"I am young, I have little experience and I know very little."

The storyteller shook his head and said earnestly, "Besides, there is no such thing as a girl studying medicine. Medical clinics will not accept female apprentices. You can't learn medicine even if you want to. Little girl, you should go home and farm. In a few years, find a good family to marry."

Song Ying curled her lips. Who said that women couldn't study medicine? Doctor Lin studied medicine and was able to work as a doctor in the Shen Mansion. Everyone in the Shen Mansion respected her very much.

"Thank you, boss. I'm leaving now."

Song Ying did not give up. He left Xiuwen Hall and stopped a kind-looking scholar in a blue shirt and asked, "Uncle, do you know how to get to the largest bookstore in our county?"

The middle-aged man looked at her and said, "There is a Xiuwen Hall nearby. They have all the latest works, big and small. You don't have to go to the largest bookstore."

"Uh, I don't buy big or small books." Song Ying explained quickly, "I just came out and there was no book I wanted to buy, so I wanted to go to the largest bookstore to have a look."

"Is that so?" The middle-aged man was a little surprised. He didn't ask any more questions and pointed the way to her very quickly. "Go straight in this direction, then turn right...you will see a store called Chengyang Bookstore. That is the largest bookstore in Qingshui County."

"Thank you, uncle!"

Chengyang Bookstore was not far away and it only took about half a minute to get there.

This time, Song Ying did not look for it himself, but went directly to the clerk: "Brother, do you have any medical books in the store?"

The waiter sat behind the counter and said without even looking up, "No."

This cold attitude is completely different from Xiu Wentang's.

Song Ying pressed on, "You don't have any? Why don't you think about it again? Have you ever printed anything before that you didn't sell?"

"If you say no, then it means no." The waiter was very impatient.

Song Ying sighed and decided to go find Lin Wenxuan to see if he had any unused medical books to sell.

Just as she turned around, a surprised voice came from the side, "Song Ying! Why are you here?"

Song Ying turned her head and saw Yuan Qing holding a book in her hand, looking at her in surprise.

"Yuan Qing! Are you... here to buy the latest Da Ti Xiao Ti Wen Fu?"

"Oh, little sister also knows this?"

Before Yuan Qing could speak, a boy in a student's shirt jumped out from the side. He nudged Yuan Qing with his elbow and nodded at Song Ying: "Is this your sister?"

Yuan Qing frowned: "I guess so."

The young man looked at Song Ying, then at Yuan Qing, and whispered, "How come you two siblings don't look alike at all?"

Muttering something, he gave Song Ying a friendly smile: "Are you here to see your brother? How did you know he was here?"

Song Ying had never met such a familiar person before, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond, so he looked at Yuan Qing.

Yuan Qing reluctantly introduced: "This is my classmate, Shen Jing."

The young man named Shen Jing immediately bared his teeth and revealed a bright smile.

Song Ying could only nod to him and said, "My name is Song Ying, nice to meet you."

Shen Jing didn't expect her to tell him her name. He let out an "ah" and was stunned for a moment.

"Ahem." Yuan Qing coughed twice and whispered, "How can you tell outsiders a girl's name casually?"

Song Ying was silent for a moment: "It's okay, I'm not a rich lady, we farmers don't care about this."

This was a great name that she had thought about for a long time before coming up with. She wished that everyone in the world would know about it. What was there that she couldn't tell others?