Jiang Sheng was unusually generous this time and bought two meat buns with a penny. She gave Fang Heng a whole one and split the remaining one with Zheng Ruqian.
"That's not fair! That's not fair! Why do I only get half?" Zheng Ruqian's eyes brimmed with tears. "Little Jiang Sheng, you're playing favorites."
Jiang Sheng spoke in a grave tone, "Brother Fang Heng just got here. We need to be extra nice to him."
This was the only way to firmly hold onto the umbrella of protection and not fear Mount Huge.
Alas, Brother Ruqian was always so dumb. If only he had a fraction of her wit, he wouldn't get tangled up in this mess.
Little Jiang Sheng sighed deeply as she bit into her bun.
Soon they arrived at the book shop. Jiang Sheng wolfed down her bun in three bites, then brushed the grease off her clothes and bounced up to the owner, chirping brightly, "Boss, I need two books to copy."
"Where did this grubby little beggar girl come from?" The owner glanced at Jiang Sheng's filthy clothes and immediately waved his hand. "Get out of here! Go on, shoo!"
Jiang Sheng was caught off guard and tumbled to the ground.
Fang Heng's expression turned icy. He immediately rushed forward and shielded Jiang Sheng behind him.
Meanwhile, Zheng Ruqian argued with the owner, "We're here to work, not beg. You can't look down on us just because of our clothes. That's judging a book by its cover."
His simple long robe was still relatively tidy, so the owner's attitude softened slightly. "If you want to copy books here, you need to put down a deposit. Do you have money?"
"Yes!" Zheng Ruqian brought out the eight copper coins hidden in his sleeve. "How much is the deposit?"
The owner eyed the coins briefly. "Eight coins."
He didn't actually want to do business with these kids. He only said eight coins to deliberately make things difficult for them. After all, copying books required not only a book deposit, but also brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
The deposit at a regular bookshop was usually only two coins.
Zheng Ruqian froze in place, stunned.
Fang Heng's eyebrows furrowed, a glint of murderous intent flashing through his eyes.
Luckily Jiang Sheng clambered up from the ground. She grabbed one brother in each hand, huffed indignantly, then declared, "You're cheating your customers. We won't copy books here anymore. Your shop doesn't even deserve to display the books my brother will copy."
Having said her piece, she fled with the two boys before the owner could erupt in anger.
They raced to the end of the alley. Before Jiang Sheng could mourn the loss of work for Master Xu, Zheng Ruqian's sharp eyes spotted a small bookshop. "Look, there's another one."
This bookshop seemed to be newly opened with very few people and books inside.
Jiang Sheng didn't have much confidence that this shop did copying work, but she tentatively asked from the entrance, "Boss, do you do book copying here?"
No one answered for a moment.
Just as they were about to leave, a young scholar suddenly scurried out. "Yes, yes! As many as you want!"
"Uh, how much is the deposit then?" Zheng Ruqian asked softly.
This time, he had learned his lesson. He kept the eight coins hidden tightly in his sleeve without revealing a cent.
"Two coins for the deposit, four coins per book copied." The scholar beamed. "Once you become a regular, you can skip the deposit."
This was how proper business was conducted.
On the way back to the dilapidated temple, Jiang Sheng hugged the two books tightly, treasuring them like precious gems.
Fang Heng carried the brushes and ink, while Zheng Ruqian held the paper and inkstone.
Jiang Sheng was still counting on her fingers. They had earned sixteen coins today, spent ten, leaving six remaining.
It was the household's very first income.
What made Jiang Sheng happiest was Fang Heng joining them. Although he always had a cold look on his face and didn't speak, when he rushed forward to shield her at the bookshop entrance earlier, Jiang Sheng had felt an extra sense of security.
From now on, she would never fear being bullied again.
Back at the dilapidated temple, Jiang Sheng brought out the still-warm buns from her shirt. "Brother Xu Mo, this is for you."
Even though the buns were expensive at one coin for just two, it wouldn't be right for them to eat while leaving Xu Mo in the temple hungry.
"Thank you, little sister." Xu Mo ate the bun gracefully, then picked up his brush to start copying.
The limited space in the temple meant no tables or chairs. He could only awkwardly wield his brush lying on the bedding.
Yet despite the environment, Xu Mo's handwriting remained upright and bold, clearly reflecting his skills.
Fang Heng glanced at Xu Mo without a word. He circled around outside and found a small wooden plank.
Without any support, the plank was useless since Xu Mo's legs were both broken.
But Fang Heng didn't give up. He gathered some rocks to prop up the board unevenly. Although the setup was awkward and shabby, at least it made a flat surface to use as a table.
Xu Mo and Fang Heng's eyes met. Though they hadn't introduced themselves, they could see the repressed troubles in each other through that shared gaze.
Perhaps they had both seen fortune and riches once. But after falling into the mortal world and tasting bitter hardship, hope still remained in their lives.
And that budding sprout of hope came from the little girl currently cooking mushroom soup.
Jiang Sheng.
Before long, the piping hot mushroom soup was done.
It was still simply mushrooms boiled in water without any salt. Yet Xu Mo drank calmly and gracefully, as if savoring some exotic delicacy.
Fang Heng's face twisted for an instant. Seeing the others enjoy their food so heartily, he began questioning his own taste buds.
"Brother Fang Heng, don't turn your nose up. Our family is poor and mushrooms are all we have. But even the mushrooms are almost gone," little Jiang Sheng started worrying again. "Looks like we'll have to go into the mountains again."
Zheng Ruqian had been relatively composed until now. At those words, he plopped down on the ground.
That deep mountain full of worms?
Can we please, please not go back in there? Wah...
Hearing the commotion, Jiang Sheng turned her head and spoke gravely, "Brother Ruqian, you don't want to earn money anymore? Don't you like the feeling of having money? Picking mushrooms earns a lot of copper coins. Don't you want money?"
Zheng Ruqian scratched his head in confusion. The feeling of having money was pretty nice. If not for all those worms, he would probably love picking mushrooms too.
"Then don't go into the mountain if you don't want to." Xu Mo put down his brush and looked up. "I can copy one book a day. That's enough for us to eat."
"That won't do." Jiang Sheng jumped up to object immediately. "How can we push the burden of providing for the family entirely onto Brother Xu Mo? I'm not a freeloader."
She turned to look at Zheng Ruqian. "Brother Ruqian isn't a freeloader either, right?"
Zheng Ruqian nodded dumbly. "Right, right."
"So we have to go into the mountain and pick mushrooms. We can earn a lot, lot of copper coins in one day, right? Aren't we great?" Jiang Sheng clenched her fists tightly. "Speaking of which, the two of us will earn even more than Brother Xu Mo. We're awesome!"
"Wow, awesome!" Zheng Ruqian's eyes went blank. "Let's go, into the mountain, pick mushrooms!"
If Fang Heng hadn't stopped him, he would've rushed out the door with his bamboo basket.
"We'll go tomorrow." Jiang Sheng stuck out her tongue. It seemed she had tricked Brother Ruqian into silliness.
Night fell.
Xu Mo still wanted to copy books by moonlight, but was forcibly stopped.
"Brother Xu Mo only has issues with his legs. Don't tell me you want to ruin your eyesight too?" little Jiang Sheng mumbled. "We don't have money to fix eyesight."
Xu Mo had no choice but to lie down.
Early next morning, after drinking the mushroom soup, the group headed out.
Jiang Sheng led the brimming-with-energy Zheng Ruqian with bamboo baskets on their backs, ready to go into the mountain.
Fang Heng picked up a stick without a word and followed behind them.
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