Chapter 26 (1/2)

It was the rainy season in Jinling City, causing the place to give off a rustic and elegant feeling.

Sun Mo took a stroll around the city. In this place, there was neither the forest of concrete nor the metal vehicles of his world. Instead, it was filled with alleys, maids in green clothes, and elegant-looking young ladies who took light steps into some shops that were selling make-ups.

You could smell the fragrance of claypot chicken or meat skewers and hear the occasional calls from generous customers who wanted the waiters to serve them wine.

Sun Mo bit on his vegetarian bun as he walked along the wet and slippery slated path. After passing past a tanghulu [1] seller who was lifting a carrying pole, he entered a bookshop called Reading Veranda.

As it was raining, there were very few customers in the shop. There was only an old man sitting on a wooden chair, reading a book leisurely. Placed next to him was a cup of tea that had already turned cold.

The bookshop was very big, filled with tall and heavy bookshelves made from Chinese locust trees. Even with Sun Mo’s tall stature, he would have to tiptoe to reach the books on the highest level of the bookshelves.

Sun Mo took a liking to this bookshop after taking a look around.

Everything was categorized and placed very neatly. The books could be loaned out, and it would only cost one copper coin per day.

Usually, books that were loaned out would have some stains or damage to them, but that wasn’t the case for the books here. This meant that the owner took great care of the books and had solemnly given a warning to the people who loaned them.

Sun Mo didn’t like to go out. Other than playing games, his other hobby was to read novels. Therefore, he felt very endearing to see a bookshop here.

There were folk stories, Chinese opera manuscripts, as well as poetries. There were different types of books here, but the one Sun Mo picked up was a novel.

[Nine Provinces Immortal Slaying Legend], written by Wild Mountain Old Man. There were over ten books in the series, and they filled up half the shelf. This should be a popular series in the Tang Country.

Sun Mo flipped through the book. The title sounded very domineering, and the plot was heavy. It wrote about the emotional entanglements in a sect, presented in an imposing style. It was no wonder that they could be displayed here.

In Middle-Earth, the literature was written in movable type printing. Therefore, knowledge still wasn’t being disseminated widely, and only a minority of people were literate.

“Tsk, if they are of this standard, I can write my own novels.”

Sun Mo took a few glances and put the book back.

“Why? Not satisfied?”

Sun Mo hadn’t noticed when the old man had gotten up from the wooden chair and approached him. Seeing Sun Mo put back the [Nine Provinces Immortal Slaying Legend], he couldn’t help but ask, “This is a popular book that took the entire Jinling by storm in the past one year. Youngsters like to read it.”

“Hehe!”

Sun Mo didn’t say anything. This old man was clearly a fan of the book. If he were to say the wrong things, they might end up getting into a fight.

The old man carefully tidied the bookshelf that Sun Mo had browsed through and then sat back on the chair. About half an hour later. he saw Sun Mo coming back, holding onto the [Nine Provinces Immortal Slaying Legend]. He couldn’t help but smile.

“I thought you don’t like it?”

The old man raised his brows, making his intentions very clear. (You said that it isn’t good, but your body seems to be very honest. You’re still going to borrow them after all, right?)

“That’s right. I don’t like it. But there are really no other books to borrow, so I can only make do with it.”

Sun Mo wore a helpless expression. The novels here were still stuck in the xianxia and monster genres. How could such monotonous subjects possibly satisfy Sun Mo? 1

Hearing the words ‘make do’, the old man glared at Sun Mo, his mustache flying as he puffed out. “Then write a book and show me what ‘not make do’ is like!”

“Have you read Transformers before?” Sun Mo teased.

The old man appeared stunned.

“Have you read Dragon Ball before?”

The old man continued to wear a dazed expression.

“Then you must have not read Journey to the West before, right?”

Sun Mo started his teasing episode.

“You’re spouting gibberish, right? I’ve read countless books. Why is it that I haven’t heard of the books you mentioned?”

The old man felt gloomy and stared at Sun Mo suspiciously. He hadn’t expected this young man to be such a liar when he looked so refined.

“That’s because you haven’t read enough.”

Sun Mo said as if it was true, but he was laughing inside. Then he felt dejected. Sigh, he wouldn’t be able to read them anymore in the future.

The old man’s face turned black. But as someone who loved books as much as his life, he suppressed his fury and asked, “Where did you read those books?”

“I wrote them myself!”

Sun Mo didn’t dare to say things recklessly. As someone who came from another world, he wouldn’t say these names if it wasn’t because the old man had been speaking sarcastically to him. It was because revealing information might just bring him trouble.

“You…”

The old man was so angry that he raised his hand, wanting to beat Sun Mo. Sun Mo had piqued his interests, yet he was now telling him that those were all made up? What an awful man.

“It costs one copper coin to rent it for a day, right?”

Sun Mo dug out the money.

“En.”

The old man nodded and settled the procedures for Sun Mo. However, the words Sun Mo had mentioned earlier kept on flashing in his mind. Putting that Transformers aside, just the names of Dragon Ball and Journey to the West sounded very interesting. He couldn’t help but ask, “What is Journey to the West about?”

Sun Mo let out a soft laugh and shook his head.

“If you have a manuscript, I can buy it from you!”

The old man had read too many books, and thus it was far too difficult for him to find a book he liked. This was a torment to someone who loved books as if they were his life.

“How much would you offer?”

Sun Mo’s eyes lit up. Right now, the money he was spending belonged to the original owner of this body, and there wasn’t much of it in the first place. Moreover, an intern teacher’s salary was very meager. Sun Mo could predict that he’d have to live a straitened lifestyle for quite a while.