Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 220 Helping to Organize the Bookstore

Moreover, Hua Mancheng looks very much like his father, Mr. Hua. Mr. Hua had been to the Marquis' Mansion, and Pei Jingxuan had an impression of him. Later, he received a reply from Mr. Pei, saying that this Hua Mancheng was the son of his good friend Hua Canghai.

Seeing Hua Lei at this time, he thought of Hua Lei's father Hua Mancheng, whom he had only met once, and there had been no news for six or seven years, and Hua Lei's grandparents had both passed away. He could not help but sigh. The life experiences of these two siblings were really pitiful.

Fortunately, both the brother and sister are very hardworking. It is really not easy for a fourteen-year-old girl to achieve what she has now. If Hua Mancheng knew about this, he would feel so sorry for these two children and how proud he would be.

I will try to take care of Hualei and her brother as much as I can in the future. Pei Jingxuan thought secretly, but then he realized that before he could take care of Hualei, Hualei had already taken care of him and helped him, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

At this time, Master Gu came back with a few followers. He smiled and said to Hua Lei, "Miss Hua, all the books in Yueyang Prefecture have been checked and found to be correct. I have already signed this receipt. Please keep it for Miss Hua."

As he spoke, he handed the receipt he signed to Hualei, who took it carefully and put it in her cloth bag. This receipt would be returned to the School Department of the Ministry of Rites to settle the balance of the transportation.

At this point, all the books in Yueyang Prefecture have been handed over. Hua Lei can leave temporarily, rest for a night, and go to the next prefecture tomorrow. The crew and four guards will stay on the ship to guard the ship. In addition, Pei Jingxuan will also send people to guard it, and no unauthorized personnel are allowed to approach. After arranging things, Pei Jingxuan took a few subordinates and went directly back to the government office to work.

Hualei bid farewell to Pei Jingxuan and Lord Gu, and took Qinglian, Qingying and two female guards to the carriage sent by Gu, and went directly to the women's backyard behind the Yongjia government office to meet Gu. Pei Zhongsheng, Manager Liu and two male guards followed to the front yard of the government office to rest.

The carriage traveled for half an hour before turning into the small street behind the government office and entering the backyard of the government office from the east back gate. Gu was already waiting for Hualei at the entrance.

Hualei got off the carriage. Before she could greet him, a middle-aged woman in her thirties came forward a few steps, held her hand, and said with a smile, "Lei'er, you've worked hard. Come on, let's go inside and have a rest, drink some tea, and have some snacks. Lunch will take another half an hour. Shuijing, come out quickly. Your beloved sister Hua is here."

"Is Sister Hua here?" The curtain at the door of the west wing opened, and a girl about the same height as Hua Lei walked out. She was wearing a green dress with water patterns and smiled. "Wow, Sister Hua, you look so beautiful."

The girl named Shuijing smiled and took Hualei's hand. "Sister Zhenzhu has been praising you in her letters. Today I finally saw you in person. You are really beautiful."

Hualei smiled shyly, and several people entered the main room and greeted each other again. Before exchanging a few words, Hualei took out the information she had prepared from the bag, handed it to Gu, and said.

"Madam, here is the layout of my Shangjing Bookstore, and the categories of goods sold in the bookstore. I have also brought the practice papers with rice grids and square grids that Lord Pei asked me to order.

The share of Yueyang Prefecture has been moved to Lord Pei's house on Rongyang Street. Lord Pei said that the bookstore in Yueyang Prefecture has been repaired and is ready to be put on the shelves as soon as the books arrive. Do you want me to take a look this afternoon and help out?"

Gu looked at Hualei and asked, "Lei'er, are you too tired? Why don't we not go this afternoon? After lunch, go to the side room and take a rest. We'll talk about it in a few days."

"Third Madam, time is tight. I have to take the boat to the next state early tomorrow morning to hand over the books. I will not return to Yueyang State tomorrow afternoon, and will go directly to the next state the day after tomorrow. If I don't go this afternoon, it will probably take more than ten days to complete the handover of all the books. Will the bookstore be too late by then?" Hua Lei asked.

"This...but you have been on this boat for so long..." Gu was a little hesitant. She could see that Hua Lei's eyes were turning blue.

"It's okay, Madam San. I've had a good rest on the boat. Let's go to the bookstore this afternoon. If you think it's okay, we can just run the bookstores in this way for the rest of the time." Hua Lei insisted.

"Okay, Lei'er, it's still early for lunch, go wash up first and stay for a while. After lunch, we'll go to the bookstore and you can help me see if there's anything I need to pay attention to."

"Okay." Hua Lei did not try to be stubborn and took Qingying and Qinglian to the room arranged for her by Gu. She quickly washed up, told Qingying to call her when the time came, and then leaned back on the couch and took a nap for a while.

When Qingying asked Hualei to get up and prepare for lunch, Pei Jingxuan had already returned to the backyard. So Hualei talked to Pei Jingxuan about what he needed to do to open a bookstore, and asked Pei Jingxuan for a civil map of the prefecture.

After lunch, Pei Jingxuan hurried back to the front yard of the government office, while Hualei followed Gu and Shuijing to the bookstore. The store was on the street in front of the government office, with a very good location and large enough. The bookshelves and desks inside had already been delivered to the bookstore. The books for the imperial examination and the grid-shaped practice papers that arrived in the morning had also been delivered to the bookstore and piled aside.

Hua Lei directed several strong servants to arrange the bookshelves, desks and other things in certain positions, and then put the books engraved for the imperial examination in a particularly conspicuous position at the entrance of the door. The books engraved for the imperial examination distributed to local areas were of various stages from low to high, and almost every level was included. It was very complete, and by the time Hua Lei had arranged them, they almost filled up an entire bookshelf against the wall.

As for the square grid practice papers, Hualei puts them next to the low-level books printed by the imperial examination studio. As long as you buy these low-level books printed by the imperial examination studio, you will definitely see these practice papers, which can increase sales.

The most important books and calligraphy practice papers were put away, and the other books were placed in prominent positions according to the most profitable ones, and the less profitable ones were placed in less important positions. After two hours, the originally empty bookstore became full. While Hualei was placing the books, he explained to Gu the reasons and ideas for placing them here.

Gu followed behind Hualei, carefully recording Hualei's experience while also being full of admiration. It turned out that a small bookstore would have so many details to pay attention to. The placement of a set of books and the position of a set of pens and ink would affect their sales.