Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 19: Can a scholar's affairs be called spending money?

The sky had brightened.

Not the kind of awakening brought by rooster crows and dog barks in the village, but a listless light that filtered through the gaps in the window paper, having been strained once by the high courtyard walls.

Zhao Rui hadn't slept all night, lying awake on the cold wooden plank bed like a fish thrown ashore.

His uncle's contemptuous words, the servants' mocking faces, and that bowl of watery porridge worse than pig slop—they pricked him like needles all over, making him utterly uncomfortable.

Su Ming was already up, practicing a strange set of fist movements in the corner of the courtyard with meticulous precision.

The movements were very slow, very clumsy, like elderly villagers stretching their joints.

Zhao Rui couldn't understand it, finding it only ridiculous, but looking at Su Ming's calm face, he couldn't bring himself to laugh.

That face held no anger, no humiliation, only a kind of focus completely unfamiliar to him.

"You... you're really going to the bookshop?" Zhao Rui finally couldn't help speaking, his voice dry and hoarse.

Su Ming finished his fist movements, exhaling a long puff of white breath, and nodded: "Yes.""...I'll go with you." Zhao Rui climbed off the bed plank, his voice as small as a mosquito's buzz.

He didn't know why he wanted to tag along either—perhaps simply because he couldn't stand this suffocating courtyard anymore, couldn't bear facing his shattered pride alone.

The streets of Qingshi Town awakened in the early morning like a giant beast yawning.

Early-rising shopkeepers removed their door panels, assistants splashed water to sweep the streets, steamers from bun shops emitted white heat, mingling with the aromas of meat and dough, making people's stomachs growl with craving.

Zhao Rui kept his head down, instinctively wanting to hide his face in his collar.

He felt like everyone on the street was watching him, looking at his shabby clothes, the bruises on his face.

But Su Ming walked steadily.

His gaze didn't linger excessively on the dazzling array of goods, but rather absorbed everything around him like a sponge.

The location of the carriage house, the prices at the grain and oil shop, the patrol routes of the street guards...

"Disciple, see that?" Lin Yu's voice sounded in his mind, like an experienced tour guide. "That cloth shop on the left displays fine cotton and silk fabrics, indicating many wealthy households in town. But the pawnshop on the right has a queue outside, meaning there are even more poor people."

"This is a typical feudal society model with clear class division. Our goal is to climb from the exploited class to the exploiting class as quickly as possible... no, to become self-sufficient independent individuals who aren't exploited by anyone."

"Remember, the prosperity is theirs, the dangers are theirs too. We're just passing through."

The two wound through the streets, following the route Su Ming had memorized yesterday, until they found the town's largest bookshop—Wenbao Zhai.

The shopfront was made of black lacquered wood, exuding a solemn air.

long gown with a mustache shaped like the character "eight" was lazily dusting the

Su Ming and Zhao Rui

he saw Zhao Rui's wretched state,

at books, but wash your hands before touching them." The shopkeeper's voice was neither warm nor cold. "Don't

flushed crimson instantly, his fists clenching, but he didn't dare lash

acted as if he hadn't heard. He walked to the wall, washed his hands meticulously

has improved further," Lin Yu praised. "Enduring humiliation to preserve strength offers the highest return on emotional investment. Getting angry at irrelevant people wastes nothing

air filled

Ming took a

was more fragrant

"Key Points of Policy Essays"—those books

where some yellowed old books and miscellaneous texts

out, squatted in the corner, and began reading as if no one

not knowing where to put his hands

shopkeeper's contempt, the strange looks from other scholars in the bookshop—all made

the ground reading with relish like a true bookworm, a sudden inexplicable anger

fire couldn't quite

only imitate Su Ming, find a corner, pick up a book, and

bit

Ming became completely immersed in the world

records, biographies, even some

for him, showing him the vast

reading isn't enough—you need to leave evidence," Lin Yu's voice chimed in timely. "Go, buy

replied mentally: "Master, money... we need to spend

voice turned serious. "Can this be called spending? This is strategic investment! Let me ask you, where will our papermaking formula come from in the future? You

Su Ming froze.

say you found it in an insignificant miscellaneous book! Untraceable! What is this called? This is building an 'intellectual property firewall'! Spending a few dozen coins to buy

should be used where it's most needed! Knowledge is our sharpest blade right now! Go, find one book about regional customs and another about farming techniques.

Ming's mind

and began searching through the

a heavily damaged "Essential Farming Techniques" buried at the very bottom, another hand

was a very clean hand, with slender fingers and

up and saw

cloth clothes. Though the

pressed lips, and eyes like

Su Ming, he paused briefly, then silently withdrew

at his feet. The box was open, containing not valuable books but a stack of

here reading

were either from poor families who couldn't afford books, or possessed extraordinary

Ming felt an inexplicable closeness

"Essential Farming Techniques" and

voice cool yet clear: "No need, I've finished reading. You take

book box and turned toward another