Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Bad Luck
Shi Mingyue worked quickly, soon returning with a borrowed brazier. Right in front of the bookstore owner, whose face had turned livid, the three of them stepped over it.
"We should also have some pomelo leaves dipped in water," Shi Mingyue suddenly said.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly to the nearby bookstore owner.
"Exchanging a single word with people like that is what brings real misfortune and taints you with bad luck," Shi Mingyue continued. She was normally the quietest of them all, yet when she spoke, she was apparently aiming to infuriate the man to death. "And..." Shi Mingyue slowed her speech, as if ensuring everyone nearby could hear her distinctly, "it’s bad for business. Our restaurant is thriving right now; we can’t afford to be contaminated by such inauspicious things. A shop like this will never prosper."
To stand at the entrance of an open shop and declare that it would never prosper was the equivalent of going straight for the jugular.
Hearing this, Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but laugh out loud, despite trying to maintain a composed demeanor in public.
While the women were enjoying themselves, they had thoroughly enraged the bookstore owner and his clerk behind them.
"What do you think you’re saying?!" the bookstore clerk shouted, rushing over and posturing as if to start an argument with Ming Lingyi and her companions.
But Ming Lingyi felt she had already wasted enough time here. Besides, after accidentally stepping in dog droppings, a normal person wouldn’t turn back to pick a three-hundred-round fight with it.
So she ignored the clerk and, with Shi Mingyue and Xiao Chun in tow, turned to leave.
The bookstore’s shopkeeper was the sort of man who looked down on women, so it was easy to imagine what the clerk who worked for him was like.
Seeing his words so thoroughly ignored by the three women, the clerk felt deeply insulted and charged at them with a broom.
Although Shi Mingyue’s back was to the bookstore, as a martial artist, she was long accustomed to being aware of her surroundings from all directions.
Before the clerk could even get close, Shi Mingyue’s ear twitched. She fluidly dropped into a low spin, her black silks and sleeves fanning out in a half-circle against the morning glow. In the instant the ambusher’s broom met empty air, her elbow struck home, precisely three inches below his ribs.
The next second, the bookstore clerk went flying.
THUD—
Xiao Chun couldn’t help but flinch. Just hearing the sound of him hitting the ground made all the bones in her body ache in sympathy.
Shi Mingyue merely tilted her head, sparing a sideways glance for the man on the ground who was struggling to get back up. Then, her eyes shifted to the bookstore’s shopkeeper, her gaze a clear warning.
’Without the shopkeeper’s tacit approval,’ Shi Mingyue thought, ’this clerk would never have had the audacity to launch a sneak attack from behind.’
’They were only acting so brazenly because they saw a group of women who looked like easy targets.’
When Shi Mingyue’s gaze swept over Wang Dashan, his breathing grew shallow. He was terrified that the slightest misstep would draw her attention.
He hadn’t expected the two maids accompanying the young woman to be so formidable.
’What kind of merchant woman has such a skilled female guard by her side?’
’It was simply unheard of.’
Only after watching Ming Lingyi and her companions leave with his own eyes did Wang Dashan finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Shopkeeper, wasn’t that the boss of Ming’s Restaurant? Was it really a good idea to refuse them like that?"
A much younger clerk who did odd jobs in the bookstore spoke up from beside Wang Dashan, his voice laced with worry.
Not everyone in the shop had gone to see the spectacle at Ming’s Restaurant a couple of days ago, but some had.
The one who just spoke was among them.
Wang Dashan had heard of Ming’s Restaurant’s reputation before, but he had always looked down on women. Once he found out the boss was just a young woman, he lost all interest.
Now, hearing what the clerk in his own shop had to say, he asked in surprise, "Those people were from Ming’s Restaurant?"
"Yes, that’s right. I went to see the lively poetry competition two days ago. That was her."
Wang Dashan’s brow furrowed again.
He didn’t follow the events at Ming’s Restaurant, but lately, there had been so much news about it that it was impossible to ignore.
For instance, just two days ago, Ming’s Restaurant had somehow managed to host the Lord Governor of Jingzhao Mansion, the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and even the Emperor!
A humble, privately-owned restaurant had managed to host the reigning Emperor. If the entire population of Shangjing City hadn’t witnessed it as proof, no one would have believed the story.
He struck his fist into his palm and paced back and forth several times.
’If he had known from the start that it was Ming Lingyi, his attitude would have been much better.’
’However, he was resolute on one point: he would not do business with a woman.’
’What great deeds could a woman possibly accomplish? What skills could she possess? If word got out that he, Wang Dashan, was partnering with a young woman, wouldn’t he become a laughingstock?’
But after a moment of internal conflict, Wang Dashan’s shoulders visibly relaxed.
’His printing house had excellent relationships with all the major bookstores in Shangjing City. All the popular storybooks on the market had to be carved and printed at his workshop before they could be distributed.’
’His workshop held the printing blocks for all the most popular storybooks. Even if Ming Lingyi went to another printing house, or tried to print them privately, she would never have access to his distribution channels.’
’Then, when Ming Lingyi tried to sell her books at the bookstores, things wouldn’t go so smoothly for her.’
’So what if the boss of Ming’s Restaurant really had some connections at court? Even the Prefect of Jingzhao Mansion couldn’t possibly force every bookstore in Shangjing City to sell whatever book that young woman wanted to publish, could he?’
As for the Emperor’s visit to the restaurant, Wang Dashan was inclined to believe it was a fluke.
’Otherwise, he couldn’t imagine any reason why a personage of the Emperor’s stature would appear at Ming’s Restaurant.’
After leaving the market with Shi Mingyue and Xiao Chun, Ming Lingyi stood on Vermilion Bird Street, feeling hesitant.
She had thought she would be able to strike a deal with the first printing house today, with the only variable being whether she’d have to spend a little more or a little less Silver. She never expected the shopkeeper to be that kind of person.
’It was clearly impossible to cooperate with the first printing house. So now the question was, should she even go to the second one Little Stone had mentioned?’
’If the second printing house only produced fine editions,’ Ming Lingyi mused, ’it would be difficult to strike a deal for her plan to create a commoner’s version of the official gazette.’
’But if she didn’t go, would she have to resort to private printing?’
’Private printing would be more expensive, and she couldn’t gather enough skilled workers on such short notice.’
’Even for a small print run, the entire process required scribes, block carvers, printers, and pressers. Not a single one could be omitted.’
At this thought, Ming Lingyi took a deep breath, then turned resolutely and headed toward the second printing house.
