Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 553 is still missing one

What kind of hospitality is this?

Too lazy to even move, Shi Chun really wanted to ask Dong Wenshu where he found this conspicuous waiter who was carrying a bottle of wine and was drunk on duty. How could the bookstore business possibly continue? The bookstore didn't make much money to begin with.

He looked back at the scene again and noticed something was wrong. It seemed that business was no worse than before.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that wine bottles were also placed on the tables in front of those scholars.

How long have you been gone, and you're already serving drinks?

He turned back to look at the woman in red, surprised and puzzled. Could it be that this woman was not at fault? Could it be that the old stubborn Dong Wenshu had finally come to his senses and the bookstore had started selling wine as well?

Whether she's perceptive or not is another matter, but the woman's nonchalant attitude still made him feel something was off. With this kind of work attitude, how could Dong Wenshu hire someone like this? Could it be another relative of Dong Wenshu's family?

He subconsciously cast a spell to activate his right eye's supernatural ability to examine the woman.

In fact, recently, both his mana consumption and the blood energy consumption of his right eye's special ability have been too great, and he is no longer willing to use them recklessly.

Right now, you wouldn't know unless you looked, and you'd be very puzzled after seeing it. The hazy gray figure turned out to be a demon cultivator.

His gaze quickly fell on the woman's dantian area, where he discovered it was in the form of a lush vine.

Looking at the form of its Dharma Source again, Shi Chun was puzzled. He had never seen a demon cultivator who could transform into human form with such weak cultivation, lacking any sense of solidity. Its Dharma Source was almost ethereal and nearly invisible. This was the first time he had seen such a Dharma Source, and he wondered if he was just being naive.

Of course, it doesn't matter if your cultivation level is weak. It's just menial work, there's no need to be particular. Even ordinary people can do this kind of work in the library.

What he was curious about was that Dong Wenshu had never recruited demon cultivators into his family before, so why had this stubborn old man hired a demoness to do odd jobs? Was it cheap?
Judging by this enchantress's looks, she doesn't seem like a cheap woman.

The woman in red slowly opened her droopy eyelids a little and looked at Shi Chun. Because Shi Chun's behavior was strange, she neither made a sound nor looked at the notice. It was understandable that she stared at her, as many men liked to look at her. But the problem was that this person did not react like a man looking at a beautiful woman.

Upon closer inspection of Shi Chun's appearance, some subtle details caused her eyebrows to twitch slightly.

On the other side, Dong Liangying, the third young lady who had temporarily come to the hall to do odd jobs, was carrying a bundle of paper on one arm and adding it to the tables when she suddenly saw the back of the figure standing in front of the counter and his profile at an angle. She was stunned and surprised, and muttered, "Why is he here?"

Then, anger flashed across his face, and he strode away, grabbing Shi Chun's shoulder from behind and angrily shouting, "You..."

The sight of the three-stranded beard on her face, which she instinctively turned to look at, made her stop speaking abruptly. Realizing she had mistaken him for someone else, she quickly turned to the woman in red behind the counter and asked, "Sister Jun, is this man harassing you?"

"No." The woman in red shook her head slightly and slowly stood up.

Shi Chun glanced at Dong Liangying's hand patting his shoulder, then at the slender figure of the woman in red standing up, and then at the thriving business in the hall. He vaguely understood how this good business came about, and also understood why Dong Liangying had misunderstood him.

He was almost startled, and asked in a choked voice, "Miss, is there some misunderstanding?"

Dong Liangying quickly withdrew his hand and apologized, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. When I saw you guarding the counter and not leaving, I thought it was some lecherous guy trying to harass Sister Jun again."

Sister Jun? Shi Chun thought for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "It's my first time here. I just wanted to find out the going rate for reading books at the library."

Is that so? The woman in red blinked. She couldn't tell from the other party's behavior that they wanted to find out the market price. She casually placed the wine pot on the inner second tier of the counter.

"Oh, here, here." Dong Liangying quickly pointed to the notice on the counter next to him, indicating that he should look here.

Alright, Shi Chun had no choice but to pretend to move over and take a serious look.

Before I could even take a few glances, my attention was drawn to a figure walking out from the backyard.

The visitor was none other than Dong Wenshu, the owner of the library. The reason he attracted Shi Chun's attention was that he felt Dong Wenshu was different from before. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but at least in terms of his appearance, he had never seen Dong Wenshu so meticulous.

Dong Wenshu glanced at him casually, not even giving his obviously daughter a proper look. His gaze immediately fell on the woman in red behind the counter, and his eyes and expression instantly softened. He stopped in front of the counter and asked with concern, "A distinguished guest has arrived. I was just about to go out to buy something. Is there anything you would like me to bring over?"

Huh? Shi Chun blinked again and turned his head to look at Dong Liangying. He then noticed Dong Liangying's fleeting look of disdain and smirk. He suddenly realized why Dong Wenshu had hired this vixen to do odd jobs.

He quickly glanced at Dong Wenshu, who was now dressed up, and chuckled to himself. The old stubborn man had finally come to his senses; he was a demon cultivator after all.

The woman in red calmly declined, saying, "No need."

Dong Wen nodded politely, "Okay."

Then, with his back straight, he turned and left.

Shi Chun stared at the notice and muttered, "Second floor of the library..."

Then he left, looking around until he found the stairs to the second floor, looking like a complete newcomer.

Dong Liangying tilted her head and stared at his departing figure for a while longer. The woman in red, half-leaning on the counter, teased, "Take a fancy to you?"

"Huh?" Dong Liangying turned around in surprise and quickly spat a few times, "Pah, pah, pah, no, I just felt that his figure was somewhat familiar, quite like the one who did odd jobs in the library before."

She spoke with a touch of emotion, knowing that she used to sit behind this counter and secretly observe Shi Chun for a very long time. She was very familiar with Shi Chun's figure and movements, so she really thought it resembled him.

Thinking about it, I realized I was overthinking it. That guy had dragged his family down with him, almost to the point of ruin. How could he possibly come back to the library? Besides, there was nothing about the library that would make him want to come back.

At the same time, she was also very curious about who Shi Chun really was. To this day, it remains a mystery to their family, and they have not been able to find out Shi Chun's true identity from anyone.

Their family isn't stupid; they know that name is most likely just an alias, but they won't tell them if they do.

On the other hand, it's understandable, or rather, there's no hatred involved. They're just living in seclusion here and don't really have any ill intentions towards their family.

The woman in red asked directly, "Wang Ping?"

Dong Liangying hummed in agreement, then turned around and continued working with the bundle of paper.

The woman in red glanced at the stairs, then slowly sat down. This time, she didn't recline; instead, she leaned against the counter, propping her head up with one hand and slowly flipping through the ledger with the other.

Upon reaching the second floor, Shi Chun saw Dong Liangyu, the second young lady who had almost been married off. She was still wearing the same soft blue men's long gown and silver gauze hat, dressed as a handsome and slender young man, without any makeup, thus avoiding the cumbersome attire of women.

A beauty mark between the eyebrows made her fair skin appear even paler.

He sat upright in the interplay of light and shadow, holding a book in his hand, occasionally coughing with his fist clenched.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw the guests arriving. She sat there and gave a slight bow in greeting.

Seeing his old friend again, Shi Chun, who only had eyes for profit, felt nothing. He walked to her table, took out the seven coins he had prepared in advance, placed them on the table, and then turned around and went into the pavilion full of bookshelves.

Normally, ten coins are enough to read books in the library all day, and fifteen coins include tea, lunch, and pastries.

Seven coins is the minimum charge, which allows you to browse the library for a whole day. However, food, drink, writing materials, and paper are not included. Once you leave the library, your stay ends. Therefore, most people eat, drink, and relieve themselves before coming.

People like this are usually the ones who genuinely come to read.

Looking at the seven coins on the table, Dong Liangyu was also stunned and somewhat surprised. Although she was frail and sickly, she had a very good memory. How could someone who could remember the location of countless books have a bad memory?

She was certain that the person who had just arrived was new to the place, yet they had gone through the process smoothly and efficiently without saying a word, which was quite different from whether they knew the rules or not.

She glanced at the basket placed to the side. The person who came in earlier was also a first-timer, and even though he knew the rules, he still asked to confirm.

She didn't rush to collect the money. She turned her head to look at Shi Chun's back. She immediately felt a sense of déjà vu. Most importantly, he didn't go all the way to the end before turning into the next area. Instead, he turned left after walking a short distance and directly opened a side door to enter the next area.

She didn't see what happened next because the bookshelves blocked her view, but she did see the light and shadow of someone passing by through the gaps in the bookshelves, and she also heard footsteps. This newcomer didn't even pause for a moment before finding the side door, opening it and entering.

The side door is a sliding door, which might be mistaken for a wall by someone unfamiliar with it.

Thinking of that familiar figure again, Dong Liangyu couldn't sit still any longer. He got up, put down the book in his hand, walked out of the desk, paused for a while, thought for a moment, then turned back to the desk, picked up the seven coins, and his slender figure walked step by step into the gaps between the bookshelves.

She walked straight to the end and saw the scholar in the blue robe who had come with the basket earlier. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bookshelf, flipping through the books. Hearing her voice, he looked up at her, smiled and nodded in greeting, then continued to bury himself in his book.

Dong Liangyu nodded slightly in acknowledgment, ignored the man, turned left at the end, and entered the next area. He wandered among the bookshelves, occasionally reaching out to touch the books on the shelves, and also occasionally looking through the gaps to search.

They searched all the way to the end but didn't see anyone, so they immediately realized that the person had gone upstairs.

He immediately went to the stairs and went upstairs.

Shi Chun was indeed upstairs. He knew the general layout of the library's collection and had come straight to his target area. He also heard footsteps coming upstairs, glanced at the gaps between the bookshelves, and saw Dong Liangyu looking at something along the bookshelves. He didn't think much of it and continued searching the bookshelves.

To be precise, he knew this family too well, knowing they were no different from ordinary people, harmless and law-abiding, so he didn't take any precautions against them at all.

He felt that he could easily fool the whole family by simply changing his appearance.

Little did he know that the very family he had looked down upon and disregarded had almost recognized him just downstairs when he entered the library.

While searching through the bookshelves, Shi Chun noticed something unusual. He turned his head and saw Dong Liangyu standing between the two rows of bookshelves, staring at him as he walked towards him.

Shi Chun, who was holding a book in his hand, froze, feeling a little uneasy. Could it be that he could recognize her at a glance after just a brief encounter?
Dong Liangyu finally stopped in front of him, showing the money in her delicate palm. "Sir, you can read any book on the second floor. It costs seven coins, but you only gave me six. You're one short."

Downstairs in the lobby, the woman in red, who had been propping her head up, suddenly closed her eyes to rest. Her fingers, which had been flipping through the ledgers, hovered for a moment before slowly landing on the ledgers and gently tapping them.

(End of this chapter)