50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 8 Big Yellow Croaker Buys Books

"Nannan, does it look good?" Sun Zhiwei asked the little girl with a smile.

"It looks good." The little girl stared at the pages of the book intently, not even glancing at him.

"Then do you want to buy it and read it?"

"Ah? Is it okay?" The little girl became energetic. She immediately looked up and winked at Sun Zhiwei.

"Of course, but there are so many books here, maybe we can't move them all?"

"Then~~~, brother, can't you just perform a magic trick and take the book away?"

Sun Zhiwei was petrified instantly, he really shot himself in the foot.

He was so naughty that he insisted on performing some magic trick. He was just asking for trouble. He slapped his right hand hard with his left hand.

"Hey, it hurts."

"Nannan, this~ magic trick can't do that many things, what should I do?"

"Well, then we can just make a few more trips and move less each time, and we'll be able to finish it."

"Good, Nannan is really smart." Sun Zhiwei gave his sister a thumbs up.

He carried his daughter to the stool next to him and let her sit and read. He then walked to the teaching book area and found the textbooks for the three years of junior high school. He himself would be going to junior high school in the second half of the year and needed to prepare in advance.

Citizenship, Physical Education, Health, Chinese, English, Arithmetic (Mathematics), Botany, Animal Science, Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, Handicraft, Drawing, and Music.

There are fifteen courses in total, which is not much different from the curriculum of modern junior high schools.

The biggest difference from modern courses is the civics class. This course is a bit similar to the ZZ course, but the content is much richer.

This is because during the Republic of China period, the goal was to enlighten the people and teach them the necessary knowledge and morals in order to shape new citizens.

In the past, this course was called self-cultivation, which means self-cultivation, family management, governance of the country and peace in the world. Self-cultivation comes first, and then it is gradually improved to citizenship.

The civics textbook used today is "Citizenship Reader" (two volumes) compiled by Mr. Wu Xingfang from Zhejiang.

The first volume contains texts on the nation, citizens, ethnicity, state system, political system, Congress, government, courts, citizens' rights and obligations, law and morality, self-government, and elections.
The second volume covers subjects such as armaments, police, household registration, taxes, national debt, budget and final accounts, currency, education, livelihood, public health, diplomacy and the European War.

The first lesson says that "absolute monarchy is not enough to govern the country", so "a revolutionary army was raised in Wuchang, the whole country responded, the Qing Dynasty abdicated, and the Chinese nation was established."

When reading this, do you have a strong sense of historical déjà vu?
It is regrettable that many people nowadays do not understand the necessary knowledge when they enter society, and some of our rights are given up by ourselves.

This course will probably be discontinued soon, and he remembered that both Junior High Chinese and ZZ would be using new textbooks next semester. Although they were useless, he still decided to buy them and take a look.

After he chose the book, he looked at the clock in the corner. It was almost 12 o'clock. When the two arrived at the bookstore, it was just after 9 o'clock.

He quickly called the clerk over and asked him to pack the books. When the clerk came over, he was also a little dumbfounded when he saw hundreds of books.

After Sun Zhiwei confirmed it again and again, he called a few colleagues to help. It took them half a day to bundle and package more than 200 books.

Then the books were brought to the counter for payment, and the bookstore manager rushed over after hearing the news.

There were so many books that the female clerk in charge of checkout didn't know what to do. Fortunately, the manager was there. He took a closer look at the books selected by Sun Zhiwei and found that although there were many books, there were actually only two sets of books.

One set of "Children's Library" and one set of "Junior High School Textbooks"—both sets were priced as sets, so there was no need to calculate the price one by one. He immediately calculated the total and reported it to Sun Zhiwei.

"That's 166 dollars, young sir."

Sun Zhiwei pretended to frown and asked, "Can you pay with yellow croaker?" "No problem, sir. We will exchange it for you at the latest market exchange rate."

"Okay." He took out a big yellow croaker and handed it to the manager. After receiving it, the manager quickly took out the tools to check and weigh it.

Sun Zhiwei added, "Don't give me legal tender as change. Silver dollars or US dollars will do."

"Of course sir, don't worry."

The check was settled quickly, and the manager brought over a small wooden box containing the silver change.

"Sir, yesterday's exchange rate was 420 yuan. Here's your change of 254 yuan. Please count it."

Sun Zhiwei opened the box, fiddled with it casually, and when he felt it was about right, he closed the box and picked it up.

As soon as the lid of the box was closed, the silver coins in the box had been transferred to the storage ring, so it was effortless for him to pick up the box.

The manager didn't know the reason and thought that the little boy was very strong, no wonder he dared to go out with two children.

With the help of the store clerk, all the books were moved to the front door. Daxiang and the other two were already there to greet them. The manager thought they were looking for trouble and was about to step forward to stop them.

As a result, two big men with guns on their backs shouted "Young Master" behind him. The manager suddenly realized what was going on and quickly made way.

"Daxiang, call a few rickshaws and let's go back. We're a little tired."

"Hey, Master, I'll go now."

"Call for two more. We bought a lot of books."

"Okay, Master."

Soon five rickshaws came running over. Sun Zhiwei took his daughter on one, two security guards each took one, and the remaining two were responsible for carrying books.

Daxiang and his partner led the way, one in front and the other behind, and a group of five cars headed towards the Oriental Hotel.

Rushing back to the Oriental Hotel before 12 o'clock, Sun Zhiwei and his sister got off the car first, and then threw 5 yuan to Daxiang.

"Daxiang pays the bill." Daxiang grinned so hard that he couldn't close his mouth.

This kind of short-distance driving only costs a few cents. After paying the fare, the rest is naturally the tip for the two of them for the trip, so at least each of them can get two dollars.

Sun Zhiwei ignored them and took his daughter into the lobby, where the lobby manager came to greet him.

When Sun Zhiwei saw him, he handed him the key to the room and said, "Ask Daxiang and the others to put the books we just bought into the room. We'll go eat first."

"Hey, it's ready. Come with me." After taking the key, the manager led the brother and sister to an empty seat in the restaurant. The dishes were already on the table.

One sweet and sour fish, one Beijing-style shredded pork, half a roast duck, one stir-fried fresh seafood, and one meatball soup. The dishes were served not long ago and were still steaming hot.

The two of them had been walking around outside for the whole morning and were a little hungry. When they saw the delicious food, they didn't care about anything else and started eating right away.

This restaurant is pretty good. There are children's seats. After the little girl sat on them, she was able to reach the food.

Sun Zhiwei pushed the dishes towards his sister and poured her a bowl of soup before he started eating. The girl was not young anymore and had already started eating by herself when she was at home.

Seeing how happily they were eating, the manager happily went to the hall to watch Daxiang working.

The manager's name is Wang Zemin. He is from Sijiucheng. He has a wife and a daughter. His parents have both passed away, leaving him with an older sister. He was raised by his sister since he was a child, and he respects her very much.

(End of this chapter)