"No problem." Xia Mingyue agreed readily.

"Thank you, Madam Xia." Shen Shujun thanked.

"Ms. Xia, it seems that you also like reading. I have some other books at home. If you are interested, you can ask me to buy them. I will copy them right away. I guarantee that the handwriting is better than that in the bookstore, and the price is cheaper."

"In addition, if anyone around Madam Xia wants to write or read a letter, they can all find me. I will definitely give Madam Xia a preferential price. My home is not far away in Liuzhi Lane. There is a peach sapling planted at the door that is more than half a person tall. It is very easy to find."

Shen Shujun spoke eagerly and humbly, as if she was eager to get the job.

Xia Mingyue glanced at Shen Shujun, who was thin and dressed in old clothes, frowned slightly and nodded in response, "Okay, if you need me, I will definitely find Madam Shen. Madam Shen will definitely give me a cheaper price."

"Thank you, Madam Xia." Shen Shujun thanked her again. She even felt relieved because Madam Xia's reaction was not as polite as ordinary people's. Instead, she agreed to her seriously.

This Madam Shen really seems to be very short of money.

Xia Mingyue was thinking about what kind of work would be assigned to her in the future.

When Shen Shujun saw that the matter was settled, she did not bother him any further and stood up to leave.

"Goodbye, Madam Shen." Xia Mingyue stood up and saw her off.

She came back after a while, holding the second half of the script given to her by Shen Shujun in her hand, her brows furrowed and she remained silent.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhuguo poured a cup of tea for Xia Mingyue, "Sister Xia, are you curious about why Madam Shen has such beautiful handwriting and seems to be well-educated, but lives in such a miserable state?"

"Yes." Xia Mingyue nodded and sighed, "Because I don't know what difficulties Madam Shen has, it is not easy to ask her in person. Madam Shen's handwriting is beautiful, soft and neat. If she is copying books for a bookstore, she should not be very rich, but at least she will not be so embarrassed."

Even though woodblock printing already existed at this time, because the circulation of many books was not large, the cost of woodblock printing was actually higher than copying. Many bookstores still used the most primitive way of making money by collecting copied books from scholars and then selling them to make a profit from the difference.

When he was still in Jinqiu County, Xia Mingyue heard that many scholars who were still studying used this method to earn some pocket money. If they worked hard, they would definitely have no problem having enough food and clothing every month.

"Sister Xia probably doesn't know that bookstores don't accept books copied by women," Jiang Zhuguo said.

"Why is this?" Xia Mingyue was puzzled.

"I don't know the exact reason, but I just know that when I was at home, I thought my handwriting was pretty good, so I thought about copying books. This way I could make money more easily."

Jiang Zhuguo said, "In the end, Jiang Yihe told me not to have wild ideas. He said that according to the rules of the bookstore, we must not accept books copied by women. He also said that women's virtue lies in their lack of talent. I can read and recognize words, which is inconsistent with the world. Don't do anything out of the ordinary and cause trouble for him."

"So I guess it's probably because most of the people who read are men, and there are very few women, so people can't accept books copied by women."

The storybooks were just something to entertain people and kill time. As for who wrote them, no one cared to find out.

Xia Mingyue, "..."

Since she started running Xia Ji, especially since she began looking for suitable franchisees for Xia Ji's various food stalls, she has truly seen how difficult it is for many people to make a living.

Women, because of their status, face even greater difficulties, which have nothing to do with knowledge or ability.

Xia Mingyue pursed her lips, took a sip of tea, and opened the second volume of the storybook that Shen Shujun had given him.

Continuing from the previous volume, it is still the daily life of the mistress of the house.

And in the difficult handling of daily trivialities and various relationships, the differences and estrangements between the mistress of the house and her husband became increasingly larger.

After the two quarreled several times in succession, the mistress of the house was repeatedly scolded and blamed by her mother-in-law, and her mother-in-law appeased her husband by marrying his cousin into the family as a co-wife.

Therefore, the mistress of the house has one more relationship to deal with and one more person to take care of.

The concubine's family background was good, and she soon had children. The mistress had no place in the whole family. Finally, after a fierce quarrel with her husband, her husband's family divorced her and sent her back home on the grounds that she was unvirtuous, jealous and childless.

The mistress was filled with resentment and hatred. Before leaving her husband's family, she recounted how she had used her dowry to support dozens of people in her husband's family over the years, and how she had been filial to her parents-in-law. However, her husband abandoned her once he gained power...

It was already late at night when Xia Mingyue finished reading the second volume of the storybook. When she closed the storybook, she was no longer sleepy.

Every word in the entire storybook shows the tragedy of the mistress of the house who failed to judge people and the regret she felt when she saw everyone's true face. It makes people feel heavy and unable to calm down for a long time.

The description of daily life in the noble compound is so detailed and realistic that it is hard not to doubt that this script is not an imaginary story but an actual experience.

Combined with Madam Shen's miserable appearance at the moment, the inconsistency between her overly old face and her young voice was enough to make Xia Mingyue believe that what was written in this story was probably Madam Shen's personal experience.

This explains why Madam Shen looked extremely unnatural when she heard the clerk in the bookstore suggest that she write a novel like "Spring Boudoir Dream" that is full of a woman's thoughts and beautiful love stories.

For women who have experienced the hardships of real life, the springtime love of a young girl is nothing more than frost flowers in the mornings of autumn and winter. It is amazing but actually cold and disappears without a trace under the sun.

Mirror flowers and water moons, leaving only sighs and resentment.

Therefore, Madam Shen was determined not to write such a storybook, but insisted on writing about the real life of the women within the walls of the wealthy and powerful families.

But men who think that the disputes among women in the harem are nonsense do not like to read such stories. And those girls who can read, come from wealthy families, have been well-off since childhood, have no lack of material things, and only want to be with their true love do not want to read them either.

This also meant that Madam Shen’s words could not be sold.

However, if you want to make a living with your knowledge, writing storybooks is not the only option.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Mingyue simply stood up, took out pen, ink and paper, and started writing and drawing.

A sleepless night, busy all night.

It was not until the morning light began to rise outside that Xia Mingyue blew out the candle and looked at what she had drawn with great satisfaction.

With the drawings she had drawn, Xia Mingyue immediately found Manager Fu and asked him to find a skilled carpenter. (End of this chapter)