The old lady was restless in the shop, her eyes constantly glancing toward the door, her face full of anxiety. When she saw Zhuang Rui and Liu Chuan walk back in, she breathed a sigh of relief and asked quietly： "Young man, do you still want this book or not？"
Without a moment's hesitation, Zhuang Rui said： "I want it, ma'am. Just give me a fair price. It's freezing cold, and I doubt you'll find another buyer out there, so don't bother going back and forth."
"I don't really know what price it should be. When I got married, my mother said these books were treasures. If my husband hadn't run into trouble, I wouldn't be selling them. Young man, how about two thousand yuan for the three books？".
The old lady's voice got softer and softer, and by the time she mentioned the price of two thousand yuan, it was barely audible. After hearing the offers from the previous shops, she must have realized that her shabby books might not be such treasures after all. Plus, considering how much it costs for her two sons' school books every year—only a few hundred yuan—asking for two thousand for three old books was like selling cabbage like it's a treasure. The old lady felt a bit embarrassed herself.
"How much？"
The old woman's voice was too soft, Zhuang Rui indeed hadn't heard the price clearly.
"Twenty thousand, how about it? Or eighteen thousand will do. I have to pay fines when I go back, haven't even paid for the old man's hospital bills, and the kid's school fees owe others a few thousand too. Any lower than that, I just can't."
The old woman's voice rose a bit, but her tone was firm, and those cloudy eyes were already filled with tears.
"That couplet of mine was worth ten thousand. Going by spiritual energy content, this book's value shouldn't be less than ten thousand either. Even if the condition is a bit off, buying it for twenty thousand won't make me lose out. Just treat it as an act of charity and doing a good deed."
Calculating silently in his mind, Zhuang Rui pointed to the shabbiest book on the coffee table and said, "Auntie, I don't want those two books. I only want this one. To be honest with you, to some people this book might not be worth a cent, but to others, it could be a treasure. However, this book hasn't been well preserved—many places are worm-eaten. I figure it's worth at most around twenty thousand. So how about this： forget eighteen thousand, I'll give you twenty thousand, and I'll take it."
Since Zhuang Rui had decided to buy it, the difference between eighteen thousand and twenty thousand wasn't that big. In his mind, the value of the spiritual energy contained in the book alone far exceeded twenty thousand yuan.
"Blockhead, how can this crappy book be worth twenty thousand? Don't throw your money away. We're not buying it. Do you think I'm stupid? ..."
Liu Chuan, standing by, simply couldn't hold back anymore. He had just picked up the book too, flipping through it and looking at it for a long time. His only impression was one word： shabby. If this shabby book was worth twenty thousand, then he might as well grab a mutt from the countryside and sell it for the price of a German Shepherd. Right now, Liu Chuan just felt that Zhuang Rui had gotten his head smashed.
"This... I said it could be less, but it was this young man who said twenty thousand."
Seeing Liu Chuan's fierce-looking face, the old woman was a bit scared and whispered timidly, maybe she also felt Zhuang Rui's mind wasn't working quite right, since someone would actually insist on paying more for something.
"Rogue, stop with all that nonsense. Hurry up, get twenty thousand out. I'll pay you back when I get home. Give the money to the auntie. It's almost dark, snowing heavily, and freezing cold. She still has to rush back to Tongshan."
Zhuang Rui had no idea that the two people next to him had already categorized him as mentally unstable. All he wanted now was to get the book as soon as possible and then go home to study it carefully.
"No money. Even if I had it, I wouldn't give it！"
Liu Chuan turned his face away, thinking that if he actually pulled out this twenty thousand and word got out, come tomorrow, the door of his shop would be busted down by street vendors looking to take advantage.
"Are you getting it or not？ If not, I'll go home and get it myself..."
Zhuang Rui stood up as he spoke. The hundred thousand bonus from the unit was all at home, and he still had over twenty thousand in his bank account. At worst, he could take a taxi home to fetch it.
"Fine, fine, I give up. Just sit down, it'll take me a few minutes. Damn it, I'm unlucky to have a friend like you..."
Liu Chuan knew Zhuang Rui's personality too well. Since they were kids, whenever Zhuang Rui made up his mind about something, he had to see it through. No one could make him change his mind.
Liu Chuan shoved Zhuang Rui down onto the sofa, then pushed the door open and left, looking extremely annoyed, not even taking an umbrella. He usually didn't keep that much cash in his shop, but there was a bank and an ATM right next to the market, making deposits and withdrawals very convenient.
"Little brother, look, how about just eighteen thousand? I... I feel really bad about this."
"It's nothing, Auntie, just twenty thousand. Don't worry, I won't come back for more. Take the money and head back early. The most important thing is to get Uncle treated first..." Zhuang Rui's words made the old lady burst into tears. She kept wiping her eyes with her sleeve, sobbing so hard she couldn't speak.
As the two were talking, before long, they heard a "bang" as the shop door was pushed open by Liu Chuan. His head covered in snow, Liu Chuan didn't even wipe it off and tossed the twenty thousand yuan in his hand to Zhuang Rui.
"Auntie, count it, then hide the money well. There are a lot of thieves around during the holidays, so be careful on the road. Rascal, why don't you just drive the auntie to the bus station..."
Zhuang Rui glanced at the snow falling heavier outside, handed the money to the old lady, then said to Liu Chuan.
"No need, no need. I wouldn't dare trouble you. I know the way."
Perhaps a little afraid of Liu Chuan, the old lady didn't even count the money. She took out a handkerchief, wrapped the money up first, then lifted her clothes and tucked it into her waistband. When she picked up the other two books to put them in her bundle, her left hand was still pressed over the spot where the money was. But once she slung the bundle over her shoulder, you couldn't tell she had money hidden at her waist.
Zhuang Rui held an umbrella, walked to the roadside to hail a taxi, and saw the old lady off before returning to Liu Chuan's pet shop. Seeing that the guy looked like he was about to start a struggle session against him, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh.
"Come on, man, is that the face of a guy who just lost his wife? I'm telling you, these books are definitely worth more than twenty thousand. We made a profit. Hold on, let me first see what's in them." Zhuang Rui's words were enough to make anyone spit blood—he didn't even know what was in the books before throwing out twenty thousand yuan.
Liu Chuan was so angry he nearly jumped up, pointing at Zhuang Rui and cursing, "Fuck, this crappy book is too rough even for wiping ass. What, what did you say？ You haven't even read this book？？？"
Liu Chuan was completely speechless. Seeing Zhuang Rui flipping through that book and ignoring him, he angrily lit a cigarette and sat back at the computer to play games, secretly scheming about how to tattle on this guy to his godmother tonight.
Zhuang Rui paid no attention to Liu Chuan. He was fully focused on the book in his hands. What slightly disappointed him was that the spiritual energy in the book seemed to have been absorbed. Like that couplet, after one use, no more energy flowed into the spiritual energy within his eyes.
But this was also within Zhuang Rui's expectations. Additionally, his joy far outweighed his disappointment, because when he used his spiritual energy, he could clearly feel that it had become completely different after absorbing the aura of this ancient book. How to put it... if Zhuang Rui had to describe it himself, he felt like he had leveled up in a game.
First of all, the cyan-green light that appeared before using spiritual energy had now turned a faint orange-yellow. Not only had the total amount of spiritual energy increased, but it had also become easier to control. Zhuang Rui could even manipulate the spiritual energy to stay within any single page, just like turning pages with his hands.
He even had a feeling that if he looked at someone else's body right now, he could absolutely penetrate their clothes without even touching their skin. Of course, since only Liu Chuan and he were in the shop, he had absolutely zero interest in Liu Chuan's body.
The distance his eyes could see through had also increased. Just now, before picking up the book, Zhuang Rui had glanced at the book on the glass coffee table, and the distance definitely exceeded one meter. As for exactly how much it had increased, Zhuang Rui planned to slowly test it at home tonight.
Most importantly, through two incidents of absorbing spiritual energy from this manuscript, Zhuang Rui found a way to continuously increase the spiritual energy in his eyes. He even looked forward to what miraculous changes his eyes might undergo after absorbing even more spiritual energy.