A full hour had passed, and Manager Lou still couldn't catch his breath, the anger lodged in his chest like a stone.
"What a piece of work—coming in here, thinking they can just scoop up the spoils. Who gave them the nerve!"
Watching the old manager pace back and forth across the room, the shop hand couldn't help but try to soothe him.
"Getting angry only wears you out. We simply won't do business with them. The Qin Niang and The Grievance are selling like hotcakes—we won't be short of customers."
Manager Lou stopped pacing, pressed his right hand to his chest, took a long, deep breath, and let it out slowly.
"You're right. If not them, there'll be another. What matters now is our stock."
"You go back right away and tell the young master we need to print more copies of both books—a hundred thousand of Qin Niang and fifty thousand of The Grievance. If we can't strike a deal with booksellers from outside the region, I'll take them south to Jiangnan and sell them myself."
This golden opportunity that had finally come his way—he had to seize it with both hands.
If he let it slip, who knew if the next book would sell half as well.
That afternoon, no sooner had Manager Lou dozed off than the shop hand came knocking with news.
"Manager, the two young masters and misses from the Lin family are back. They say they want to apologize and brought gifts with them."
Manager Lou, who could barely keep his eyes open when hauled awake, snapped fully alert at once.
He sprang out of bed, threw the door open in a rush, and spat his words straight into the shop hand's face.
"Not seeing them. I wouldn't do business with such scheming folk even if my life depended on it. Tell them to get as far away as possible."
Watching the door slam shut with a bang, the shop hand leaned his neck back and swallowed nervously.
In all his years working at the bookshop, this was the first time he'd seen Manager Lou this furious.
The shop hand went downstairs, where the two Lins standing in the main hall wore grim expressions.
The shouting from upstairs had carried clearly—they had heard every word.
A manager might sound all high and mighty, but at the end of the day, he was still just a hired servant.
For them to show up with gifts and apologize in person, only to be refused an audience and scolded into the bargain—it was enough to make anyone's blood boil.
Second Miss Lin asked anxiously, "Brother, what do we do now?"
Eldest Young Master Lin frowned in agitation, his gaze drifting to the gifts in the servants' hands, which only made him more irritated.
He snapped at his sister in a harsh tone.
"What else can we do? We're heading back to Jiangnan at once. The matter's dead in the water—surely the Song family won't chase us all the way there to make trouble."
The two stepped out the door, and just then a man in his forties brushed past them.
He paused, turned his head, and cast a glance their way.
After being roused from sleep, Manager Lou found he couldn't drift off again. He had just gotten up when the door was knocked on once more.
Thinking it was the two Lins who refused to leave, he lifted his chin and roared.
"I said I won't see them! Throw them out this instant!"
The shop hand lowered his knocking hand. "They're already gone. The head of the Yue Long Escort Agency has come to see you—he's already downstairs."
Manager Lou's knitted brows slowly relaxed, and he opened the door, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
"Yue Dongqun?"
The shop hand nodded.
At the prospect of meeting an old acquaintance, Manager Lou's mood brightened somewhat.
He walked over with a smile and sat down across from Yue Dongqun.
"I came by your place a few days ago and you weren't home—when did you get back?"
Yue Dongqun set a full cup of tea in front of the other man.
"Came back yesterday around noon. The reason I've come today is that I want to transport a batch of books down to Jiangnan to sell."
Manager Lou paused, the teacup hovering in his hand. "What gave you that idea? You don't have a bookshop in Jiangnan."
Yue Dongqun chuckled. "I heard the Lins were going to order books from you and ship them south. Our escort agency has a job heading to Jiangnan next month, so I figured I might as well try to grab that business along the way—but it turns out they backed out."
"The fact that the Lins were interested means there's money to be made. Since it's on the way, I thought I'd give it a shot. Once I get to Jiangnan, I can sell directly or pitch to the local bookshops. Worst case, I stick around a little longer."
Manager Lou's amiable expression gave way to a serious one.
"Let me be clear—we don't take back any books we sell to you. If you can't move them and take a loss, we won't buy them back."
The man had absolutely no experience selling books, and Manager Lou worried he'd fail simply for not knowing the trade.
Yue Dongqun replied, "Before I came, I already checked out a few bookshops and read the books. They're quite good."
"Once I'm in Jiangnan, I'll just copy your promotional methods. Even if I can't sell everything, I certainly won't come back asking for refunds."
Hearing that put Manager Lou at ease.
They'd been friends for years, and he didn't want this deal to sour things between them.
