At a leisurely pace, Hong Kang and his party followed the map and arrived at Sunshine Pier on Guiyuan Road.
Walking up the boulevard, there are large camphor trees on both sides, both seven or eight meters high, with green branches and leaves, casting mottled shadows.
The morning sun was bright but not scorching, and the light and shadow swayed all the way.
Although it is only a few hundred meters away from those CBD office buildings, it seems like people have entered another world.
Ye Lanqiu looked contented: "It's quiet in the midst of the hustle and bustle. I have to say that Lao Wang knows how to choose a place. The environment of this store is more comfortable than that of Cultural Street."
Hong Kang didn't use telepathy, he just kept his five senses slightly sharper than ordinary people.
There was a very clear sign on the side of the road. Going up the stairs next to it, a few people entered a small park-like place with many fitness equipment inside.
Ye Lanqiu's voice sounded, with a hint of surprise, and he stretched out his hand.
"Found it, over there, a row of houses on the left."
There were a lot of people. Some people rushed in with their suitcases to load books. There was a long queue at the checkout counter outside the store, with each person holding more than ten books.
Fatty Wang muttered, "It's just a store like this? Don't you see what's so special about it?"
He is not very interested in this. If there are some ancient books handed down from ancient times, he would probably be interested.
Ye Lanqiu rolled her eyes at him and emphasized: "What do you know? The key is the selection of books, the selection!"
"Nowadays, big bookstores are full of hyped best-sellers and marketing books, or many of them are teaching aids and reference books. Only in small bookstores like this, you can completely feel the owner's intentions."
"Choose books and decorate the store according to your own aesthetics. What is attractive is not only the books displayed in the store, but also the environment he creates..."
Wu Xie pointed forward and said strangely: "But it seems to be going bankrupt?"
Several people looked around and saw a billboard standing at the door, handwritten with oil paints.
All books are on sale at 50% off and the store will be closed permanently in two weeks.
Ye Lanqiu seemed not to be surprised, and his expression was unperturbed.
"I remember when I was a freshman in college, I came to his store, and he said that his store couldn't be opened anymore and he wanted to close it..."
"He said this in the first, second, third and fourth years..."
Fatty Wang answered: "Then it has not been turned off. Isn't this just a marketing ploy? The story of the boy who cried wolf..."
…………
"This time it's true."
An old man holding a drawing board passed by and said something.
Ye Lanqiu was startled: "Really?"
The old man sighed and said: "By the way, I just talked about it before, but didn't you see that this time I even put up a sign..."
】
"The power has been out for more than a year. It's not easy for the shopkeeper to persist until now...!"
Wu Xie grasped the key point: "The power outage lasted so long? Doesn't the power supply bureau care?"
The old man sighed and shook his head, saying: "This place is a state-owned asset, and the next round of leasing is about to begin..."
As he spoke, the old man walked forward, found a table familiarly, and spread out his painting bag and brushes.
Wu Xie and Ye Lanqiu had experienced the world and understood immediately.
The leasing of state-owned assets requires a bidding process, and the entire leasing is for external parties. If this bookstore is still here, it will definitely affect the next round of leasing.
Several people were slightly emotional.
Of course, the arrival of a few people also attracted the attention of many customers.
Except for Fatty Wang, the remaining four people all have very outstanding images, and their temperaments are better than those of the stars on the screen.
Zhang Qiling came out of the dust coldly, Wu Xie was warm and elegant, Ye Lanqiu was bright and youthful, and Hongkang was full of ancient charm.
It caused everyone to marvel.
In reality, it is rare to meet someone with such a good image and temperament. Everyone knows that everything on the screen has been modified with makeup and filters.
"Old Wang, do you still remember me?"
Ye Lanqiu walked up to a man wearing glasses.
It seems that he is Lao Wang. As Ye Lanqiu said, he is thin, his hair is a little oily, and he looks a little sad now.
Wang Guolin glanced at it and didn't look too enthusiastic: "Are you...?"
Ye Lanqiu reminded: "Lecture Notes on Russian Literature."
Wang Guolin's eyes were illusive for a second, and then he regained his composure: "Are you Ye Lanqiu? You have changed so much that I can't even recognize you."
Ye Lanqiu introduced to Hong Kang and Wu Xie: "Back then, a senior recommended me a copy of Nabokov's "Lectures on Russian Literature" and said it was a must-read for writing the manuscript. It was not available online, so I traveled all over Jiangcheng. I couldn't find it in any bookstore, and finally I found it in Baicao Garden."
"Lao Wang has an amazing memory! He once appeared on the program "The Strongest Brain" and answered questions like the author, publisher, and price of 3,000 books."
Wang Guolin didn’t feel that this was anything to brag about: “When you select all the books in your store yourself, you can do it too.”
Ye Lanqiu said: "I remember that later the judges and the host promised to donate more than a thousand books to mountainous areas. Lao Wang bought books with the 10,000 yuan bonus from the show and gave them all to primary schools in mountainous areas."
This kind of behavior made several people respect the man with the eyes in front of them a little more.
Simply sending books may not be a big deal, but to be able to do this even when your own store is on the verge of bankruptcy is not something that ordinary people can do.
Wang Guolin didn’t want to talk about this anymore and asked, “What book did you come to buy today?”
Ye Lanqiu said: "Let me take a look first. By the way, are you really going to close the store?"
Wang Guolin took a sip of water: "The equipment department won't rent it to me anymore. What can I do? They even cut off the power..."
Ye Lanqiu asked: "Have you found your next store?"
Wang Guolin waved his hand and said, "I won't do it anymore. I won't do this anymore."
Ye Lanqiu said: "You don't run the bookstore anymore?"
Wang Guolin said: "Yes, I am going to do publishing and publishing planning."
Ye Lanqiu said: "Isn't your business doing well here?"
Wang Guolin said directly: "Most of them are strangers, here to pick up bargains..."
He was laughing, and it didn't sound happy.
…………
While the two were reminiscing and chatting, Hong Kang, Wu Xie and others took a stroll.
Wu Xie entered the bookstore and saw a book list posted above, all with handwritten names of authors, including Haruki Murakami, Keigo Higashino, Kafka, Yasushi Inoue, Lu Yao, Huang Canran, Orwell, Borges, Schopenhauer, Alain de Botton, Yu Hua, Chen Yinke, Mishima Yukio...
Some of them he knew, some of them he hadn't heard of.
But it can be seen that this bookstore owner does have his own set of standards for selecting books.
I chose a set of "The Keeper of Books" by Borges and opened it to find a familiar quotation:
"There are tall bookshelves here."
"It's so close yet so far away."
“As secret yet visible as the stars.”
"There are gardens and corridors here."
I picked another "Miłosz Dictionary" and left.
Wu Xie saw the old man drawing cartoons for customers and heard that it was free.
According to others, the old man is a native of Jiangcheng and a cartoonist with the pen name "Luozi".
Luozi's own statement is that the bookstore has collapsed and he can't bear it. They are all people who like to read. People who like to read books should give them some support, give readers a little warmth and a little parting warmth.
"I haven't read many books myself. I only rely on daily reading to enrich my knowledge... I am still a person who cares about the country and the people, so it is very regrettable, so I feel very sad..."
"It has nothing to do with me, but I see physical bookstores arriving one after another... It's not that I don't have a place to go, it's because... there are fewer and fewer people reading books, and there are fewer and fewer places to read books. It's sad, I feel sad for our city... …”
The old man's words were very simple and touching.
He was painting a girl and chatting while painting.
"Girl, where are you from?"
"A native of Yueyang Junshan."
"Junshan..."
"Yes, Junshan Island."
"Well, let's smile before we get to Jiangnan, Yueyang..."
"Yueyang Tower faces Junshan, hahaha..."
As if they had caught the secret code, both of them laughed happily.
People also need occasional romance and luxury in their lives.
Hong Kang walked around and came to Wang Guolin.
"Shopkeeper Wang, I wonder if you are willing to accept investment?"
…………
Poetry has a constant style, but thoughts have no location.
"Wenxin Withered Dragon"
