[Naruto] Survival Records of the Warring States Period

The person from the printing house came very quickly. He was a young man about fifteen or sixteen years old, who looked very smart. The boss asked you to put down your work first and recognize him.

"This is Kentaro," the boss introduced you, then turned to Kentaro to introduce you, "This is Koyuki, the newly recruited apprentice of Qingshui House."

Qingshui House is the name of the bookstore.

You greeted the other party politely, and Kentaro's eyes lingered on your height for a moment, with a rather suspicious look on his face.

The boss didn't give you too much time to talk and negotiate with Kentaro.

It was also at this time that you realized that your store seemed to be doing more than just selling and renting books as you thought.

"There is no need to engrave these books. I have already written the number of volumes that need to be printed." The boss took out the manuscripts that he had prepared and handed them to Kentaro separately. You looked over and saw that they were several song books.

Then the boss earnestly handed over another batch of manuscripts, with some beautiful covers: "The plate making of these books must be carefully made, and it must not be like last time!"

……

You listened for a long time and realized that the boss also ran a publisher's business. While selling books, he also purchased manuscripts that could be published and proofread them and delivered them to the printing house for printing. He also received some books from boring nobles or wealthy towns. Publication commissions for works that are intended for personal use or collection.

The former has a large printing volume and has a stable cooperation with the printing factory. The printing of a book needs to start with engraving, which takes a long time; the latter only needs to print dozens of copies, usually with movable type plates. After printing, the books can be handed over to the client. .

In addition, the bookstore is responsible for receiving manuscripts, booking manuscript covers, and proofreading manuscripts.

While the boss is explaining to Kentaro, he interrupts to explain to you the work you may have to do in the future.

You thought about the bookstore that currently only has you as an apprentice, and then calculated the possible workload in the future. Suddenly, you felt that the salary of 30 cents a day seemed, maybe, probably a bit... low?

After Kentaro left, you asked thoughtfully: "Boss, did you do all these things alone before?"

How could he do it? !

Boss: "How is that possible?"

He touched his chin, and before you could ask where the former clerk had gone, he frowned and sighed: "I used to just sell books, and I just started publishing some time ago. I wanted to make a lot of money, but who knew, Your Highness?" A sudden war."

"What does this have to do with starting a war?" you ask.

Boss A Cong gritted his teeth: "It's a serious matter. Look, now that there is a war, who will buy the books?" He added, "Also, among the manuscripts just delivered, one of the authors is from the Kingdom of Thunder. Originally, It was agreed that the manuscript would be due at the beginning of the month, and the deposit was paid. As soon as I heard about the war, I rushed back to my country to seek refuge, for fear that I would die in another country! I was half-written and refused to finish the manuscript, so I was refunded half of the deposit and asked me to find someone else to write the second half."

"The painter who I had arranged to be the main writer also suddenly disappeared. When I inquired, I found out that she was a ninja and went to the battlefield." Boss A Cong became more and more angry as he spoke and patted the counter twice bitterly. "I said she painted How come the ninja is quite extraordinary, her style is different from other painters, it turns out she is the one."

"I've been worried all day long that she wouldn't be able to come back from the battlefield. Why do you think Your Highness, who is so good, is starting a war?"

"After so many years, I haven't really seen one country destroy another country. What's the point of fighting back and forth."

It's hard for you to answer this. You feel that during the Warring States Period, the boss sold the wrong thing if he wanted to do business and make a fortune. You keep your head down and continue to register for the book rental list.

You: Other countries don’t know, I only know that the Kingdom of Whirlpool is gone in the end.

Probably because he had finished venting his emotions, the boss hugged Nyonosuke Shunmao, who was napping on the table, and his emotions gradually calmed down.

You are a little surprised, Nya nosuke seems to have become a spirit, he is very acknowledging his master, and he is very obedient as long as he is hugged by the boss A Cong.

You know, when Kentaro came just now, he almost got a slap on the cat's face because he couldn't help teasing it. It was also very irritable when you hugged it before.

You don’t know whether Nyanosuke has become a spirit, but you think the mice in the longhouse have become spirits.

After a day's work, you received today's wages. When you went home, you didn't think about what to buy, so you just took everything home.

After all, the money is not enough for you to buy what you want. Even if it is just a penny, your family needs it urgently, so the money must be used wisely.

You returned home with your mother. When you saw the chewed rope on the beam and the obviously chewed leftover meat in the torn paper bag that fell to the ground, your mentality collapsed.

You can't understand why a house that has been clean and clear of mice for the past few months only has food in stock for two days, and then someone comes to your door.

But sadly, you find that your first reaction is not to denounce the shamelessness of the mouse, but to be afraid.

——Fortunately, the landlord did not come to inspect the house unexpectedly today.

Mom had just picked up Taro Acai from the neighbor's house. Seeing you standing motionless in front of the door, she patted your shoulder in confusion: "Why don't you go in, Xiaoxue?"

You came back to your senses, slowly turned your head and looked at your family. The corners of your mouth twitched twice, but you still couldn't smile.

You pursed your lips to get out of the way, revealing the situation inside: "Mom, you can't keep these things at home anymore, they need to be disposed of."

A mouse can only take a few bites of meat today, but may steal it tomorrow. If someone is found hiding meat, there will be chaos.

In this society, there are not a few people who regard meat as unclean. Those who violate the meat ban are still imprisoned in prisons.

"Go in first." Mom calmly pushed the three of you into the room. Acai and Tarang seemed to understand from the heavy atmosphere around you that something serious had happened, so they stopped playing around and walked in honestly.

If eating meat was just a stop-gap measure before, now it has been completely kicked out of your family’s diet.

When your father came back later, before you told him the sad news, you saw him solemnly take out a few small coins from his arms, carefully arrange them on the floor, and push them to your mother.

"I found a job and have to leave the capital temporarily. I can return in a few months," Dad said.

His voice was hoarse with sadness: "This is the remuneration paid by the employer in advance, and I will get a sum of money when I come back."

"..."

You can't help but think that Yumi's sister was also traded away with these small coins, right?

There are five people in your family, excluding the four fathers who will most likely never come back. These few coins are enough for your family to live for a year.

In this day and age, who would pay such a sum of money to hire an ordinary man in his prime who is not a ninja or a samurai?

This is not looking for a job, this is selling your life to the employer!

You can think of it, and so can your mother.

She stood up suddenly, ignored her father's call, walked directly to the edge, and closed the door firmly from the outside.

You were silent, put the messy little box on the ground next to your father, and pulled A Cai and the two aside.

There are still 30 copper coins in your arms. You originally planned to proudly tell your family that you found a job and got your first salary in your life after gathering together.

You originally thought that maybe 30 Wen wouldn't buy much, but it was a good start after all. Even today's sudden rat incident couldn't dampen this confidence.

But now you can't bring up any emotion. The 30 cents in your arms are as cold as the frost on an autumn night, freezing you from the inside out.

What can 30 Wen do?

Too little.

Not even worth a life.

In this world where lives can be measured in money, 30 coins is too little.

How long do you have to work to get those few pennies on the ground?