Under the guidance of Miss Volgue,
Lin Daiyu planned to go to Abat's bank first and change the money in her hand into Luster's money. Then she went to buy paper, pens, and clothes.
She had planned to go on foot. Miss Volgue objected: "Miss, you are a respectable person. If you come back with smelly mud and dirty water on the hem of your skirt, you will be reduced to talking to those muddy people in trousers,
That is absolutely impossible!
Lin Daiyu remembered the vegetable leaves, the sewage pits, and the mud in Abat's street from time to time,
And some of the carelessly...
When she was riding in Bertha's private carriage,
She smelled something strange. If she had to walk over by herself,
She would inevitably be like other people who walked back,
With mud spots on her trousers.
And if she wanted to be a little more decent and tidy, she had to take a carriage.
Under the strong advice of Miss Volgue,
She also gave up the public carriage-twelve people crammed into a carriage,
And people sitting on the top of the carriage-all crammed together-men and women, old and young.
In the end,
She had no choice but to borrow twelve pence from Miss Volgue and take a two-wheeled carriage for hire,
First she went to the bank and changed some money- there were King's gold coins, shillings (silver), and some pennies. She put them in a box given by the bank. Then she went to the stationer's and bought a large stack of paper and a feather on it,
A metal dipped pen with a tip, and a bottle of ink.
It cost about two shillings and eight pence. Just the cost of the two-wheeled carriage alone was a whopping twenty-four pence. (There were a few pennies among them, she could see,
It was the coachman who bullied her, a foreigner,
And a single woman,
Who charged a sky-high price.)
The paper, pens, and ink cost eight pence.
These were okay. When it came to the purchase of clothes, probably because she was regarded as a respectable person (expensive hackney-coach, clothes, borrowed by Madame Gerland), the cordial stationer informed her of the haberdashery, and when she entered, the courteous assistant sold her a collection of fashions that "were said to be in season even for Bona."
The entire set was complete.
Huge hats with artificial flowers, satin and lace, white muslin shawls, pink low-necked blouses with puff-sleeves, floral Indian petticoats, crimson velvet sheaves with silk flowers.
The man boasted: "Madam, you don't even have to go to a hat-shop, or a shoe-shop -- in short, anything! Everything a fashionable lady needs, we can order here! "
Lin Daiyu said, "This …"
"Madam? Do you think I'm lying? " A young apprentice ran in and brought out a corset, whalebone skirt, Rococo shoes, a scarf to decorate the neck, and a wig.
"Ma 'am, you can't find anything cheaper than us! Look at this silk, this velvet, this calico, and this design. It only costs eight king's gold coins to make! "
Just then, two young men came in. They were both wearing colored velvet jackets, black satin breeches, pure colored silk waistcoats without embroidery, pleated shirts with cufflinks, and scarves. None of them were wearing hats.
He looked like a university student who was born in the third class and came from a wealthy family.
One of them was slightly plump, with sharp eyebrows and eyes. He was very tall and strong, like a warrior who drew a sword. He had brown hair, green eyes, and was dressed more luxuriously. He wore two scarves and two golden pocket watches, one big and one small.
The other was simpler. His curly chestnut hair hung naturally on his fair and delicate cheeks. His big brown eyes were smiling, and his swallow-like eyebrows made him look innocent and somewhat childish.
As soon as the two of them came in, they heard the well-dressed, oriental lady in the shop say in a low voice: "No need. I only want one set of ready-made clothes. The innermost black coat, white petticoat, and cyan blouse hanging there. "
"That set. Madam. That set is ten shillings. "The man said coldly.
The young lady replied calmly, "Just wrap this set up. Also, order another set of similar ones."
"Wow." The fair young man with curly chestnut hair and his companion looked at each other.
The young man with curly chestnut hair walked up and talked to the man: "We would like to order a set of clothes for a dear lady."
The slightly plump young man with sharp eyebrows was a step behind. He was born tall, but his behavior was gentle. He just happened to pass by the lady.
"Madam."
The moment they passed by, she heard a lowered and gentle voice: "Turn right two streets, there is a clothing store that specializes in ready-made clothes. The price is fair. "
…
When the female guest came back with a lot of effort, Miss Volgue hurried over to help carry the bags to her room. She heard Lin Daiyu whisper with a slight self-mockery: "'It is not easy to live in peace.'"
When she asked for the meaning, the oriental lady just smiled and refused to explain.
For the next few days, except for breakfast and lunch time, she almost never saw the lady come downstairs.
When Miss Volgue sent the dinner up, the door of the room was half open. Her plump body gently slipped in.
After this room welcomed a new owner, it added a different color.
There was no trace of makeup or perfume on the gorgeous mahogany dressing table.
There was only paper. Ink, pen.
In the wide solid wood wardrobe, there were no pink or light green puffy skirts of the current Rococo style. There were only a few pieces of clothing, and they were all simple and plain clothes with green, gray, black, and white as the foundation.
There were no decorations on the lower part of the wardrobe.
It was used as a bookcase, with only a stack of books.
When Miss Volgue came in, the owner of the room was still bent over the table, writing at a rapid speed.
When she saw Miss Volgue come in, she hurriedly stopped writing and took the plate. Then she called Miss Volgue: "Please wait a moment."
She untied the deflated bag and took out twelve pennies and two king's gold coins without hesitation. She gently put them in Miss Volgue's hand and said sincerely: "Thank you for your help."
The girl was not more than twenty years old. Her thin body did not even need to be tied around her waist to wear a dress. Her face was paler than most of the noble women in Luster. Her eyebrows were always hazy and melancholy. She was as clear and noble as the moon, but lonely and beautiful. She did not look like she was nineteen years old — she was much younger than that. But all the Luster girls of the same age were more voluptuous than her.
But this lady was more sensible, elegant, and polite than most of the ladies of the same age.
Miss Volgue noticed the deflated bag, then looked at the simple room, and then at the two king's gold coins and twelve pennies in her hand. She was stunned.
Miss Lin went back to the table and continued her writing.
...
About a month later. Lin Daiyu finally finished writing her book. She carefully wrapped it up, got into a private carriage, and prepared to go to the largest publishing house in the area.
When she passed by the bookstore, her hands began to itch.
She had always liked poetry and literature. Previously, in order to translate "A Dream of a Dynasty" better, she had specially bought a few literary works to see how the Luster literati used words. Unexpectedly, she was fascinated by them and even delayed the translation of "A Dream of a Dynasty" for a few days.
"No." She warned herself, "There are only seven gold coins left. I still need to prepare to pay for the food, accommodation, and living expenses. "
She walked into the bookstore.
She was very upset.
"I won't buy it." This girl, who had been through a lot, was still only nineteen years old. Like most young people who were hard up for money and tried to restrain their hobbies but failed, she comforted herself, "I'm just here to take a look at the market: which literary works are popular with the locals. That's all. "
She was picking a book called "The Theory of Evolution" and a novel called "Iqros" that seemed to talk about revolution when she saw a commotion outside.
Some priests wearing black cloth hats, black robes, and crosses on their chests surrounded the bookstore.
They sat on the ground and began to recite scriptures in unison.
There were also a few priests holding a few buckets of oil and pouring it into the bookstore.
Daiyu couldn't dodge in time, and the few clothes on her body were splashed with oil.
The bookstore owner ran out in a panic and shouted at the top of his lungs, "You religious lunatics! Guards! Guards! "
"Splash." The fat boss was also splashed with oil. Even his bald head was dripping with oil.
A circle of people surrounded him, pointing and whispering, not daring to get close.
A black-robed priest approached the shop owner with a torch in his hand. His gloomy gaze seemed to be forever fixated on a certain existence in the void. His voice was deep and eerie.
"God will purify you black-hearted merchants."
The boss was stunned. He collapsed on the ground and kept squirming back. "Help... help..."
At this moment, the shop assistant who had run to the police station when he saw that something was wrong finally returned.
A team of policemen wearing tall hats, boots, and bayonets ran over. "Stop!"
But it was already too late.
The torch was thrown down.
Although the boss was saved to the side, the fire had already followed the oil and began to lick the bookstore.
Daiyu was also pulled out by a police officer.
The police officer even apologized to her. "I'm sorry, ma'am. The situation is urgent. I was rude."
A few police officers began to put out the fire.
The others held the priests. "Be obedient and come back to the station with us!"
The black-robed priests did not resist. The one who set the fire only chuckled and said loudly to the crowd around him, "God sees everything! Those who violate God's will and sell books that slander God will be punished by God! "
The other priests recited scriptures in unison.
The crowd's faces were ashen.
The bookstore owner cried bitterly at first, then wiped his tears and got up. He followed his shop assistant to put out the fire and try to recover the losses.
Lin Daiyu was frightened and no longer had the mood to read. She only hugged her bag tightly and got into a rental carriage. She instructed the driver to hurry to the publishing house.
However, in Abat's publishing house, "A Dream of a Dynasty", the book she was proud of, encountered the first rejection in her life.
Not every unknown author could get a detailed reason for the rejection, but on account that she was a decent and beautiful young lady, she got an answer.
The editor of the publishing house was a tall and thin gentleman wearing glasses and breeches. He said, "Ma'am, your writing is too strange and stiff. That is one of the reasons. Secondly, although His Majesty Allen is magnanimous and has issued an edict to pardon revolutionaries. But our publishing house is sponsored by a baron. If there is anything about revolution, even if it is a revolution in a foreign country, I'm sorry, the nobles are always not very happy emotionally. Thirdly, even if the nobles are merciful, when you came today, did you hear about the unfortunate encounter of Old Lake of the bookstore? "
Bookstore …? Daiyu nodded subconsciously.
"We don't want to provoke some religious lunatics." The editor said ruthlessly in a graceful manner, "Whether it is revolution or science, in short, all radical things, there will always be some believers of God who are dissatisfied with them. So you can try writing another one — another gentle and interesting story, with a smoother style of writing. "
"Ma'am, shall I walk you out?"
"No need." Daiyu was a little depressed. She declined the gentleman's kindness in a soft voice.
She realized that she had made a few serious mistakes.
First. Here, she was not Xiaoxiang Lin, who had the whole Business League as her background and was praised as a literary giant. Her works, whether in terms of language or style, could not compete with the literati who grew up here in a short period of time.
Second. She subconsciously thought that Luster and the Central Plains were the same as Guangzhou, which was under the control of the Business League, were free places. But it had been almost half a year since she came from the sea to Luster. Thousands of changes could happen overnight, let alone half a year.
Judging from what the editor said about "His Majesty Allen," sending the king to the guillotine might be an old story in Luster.
And here … Daiyu thought of the malicious eyes of the black-robed priests and trembled slightly. There might be some special national conditions here that could not be compared with the Central Plains.
She went to another bookstore in Abat.
She bought some newspapers, history, and religious books.
She was still short of money, but she was not in a hurry to write again. Instead, she began a period of wandering in Abat during the day, listening to people's gossip, and reading at night.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
