Qinjia Bookstore, which is already a property in Caobang, is also located in the East City of Luoyang, but not in the inner city, but in the outer city. From the inner city, you have to pass through several neighborhoods and then cross the Xusheng Gate connecting the inside and outside to reach the Anminfang where it is located.

Although it is also east of Luoyang, the outer city is much simpler than the inner city. The streets here are more cramped. The houses in the alleys at both ends are generally low and narrow, but there are more people coming and going than the inner city, which leads to crowding all the way. Li Ling pulled Yue'er and almost sweated. He came to the bookstore with small doors and a lot of dust on the signboard.

Today is February 18th, the third day after the examination. After sleeping at home for two days, Li Ling, who finally recovered, thought of going out for a walk, and then brought Yue'er, who was yelling to be with her brother, and ran here.

Looking up at the deserted bookstore, Yue'er couldn't help but mutter: "Brother, this place is smaller than Brother Gu's bookstore."

The little girl said the truth. The bookstore looked really inferior to the Gu family’s bookstore on the surface, but Li Ling smiled: “This is no other way. After all, every inch of land in the capital is valuable, so it is not easy to open a bookstore in such a lively place. Let’s go in and take a look first.”

After entering the door, what I saw was still a bit desolate. All the objects in the front hall were old. There was only one guy sitting listlessly at the counter. When he saw someone coming in, he barely cheered up and said with a smile: "Is this young master here to buy books? Our bookstore has recently had a batch of new scriptures, but..."

Before he could finish his words, Li Ling waved his hand: "I'm here to find someone, Lao Zhou... Can Zhou spy be in the store today?"

"So he is a friend of the new boss?" The guy sighed helplessly, "He is talking inside, but do you have to go in and report it?"

"No need, I'll just go in and look for him." Li Ling smiled at him and walked straight into the narrow aisle beside the counter. After passing through the small door, he found that there was still something strange behind the store - a large cross-yard with many printing equipment, and the new ink in the few large jars exuded a faint smell, while there were three tiled houses opposite. The door in the middle was half closed at this moment, and the sound was heard from it, but it was not too real.

Li Ling was not polite, so he went up and took a photo of the door: "Is Lao Zhou inside? Li Ling came as an appointment."

The sound inside stopped immediately, and the door opened, and Zhou Ji greeted him with a hint of surprise: "Mr. Li, why do you have time to run here?" Several frowning men behind him looked at him with curious eyes. The four of them looked honestly, and they should be workers in the bookstore.

"Didn't I tell you before that I'd come to the bookstore to take a look? Now that the test is over, I'm thinking about coming here." Li Ling smiled and said, "What are these?"

"They are all old craftsmen in this bookstore. Shi Xiu, who specializes in making ink, Liu Bing and Zhang Laoshi, are the best of them. Fang Liuqi has been printing books for more than ten years." Lao Zhou casually introduced them, "This young master Li is a good friend of our boss. He just finished the exam, and I think he will definitely be able to get the first place."

After hearing his introduction, these people looked respectful to Li Ling, and bent down to salute, and Li Ling also greeted them one by one. It seemed that they had something to say, but these people didn't bother them much, so they quickly walked out of the house on the excuse of busy work.

After only three of them were left in the room, Li Ling looked at the messy room and said, "Lao Zhou, it seems that the business of this bookstore is really difficult to do."

Lao Zhou smiled bitterly: "It's not just difficult to do, I won't hide it from the young master. In fact, our bookstore is really at the end of its reach and is about to close it directly. I was still discussing with them just now to ask them to find another place. After all, although this store is closed, the place is still good. Our Cao Gang can open another store here."

"Why, is it so difficult to buy and sell bookstores in Luoyang City? It's not right, the people in the capital are more literate and more people reading books, so the business should be done better." Li Ling said curiously.

Lao Zhou first brewed tea for them, and then replied: "Young Master doesn't know that it's not that the bookstore in the city is difficult to do, but that the Qin family bookstore can't continue. Of course, this is related to this industry, but more importantly, it's that Qin Laoliu himself did not do a good job in business.

"As the young master said, the capital is the most wise place, and there are naturally more people who read books than elsewhere. The book market was still very prosperous. But in this way, there are many merchants in this industry. As far as I know, there are now no less than ten bookstores in the city. The Qin Family Bookstore has been around for a long time, and three generations have been open for more than fifty years."

"That's the time-honored brand, business should be better."

"It was, but I couldn't resist the last one who took over was a prodigal son. When Qin Laoliu had money at first, he only knew how to eat, drink and have fun. He ignored the situation in the store and came to the store to withdraw it when he had no money. As a result, Haohao's bookstore's business continued to decline, and the old man also left a lot. Finally, when he realized that he could come, the bookstore could not pay the wages.

"He was also an idea, and he actually wanted to squeeze the cost by doing things on paper and ink, and then printing cheap books to seize the market. As a result, ink was really made of stone repairs, and the cost was only 30% of the original cost, which looked the same as before. But there was a disadvantage that the printed things were easily contaminated to people's hands and other places.

"He didn't care at that time, so he printed a batch of books according to this and sold them at a low price. As a result, some were sold at the beginning, but as the problem emerged, the books were completely unable to be sold. Not to mention those scholars, even bookstores of all sizes in the city, they dared not ask for books from his family anymore. The two or three thousand books printed before were piled up in the warehouse.

"At his desperate situation, he could only gamble and sell the books outside the capital, and then he came to our Cao Gang... As a result, those books were not sold at a good price. The bookstore, which was already stretched, was completely finished, and he still owed us a hundred taels of debt.

"This kid simply gave us a discount of 1,300 taels to the entire bookstore. Our gang leader thought that at least the store was pretty good, so he responded to this matter and asked me to take care of it here, thinking about whether the bookstore could be brought back to life. But now it seems impossible. The reputation of the Qin Family Bookstore is already bad, and it is impossible to sell it if you print it. As for changing the signboard, with the current layout of more than ten bookstores in the capital, it is difficult for us to have a foothold, so we can only close the matter..."

While drinking tea, Li Ling also felt a little emotional when he heard him telling the bookstore. No matter what ancient and modern times, as long as he loses his reputation once in a business, it will be difficult to recover any effort.

Of course, this is not the focus of his attention. What he cares about is that this is the bookstore, the bookstore he and Wan Lang have always wanted - not only have a place, but also have many years of skilled people and a complete set of tools - but also in the bookstore in the capital! If he doesn't get moved, then what else does he do in the bookstore business?

At that moment, Li Ling looked at Lao Zhou: "Even if you close this business and start other business, you may not be able to make much money, right?"

"It depends on luck. Our Cao Gang can still buy and sell goods from north to south by transporting goods from north to south."

"But I think it's a pity that such a good bookstore is closed like this. Why don't you give it up to me? I'll also pay 1,300 taels, no, even 1,500 taels, how about buying a bookstore at this price?"

"Ah?" Old Zhou looked at Li Ling in surprise: "Young Master Li, aren't you joking? What do you want this ruined bookstore to do?"

"Of course it's a bookstore business."

"Yes...but it's already like this here, and aren't you going to take the imperial examination and become an official?"

"The bookstore is defeated in the hands of others, and maybe it will prosper in my hands? As for the imperial examination and being an official, it does not conflict with doing business. I am still just an ordinary scholar now. It is harmless to get some industry?"

Seeing Li Ling speaking solemnly, Old Zhou fell into deep thought. After a while, he looked at him and said, "Young Master, don't you just say it casually. Do you really think this bookstore can be saved?"

"There should be more than 50% of the hope. By the way, you may not know one thing. In fact, in Hengzhou, I joined hands with my friends to open a bookstore. I planned to open a bookstore after the business is good, but now it seems that this plan can be advanced, and if you don't open a bookstore in Hengzhou, you will open it directly in the capital! If you don't believe it, you can come to my place to withdraw money tomorrow..."

Old Zhou waved his hand quickly: "How could a villain not believe the young master's words? It was just a little surprised..." He smiled again, "Since the young master has this mind, our Cao Gang naturally needs to cooperate with him. No matter what money is, if you want this bookstore, just take it!"

This guy was so generous that he pushed out more than a thousand taels of silver at once. But Li Ling was slightly stunned. Is this a way to hand over himself? Obviously, the other party should have received Yang Qinghou's instructions long ago and deliberately won over him.

But if you think about it carefully, it is a good choice to cooperate with the Cao Gang in this way. After all, he is in the capital and has a distant place, so he also needs such forces to help him. So Li Ling also smiled and said, "In this way, even if we cooperate to reopen this bookstore, I will pay for the relevant changes at that time. If I make money, I will share it with you equally?"
Chapter completed!