Chapter 356: Ye Lei’s Appeal, Sisi Takes Action
Unexpectedly, as soon as the family arrived at the doorway of the bookstore, they were amazed by the crowd blocking the entrance!
Noise filled their ears as people struggled to squeeze into the bookstore, causing Di Yelei to frown.
“Sisi, there are too many people in the front; let’s go in from the back door.”
Liu Sisi’s eyes lit up! This was indeed a good idea.
“Let’s go! We’ll go around this way.”
Liu Sisi led everyone around to the back of the bookstore, knocking fiercely on the door for quite a while before someone came to answer it.
It was Shou Hou, who was sweating profusely. Seeing Liu Sisi and others arriving, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief: “I’m glad you’re here; we couldn’t hold on much longer.”
“What’s going on? Completely overwhelmed?”
Liu Sisi entered the bookstore while speaking.
There were many people inside the bookstore, and those buying paper were crowding within. Even more people were crowding at the entrance!
Di Cheng was at the counter collecting money, and Nan Tianzong, who had come to help, was sitting outside the main entrance, writing spring couplets for the multitude of people who came to buy them.
It was indeed a chaotic mess!
Seeing this situation, Liu Sisi immediately suggested a solution.
“Close the extra doors immediately, leaving two doors on one side. One on the left for entry, and one on the right for exit. Ye Lei, you go and handle the crowd at the entrance and calm everyone down. Shou Hou, you stand at the exit and watch for any items that leave without being paid for. Second Sister, you and I will stand at the front entrance and help call people. Di Cheng, you continue collecting silver. As for the middle area that’s so congested… leave it to Brother Nan to write the spring couplets!”
With her instructions, everyone quieted down strangely and began to find their positions.
“Ye Lei, your voice is loud, so hurry up and shout a few times, and then close the middle doors. As for father, please take care of the three children for the time being. Either stay in the inner room or go out shopping.”
Di Yelei immediately agreed and went to the entrance to shout, “Quiet! Everyone, stop the noise and chaos! I am a constable from the county government office; everyone listen to my command! Quiet!”
The tall, burly man stood high and waved his arm, which was truly eye-catching.
Upon hearing that he was a constable from the county government office, the townspeople instinctively feared the government. The noisy crowd quieted down and watched him silently.
Di Yelei stood on a high stool and immediately directed the crowd: “Those who want to enter the store to make purchases, enter from the left side. After purchasing items, go to the counter to check out and exit from the right side. Everyone, please be orderly and check your items carefully to avoid any omissions!”
As his words fell, Shou Hou had already closed the extra doors, leaving only the left and right two doors for entry and exit.
Those who wanted to make purchases immediately began to move, and the scene instantly became much quieter.
Di Yelei looked at the many people who still hadn’t moved and hurriedly shouted again: “If you plan to come and write couplets, line up in front of the closed middle door in three rows. Everyone, don’t worry and don’t panic!”
After saying that, he thought about it and added: “This year is a bumper harvest year, and there is no corvee labor from the government. Although there are some taxes, compared to previous years, we are much better off! We constables may sound nice, but aren’t we just errand boys for the Old Master of the county? Ah! Everyone line up, line up!”
Di Yelei’s words made everyone laugh, and they began to line up.
“Hey! I must say, every year near the end of the year we used to have corvee labor, but not this year. I was wondering why!” A man walked into the queue for writing spring couplets.
A nearby auntie didn’t agree: “How can you talk like this? Isn’t it a good thing that there’s no corvee labor? Why do you care about it?”
Her words amused the crowd: “Isn’t it! If there were no corvee labor every year, that would be a good thing!”
“You wish! Eight characters forward in the office, we don’t believe it just by watching it here. There’s no forced labor before the New Year this year. The corvee labor in early spring will definitely be early, no doubt!” another man said loudly.
Upon hearing this, Di Yelei hurriedly followed up with a loud voice: “Whatever happens next year will be next year’s business! The government has already sealed the seal this year. Anyway, we can spend a comfortable, good year this year. Everyone, isn’t it?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
The crowd in the center of the scene became lively!
The order outside was quickly maintained, which surprised Liu Sisi inside the room.
Who would have thought! Di Yelei’s command was so strong! He was simply a born leader.
First, he used his identity as a constable to awe the crowd. Once they were obedient, he immediately let them know that he shared their sentiments, further arousing their resonance…’This approach was much stronger than Liu Sisi’s!
Liu Zhi’er, worried that the passing crowd would bump into Liu Sisi’s stomach, stood firmly behind her, smiling and greeting the people.
“Uncle! Enter the bookstore through here.”
“This brother, come in through here.”
“Dear sir, could you please exit from there?”
Liu Sisi saw that Liu Zhi’er was handling everything so smoothly, and along with Di Cheng and Shou Hou’s presence, as well as Di Yelei watching everyone from a high position, she thought for a moment, opened the middle door, and went to Nan Tianzong’s side.
“Brother Nan, how are you doing here? Can you handle it? Do you want me to help write too?”
Nan Tianzong was completely overwhelmed at the moment!
Although there were three queues, who wouldn’t want to get their spring couplets early? Especially since these couplets needed to be thought of, written, and sold on the spot, it really kept Nan Tianzong very busy.
At the moment, when he heard Liu Sisi’s words, it was like seeing his savior. He quickly pushed a set of four treasures of the study towards her.
“Sisi, you’re right on time! Hurry up and help write a few more. I’m really too busy over here!”
Liu Sisi didn’t refuse and sat down beside him.
“Alright! Who wants me to help write?”
Her words suddenly silenced those around her!
In this era, women were generally illiterate, except for the daughters of wealthy families who studied poetry and books. It was no wonder that a woman like Liu Sisi suddenly came forward to write spring couplets, and no one spoke up.
Liu Sisi didn’t mind, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote on the cut red paper: “Upper line: Happy living in a blessed land for a thousand years. Lower line: Fortune shines on family doors for ten thousand things. Horizontal batch: Welcoming the New Year.”
These spring couplets would be sold at a stall every year at the end of the year when her grandfather in her previous life was still alive.
Although the spring couplets in her mind were common, they were still in large quantities.