Shancheng County boasted a famous marketplace district that drew book vendors from all over the land. Whether one sought prestigious works for the imperial examinations or steamy romance novels, if you could dream it, you could buy it here.
Today coincided with a grand market day, leaving the streets particularly packed. A young boy dressed as a page boy squeezed out of the crowd while dripping with sweat, heading straight for a bookstore specializing in popular web-style novels.
“Boss, how much for this book?”
He flipped through it carefully for a long while before picking an inconspicuous volume tucked in a corner.
The shopkeeper was busy, casting only a hurried glance over before shouting at the top of his lungs, “Ten wen!”
“Oh! I’m leaving the money right here for you.”
The boy pulled out a handful of coins, counted out a few onto the counter, tucked the book carefully into his robe, and merged back into the crowded stream of people.
Only long after the boy had walked far away and the shop was nearly closing for the night did the owner belatedly realize something: that book titled Entering the Imperial City didn’t even seem to be a book sold in his shop.