After hearing Nian Jiaojiao's words, silence fell within the carriage. For a moment, everyone looked at each other, unwilling to be the first to speak.
Nian Jiaojiao sneered inwardly and added more fuel to the fire, turning to the older woman who had been the most vocal:
“Madam, you were the one who said you wanted to help everyone just now, weren't you? I see you’ve brought your young son out with you, so you’re definitely not here to check the rankings. Why don’t you get off the carriage with me?”
“Uh… this…”
The older woman was visibly embarrassed, stammering and unable to speak.
Nian Jiaojiao scanned the surroundings, and the people in the carriage averted their gazes.
Just as everyone was in a stalemate, the carter stepped forward to take control:
“The carriage is full, no more passengers. First come, first served. Shoo, shoo, get off quickly, come earlier next time.”
The older woman, who had already half-entered the carriage, was pulled off by the carter. The abundant flesh on her body vibrated violently due to the sudden, forceful movement.
“Hey! You even pull people? Is this how you do business?!”
Once the older woman regained her footing, she thrust her ample chest towards the carter, nearly hitting him in the face.
The carter, around the same age as the older woman and with ample life experience, clearly wasn't encountering a unreasonable passenger for the first time.
She rolled her eyes indifferently:
“Say whatever you want. If you have a problem, don't ever ride my carriage again.”
It was no joke; she was the only ox cart servicing the entire Qinghe Town.
If they didn’t ride her carriage, would they have to walk to town every time?
She had never been one to conduct business subserviently.
With that, the carter directly urged the ox cart forward and sped away.
Perhaps due to the earlier misunderstanding, Nian's mother and Nian Jiaojiao had no conversation throughout the journey.
Upon reaching Shanshui Town, Nian Jiaojiao glanced at Nian's mother, then was the first to jump out of the suffocating carriage, chose a direction, and left.
After Nian's mother alighted, she saw Nian Jiaojiao's retreating figure in the distance. She wanted to call out loudly, but the other had already gone far. After calling out a few times without a response, she had no choice but to give up.
She shook her head.
This child, the direction to check the rankings isn't this way…
Never mind, Shanshui Town isn’t very big. She’ll come back when she realizes she’s taken the wrong path.
Thinking this, Nian's mother walked in the direction of the rankings on her own.
Nian's mother had actually made this trip specifically to check the rankings. Although she harbored no expectations, it was, after all, her own daughter participating in the Tong Sheng examination, and it was the bare minimum for a mother to go and see the results.
What Nian's mother didn't know, however, was that
Nian Jiaojiao's main purpose for this outing was to submit her manuscript, and checking the rankings was merely a secondary objective.
…
Sanchi Bookstore.
Sanchi Niang was constantly peering out from the entrance of the bookstore.
“Mom, you’ve been standing here since early morning. It’s already the fourth watch, why don’t you go in and rest?”
Xin Xin, with candy in her mouth, mumbled to Sanchi Niang.
Sanchi Niang grabbed the little sheep horn on Xin Xin's right side and said,
“Does eating stop your mouth? Now you’re managing my affairs?”
Xin Xin pouted, then saw her younger sister looking at her with wide eyes and holding out her hands.
She frowned, took out a piece of candy from her embrace, and placed it in her sister’s hand:
“You’ve eaten it so quickly. You need to eat sparingly.”
The younger sister cried out happily upon receiving the candy and immediately put it into her mouth, sucking on it greedily.
Nian Jiaojiao saw the family of three squatting at the entrance as soon as she arrived. She couldn’t help but chuckle:
“It’s so cold outside, why are you still at the entrance? Don’t let the children catch a cold, they’re so young.”
As soon as Sanchi Niang saw Nian Jiaojiao, she felt as if she were seeing her own mother. She stood up abruptly, disregarding her numb legs, and lunged towards Nian Jiaojiao:
“Oh dear, you’re finally here! You don’t know, I…”
Sanchi Niang stopped mid-sentence, as if realizing something. She cautiously looked around and noticed a few people staring in their direction. She then said loudly to Nian Jiaojiao:
“Niece, why did you take so long to get here? Are you cold? You’ve had a hard journey coming all this way to see me!”
Nian Jiaojiao: ???
Sanchi Niang then grabbed Nian Jiaojiao by the arm as if protecting a chick and pulled her into the bookstore. As they walked, she whispered into Nian Jiaojiao’s ear:
“Don’t look back. Smile, smile.”
Nian Jiaojiao twitched her mouth. When the two reached the reception room on the third floor, Sanchi Niang finally let out a sigh of relief.
Nian Jiaojiao asked confusedly:
“Why is Sanchi Niang behaving like this?”
Sanchi Niang replied with a headache:
“I’ve been targeted by an old fox.”
Nian Jiaojiao pondered, realizing that Sanchi Niang had been targeted by a competitor. After all, her first book had been selling for so long, and its popularity remained high. Therefore, people would naturally set their sights on her as the author.
However, this was disadvantageous to Sanchi Niang, but it didn’t pose any loss to her as an author.
One must know that the Great Yue Dynasty was different from her previous life.
Here, the protection of author copyright was ruthlessly enforced.
Plagiarists were almost equivalent to murderers.
And depending on the degree of plagiarism and the level of the work plagiarized, the penalties varied. Some were even more severe than murder, punishable by torture.
The Great Yue Law states:
Those who plagiarize the works of great scholars shall be torn apart by chariots.
Furthermore, in Great Yue, printing pirated books was also considered plagiarism.
Therefore, plagiarism and piracy had basically disappeared in the Great Yue Dynasty.
If Nian Jiaojiao’s identity were discovered by other bookstore owners, they would only try their best to improve her treatment and lure her to their own bookstores to write.
Nian Jiaojiao fell silent for a moment. Sanchi Niang gritted her teeth and finally confessed the reason honestly.
If her deception were to cause the future “pillar” of their bookstore to become estranged, it would be a loss far outweighing any gain.
Sanchi Niang turned and retrieved paper, brush, and ink from the desk behind her, placing them in front of Nian Jiaojiao:
“Whatever conditions you desire, as long as I can fulfill them, just name them!”
After Sanchi Niang finished speaking, she was surprised to see Nian Jiaojiao look at her and say without hesitation:
“The conditions we previously agreed upon have already been settled. How can they be changed just because the situation has changed? Let’s stick to the original agreement.”
Sanchi Niang carefully observed Nian Jiaojiao’s expression and found that she didn’t seem to be faking. Her heart relaxed.
Her previous conditions were already quite generous. If she were to increase the stakes further, the profit she could earn would be meager.
“However…” Nian Jiaojiao suddenly spoke again, causing Sanchi Niang’s heart to tighten slightly.
Nian Jiaojiao, however, smiled slightly and continued:
“However, I would like to ask Sanchi Niang to please keep my identity as the Verdant Lotus Layman a secret.”
Sanchi Niang immediately nodded in reply: “Of course! Rest assured, I will not reveal a single word. My two daughters also don’t know who you are; they just think I’m waiting for a friend.”
After saying that, she looked at Nian Jiaojiao strangely:
“Previously, it was because you were a new author and didn’t know how the book would be received by readers, so you wanted to conceal your identity.”
“But now, your book is so popular, and the praise is unanimous. Many scholars have even written poems for it! Why do you still want to conceal it?”
If others knew that the author of this book was just a young lady, it would likely shock many people.
Nian Jiaojiao would also gain fame from this.
And observing her, she seemed to be a scholar herself. Why would she give up such an opportunity to become famous?