Su Xiaotian waved goodbye and quickly headed towards the flower market as the receptionist had told her.
Indeed, next to the flower market, there was a very upscale Xinhua Bookstore.
This Xinhua Bookstore appeared to be a relatively new branch, not an old shop bearing the marks of time.
Two years ago, the country opened up the publishing and distribution rights of publishing houses, and Xinhua Bookstore lost its monopoly in book wholesale.
But it was precisely in this era that Xinhua Bookstore also ushered in a new period of rapid development.
For instance, Xinhua Bookstores started appearing in streets and alleys.
If it were a few years ago, a place like the flower market would have been an impossible location for a Xinhua Bookstore.
In the past two years, policies have changed, and many previously criticized books have been reissued. Numerous foreign classics have been published successively, all of which are important factors contributing to Xinhua Bookstore entering its golden age.
Coupled with people's thirst for knowledge, this has led to an unprecedented pace of development for Xinhua Bookstore.
Su Xiaotian walked in. Along the walls were counters, and behind the counters were tall bookshelves.
In this era, the concept of displaying books for sale had not yet emerged. To buy a book, one had to remember its title in advance, tell the salesperson, and ask them to find it.
Customers would buy books across the counter. The salesperson would issue a sales slip, the buyer would take it to the cashier to pay, and then, with the slip, they could return to the counter to collect the book.
This process was undoubtedly very slow. If someone from decades later returned here, they would be driven mad by this turtle's pace.
But Su Xiaotian was already accustomed to it.
Su Xiaotian planned to buy "The Red and the Black" and "Jane Eyre" today. However, she didn't intend to buy the translated versions but the original editions.
"Hello, sister, does our bookstore have the French version of 'The Red and the Black' and the English version of 'Jane Eyre'?"
The sales assistant was a young girl with two long, smooth, and glossy braids hanging down her chest. She was wearing a bright red ski jacket, which was very popular at the time and also quite expensive.
This attire, no matter how you looked at it, seemed a bit mismatched, but when everyone wore it, whether it matched or not became unimportant.
This was the trend.
The so-called ski jacket was what would later be known as a down-filled padded jacket. Because advertisements featured people skiing while wearing them, many people began calling these clothes ski jackets.
Ski jackets were considered scarce goods; one couldn't easily get them without some connections.
When the sales assistant heard Su Xiaotian mention wanting to buy "The Red and the Black," she was already preparing to find the book.
In the past two years, more and more people have been buying these foreign books, making them bestsellers.
But she didn't expect this young girl to be asking for the original language books.
She stared at Su Xiaotian for quite a while, feeling that the young girl in front of her had misspoken.
Even someone learning a foreign language wouldn't buy two books from different countries at once.
Learning one foreign language was already difficult, and she wanted to learn both French and English simultaneously?
It seemed impossible.
"Little girl, did you say that wrong?"
"Sister, I didn't say it wrong. I want the French version of 'The Red and the Black' and the English version of 'Jane Eyre.' Sister, I want to read the English version. I heard people say that reading the original is the fastest way to learn English. The French version of 'The Red and the Black' is for someone else."
The sales assistant girl was no longer surprised after hearing Su Xiaotian's words.
Now, university entrance requires English exams, and many middle school students are starting to diligently learn English.
This teenage girl in front of her should be a student, and wanting to learn English this way shows she's eager to learn.
This has led to many methods for learning English, and reading original texts is one of them.
"Wait a moment, I remember we have the original language versions of these two books, but I don't think there are many left."
Su Xiaotian was polite to people and had a pleasant appearance, which made the sales assistant girl like her more.
It had to be said that, in reality, this world has always been a world that judges by appearance.
Beautiful people are always more likable.
"Sister, there's no rush. Please help me find them. Can I go out for a bit and come back later to pick up the books?" Su Xiaotian smiled sincerely and spoke very courteously.
The sales assistant said, "Alright, you can come back in an hour, but any later than that won't be possible."
Su Xiaotian thanked her very politely.
In fact, the bookstore sales assistants of this era were very capable, able to quickly find the books customers needed from a sea of books.
Su Xiaotian felt that even with her good memory, it would be difficult to remember all of this.
Not to mention having to remember the author and price of each book to conveniently calculate the price for readers and issue sales slips.
If the price was calculated incorrectly, it would cause a lot of inconvenience.
It was said that Xinhua Bookstore had specially categorized books to assist sales assistants, but even so, it was still difficult to memorize.
The long-braided girl turned to look for the books, while Su Xiaotian turned and left the Xinhua Bookstore.
This flower market was not very large, with about twenty to thirty stalls, each displaying various kinds of flowers.
However, on every stall, the most abundant flower was the Clivia.
Standing at the entrance of the flower market and scanning inside, one could see mostly Clivias of various sizes.
Heh, this uniform flower market was truly eye-opening.
In later times, walking through a flower market, one would see all sorts of flowers competing in beauty.
It was much more pleasing than this monotonous display.
But Su Xiaotian had come today to find her target; she didn't intend to evaluate whether the flower market was reasonable or developing well.
Su Xiaotian noticed that there were quite a few people in the flower market, and the stall owners were busily and enthusiastically attending to customers.
When a young girl like Su Xiaotian approached, people would at most glance up, and then no one would pay her any further attention.
After all, who would believe that such a young girl had enough money to buy Clivias?
Their target customers were generally middle-aged people who looked wealthy, or young people who appeared to be in business.
Although the Clivias in the flower market were slightly cheaper than elsewhere, their prices were not low. A well-cultivated Clivia could cost four to five hundred yuan per pot, and even the cheaper ones were three to four hundred yuan.
Even the cheapest Clivia seedlings started at one to two hundred yuan per plant, and those with better appearance were priced much higher.
Su Xiaotian didn't take it to heart that she was looked down upon.
Anyway, she was here to find a bargain, and she had no intention of buying those exorbitantly priced Clivias.
Possessing the Heart of Flora, she only wanted to find some better varieties, preferably those that were almost dying and intended to be sold at a low price.
What is a bargain?
This is a true bargain.
Su Xiaotian never intended to buy something that others had already successfully cultivated; it was too expensive.
However, she had brought a considerable amount of money with her, just in case she couldn't find the bargain product she wanted.
Su Xiaotian slowly walked forward, her eyes scanning each stall, her ears listening to the conversations between stall owners and customers.