Zheng Qing stood in front of the San You Bookstore, his expression blank.
From the age of eight, following his teacher to practice calligraphy, Zheng Qing spent his childhood, adolescence, and entered youth within the San You Bookstore. Ten years can make a person forget many things, and it can also make a person remember many things.
For example, the name of the bookstore, the layout of the bookstore, and the smell of the bookstore.
The San You Bookstore in front of him was identical to his teacher's shop in name and layout, with only a slight difference in smell.
Because this bookstore was closed, it had an air of desolation.
The bookstore's doors were tightly shut, and a thick layer of dust covered the eaves and window frames, indicating that no one had been there for a long time.
Zheng Qing leaned closer, peering through the dim glass into the bookstore, which was pitch black.
Faintly, there were one or two green specks of light.
He wasn't sure if he was seeing things.
"You need to buy textbooks at Sanwei Bookstore," Thomas called from not far away. "Over here!"
Zheng Qing brushed the dust from his hands and reluctantly moved away from the window.
Inside the room, a Yellow Flower Cat blinked, then sneezed, stirring up a cloud of dust on the floor.
Separated by a stationery shop, the two bookstores presented a stark contrast.
Sanwei Bookstore had many customers, and most of them were young people coming and going.
According to Thomas, this shop, like Yunxiang Yi, belonged to First University's partner businesses. Many of the University's procurement requirements were based on their standards.
"First University, Freshman required textbooks. Publicly Funded Student," Thomas stated concisely to the shop assistant behind the counter.
"Please wait a moment," the assistant replied with a professional, standard smile, quickly wrote a few characters, crumpled the paper, and tossed it out.
The paper ball floated into the air, transformed into a paper crane, and gracefully flew down the aisle to the back of the shop.
"Why is that bookstore next door closed?" Zheng Qing asked casually, admiring the paper crane. "These two bookstores have such similar names; are they owned by the same person?"
His intuition told him that the closed San You Bookstore next door was the San You Bookstore his teacher had opened.
But why his teacher left here and secluded himself in their ordinary neighborhood was worth considering.
Countless plots of conspiracy, love, hate, and revenge from Wuxia stories swirled in Zheng Qing's mind.
He could only be cautious, probing indirectly, for fear of causing trouble for his teacher.
The Sanwei Bookstore assistant's stiff smile remained unchanged; he looked straight ahead, showing no reaction to Zheng Qing's question.
Thomas, on the other hand, glanced at him and slowly replied, "It's just that the owner had something to attend to. There are so many closed shops in the mall; if you have time to worry about that, you'd better worry about what's still left on the list to buy. I still have to travel thousands of miles tonight to fill out a report."
Zheng Qing felt that his gaze was very meaningful and quickly abandoned the idea of asking further questions.
"Here are your items, please keep them safe," the paper crane returned to the counter with a cardboard box. The assistant smiled mechanically, opened the wooden box, and pushed it towards Thomas.
"Hmm," Thomas scanned it, then pulled Zheng Qing to the box. "Check the list."
Zheng Qing pulled out the list full of book titles and began counting them one by one.
"Yao Xiaomi's Standard Spells, Emma's Astronomy, Zhang-Sima's Basic Talisman, Li Qi Huang's Potions, Yi Jiazi's Divination, Grand History, Karl's Magic Philosophy... What is this?" At the end of his count, Zheng Qing held up a very simply bound book and asked, "This isn't on the booklist. Was it given to me by mistake?"
"This is the University's welcome guide for you. Every year, Freshmen get lost in the University or accidentally injure a Kappa in Linzhong Lake. So, the Student Union's senior students compiled this book to help you avoid detours in the University," Thomas sighed. "Although this book is poorly bound, the contents are worth reading."
Zheng Qing nodded and tucked the book, "Entering First University," into the cardboard box.
"Give the booklist to the assistant," Thomas instructed.
Zheng Qing handed the slightly green booklist to the stiff-faced assistant.
The assistant held the paper up to his eyes, his eyes wide, his eyeballs bulging and twitching, emitting two golden rays of light that scanned the booklist several times.
When the booklist returned to his hand, Zheng Qing noticed that the rows of book titles on it had disappeared. The disappeared names were now safely resting in the boxes beside him.
"You don't have a spatial artifact?" Thomas asked curiously, seeing Zheng Qing preparing to lift the boxes.
"Oh, you mean that? I do have one," Zheng Qing couldn't help but look around, his face slightly red. "My teacher never allowed me to use it freely outside before."
As he spoke, he reached into his Arms and pulled out the palm-sized gray cloth bag embroidered with golden runes. He shook the mouth of the bag towards the stacked boxes.
The boxes immediately transformed into streaks of light and flew into the bag.
"A very beautiful pouch," the stiff-faced assistant suddenly praised from the side, startling Zheng Qing.
He had always thought these assistants would only perform mechanical tasks programmatically.
Before leaving the bookstore, Zheng Qing looked back at the San You Bookstore next door.
Its neglected entrance looked so unique amidst the bustling Four Seasons Square.
He decided to find his teacher as soon as he returned home and ask for a clear explanation.
Thomas walked slowly ahead, frowning, seemingly deep in thought.
The two fell into a strange silence for a moment.
It wasn't until they passed several pet shops that the chirping and squawking of small animals in cages outside the shops broke the silence between them.
A slender falcon stood on the eaves, looking around majestically, proudly surveying all creatures.
In the mud nest under the eaves, several swallows poked out their heads, looking around; on the mortise and tenon frame nearby hung several napping black bats.
On the wall, two lizards extended their slender claws, leisurely crawling around, occasionally flicking out their bright red tongues to intimidate the buzzing flies.
In the open space in front of the shop, three kittens were savagely beating a fat rat, while a rabbit nearby watched with relish, holding its carrot.
"These little things are so interesting!" Zheng Qing mumbled, grinning at the poor rat.
"Indeed!" Thomas snapped out of his thoughts, a satisfied smile on his face. "The biggest difference between us wizards and Baiding is our reverence and love for Nature, and our good friendship with these companions of Nature. As a wizard, you might not like Spells, but you won't dislike these small animals."
"Then can I buy one?" Zheng Qing's spirits lifted at his words, and he quickly looked up, a hint of longing in his eyes.
"No," Thomas shook his head decisively. "You are a Publicly Funded Student of the University; your scholarship is only enough for your study materials. You have to figure out your living expenses yourself, let alone a pet."