CH 444

When they usually listened to the radio, Sanwang would also follow in his Eldest Brother’s interests, listening to the channels that talked about wars and spies. Coupled with the influence of Lin Lan and her publicity team’s programs, Sanwang’s desire to perform became stronger.

Dawang led him through the door.

***

On the other hand, watching her two sons’ retreating figures, Lin Lan’s eyebrows curved as she said in disbelief, “These two brats.”

She and Han Qingsong took the other three children to stroll around. Their first stop in the county was the local bookstore.

Xinhua Bookstore was still very small as it was only about 3 rooms large and there weren’t many books in it. Despite that, there were some Quotations(1), some outdated periodicals, newspapers and novels about the reformation of the land and the revolutionary activities done in order to build a new country. Plus, there were also textbooks of all grades available as well.

(T/N: Directly translated as The Treasured Red Book, it contains the quotations and the speeches of the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Tse-tung)

Another bookshelf was full of comic books, pictures and similar items. Maisui and Erwang couldn’t put the books down, so they squatted in a corner and continued reading, not wanting to leave.

In particular, although Maisui wasn’t able to read a couple of words, it didn’t deter her ability to read the comics quickly. She would be able to finish reading an entire book in a few minutes before sprinting to get another.

Han Qingsong, on the other hand, was reading some specialist books.

Lin Lan brought Xiaowang to see if there were any books that talked about music and art. She also wanted to buy some blackboards and newspapers for publication purposes. Also, she wanted to see if there were any crafts to buy.

In the end, she picked a musical manuscript book, which would allow him to learn to read notes and staves in order to read music. Plus, the manuscript staves were sufficient for musicians to write simple original music.

With Xiaowang learning from Huo Yuan, he could figure out the rest on his own.

Xiaowang also picked out a painting book, which was basically a miscellaneous jumble of all art. It contained sketches, gouache, traditional Chinese paintings and similar pieces. The collection was very in line with the current requirements for building various businesses in a quicker, better and more economical fashion.

In addition, Lin Lan also bought some outdated monthly novels such as ‘Liuquan’, ‘Red Flag’, ‘Military Songs Out Loud’ and so on. These could be read by the entire family and she could also share them with the members of the Commune.

Plus, as the books were considered outdated, she could buy the entire stack for only 1 Yuan.

Seeing that they’ve spent quite a long time in the bookstore, Lin Lan reminded them, “We’re leaving, have you guys chosen what you want yet?”

The duo hesitated, unsure of what to buy. Erwang picked a book about health-preserving recipes, which met the requirements of creating fast, easy and economical foods. There was already quite a lot of knowledge in one book, but he selected an entire set that consisted of several. Technically, it was still a good deal. He also picked out two other books and one of them was about psychological eloquence, which was a book that they would have never been able to find in the Commune.

But if he were to get all those books, it would most definitely be over his given budget.