CH 22.1

Jiang Wang calmed himself down for a few days and did not rush to find Ji Linqiu again.

He had never dealt with this kind of friendship before, so he thought he should find a clear-headed period to think about it carefully.

Ji Linqiu dared to tell him those words to this point, it could only be regarded as a unique trust in him.

Jiang Wang squatted on the balcony to think and concluded that it was better to continue eating and drinking as they pleased.

If Teacher Ji was as lonely as he had been in his previous life and lived like a lone goose, then he had no problem with walking and feeding the goose. Depending on the situation, he would even stroke a handful of their hair to show his friendliness.

If he found a suitable boyfriend in the future by chance, he would also help him with his blessing, treating him no differently than his other friends.

Jiang Wang’s strategy at the beginning was to be cautious and careful, but after smoking half a cigarette, he felt he was being stupid.

Ji Linqiu was a transparent person. One could see at a glance that he was deliberately taking care of his feelings.

It was better not to overthink it and just be straightforward.

Jiang Wang figured that there were many stories the other person hadn’t told him, and he might not have the opportunity in the future, so he decided to channel all his emotions into being good to this person.

His memories were different from Peng Xingwang’s.

Peng Xingwang suffered for a while when he was a child, but now, he was perfectly protected by an elder brother. His life is safe and prosperous, and can now quickly let go of any grievances from the past.

Jiang Wang’s past was dark and cold, and only one person consistently illuminated it firmly.

When he thought of this, his heart would beat slowly like it was being propped open, with a little hint of bitterness.

During the period when Jiang Wang was sorting out his thoughts, business at the bookstore skyrocketed due to the start of the summer vacation. The customer service was so busy that one or two keyboards broke, and they had to urgently train a new batch of staff to help with the shifts.

The bookstore was now operating according to plan. The front end was processed into a small reading area, the middle a display stand and a milk tea shop and the back end was used as a warehouse or logistics distribution point for online stores and other physical stores.

Since the little boss Wang (Xingxing) had been away for a while and hadn’t returned, Boss Jiang gradually spent more time managing the store, and from time to time dealing with difficult customers on behalf of his employees.

It was a bit troublesome to run a physical store for this reason.

One time, there was an uncle who tried to cut the price of a book that’s priced 35 yuan to 10 yuan, and if they didn’t agree, he threatened to burn down their store one day.

There was also a child who wiped their snot on new books while eating sticky candied fruits. After being warned by the staff a few times, they immediately threw a tantrum and cried loudly, while the parents scolded people with angry faces.

But compared to these people, what the staff was most afraid of were teachers.

From elementary school teachers to high school teachers in the neighborhood, without exception.

Even though these teachers dressed in casual clothes and looked like simple parents of students, the sales clerks in the store could recognize them at a glance.

——The temperament and gaze were too outstanding.

No matter what their facial features were, they all have a pair of sharp piercing eyes. Even the fat old man with a red nose from drinking was no exception. He looked around like a police officer, which scared away the students who were reading.

Generally, teachers first look at the teaching aids and reference books, carefully picking out a few and flipping through them, before deciding whether to buy them.

Then, just like inspecting the evening self-study, they wandered around the entire bookstore, naturally treating the place where the students exist as their own territory.

Girls reading romance novels, students playing card games, and elementary school students engrossed in reading comics all broke out in cold sweats when they sight these teachers.

There were also a few teachers who sat by the water bar and chatted with the staff making milk tea. Among them, a male teacher surnamed Kou talked a lot.

When mentioning the United States invading Iraq, he was filled with righteous indignation, then sighed.

When talking about the house prices quietly beginning to rise, he shook his head repeatedly and angrily slammed the table.

Reading magazines and newspapers, seeing robberies and murders, or the gap between the rich and the poor was becoming too big. Teacher Kou talked nonsense with the staff who were busy making coffee all afternoon.

The latter was actually very busy preparing orders and pouring latte art, so at first he tried to respond politely with a few sentences, but later mechanically pretended to simply laugh along, not wanting to offend Mr. Kou.

Teacher Kou was not surprised. He had probably annoyed many people for a long time. Especially since he always came over to order a cup of coffee and pontificate. It could only be regarded by him as enjoying a leisurely summer vacation.

The problem lay in this teacher’s overwhelming sense of justice.

Teacher Kou rambled to the robot [1] about current social news but he was not satisfied. He taught the robot a few words to care about current affairs but secretly went around the store behind his back to see if there were any students he knew playing there.

Coincidentally, he happened to catch a girl reading a romance novel.

The junior high student also recognized him as the troublesome teacher from the class next door, making her face turn pale with fright, and hurriedly came up with an excuse to slip away.

Before Teacher Kou opened his mouth to say anything, the assistant nearby who was repeatedly instructed by Jiang Wang came quickly to clear the tables and save the situation.

The moment Teacher Kou was distracted by the assistant, the junior high girl couldn’t care less about the books they bought, and directly ran away as soon as she grabbed her school bag.

“Hey, stop! Which class are you from!”

“Sorry, I have to wipe down the table here. Be careful of getting splashed and dirtying your clothes.”

The male teacher became angry, grabbed the books the girl had bought, and flipped through most of them. He jumped as he read them, then slammed the fancy cover onto the table

“What are you selling in your shop?? A teenage boy riding a bicycle with a girl? Do they have to kiss too??” 

“Call your boss here!!”

On the first day, the assistant was still able to deal with this using the excuse that the boss was away on a business trip. On the second day, the teacher came back to aggressively check the ‘bad books’. And on the third day, he came with a frown and defended justice as usual.

At that time, Jiang Wang was still in the provincial city accompanying Teacher Ji on a blind date. His eyebrows twitched at the thought that something bad happened, so he ordered his assistant to coax the teacher first and made sure he left.

——For this kind of thing, it was easiest to deal with it forcefully. But it would be a big issue if the male teacher became too angry and made a big deal of it, which would affect the impression of the bookstore to the teachers of the nearby school.

So they couldn’t go head-to-head with this, they had to find a way to make him stop.

After Jiang Wang left the restaurant, he made a special call to the teacher and made an appointment to meet one afternoon on a certain day.

His words were sincere and polite to the point that you would not find any fault in it at all.

Naturally, Teacher Kou agreed.

Not only did he agree, but he also picked out all the vulgar books in the romance zone and comic zone with the idea of helping the new generation. He waited to report this to the boss and have him clean it up.

The assistant rolled his eyes almost a dozen times behind Teacher Kou’s back, still pretending to be diligent and obedient to make him happy.

However, after such a commotion, the business in the store dropped by nearly half. Many children did not dare to come and play, so the milk tea and snacks could not be sold.

Among the four stores, the one near Hongshan Elementary School usually had the best performance. The employees had a lot of face when they met to receive the red envelopes. Several people from the other stores became angry when this happened.

But now, a real goddamn immortal came[2].

After returning to the city, Jiang Wang did not see the person immediately. He sat in the office and thought about countermeasures.

He had too many things to consider lately. He couldn’t even look at his new home’s property certificate when he got it. He could only sit in exhaustion as he cracked walnuts slowly.

Why were there so many troubles in this world?

As soon as the day came, Jiang Wang deliberately dressed up to meet this teacher, as if he was going to attend a multinational economic summit.

Teacher Kou was usually reluctant to add pudding to his milk tea, let alone afford to wear a custom-made suit on his body. When he met Jiang Wang, his aura consciously weakened, as he said hello politely.

Then he forcefully moved the books stored by the assistant and more than a dozen books were scattered on the table.

A few bold students heard the news a while ago, and today came to see how Boss Jiang would handle it.

…It was hard for them to finally find a shop that was comfortable for homework and also had delicious coffee.

Boss Jiang took a casual look at the books.

“What’s wrong with these books?”

“They promote improper relationships between men and women! Vulgar! It’s all harmful weeds, harmful weeds!” Teacher Kou’s saliva quickly sprayed on Jiang Wang’s face, his confidence soaring, “If you really care for the good of these children, you should take them all off the shelves!”

Jiang Wang nodded calmly, motioning him to sit down first.

“Let me see, which one do you dislike the most?”

Teacher Kou paused for a moment and quickly found a book with a boy and girl holding hands affectionately on the cover.

He was afraid that Jiang Wang would not give him a chance later, so he took out another comic with exaggerated skeletons.

“This one! And this one too!”

“I see,” Jiang Wang nodded, “Where is the bad thing?”

“The bad thing is– the bad thing is that it instigates the students to fall in love with each other! They’re bloody and vicious!”

Jiang Wang asked, “Then have you complained to the publishing house?”

“I have already called the publishing house. I even called four times in a row.” Teacher Kou didn’t hear the irony of this conversation at all, and said confidently, “Starting with you, you can’t sell this kind of thing anymore!”

Jiang Wang sighed, and then said curiously, “Then if something happens to these children in the future, should they hold you responsible or should it be me?”

“What?” Teacher Kou was puzzled, “Responsible for what?”

“I said,” he repeated very slowly, “If these children who haven’t read books made mistakes in love, humiliated when they encounter school violence, or when they can’t find a job and jump off a building in despair.”

“Will they hold you responsible, Teacher Kou, or me, the owner of a bookstore?”

Teacher Kou looked bewildered.

“Why should I be responsible?”

“If a child reads an inappropriate book and is negatively influenced, then it must be as you said. The publishing house and I, the bookseller, have to bear the responsibility.”

“But if they encounter more painful and desperate dangers because they haven’t read these books, are you, or am I responsible?”

As if hearing something strange, the male teacher took a while before asking back, “It’s a good thing if they don’t read these books. How could they encounter accidents?”

Jiang Wang shook his head calmly and picked up a romance novel.

“Actually, before I buy the goods, I also read a few of them as a pastime.”

“Do you know that some little girls lack love due to their family issues?”

“When they interact with their families in reality, they may even be scolded and criticized for being brainless just because they drank a few sips of water while taking medicine as if they were never meant to be protected and taken care of.”

“But when they read these books, they will find that there are many girls who treat the world in a completely different way from them.”

“Even if you encounter a person who pursued enthusiastically or one who showed a domineering possession, or grand gestures like large tracts of champagne roses or hot air balloon confessions, the protagonists in these books do not necessarily accept inappropriate love.”

“These books at least become mirrors telling them how other people face the choices at crossroads and the corresponding consequences.”

“If I destroyed all these books according to your instructions, who should these kids refer to for guidance in life?”

Teacher Kou’s eyelids twitched several times in a row as if he had turned into a crazy person.

“You, what nonsense are you talking about?!”

“Isn’t it a kind of arrogance to easily influence the life choices of students in this way?”

Jiang Wang laughed, “You don’t have to accept my point of view.”

“As long as you personally write a public statement of at least 800 words, expressing your willingness to be responsible for all the children who do not read these books, I will burn all the books in front of you.”

Teacher Kou stared straight at him, he was so shocked that he had nothing to say, he slammed the table and yelled.

“You are making trouble unreasonably!”

After speaking, he picked up his bag and left without looking back.

He probably won’t come back in the near future.