The Book Thief

The next day, Ma Feifei got up rather early. Why? Because he had slept on his own arm, and it hurt like hell.

After washing up in the courtyard, he opened the Bookstore, carried out his little stool, and sat listlessly in front of the door.

"Huh? Mysterious Bookstore?"

Ma Feifei, who had been dozing off, suddenly heard someone mention his "Mysterious Bookstore." He immediately perked up and opened his eyes to look.

This was someone who clearly was not well-off. She wore a shabby long robe. Though clean, the deep-blue fabric had faded from too many washes. Most importantly, she was barefoot. Could she not even afford shoes?

Then he looked at her face.

Well, it was completely smeared with mud, filthy enough that he could not make out her features. But her eyes were quite lively, bright and sparkling.

His gaze instinctively dropped to her throat and chest, and Ma Feifei came to a conclusion: she was a girl.

What was he even thinking? None of that mattered.

"How about it? Want to come in and take a look? The shop is opening today, so all the books inside can be read for free today." This was his first customer. Whether he could complete the reading quota depended on this girl.

"Oh?" Seemingly drawn in by the word free, the girl's eyes shifted as she walked inside on her bare feet.

The mission is about to be completed! Ma Feifei grew a little excited as he watched her back.

Suppressing his excitement, Ma Feifei abandoned even his little stool and followed her inside.

"This is what you call 'all the books in the shop'?" Zhao Xiaodao pointed around the store before finally stopping at Andersen's Fairy Tales.

Ma Feifei's face reddened. He chuckled awkwardly and said, "It's a newly opened shop. The books are still being delivered. It'll be better in a few days."

Zhao Xiaodao nodded casually and took Andersen's Fairy Tales from the shelf. Its exquisite cover made her eyes light up. It was as if they could speak, telling Ma Feifei just how much she liked the cover.

"Andersen's Fairy Tales?" Zhao Xiaodao read softly, her brows knitting slightly. She seemed never to have heard of this book.

"It's a new book, one that's never appeared on the market before. It's very good. Why don't you sit down and take your time reading?"

The shop was not large, only around twenty square meters. Aside from the bookshelves around the walls, four long tables stood horizontally in the middle, each two meters long and eighty centimeters wide.

A sign stood in the center, reading: Mysterious Bookstore. Reading only, no sales. Reading fee: '1 Spirit Crystal per hour.'

Zhao Xiaodao saw it, and her eyelids twitched. Still, she said nothing. Following Ma Feifei's lead, she sat at one of the tables and opened Andersen's Fairy Tales with hands still covered in dirt.

Ma Feifei held back his excitement and returned to the entrance, glancing at Zhao Xiaodao from time to time. A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step. At last, he had taken his first step.

That entire morning, Zhao Xiaodao read with great enthusiasm, and Ma Feifei watched with equal enthusiasm.

Only, Zhao Xiaodao was reading the book, while Ma Feifei was watching the system's reading count.

Yet after an entire morning, the reading count still had not changed from 0/1 to 1/1. Ma Feifei guessed it might only count once the girl left.

As for finishing the book? What a joke. The book in Zhao Xiaodao's hands might not look thick, but Andersen's Fairy Tales actually contained several million words. Ma Feifei had no idea how it could fit so many words inside, but he had opened it before, and every story listed in the preface was there. By the time Zhao Xiaodao finished reading it, he would probably have starved to death.

The moment he thought of starving, Ma Feifei's stomach truly began to grow hungry. He glanced at Zhao Xiaodao, who was still reading intently inside, then got up and ran to Old Man Wang's bun shop diagonally across the street to buy two buns.

Even though reading was free, she was still his first customer. He could at least share one bun with her.

Filled with goodwill, Ma Feifei carried the steaming buns toward his Bookstore, only to see a plate of Roast Chicken and a pot of wine on Zhao Xiaodao's table. She held the book in one hand and a chicken leg in the other, eating at an unhurried pace.

Perhaps sensing Ma Feifei's gaze, Zhao Xiaodao looked at him and gave a small nod, as if greeting him.

Ma Feifei felt that look was full of malice. He silently turned around, sat on his little stool, looked at the bun in his hand, and took a savage bite.

"I heard a plate of Roast Chicken costs ten coins. And with a pot of warmed wine, it must cost even more."

Thinking of this, Ma Feifei suddenly felt like crying.

That afternoon, Ma Feifei leaned against the doorway and fell asleep. In his dream, he ordered all kinds of food, even a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast. Looking at all those delicious dishes he could not name, each giving off an irresistible fragrance, Ma Feifei drooled.

Then Ma Feifei woke up from hunger.

Vaguely, he saw a flash of deep blue drift past him.

Rubbing his eyes, Ma Feifei instinctively looked inside the shop. The moment he did, he discovered that the person was gone!

The book was gone too!

For Zhao Xiaodao, this had been a day full of wonder and guilt. Wonderful because she had discovered an incredibly good book, and she loved its stories dearly. Guilt-ridden because she loved it so much that she had taken it with her!

"It's all that black-hearted owner's fault, charging one Spirit Crystal per hour." Zhao Xiaodao stroked Andersen's Fairy Tales. After reading all day, she had only gotten through a tiny portion. If she followed that shop's rule of one Spirit Crystal per hour, she might not even be able to afford reading this book.

"I'll return it after I finish reading it, then compensate him with one Spirit Crystal." That was what Zhao Xiaodao thought.

"At most, two. No more than that. The last time I took part in an escort mission, I spent a whole month and only earned ten Spirit Crystals. Giving him two Spirit Crystals as compensation for reading one book should be enough." As Zhao Xiaodao thought this, the guilt in her heart slowly faded.

She lowered her head to look at the book, and the corners of her lips could not help curling upward. She gave a playful hum.

"You fake boy up ahead, stop right there for Laozi!" A furious roar came from behind. Zhao Xiaodao jolted in fright and took off running barefoot without looking back.

Night had fallen over Dubian Town. The sunset had passed, and darkness had arrived. The high moon hung in the sky, its light spilling across the border town and making it seem all the more desolate.

Ma Feifei stood beneath a large tree, gasping for breath. One hand clutched his stomach as he raised his head to glare at Zhao Xiaodao in the branches, his teeth itching with rage.

A book was really nothing to him, but the problem was that the system had still not notified him that the mission was complete. The reading count remained at 0/1. If Zhao Xiaodao stole the book today, then Ma Feifei felt that his cheat might fly away with it. Forget reaching the peak of life—even surviving would become a problem.

So even if he had to risk his life today, he had to get that book back!

And so, he had chased Zhao Xiaodao for more than twenty li, all the way out of Dubian Town.

Zhao Xiaodao, perched in the treetop, was also breathing a little heavily. She had been injured during her last escort mission and had yet to fully recover, but she seemed to have recovered rather well today. Using her movement technique had not aggravated her injuries; instead, her cultivation seemed to have recovered seventy or eighty percent. Still, after running more than twenty li in a row and using her cultivation, her breathing was unstable, and she was exhausted.

Looking down at Ma Feifei beneath the tree, even clever Zhao Xiaodao did not know what to do.

He was clearly an ordinary person without the strength to truss a chicken, which meant she could not possibly attack him. Besides, she seemed to be the one in the wrong here. Though that shop charged an outrageous price to read a book, the black-hearted owner had not forced her to read! What was more, he had even let her read for free all day.

She had directly stolen his book. It did seem a little improper.

Zhao Xiaodao truly had no way to deal with Ma Feifei.

As for returning the book, Zhao Xiaodao was reluctant beyond measure.

Thus, the two simply stared at each other, neither speaking, quietly watching one another.

"What exactly do you want?" At last, Zhao Xiaodao could not hold back any longer.

"Give me back the book." When Zhao Xiaodao had lightly leaped into the tree, Ma Feifei understood that fighting was not wise. But he definitely had to get the book back, so the only thing he could do now was stubbornly hold his ground.

"I'll give it back after I finish it, alright?" Whenever the subject of the book came up, Zhao Xiaodao's tone weakened by a few degrees.

"No." Ma Feifei did not trust her in the slightest. Besides, the book had come from the system. The system was not giving him any prompts right now, but what if he failed to recover the book today and the system simply erased him tomorrow? Was he supposed to just die? Even taking a step back, if it did not erase him but simply disappeared, then what? In this bizarre world, what difference would that be from killing him?

Zhao Xiaodao stared into Ma Feifei's eyes for a moment. She saw the words, "No room for negotiation." "But I really like this book," Zhao Xiaodao said, still softening in the end.

"If you like it, you can come to my Bookstore and read it every day." The moonlight was too dim and visibility too poor for Ma Feifei to see Zhao Xiaodao's expression. But from her tone, he could tell that she seemed to be giving in a little.

"I..." Zhao Xiaodao opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately swallowed the words.

Whoosh.

Zhao Xiaodao lightly jumped down from the treetop.

She handed Andersen's Fairy Tales to Ma Feifei.

Ma Feifei froze for a moment, then quickly took it. Without waiting for Zhao Xiaodao to react, he turned and ran.

"Wait a moment."

Ma Feifei ran two steps, but his curiosity got the better of him. He stopped and turned to look at Zhao Xiaodao.

A small glowing stone lay quietly in Zhao Xiaodao's palm. Under the moonlight, it looked crystal clear and translucent.

"Here, take it."

Ma Feifei reached out and accepted the Spirit Crystal. It was a little cool, but felt particularly pleasant.

It was obvious Zhao Xiaodao was reluctant to part with the Spirit Crystal. Her eyes kept drifting toward it.

"Take this Spirit Crystal as my apology. I'm truly sorry."

Zhao Xiaodao left, leaving Ma Feifei with a dashing silhouette.

Ma Feifei looked at the Spirit Crystal in his hand, then at Zhao Xiaodao, then at his surroundings...

Which way was home again?