By evening, the bookshop's customers had begun to dwindle. It did not accommodate people reading late into the night by lamplight. Anyone desperate to read a book that night could rent it and take it home.
Cleaning and tidying the main hall was Shi Chun's responsibility.
The third young lady, Dong Liangying, stood behind the counter, clicking abacus beads as she tallied the accounts.
Shi Chun gathered the books scattered across the tables and carried them upstairs in stacks.
Upstairs, Second Miss Dong Liangyu sorted the stacks he brought her by category. Every day, she returned the disordered collection to its proper places.
That was not Shi Chun's job, but he still had an eye for work that needed doing. After setting down his last load, he saw Dong Liangyu holding a stack of books in one arm and shelving them one by one with her other hand. She was clearly struggling. Knowing she was not a cultivator, he immediately strode over and reached out to help. "Let me hold them."
This was not the first time he had helped her like this.
Dong Liangyu was indeed finding the stack heavy; she had taken rather too many books. As she passed them to him, her hold wavered, and Shi Chun's waiting hands happened to cup both of hers.
The man felt the delicate softness of the woman's hands.
The woman felt the masculine strength of the man's hands.
Their eyes instinctively met.
The man abruptly realized how improper this was. Men and women should not touch so freely. He hastily let go.
The woman realized it too and nearly released her hold as well, almost dropping the entire stack. She hurriedly stepped forward to catch it again.
The man also realized the books were about to scatter across the floor