"Take a look at this one—a seventeenth-century Bologna binding, half the weight of the Venetian one. The binding is exquisite too: Camilla top-grain leather, with a background pattern inlaid with Aegean mermaid tail scales, gilt edges, and the story of Poseidon and four cherubs on top. Five raised bands of gold thread run along the spine, with space left at the head for engraving your personal symbol. The flyleaf bears Athena's prayer, on Hatifa linen paper. It feels wonderfully refreshing to the touch."
"How much?"
"That'll be twenty-three jade coins." Manager Xiao Yuan's face practically blossomed into a flower.
"Too expensive, too expensive." Zheng Qing carefully returned the book.
"Then how about this one? An eighteenth-century Ashmore binding—simple and weighty. North Sea Brunt sharkskin, delicate to the touch, with gilt edges that continue the sharkskin's pale blue afterglow. Simple and clean. The bookmark ribbon is made of ice silkworm silk, and the pages are translucent Fish Skin Paper, perfect for frequently recording spells."
"How much?"
"That'll be fifteen jade coins."
"It just feels too bloody." Zheng Qing reluctantly stroked the cover before returning the book as well.
After looking through several sample books in succession, he found the prices rather staggering.
His scholarship was limited; he could not spend all of it on a single spellbook.
He decided to keep looking.
Following the shop clerk around a bookshelf, Zheng Qing spotted a familiar figure.
That fat guy from Yunxiangyi.
The fat guy was not holding a roast chicken this time, and the shoulder bag hanging from his shoulder seemed much cleaner as well.
He was frowning, looking bored as he followed a clerk around to pick out a spellbook.
Zheng Qing did not like this guy with an ostrich-egg-shaped head.
He stopped short, intending to circle around to another display case.
But the ostrich egg moved, and he spotted Zheng Qing.
"Yo, the scholarship student's here." The fat guy shattered the bookstore's quiet atmosphere with his booming voice. "I forgot to ask earlier—are you one of this year's freshman scholarship students?"
The customers who had been leisurely browsing books all looked up, their gazes falling on Zheng Qing.
Zheng Qing seemed to hear whispers around him.
"Yes," he answered briefly.
His ears felt a little hot.
He felt very embarrassed.
His childhood experiences visiting doctors had made him somewhat sensitive. He hated being different, hated standing out, hated the strange looks people gave him.
After he began studying, one phrase he had come to like was "harmonizing with the light, becoming one with the dust." Water benefits all things without contending; harmonize with its light, become one with its dust, and none under heaven can contend with it.
Yet the fat guy's booming greeting had put Zheng Qing on display beneath everyone's scrutinizing gaze. It felt awful.
"No wonder you don't have a spellbook. My brother is also a scholarship student at First University. Every year, the school gives him a stack of simply bound spellbooks as prizes. Like the one I was using earlier." He patted his shoulder bag.
Zheng Qing recalled that bulging, earthy-yellow softcover book.
Stack three softcover books together, and they would perfectly recreate this fat guy's chin.
Thinking of that improved Zheng Qing's mood slightly.
"But I wanted a new spellbook. When you're out and about, you simply can't show off a simply bound edition. I told my brother that he needed at least one classic hardcover spellbook, or it would make him lose face. You know, he's a scholarship student too." Oblivious to everyone around him, the fat guy continued shouting in his booming voice. "He enrolled last year. There were only five people in his class who received full scholarships, unlike this year. Do you know how many full-scholarship students there are this year?"
Zheng Qing shook his head without speaking.
Those interested gazes around him still lingered, making him very uncomfortable.
"I don't know either." The fat guy grinned. "I was just bluffing you. Looks like scholarship students don't know much more than ordinary students like us after all."
A few soft chuckles rose from the people around them, as though they found the fat guy amusing.
Zheng Qing tried hard to ignore the distraction.
He was here to buy a spellbook.
He needed to use his intuition to choose a suitable spellbook for himself.
This spellbook would accompany him for a long time to come and was one of the basic requirements for his successful survival at Wizard University.
He took a deep breath and smiled at Manager Xiao Yuan beside him.
Manager Xiao Yuan tactfully came closer and pointed at an elaborately styled spellbook in the display case. "How about this one? As far as I know, scholarship students buy this spellbook every year."
Zheng Qing tightened his soft leather gloves and accepted the sample book Xiao Yuan handed him.
"This is a nineteenth-century Paris binding—ostentatious, with a kind of splendor closer to modern styles. Although it is split leather, Romanian Fire Dragon Hide has always been very thick and can be split into five or six layers. As split leather, its texture and feel are just right. It also has gilt edges, with Chapter Seven of the Gospel of Matthew from the New Testament on top—'Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it; but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.'" He chanted in a deep voice.
"How about I buy this one?" The fat guy squeezed between them, snatched the spellbook from Zheng Qing's hands, and shouted, "I remember one of my brother's classmates bought this too. How much is it?"
"That'll be thirteen jade coins." Xiao Yuan beamed and repeatedly praised the fat guy's discerning eye.
The fat guy's original sales manager watched the customer who had run off halfway with a dark expression but said nothing.
Zheng Qing pursed his lips and said nothing either.
He seriously doubted whether this fat guy could enter the narrow gate as described in the Gospel.
Besides, he felt that no matter how splendid a spellbook this slovenly fat guy held, Zheng Qing would always picture him clutching that bulging, earthy-yellow softcover book.
"Which academy are you from?" As the bookstore manager packaged the Paris-bound edition, the fat guy suddenly turned back and stared at Zheng Qing with his small eyes. "I nearly forgot to ask."
"Jiuyou Academy," Zheng Qing answered quickly.
He hoped this fat guy would disappear from his sight soon.
"That's what I thought—the bookworms' academy." The fat guy nodded, wearing an expression of complete certainty. "Dressed like that, you definitely aren't from Alpha or Atlas. If you were from Starry Sky Academy, back at Yunxiangyi, even without a spellbook, you would have charged over swinging your fists."
Zheng Qing silently looked at another thick sample book by his hand, unsure whether he should throw it at those three-layered chins.
"My brother is in Atlas, but I was assigned to Alpha Academy this year." The fat guy kept chattering. "Relatively speaking, it's tolerable. After all, Alpha Academy is full of well-bred students. If they had put me in Jiuyou Academy, I would rather drop out. My brother once said that a wizard who excels at exams is not a truly powerful wizard."
"Then you must be terrible at exams." Zheng Qing nodded with certainty.
The fat guy frowned, feeling that there was something wrong with Zheng Qing's logic.
"Hello, sir, your spellbook has been packaged. Please inspect it." A bookstore clerk led the fat guy, who was struggling to think, to the counter.
Zheng Qing put the Western-style hardcover spellbook in his hand back into the display case and turned to Manager Xiao Yuan.
"Do you have any spellbooks in a Huaxia style? These Western designs still feel somewhat too flashy."
Before you continue