Chapter 130 – Work
"Work for you?" Siu asked, surprised but also intrigued.
“Yes." Quillian nodded, beginning to explain, "I work in the Hall of Infinite Echoes, and several days a week, I have to go there in person. My job is usually restoration, which I can do here, too. But when it's about indexing, deciding some catalog disputes between junior librarians, standard shelf corrections at the start of every week, I have to be there personally.”
“That sounds… monumental.”
“It is civilization itself, boy!” Quillian tapped the cane on the floorboard. “Without our records, we lose everything! EVERYTHING! Anyway, while I am there, the Red Leaf is closed unless I return early. This is... wasteful. I tried having disciples work for me, but they just don't get it. Maybe you will, so I am willing to give you a shot at it.”
“You want me to run the shop?” He asked carefully, wanting to know what it would entail.
“Three days a week,” Quillian nodded. “First three days, as per my current schedule, unless something changes. It would last from morning through late afternoon, as usually I return before sundown unless the library has an emergency situation.”
“Only three days?” Siu asked, rubbing his chin, because that was less than he expected, and that would leave enough days to concentrate on his cultivation.
“Too much?" He snorted, making Siu shake his head.
"I expected more."
"Heh!" Quillian snorted again, but this time he was grinning, "Three days' work is enough for a kid. You have to cultivate, train, take missions, get beaten by your seniors, or just woo a girl to try out dual cultivation, whatever young people do nowadays. I am not a senile old wretch, boy; I know how it goes. I still can remember it! Oh, yes, this also reminds me... If you leave the sect on a mission, please inform me at least 3 days in advance! I am not going to complain, only if you simply disappear. Then I will be angry.”
"Of course," Siu said at once, unable to hold back a smile. "I wouldn't just ditch you, Senior."
"As for the work itself," He waved a hand, leading Siu back down to the shop while explaining, "I need someone at the counter for most of the time. I will naturally help you get started and teach you the basics. When there are no shoppers meandering around, you can also work on keeping the place clean and fixing up the volumes that need restoration. The paper, their covers, all of that need proper maintenance, and you can practice it on the common ones. I have backup copies of those in storage, if you would screw it up.”
“I will do my best,” Siu said, then cupped his hands. “I accept, of course, and thank you, Senior Quillian, truly. This is exactly the kind of opportunity I need.”
"I know," Quillian said, his eyes brightened, watching him with a faint smile. It was subtle, but Siu caught it, and once again, he reminded him of his Old Man, wondering how he was doing. "Now, come, let me show you something."
Quillian opened the massive red ledger on the counter, which was sturdy enough to be used as a blunt weapon. Flicking the second pair of glasses from his forehead to his nose, looking through both of them at the same time, his green eyes looked like they tripled in size. Looking away, holding back a subconscious chortle, Siu instead forced a long breath on himself and then studied the pages filled with neat writing, containing names, dates, titles, shelf marks, prices, reading fees, deposits, returns, fines, condition notes, and small symbols that he did not yet understand.
“This is the Red Leaf ledger,” Quillian said strictly, “If the shop catches on fire, save this before saving me. Do you understand? This is the shop's soul!”
“I am not doing that.” Siu snorted, "Your life has to be more important than a ledger."
“Not for me!" He tapped his cane directly on Siu's feet, making him wince, "If you do, I will stop my heart out of spite, and then I will haunt you.”
"Understood..." He hissed, feeling that his toes were almost broken just then. “Do I need to add every visitor?” he asked, ignoring the pain, looking at the pages instead.
“No, not every browser, but every transactional one. If someone buys something, you record their name, the item title, and place a shelf mark so I know what to replace. Add the price and condition at sale, if there is any. We will talk about conditions later!" He added, seeing Siu's mouth opening to a question, "If someone pays to browse the middle shelves, you do the same. If someone borrows, which is rare and allowed only for certain people, you, again, do the same. When returned, record the condition of the item! Don't let them go until you confirmed it! If they bring it back damaged, you post them a fine. If someone is rowdy... Well, you call me.”
“So... Borrowing is allowed?” He managed to finally ask something in the end before being interrupted.
“Never from the back shelves unless I personally approve. As for the rest, they have to be on my approved list. When they are standing at the counter, you can check their sash for that. I will show you the formation for it, you will learn to handle it, and it will help automate everything. Just have your essence flow to your fingers, and it will react.”
"Then why the ledger?" He asked, and once again, Quillian didn't get angry, because he could tell the honesty behind the question.
"Records can be modified, just as history. One note is just hearsay, two is a rumor, while three is a clue. Anyway, my records can only be faked or tampered with by me." He grinned, patting the book, "Or, after you start working, by you, writing down lies, and I will know if you do."
"I wouldn't," Siu answered firmly.
“Keep up the spirit! It won't be easy, you'll see. Heh! You will understand why some Elders refuse to work with disciples in general after the first idiot tries to convince you that a clear stain on a page is just a natural aging mark. On a book that had none and happened to be something that he took to the tables to read.”
“That happens often, huh?”
“People who don't know me do try it now and then...” He smirked, tapping his cane against the floor again, making it echo. "Now," Quillian continued, reaching under the counter and pulling out one of the drawers, lifting out a flat, rectangular plate made of dark wood, and then set it into the countertop, where it had a slot waiting for it. Siu had noticed it earlier but assumed it was a decoration. Now, after it was filled, Quillian tapped it twice, and faint golden lines appeared across the counter's surface, forming a square frame with multiple smaller boxes inside. “This is a basic counter format. Format!” He repeated, glancing at him over the double eyeglasses, "It is built from formations, but it is running a system that I had Korius, an old friend of mine, design for me. He is now an Elder, working within the Formation Hall, but that doesn't concern you.”
"Incredible..." Siu muttered, looking at the flickering light. It was his first time ever seeing something like this, and it was... complex beyond reason. Yet, for some weird reason, the more he looked, the more intuitive it seemed, as he noticed the titles each window had.
[SELECT: IN/OUT]
[ITEM]
[INDEX NUMBER]
[PRICE]
There were, of course, more, but Quillian continued to hold a demonstration.
“When a transaction is made, place the item here, activate the format with this sequence.” Quillian pressed two fingers to the lower left corner, then traced a short line upward, across, and down, causing the golden lines to brighten. “Naturally, you have to select the "OUT" option. It will scan and then show you the item's title, price, condition, and category. If the buyer agrees, it will proceed to the next step. For that, you place your hand here." He said, already doing it. "This will initiate the linkup with their sash, and ther record will be stored inside.” As he said it, Siu felt his sash activate and saw his name and current position appear in one of the windows. To his surprise, it already stated that he was working at the Red Leaf store, and it even listed Arya and Marly as helpers.
"Huh..."
"I'm not paying them," Quillian muttered, also noticing it, and before Arya and Marly could argue, he continued. "After the transaction is done, you can copy the details over to the physical ledger. Shoppers hate when I do that, and they always leave, so usually I do it after the transaction is already done... no patience in today's generation, tsk!"
“What if they pay with physical crystals?” Siu asked, holding back a smile. "And what about the 'IN' option? Do we buy books?"
“I do, you don't." He said simply and strictly, "Don't bother with that; you can't ascertain them well enough yet. Only worry about selling! So, then you record physical payment in the ledger." He continued, "The format logs it, and you place the crystals in the drawer here.” Quillian leaned back and opened a narrow drawer under the counter. Its insides were made of divided trays labeled by crystal type. “Count twice. We don't give change back, so they either pay the proper amount or go somewhere else. I hate it that they want to use me like some shady exchange! Most items for sale have prices listed on the inside front cover or on a tag attached to the shelf. Oh, and... NO haggling!”
“No haggling,” Siu repeated.
“No haggling means no haggling! Not polite haggling, not seniority haggling, not ‘I know Quillian’ type of haggling. Nobody I know would ever try haggling with ME! Not ‘I am a Paragon’, not ‘I came on the request of an Elder’ either! If they want a lower price, they can go get it elsewhere. I hate when they try to get snarky... Little shits...”
Siu simply nodded, committing the tone as much as the rule to memory, because while speaking, Quillian looked like he was about to turn into a kettle. He genuinely was waiting for him to start whistling from his ears as rage filled his face, turning it red.
“What about requests without listed prices?” He asked, wanting to change topic.
“Mhm, there are a few, so for now, call me when those come up. Same when they bring in something to sell.”
“How?”
"Easy." Quillian reached beneath the counter again and placed a small bronze bell on top. It looked ordinary, except that no clapper hung inside of it. “Tap the rim against the counter three times and say my name clearly. I have its pair with me, and your voice will find me unless I am unconscious, or outright ignoring you.”
“How will I know it got through?”
“You won’t, but that's no longer your problem. You did what I asked you to do, and if the sale falls through, it's my fault.”
"Tap it three times, got it," Siu muttered, watching the tiny bell.
“If someone asks for a title you cannot find or asks for anything from the back shelves, also call me. Until you get the hang of it, I will be helping you out. In the future, once you have enough experience, I expect you to evaluate basic requests yourself. You will learn my grading system by interacting with the knowledge in my shop, and you will understand my pricing principle, so then, but only then, can you start buying. And then... You will be able to handle everything. Well... Nobody got that far yet.”
“That sounds like a lot to learn.” He smiled, imagining that some disciples simply quit by the end of his explanation.
“Life is all about that, boy.”
“Right.”
“If someone attempts theft,” Quillian continued, “do not leap into heroics. First, block the exit using the counter format.” He tapped another corner, making the golden lines shift, and he heard the door click. “Second, call me. Third, if they attack, protect yourself and the shop in that order.”
“The shop goes second?” He asked, actually surprised.
“You are young..." He smiled all of a sudden, "Boy... Books can be restored more easily than the body. Inner Disciple fights with essence... fixing that is not like being an outer, realigning bones and patching up muscles. It is much more serious and can be crippling!”
"Do they... try to steal things often?" He asked, feeling another strong wave of nostalgia and happiness wash over him, listening to Quillian's tone.
"Once or twice a year." He nodded, "But do not accuse them without proof. Mistakes happen, and a customer may end up carrying a book to the wrong section or forget they hold onto it while walking away. That happened to me a lot when I was lost in a very interesting read, so I understand. However,” Quillian added, “if proof exists, be firm. Politeness with thieves is spilled ink, totally useless and just a spreading stain.”
In the end, Quillian spent the next hour properly introducing him to the shop. He had spent so much of the past months and years, in fact, being broken, healed, nearly killed, that standing behind a counter and learning how to record a book sale felt almost peaceful. It was still cultivation, in a way... Just... more of one where his mind was tested, especially after being made to remember so many things and to pay attention to so many tiny details. He knew his body could hold its own, and now he wondered: how would his mind fare? Will it also remember so many things so easily? He was eager to find out.