Love letters are not allowed in the exorcism notebook!-Chapter 788 - 35: Have I been PUA’d by him?

Overall, the difficulty of this task is not very high; most transmigrators are still stuck at proving the stage of "how to prove my mom is indeed my mom".

Until now, there hasn’t been anyone whose demeanor stands out from the rest, no one with pie charts in their eyes or a sinister smile tugging at the corner of their mouth.

The intelligence from the Astronomy Bureau has been quite precise and swift; messages were churned out like they cost nothing, with Wang Yunxiao leading his men to sweep through the streets one by one.

Apprehending suspects overnight, the harvest has been quite fruitful.

By the next morning, two blocks of Nantong District have been cleaned out, and more than twenty people have been captured.

After a half-night resting with the brothers on the floor of the Special Service Bureau, they got up early in the morning to continue with the task at hand.

At half-past nine in the morning, Wang Yunxiao encountered an old scholar stealing books in a bookstore.

To say he was stealing is because, in these times, bookstores are private enterprises, and they do not provide seating for you to read for free for the whole day.

But if you have the cheek to insist on reading, the owner can’t do much about it.

After all, in this era, scholars hold high status, and who knows what kind of teacher-student relationships they might have behind them.

According to the shop owner, this old scholar has been coming over to read books since yesterday, originally planning to buy books, but he didn’t bring much money with him, only three or four Silver coins in total, all given to the owner, just to stay and read.

Seeing his advanced age, the owner did not dare to say anything.

As a result, he was waiting at the door even before the bookstore opened today.

With not a single coin left in his pocket, his complexion suggests he probably didn’t rest well last night. Fearing he might die in his shop, the bookstore owner specially prepared tea and peanuts for him and invited him to sit in the back hall.

When Wang Yunxiao arrived, the desk in front of the old scholar was already piled high with a stack of books, about two feet tall, mostly comprising social and humanistic texts, including Western translations.

Just by looking at the books in front of him, no one dared to treat him as an ordinary person.

Wang Yunxiao coughed and was about to speak when the old scholar lifted his head and smiled, "I saw you catching people on the street, don’t worry, I won’t run. With my age, where could I possibly flee to? You should go and capture others first, then come for me at last."

Wang Yunxiao thought to himself that this was bad, an SSR had appeared, and could tell from the old man’s speech and manner that he was no ordinary civilian.

"I am Wang Yunxiao, Chief of the Nantong District Police Bureau Special Service Section. May I inquire about your name, elder sir?"

The old scholar sighed, stood up to straighten his dress, and bowed, "This old man is Li Mingshen, currently teaching Chinese at the Western Studies School in Beiyang. I beg you, Lord Wang, for your leniency, to allow this old man to dwell here a while longer, even if just to read a few more pages."

Seeing the pitiful and ingratiating look of the old scholar, Wang Yunxiao felt a mix of amusement and helplessness in his heart.

"The gentleman must know something about what’s going on?"

"I have guessed a little but dare not make random assertions."

The old man, impatiently, said, "Lord, please be quick, and spare me the mouthful of words here."

"How much can you remember from reading books like this?"

"I have been reading extensively since I was young and possess a photographic memory, no need for your concern, lord... How about this, could you estimate how much this Jade Pendant is worth in Silver Taels?"

The old scholar untied a Group Dragon Jade Pendant from around his waist and handed it to Wang Yunxiao: "Please help this old man exchange it for some Silver Coin so I can buy all these books to take away with me!"

Wang Yunxiao took the Jade Pendant and examined it. Even though he didn’t understand the object, he could feel it was indeed made of good material.

The exact value was hard to say, and probably the bookstore owner didn’t dare to accept it either.

So he turned around to make a phone call, came back, and approached the old scholar politely, "Mister Li, since you are a teacher, would it be alright if I took you to the school to settle down temporarily?"

The old scholar sighed and pointing at the books in front of him said, "I will need to take these books with me."

"There is a library at the school."

"Can the old man take away the books from the library?"

This old scholar was hell-bent on taking the books home.

Wang Yunxiao had no other choice but to nod and say, "Fine, I’ll go settle the bill for you."

"You’re paying?"

The old scholar perked up at this: "Then I’ll have to pick out some more!"

"Can you even carry them all?"

"The old man can carry them!"

As if he could really carry them.

As soon as he heard someone else would pay, the old scholar became voracious and almost wanted to take every book on the shelf; and when he finally left the bookstore, he was lugging two huge boxes, together weighing over a hundred jin.

The boxes were even given by the shopkeeper.

Without a trolley with wheels, the mere act of choosing books had the old scholar sweating buckets, let alone carrying them. After several unsuccessful attempts, he turned around and glared fiercely at Wang Yunxiao.

Who do you think you’re dealing with? I’m not one of your students!

Wang Yunxiao glared fiercely back. After a moment of silent stand-off, the old scholar, feeling hopeless, said, "Lord Wang, I really have no money on me, when I get back, I’ll give you fifty taels for tea money..."

"So you mean for me to carry them all the way back for you?"

Wang Yunxiao said angrily, "I already told you to take only as much as you can handle! It’s dangerous on the road, and no one will be able to look after you!"

Capturing this group of transmigrators was just the simplest step in the whole "Returning Home" operation.

The real trouble is how to send them back.

How dangerous the Outer Dimension was, Wang Yunxiao knew better than anyone.

Demons and monsters along the way are not a big deal, but what if these folks go insane while on the road?

And the perniciousness of spreading knowledge is self-evident. Flipping through the books yourself is one thing, but insisting on bringing back a pile of books that don’t belong to your era, who will be responsible if chaos ensues?

The old scholar pursed his lips, looking as wronged as a child.

Where is your scholarly integrity? Acting all coy with that old crinkled face, like a shy maiden!

"Another hundred taels..."

"Am I short of your silver? If I help you with the books now, it’ll seem like I’m just doing it for the silver!"

"You can’t say it like that. Lord Wang, you’ve reached a high position at such a young age, obviously a man of true skill, definitely not someone who engages in corruption and embezzlement. You helping me with the books is because of your pure, kind and respectful nature, showing the ancient courtesy like Zhang Liang returning a shoe. My offer of Silver Coin as thanks is akin to Zi Lu accepting the cow, one must not allow those who provide fuel to freeze to death in the snowstorm, it’s certainly not a bribe."

"You really have a way with words."

"Please."

It wasn’t until he had loaded the two huge boxes of books onto the cart that Wang Yunxiao snapped out of it, thinking had he just been manipulated by this old fox?

It was definitely not okay to leave him out there on his own; who knows what kind of trouble this sly individual could stir up.

Fortunately, Principal Zhou was very interested in this old scholar. After Wang Yunxiao phoned back to ask his opinion, Principal Zhou immediately stated that he would like to invite the old scholar over for tea and a chat.

Both being educators, there would surely be a lot for them to talk about.