"In that case, I understand."
The professor waved his hand to stop Jenkins from continuing:
"I won't go to the party anymore. To be honest, every time I approach that hospital, I also have a very strange feeling, that kind of feeling that is hard to describe..."
He didn't describe it until the end.
"Since there is such a dangerous history there, I don't think I will go there again. Although it is a pity, life is the most important thing after all, and it is better to avoid such dangerous places."
The professor probably had the same idea as Jenkins. Although this would lose an important channel for purchasing scarce items and exchanging information, both of them knew what was most important.
Regarding the matter of reporting the illegal gathering of Mr. Corpse, the professor also agreed. He has lived here all his life and has a deep affection for Nolan. Although Mr. Corpse's party also provided a lot of help, he also understood that the other party was probably not a good person, otherwise there was no need to hide there.
Now that the professor is there, there is no need for Jenkins to go to the black market to make additional commissions. The professor will find an opportunity to report this matter in the near future. As for the excuse not to worry about Jenkins, the professor has more life experience than him, and this kind of thing is just a trivial matter.
The professor's original plan tonight was not only to go to the party, but also to go to an old friend's house to buy some antiques. This is for his personal collection, not to change his career and compete with his father for business.
Because I was worried that I didn't have enough time, I just wanted to see the goods. Now that I don't have to go to Mr. Corpse's party, I have enough time to complete the purchase.
"Want to come, Jenkins? Anything else tonight?"
asked the professor.
The two stood at the corner of the street and waited for soldiers in military uniforms to stride past. Jenkins thought for a while, Hathaway and Britney were probably enjoying a wonderful dinner, and Dolores and Alec Shia went into the city and went to the city public library. As for the chocolate, the cat was served by a maid in the manor, and there was also a delicious supper, so he didn't have to worry about it at all.
"I'm fine tonight, but wouldn't it be impolite to follow you to someone else's house rashly?"
he asked.
"Oh, it's okay, I'll just say you're my student and your name is... You can think of one yourself."
This old friend of the professor was a classmate of his when he was still studying in the elementary public school, and now he has a wonderful career-librarian. That gentleman now works as the administrator of the Nolan City Public Library and basically lives there.
It is said to be a city public library, but unlike the Sage Church library, which is open to believers for free, the former charges a fee, and charges anyone, and the price is very high.
The charges here are only equivalent to "tickets". If you want to borrow books or transcribe copies, you need more expenses.
This kind of city-owned library can be found in major cities. Although there are not many visitors in a day, it is also a necessary public facility in the city. It is allocated separately from taxes for management, repair and protection. Citizens are also proud that their city has a library.
Talking about the old friend of the professor, Jenkins remembered that he also had something to ask. The professor had some impressions of the so-called "Moon of Flowing Fire", which was what people used to call June a long time ago, but it was changed later.
"Why did it become the current [Starry Sky and Long Night Moon]?"
Jenkins asked, walking along the street with the professor. The street lamps made their shadows long. It was a peaceful night.
"There are many theories, but the mainstream view is that this is just a change of folk customs and has no special meaning. Why, what do you think of this name?"
In the eyes of professors and most people, the change of month name is normal. But for Jenkins, he has vaguely guessed the relationship between gods and masters, and he also knows that the number of existing righteous gods has not been this number from the beginning, so he thinks that [Liuhuo] corresponds to someone who no longer holds the position of righteous gods the old gods.
It's a pity that the professor can't provide more clues, because no one has ever thought as "disrespectfully" as Jenkins.
"arrive."
The library is of course closed at night, so the professor took Jenkins to find the back door from the alley. After knocking on the heavy wooden door several times, I heard footsteps.
Not long after, an old man with a hunched back in a coat and an oil lamp opened the door. The hinge of that door hadn't been rusted and oiled for a long time, and it made a very harsh "squeak" sound when it was opened. Jenkins glanced nervously to the side before realizing that this was not an illegal activity.
"Burnes, you really came on time. Come in quickly. The weather this year is really weird. It's already April and it's still so cold."
"Sev, you are too weak. I have advised you many times not to sit all the time. Since you are getting older, you should move around more."
"Who says I'm old? I'm only in my sixties."
The two hugged and then talked. During the period, the professor also introduced Jenkins's student status, but the old man Sif didn't pay attention to him.
The back door of the library leads to the backyard and the warehouse. Due to the strict fire and moisture resistance, the exterior decoration of the walls here is quite good. Even the steam pipes, gas pipes and sewer pipes on the walls look different from the buildings next door.
The old man lived alone in a house that looked like an illegal library building. The house was closely connected to the wall of the library. After opening the door, Jenkins saw that the two were connected by a small door.
The room is not small, warm and dry. This is a housing specially designed by the library for administrators.
On the side of the living room next to the wall of the library is a large bookshelf, densely packed books are arranged in three rows from top to bottom.
There is an open book on the coffee table with a pencil in it. On the left side of the yellowed paper page are densely packed letters, and on the right side is a hand-drawn sketch in pencil, with the grid lines used for standard drawing sizes faintly visible. This is a rare manuscript book.
"Sit down first, and I'll get what you want. Burns, I have to say that you are very lucky. If you write to me later, I may have to deal with these books to the antique shop."
As a librarian, there are other benefits besides a more comfortable life. For example, you can read books for free, or when the library eliminates some books, you can take the lead in buying them at a lower price.
The books eliminated by the library are generally of average value and more seriously damaged. In addition, every year, according to the purchase volume of the year, some books that have not been read for a long time will be taken out of the warehouse, and the treatment method will be decided after appraisal.
It was these books that the old steward was trying to sell to the professor, and since the professional appraisers brought in by the town hall audit hadn't found their value, it was better for them to fall into the hands of people who knew their value.
This is also part of gray income.
As for the "reason" for selling his collection, it was because the administrator, Mr. Sifer, was leaving Nolan recently. His son, who works on the other side of the continent, gave the Seaver family a new generation before they got married. Marriage is a must, and Mr. Sifer is already very old. After going to the east coast to attend the wedding this time, he decided to accept his son's invitation to live with their family and never return to Nolan. So for some books that cannot be taken away, I plan to find the right person to deal with them.
"Some time ago we found some books for table legs in the warehouse on the side. I don't even remember when they were put in the warehouse. It must have been a long time ago. In addition to the few books that were promised to you, you can choose whatever you want. Still use the price negotiated in the letter."
Hearing such a sound from the next room, Jenkins got up consciously to help move the books. The old man was not polite, and pointed to a stack of books tied up with ropes and fixed with metal clips in the corner, and ordered him to move out.
The books were very heavy and had a strong musty smell, but surprisingly the damage wasn't too serious. After taking it to the living room, the three of them spread out the books one by one, checked the content and completeness in turn, and then classified them respectively.
Jenkins doesn't know much about book appraisal, because few people go to Papa's Antiques to sell ancient books. But the professor knows this business very well, and he spread the knowledge to Jenkins while flipping through the book. From another old man's point of view, it really seemed like he was teaching students.
Jenkins was not very interested in these books, and felt a little bored after flipping through them for a while. But the professor was still there to check carefully, and the old librarian on the side saw that Jenkins had nothing to do, and actually chatted with him about school life.
Jenkins is highly educated, but Jenkins is not. For the life of colleges and universities in this era, he is limited to a limited number of lectures and visits. But fortunately, his professionalism in archaeology is not bad, he avoids the details of life and only talks about appraisal experience, and he can barely fool him.
Seeing that Jenkins was analyzing the lithographic printing technology of the ancient Shikali Empire, the old administrator seemed to have suddenly remembered something, asked him to wait a while, and entered the inner room again. After a while, he held a piece of paper about the size of a book. out of the slate.
"Why don't you help me find out what this is. It was found in the walls of the attic when the top floor of the Nolan Post Office collapsed last week. Although it looks like the cover of a book, we don't know when it is delivered to the library What is this, that's why I bought it for 3 shillings... I hope you don't tell me that it's really a cheap stone with strange carvings."
You can tell that it is solid when you get it in your hand, and look at the thickness, it is almost the same as an ordinary dictionary. Jenkins put on the gloves again, took a book that the professor had finished reading from the side, and stacked it with this thick slate, and found that the slate was even smaller than the 215-year-old manuscript "Letters from the Sea" Some.