Michael Bolton looked at James Thompson in surprise and said, “Hey, James Thompson, I just saw you walking with the boss. Weren’t you always the most afraid of the boss? When did you get so bold? Oh, I think today is payday. Speaking of pay, James Thompson, the ten coins you borrowed from us a few days ago, and that straw mat…”

“You two came at just the right time.” James Thompson put his arms around their shoulders and said, “I was careless when I went out just now, and my two months’ salary was stolen. Can you lend me a bit more? I’ll pay you back when I get next month’s salary…”

“Sorry to bother you!”

“Goodbye!”

A moment later, James Thompson weighed the broken silver in his hand and waved at the two whose backs were about to disappear. “Thanks…”

Chapter 005: A Difficult Choice

Michael Bolton and David Thompson, these two colleagues, stingy as they may be, didn’t just stand by when James Thompson was truly in trouble.

The broken silver in James Thompson’s hand was about two qian. If he was frugal, it should be enough to get through a month.

Of course, for this month, if he didn’t find another way to make money, he’d have to make do with thin porridge and pickled vegetables.

Without his seven souls, his body was already weaker than most people’s. If this went on, his health would only get worse.

The most urgent thing was to earn some money and improve his quality of life. He didn’t expect to eat lavishly every day, but he at least needed to ensure proper nutrition.

However, making money had never been easy.

Although James Thompson had spent years bedridden and bored, passing the time by reading and accumulating knowledge, and like other transmigrators in web novels, it wouldn’t be hard for him to tinker with some money-making ideas, the “Great Zhou Code” stipulated that all officials of Great Zhou, regardless of rank, were forbidden from engaging in business. This one rule dashed many of his plans.

This wasn’t discrimination against merchants. First, officials held power, and if they got involved in business, it would be hard to prevent them from abusing their power for personal gain, disrupting market fairness, and causing social unrest. Second, it was to ensure officials focused on their proper duties.

High-ranking officials naturally had ways to exploit loopholes in the law, but James Thompson was just a minor official. The lightest consequence for breaking the rules would be dismissal and investigation—not worth the risk.

Besides, his only hope for survival at the moment lay with Emily Thompson. He had to stay by her side to have a chance at living. Losing his job over some silver wasn’t worth it.

After all, James Thompson’s ambition wasn’t to become a wealthy landlord. In this world full of mystical wonders, not cultivating immortality would be a waste of his second life.

He couldn’t do business, and with his status, cheating and swindling were out of the question. After racking his brains to no avail, James Thompson decided to go out for a walk.

First, to look for inspiration to make money, and second, to try his luck and see if he could run into that old Daoist again. Unfortunately, he searched the whole county town but didn’t see a trace of the old Daoist.

He didn’t find the person, nor did he come up with a way to make money. Standing at the street corner, James Thompson let out a long sigh, when suddenly a burst of scolding reached his ears.

“Last month you said next month, now this month you say next month again—are you messing with me?”

“You’ve only managed three lines in a whole month—how are you going to make a living like this!”

“If you don’t hand in your manuscript tomorrow, believe it or not, I’ll twist your dog head off!”

…

In front of a bookstore, a young scholar listened to the shopkeeper’s scolding, looking embarrassed as he tried to explain, “Writing a book depends on inspiration…”

The shopkeeper spat and cursed, “Inspiration, my foot! I’ll give you three more days. If you don’t hand in your manuscript in three days, get ready to pay up!”

“Such a disgrace to scholars, such a disgrace…” the young scholar muttered a couple of times, shaking his head as he walked away.

This bookstore seemed to be doing good business. James Thompson stood at the entrance, looking thoughtful.

Although he couldn’t do business, any income he earned through his own physical or mental labor, outside of his salary, was reasonable and legal.

Writing books was actually a good way to make money. It didn’t violate the law and was more respectable. The problem was, although James Thompson had read quite a few books, unlike other transmigrators, he didn’t have a photographic memory or a library in his head. Without deliberately memorizing, he couldn’t possibly recall everything he’d read well enough to reproduce it.

He could only rely on the storylines he barely remembered and then rework them himself. But before that, he needed to do some market research.

James Thompson strolled into the bookstore. It was quite large, with rows of bookshelves filled with all kinds of books, neatly categorized.

Seeing a customer enter, a shop assistant came up with a smile and asked, “Sir, what kind of book are you looking for?”

James Thompson got straight to the point: “Which books sell best here?”

“Of course, it’s these storybooks.” The assistant led James Thompson to the largest bookshelf and said, “These are all the latest and most popular titles. Please have a look…”

Compared to other classics and historical books, novels were closer to daily life and much less dull to read. As James Thompson walked over, he saw quite a few people lingering by this shelf.

James Thompson spent a quarter of an hour browsing the titles on this shelf, and by then, he already had a pretty good idea.