Chapter 2 2. Printing plant

Giovanni had just left the school, but he saw seven or eight classmates in the same class, under a cherry blossom tree in the corner of the campus, surrounding Cobeinella and refusing to leave.They were discussing how to get the blue king gourd lanterns that were put into the river at the Milky Way Festival tonight. Giovanni walked out of the school gate quickly with his arms raised.On the street, almost all the families are busy preparing for the Milky Way Festival tonight. Some people are hanging balls of water pine leaves, and some people are decorating lanterns on the cypress. It is a lively and busy scene.

Giovanni didn't go home right away. He crossed Sanjie Avenue and came to a printing factory of considerable size.He bowed to the fat man in a white coat sitting at the counter by the entrance, then took off his shoes and walked into the innermost room.Although it was broad daylight, the inside was brightly lit.A wheel printing press is running fast.A group of workers wrapped in cloth strips and shading glasses on their heads are busily busy with their respective tasks. Giovanni went straight from the door to the third dais and bowed to those seated there.The man turned back and rummaged through the shelf for a long time, found a note, handed it to Giovanni and said:

"You can pick up so much today." Giovanni pulled out a small wooden box from under the man's table and walked to the opposite corner. The lights here are brighter, and the typefaces are piled up to form a wall.Giovanni squatted there, using tweezers to pick up small stone-like typefaces into the small wooden box.A printer in a blue apron passed behind Giovanni and joked to him: "Hey, little guy, you're here again!" The four or five workers next to him neither made a sound nor looked forward, and just smiled faintly. Giovanni rubbed his eyes, and continued to pick up type.

After the ringing of six o'clock, Giovanni checked the full box of typefaces he picked up with the note in his hand again, and then he lifted the wooden box to the table just now.The person inside took the wooden box silently, glanced at it, and nodded slightly. Giovanni bowed again, and went out of the room to the counter.The man in white at the counter also silently handed Giovanni a small silver coin.Giovanni smiled instantly, bowed deeply, then picked up the schoolbag under the counter and ran quickly to the street.Whistling pompously, he walked into a bakery, bought a loaf of bread and a bag of sugar cubes, and ran away.