The old bookstore on Wenhua Street in Yuzhong District

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- While digital products are gradually replacing paper books, and more and more boutique bookstores are taking over the market, there are still bookstores for second-hand books open in the market. There is a such bookstore on Wenhua Street in Yuzhong District, where books are bought by the total weight, and second-hand books are sold for 10 yuan a pound, what is the story behind selling books by the total weight?

Buy back at the price of one single book and sell by their weight

This second-hand bookstore is near entrance/exit 9 of Jiaochangkou Station of CRT Line 2. Seen from the outside, there are some yellowed books on the bookshelves, coupled with the surrounding alleys of the old city, making the bookstore have some kind of retro style.

It is written at the door of the bookstore: second-hand books for sales, 10 yuan per jin. Walking into the store, it is not too large, about 20 square meters, most of which are occupied by piles of old books. The shelves are stacked with layers of old books, some on the ground. There are all kinds of books, including humanities, geography, science and technology, art, children’s picture books …

There are some notes posted in the shop --- you can find the owner in the store opposite. “You can read or take pictures by yourself, but don’t ask me where those books are, because I don’t know either. There are too many books. Just find whatever you want yourelf.” A reporter from the Chongqing Evening News found one of people in charge of the bookstore in the opposite store. He said that he and his brother run the store for a year, and the rent is not high. Usually, the two brothers do business in the opposite store. When customers are reading and taking pictures in the store, they will not disturb them. When customers need to buy books, they come to weigh them.

“The price of second-hand books is not high, so it is cheaper to sell them by jin.” Li Minjia, the boss, said that he bought back the second-hand books on a book-by-book basis. According to the thickness of the book, some was bought back one yuan each, some two or three yuan each, and some have higher prices. “The people who sell books are generally intellectuals, books they have read at home. If you collect them by jin, it always feels like recycling waste, but books are not waste, so they should be more cherished.”

One-stop “treasure hunting” check-in

In this era of digital reading, compared with the new bookstore, the corners and yellowed pages of second-hand books are traces of the passage of time, which makes the second-hand bookstore a place where many people feel the culture and humanities.

“I’ll see if there are any books I want.” “Well! This bookstore looks great. I can take some pictures.” A couple of tourists came here, strolled around the store and took pictures. A tourist said: “It’s great to take pictures and visit this kind of second-hand bookstore, and maybe I can find some interesting books.”

Li Minjia said that most of the books in the store are bought back by them. After that, he cleaned and tidied up and put them on the bookshelf. If there are too many books there, he had to pile them on the ground. These second-hand books involve almost every field, and many people like to go to second-hand bookstores for books that cannot be bought in bookstores. “I like reading very much. I used to visit second-hand bookstores a lot.” Visiting a second-hand bookstore is like taking a chance. Finding a satisfactory second-hand book and buying it home is a kind of fate.”

“Now the second-hand bookstore is not just a place to buy and read books, but also a kind of cultural check-in destination.” Li Minjia said that many of the customers, who are tourists visiting Chongqing, like to come to take pictures for check-in. (Translated by Wang Junli, Fathom Language Limited)