Bookselling represented a kind of freedom. His stall carried collections of poetry, which, being relatively unpopular, meant he had little business. But Chou thirsted for knowledge, not money. His passion for learning carried on into his 40s and then his 50s, and he read and reread everything from the Chinese classics to the novels, poetry, and myths of the West.
賣書是一種自由，周公賣的是詩集類書，冷門書讓書攤相對冷清，而周公的求知慾卻是滾燙的，雖已四、五十歲了，周公仍保持高溫，不論中國古籍或西方的神話、小說、詩，總是閱讀再閱讀。