Master and servant were chatting and laughing here, completely unaware of two cold, piercing gazes cast from the second floor of the Yipin Xiang restaurant in the distance.
"He actually publicly accepts things from a young ger on the street! And has the shamelessness to keep smiling! He even talked with the person for so long... Why did Hezhi marry such a person?!"
The man was furious, slamming down his teacup in anger.
...
Fang Yu hadn't read a single one of the submitted manuscripts. After confirming the submitter had left their information and contact details, he simply stored them all away. By the time of the holiday, Fang Yu had already accumulated a whole box of manuscripts.
After printing and distributing the new issue of the Wild Vegetable Collection, he began sorting through the submitted manuscripts.
At night, he and Qiao Hezhi lit a lamp to read them together.
Qiao Hezhi found this entire matter novel and even more interesting than doing the writing himself. He had prepared some fruits and pastries in the study early on. The two sat side by side at the desk; Fang Yu flipped through the manuscripts while Qiao Hezhi sorted the ones that had been read or were worth keeping, occasionally picking up a piece of fruit to feed to Fang Yu.
Snuggled together, the environment for reading manuscripts was quite comfortable, but the content of the manuscripts was rather disappointing.
Out of every ten manuscripts Fang Yu picked up, eight or nine were poems filled with overly flowery language, and a large number were all on the theme of "Ode to Spring." It was as if, now that spring had arrived, everyone felt obliged to write something about it. People had long grown weary of poems praising spring, yet the majority of these submissions came from academy scholars who were overly confident in their own literary talent.
When he saw such poems and essays, he tossed them aside. What he wanted was entertainment for the masses, not literary appreciation.
Not only was Fang Yu being selective, even Qiao Hezhi found articles on such themes dull. The constant praising of spring relied on the same tired, flowery phrases. Recently, those who had been out on excursions or attending banquets had already exhausted every possible "Ode to Spring" theme at their gatherings. If they published more of the same in their Book and Tea House, who would bother to read them?
If the writings were truly exceptional, that would be a different matter. But these were simply too commonplace.
They set aside a large portion of the manuscripts. After some time, Qiao Hezhi finally spoke up: "Here's one at last that isn't about spring. The handwriting is a bit messy compared to the others, but it seems rather engaging."
Hearing this, Fang Yu picked up the manuscript and skimmed it quickly. "It's about hunting!" he said with delight.
Although the writing style was unpolished and the choice of words was not especially refined, the story itself was captivating. The author described how his family had been destitute in his youth, looked down upon by fellow villagers. With no other options, he became the adopted son of a childless old hunter and learned the trade from him. Through relentless effort, he eventually mastered the skills of a hunter, and his family's circumstances slowly improved. The narrative also wove in a few anecdotes about him and his fulang, though these were presented quite subtly...
Fang Yu chuckled. "This writer definitely has a knack for penning wish-fulfillment stories."
Qiao Hezhi remarked, "Perhaps it feels so immersive because it draws from the hunter's own real experiences. The language is direct, and there are quite a few misspelled characters, but if we correct those, it should still be usable."
Fang Yu put his arm around Qiao Hezhi. "The manuscript is usable, but it probably wasn't written by the hunter himself."
"Why not?"
"How many households in the village can write? Didn't the beginning of the story say the hunter's family was poor? How would they have the means to study?" Fang Yu said. "It was probably written by the hunter's fulang, who wrote it from the hunter's perspective."
Qiao Hezhi was somewhat surprised. "You could tell even that?"
Fang Yu said, "If you don't believe me, when it's time to distribute the manuscript fee, we can go take a look together. This article will definitely be more popular with gers and women then."
Finally finding one gem, both were in a good mood and continued flipping through.
Fang Yu also came across several submissions recommending local delicacies from Yuncheng, some about recent spring outings, one about horse racing, and one that clearly seemed written by a woman about clever needlework tips—all quite good.
They reached the bottom of the manuscripts. They already had more than enough articles for the next journal issue. Seeing two remaining pieces in the box, Fang Yu picked them up together. "I instructed repeatedly to leave contact information. Who just stuffed this into my hands without it?"
Seeing the article's blank cover, he couldn't help but grumble first. "Why isn't there even a title?!"
Fang Yu grumbled as he read a few lines, then his heart gave a jolt. Almost instinctively, he reached out to cover Qiao Hezhi's eyes.
Who on earth submitted this shockingly explicit account of a night spent at the Spring Blossom Tower?! Couldn't they find somewhere else to send their erotic stories?!
Qiao Hezhi, who had been reading along with Fang Yu, had naturally seen the article's contents. His face instantly flushed a deep crimson, feeling as if his eyes had been sullied. Although he had seen instructional booklets before marriage, those were written quite reservedly and properly. Where had he ever been exposed to the sheer brazenness of actual erotic fiction, and involving more than two people at that? His entire worldview was shaken.
His eyes widened, his heart pounding. "We've almost finished looking at the manuscripts. I... I'll go back to Xiaotong Courtyard first."
Fang Yu grabbed his hand. "Aren't you staying with me tonight?"
Qiao Hezhi's face reddened further, thinking that things weren't exactly proper when the two of them shared a quilt lately, so he said, "I... I want to stay over there tonight."
Watching the two of them scurry out, Fang Yu naturally knew why Qiao Hezhi was running. He couldn't help cursing the bastard who submitted that piece again. He hoped it wouldn't leave any psychological shadow on Qiao Hezhi.
Thinking about it, he still stood up, deciding to go and offer some guidance.
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