Chapter 45
On the day the first issue, open to outside submissions, was officially released, the Book and Tea House was bustling early in the morning, with everyone rushing to see the new issue of the guidebook.
Before the book was printed, Fang Yu had already distributed the manuscript fees to those whose submissions were selected. Those who were selected knew their articles would appear in the book that day and eagerly brought friends and relatives to show off. Those whose submissions were not chosen were dissatisfied and came to see what types of articles had been selected, hoping to better tailor their efforts for the next time.
In the end, those selected spent their fees on treating friends to see their articles and eat fruit, while those not selected had to pay for tea to learn from the experience. After all this commotion, Fang Yu ended up being the biggest beneficiary.
Whether the money was spent well or poorly, it all eventually ended up in his hands, allowing him to make a hefty profit.
In just a few days, the tea house's revenue increased by another twenty percent.
Seeing the shop's current momentum was excellent, with an extremely large influx of people—gathering almost all the literate individuals in Yuncheng—Fang Yu realized that if he leveraged this, it could be a new way to make money.
Not wanting to miss this money-making opportunity, he gave a faint smile, immediately had Lin Xuan make a batch of exquisite pencils for him, and stayed up all night writing something.
Early the next morning, Fang Yu went to the largest theater in the city, Baihong Tower.
Although he had been in town for many days, he didn't particularly enjoy listening to opera and this was his first time visiting such a place.
The theater's business was better at night. Although it wasn't the same kind of establishment as brothels or pleasure houses, it was currently fashionable to have two handsome ger or beautiful ladies accompany guests while drinking tea or wine and watching opera. Fang Yu went during the day, but business wasn't slow. There was still a group of gentlemen in the main hall listening to opera.
There were also many guests upstairs. Few were there just to watch the opera; most had hired famous performers to accompany them. Sounds of laughter and merriment filled the upper floor.
The theater's manager saw that Fang Yu looked unfamiliar, like a new customer. But seeing him well-dressed, quite dignified, and spotting a scholar registration token at his waist, he immediately put on a smiling face to welcome him: "Young Master, please come right in."
"Would you like to listen to some songs today, or invite a couple of famous performers to accompany you? Do you know any performers? I'll have them called out for you right away."
Fang Yu was there on business and said directly, "Are there any performers available for external bookings?"
The manager's eyebrows twitched as he subtly sized up Fang Yu. He didn't expect such a young gentleman to be quite the player. He lowered his voice a bit: "If you're interested, Young Master, of course there are."
Fang Yu took a slight step back and coughed lightly: "I want to hire someone to perform opera outside."
"Oh!" The manager also gave an awkward smile: "Yes, of course there are."
"A small matter like this, Young Master, you could have just sent a servant from your household." Coming in person like this was just asking for misunderstandings. Seeing the scholar registration token, the manager didn't dare neglect him and led him to the backyard. "May I ask if you wish to hire a performer for ordinary entertainment with guests, or for a celebratory banquet?"
Fang Yu said, "Neither, actually. I have a small play script here. I thought hiring just anyone from outside wouldn't be impressive enough; it's better to hire performers with real skill."
The manager understood. This situation wasn't unheard of. Recently, there was a gentleman obsessed with a storybook. Just reading it wasn't enough; he spent a fortune hiring performers to rehearse and perform it.
"Do you have a preferred performer? In our tower, Young Master Pinxiang and Miss Wanqiu are relatively free lately."
Although Fang Yu had never been to a theater before, he had heard classmates mention these famous performers. He was quite familiar with these two names. Hiring Yuncheng's famous performers would be good—similar to hiring celebrity endorsements in later times; their fans would naturally come to support. But hiring such pre-existing "traffic" would undoubtedly be expensive. He didn't hem and haw, asking directly, "How are the appearance fees for these two performers calculated?"
As soon as he finished speaking, half a body suddenly leaned out from the upstairs of the courtyard. The person upstairs said lazily, "Manager Peng, don't schedule any more performances for me. I've already done three this month, I'm exhausted enough... If you want to go, you go yourself."
"Young Master Pinxiang, you..." Before he could finish, there was a bang as the upstairs door closed. The manager's face turned somewhat unpleasant.
"Young Master, my sincere apologies."
Fang Yu waved his hand, not taking it to heart. Young, famous performers like this had many backers and naturally had quite a temper. Probably hearing him ask about appearance fees, they figured he wasn't someone willing to splurge and naturally wouldn't lower themselves to perform.
"Manager, Young Master Pinxiang is too tired to go, but I can! I'm not tired and I don't have any performances scheduled."
As the two were talking, a young ger seemed to pop out from nowhere, appearing slightly younger than Young Master Pinxiang.
The manager treated people with two very different attitudes. He was quite respectful to Young Master Pinxiang, but his expression instantly turned sour when he saw this unfamiliar young ger. "Who gave you permission to listen in on my conversation? Is your work in the backyard finished?"
"It's been cleaned long ago."
"You talk back when spoken to! Go boil some hot water; they'll need to wash up after the performance."
The young ger pouted: "Yes." He then hung his head and went to the other end of the corridor.
Fang Yu said in surprise, "Can the cleaners in your tower also sing opera?"
"Young Master, you flatter us," the manager said with a smile. "That little ger isn't just a cleaner. He was sold to the tower years ago to learn opera because his family was poor. But he has little talent; after all these years of study, he hasn't amounted to much. Usually, he just fills in as an extra if needed. When there are no performances, he does cleaning and laundry work." The manager, worried he might appear too harsh toward the performers, quickly added an explanation, "In such a large establishment, we can't afford to keep idle people, right?"
Fang Yu nodded and glanced at the young ger again. "I'll pick an older male performer and have him come along too."
The manager was somewhat surprised, but since it was the customer's request, he could only comply. Hiring performers who could sing but weren't famous, the manager couldn't charge a high price. He asked Fang Yu for three taels of silver to have several people from the tower perform for Fang Yu as much as he wanted.
"He's clearly not well-off—so penny-pinching. Manager Peng actually tried to offer me and Wanqiu to him. If I had agreed, that young master probably couldn’t even afford the deposit. Wouldn’t that have been embarrassing for everyone?"
After Fang Yu left, Pinxiang leisurely descended from upstairs and spoke a few words to the manager standing at the door. "Young Master makes a good point. But it's strange, that young master just left an address, and it turns out to be the son-in-law of the Qiao family."
Pinxiang's eyebrows moved slightly. Official families might look down on the Qiao family, but for those of the lower classes, everyone knew the Qiao family.
"Not that surprising. A son-in-law, how much money could he have? If it were Young Master Qiao doing the inviting, now that would be a good gig." Although Pinxiang said this, seeing the young ger named Yu nearby, he still grabbed his wrist: "In the end, it's still Xiao Yu who scrambles for any gig, isn't it? Now, a tasty treat has fallen right on your head."
Xiao Yu's wrist hurt from the pinch. Knowing Pinxiang was resentful, he quickly flattered: "Even if it's a treat, it's one Brother Pinxiang didn't want. Otherwise, what would it have to do with me? If I receive any rewards during the performance, I'll definitely bring them back to offer to Brother Pinxiang."
Only then did Pinxiang feel a bit better: "As if anyone cares about your little things."
After he left, Xiao Yu quickly rubbed his forearm; a patch of skin had been pinched raw.
The manager was used to such things and said to Xiao Yu in a flat tone, "Since Fang Xiucai has given you this chance, perform well. Whether you can have a future later still depends on you striving for it yourself. It'll also mean suffering less bullying."
After hiring the performers, Fang Yu turned back towards the residence. On the street, he happened to run into Qiao Hezhi who was coming out.
"Where are you going?"
Seeing him strolling back, Qiao Hezhi immediately felt reassured. Early that morning, he had heard from Siyu that Fang Yu had withdrawn money from the accounts and gone out, heading straight for Baihong Tower. Siyu's description had been vivid and detailed.
Qiao Hezhi worried that now that Fang Yu was earning his own money and had funds at his disposal, he had begun going out to indulge in leisurely pursuits. He feared that from now on, Fang Yu would no longer need his financial support and, more importantly, would no longer treat him with the same affection as before. It was these troubling thoughts that had driven him to come out and see for himself.
Upon seeing Fang Yu, Qiao Hezhi immediately felt that his own behavior was truly inappropriate. When had he become so narrow-minded that he would monitor his own husband's visit to a theater? If word of this got out, wouldn't everyone label him a jealous and possessive spouse?
"I heard you went to listen to opera."
"This... the exams are coming soon. You should still spend more effort on your studies."
Hearing this, Fang Yu understood Qiao Hezhi's thoughts and chuckled softly, lowering his head: "Yes."
Qiao Hezhi pursed his lips, somewhat embarrassed to meet Fang Yu's eyes.
Fang Yu patted his head and took his hand: "I didn't go to Baihong Tower to listen to opera. I went to hire two opera performers to come back and rehearse. They'll be useful at the Book and Tea House later."
"Weren't there quite a few storytellers who submitted manuscripts a while ago? I chose a few with good stories, didn't have them printed, but specially saved them for the storytellers. I'm adding some programs to take advantage of the large crowds we're attracting."
Qiao Hezhi didn't know what Fang Yu was planning again and said, "So which famous performers did you hire? Are they going to perform opera?"
Mentioning this, Fang Yu pretended to be wronged: "I originally wanted to hire the quite famous Young Master Pinxiang. Wouldn't that attract more people to come listen to opera? But unfortunately, he looked down on me and refused to perform. Probably thinks I can't afford his fee."
Hearing Fang Yu's long sighs and pitiful, wronged appearance, Qiao Hezhi's heart immediately ached. Thinking his husband had been looked down upon by a mere performer, he grew angry: "He's just a performer, yet he puts on such airs! If it weren't for everyone supporting him, how could he have his status today! I, I'll have someone go tell him to come. Make him sing for you a whole day, not allowed to stop until his voice is hoarse!"
He gently patted Fang Yu's back, comforting him: "Don't be sad."
Seeing Qiao Hezhi defending him so fiercely, Fang Yu found it hilarious. On the verge of losing his composure, he hugged Qiao Hezhi, burying his face in his neck, acting like a wronged wife: "Mm."
"Siyu, take my card and go find the owner of Baihong Tower. Tell Pinxiang to come!"
Hearing his little fulang's cold, sharp voice from behind him, Fang Yu quickly lifted his head: "There's really no need. I've already hired others. Having him come would just waste silver."
Qiao Hezhi frowned slightly: "But, but he bullied you like that. Are you just going to swallow that?"
"It's fine. I won't stoop to his level."
Qiao Hezhi pouted. Although he listened to Fang Yu and didn't go settle the score, he still said indignantly, "I'll tell Father later to never go to Baihong Tower again."
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