Chapter 46
"Today is the day for new books at the Book and Tea House. This issue features essays from my classmates in the lecture hall."
"A few days ago, they invited a storyteller. The story he tells is truly excellent. It officially starts at sishi (9-11 AM) today. I've heard the first two chapters; today's installment should be the most exciting part. We should go early to get good seats, otherwise we won't find a table.
On days when new books and journals were released, the Book and Tea House was always the most bustling. Not only were the programs more varied than usual on those days, but the teahouse also offered complimentary tea and held a prize draw. Occasionally, someone might even win a stack of free spiced watermelon seeds. Everyone loved to come and join the excitement on this day.
By the end of chenshi (7-9 AM), while business at other teahouses was still quiet, the Book and Tea House was already full with no empty seats. At this moment, a storyteller, carrying a gavel and a cup of tea, settled at the large desk on the expansive storytelling platform.
Right at sishi, the sound of the gavel rang out precisely on time. Subconsciously, everyone's gaze turned towards the composed and somewhat serious elderly gentleman in the hall.
"Last time, I told you about Lin Er, who obtained a treasure map. He left his elderly mother and young wife to venture alone into an ancient tomb in search of the treasure. Today, we continue with what Lin Er witnessed after he arrived at the tomb..."
The storyteller narrated leisurely, his voice and expression captivating. Those who arrived late found stools and sat quietly in the back, cracking watermelon seeds and listening. Not a single person spoke loudly.
After approximately a quarter of an hour, the storyteller reached the part where Lin Er explored the ancient tomb at night. Beneath a movable floor tile, he found a chest full of gleaming gold ingots. Just as he was about to succeed, the stone coffin in front of him, which had been silent and still, suddenly made a noise. Immediately afterward, a chilling white smoke seeped out, cold enough to freeze one's bones. Lin Er stared at the stone coffin, his eyes widening abruptly, catching sight of something monstrous seeming about to burst forth from the coffin. It happened in the blink of an eye...
"And now, an advertisement."
"After the advertisement, the excitement continues."
The gavel struck. The audience, who had been listening enthralled, even forgetting to crack their watermelon seeds, were startled out of their reverie. Suddenly, they saw the earnest storyteller take out an ornate box from beside him, stand up, and say:
"Are you still troubled by ink staining your clothes?"
"Are you distressed by being unable to promptly record the teachings of renowned scholars?"
"And are you privately worried about being unable to convey your heartfelt feelings through a tangible gift?"
"Qiao Family Pencils understand your worries and relieve your troubles. Small and portable, no ink needed, ready to write or draw anytime. They light a lantern for your path in the imperial examinations!"
The audience stared blankly as the old gentleman recited his lines while displaying the rather novel wooden pencils in the ornate box. Before they could fully process it, they saw the storyteller finish and step back down.
"Hey, is that it?"
"Advertisement? What's an advertisement break?"
People discussed animatedly, but it was only for a moment. A curtain fell on the storytelling platform, blocking the audience's view. When the curtain opened again, the desk on the platform was gone. In its place appeared a scene of a renowned scholar giving a lecture.
The scholar spoke eloquently and profoundly, each word precise, every sentence a classic. The students listening eagerly wanted to record the scholar's words. Looking around and finding nothing, they couldn't help but sigh in regret: "If only we had writing tools to record this!"
Just as the students were feeling disheartened, an unassuming student suddenly raised his hand high: "Fortunately, I have a Qiao Family Pencil! Not a single word from the scholar will be missed!"
Having said that, he took out his pencil and began writing spiritedly and swiftly in a small notebook. Amidst the envy of the other students, the curtain slowly fell.
When the curtain opened once more, the scene switched to a young ger under a lamp, distressed. He murmured to himself that the person he admired would soon be moving far away to another place. Perhaps they would never meet again in this lifetime. He didn't know what gift could express his feelings for his beloved. At that moment, the ger had a sudden inspiration: "Fortunately, I have a Qiao Family Pencil! I'll give it to my beloved to carry with him. Seeing the object, he'll think of the person!"
The next day, at the moment of their reluctant farewell, the ger took out the pencil. His beloved was deeply moved: "You actually gave me a Qiao Family Pencil! Such profound affection and meaning! Had I known your feelings for me were like this, I wouldn't have decided to leave!"
As the two embraced affectionately, the curtain slowly fell again.
This time, all the actors, along with the storyteller, returned to the storytelling platform and recited the commercial message once more together.
The lead actor, Xiao Yu, holding the ornate box, announced: "Qiao Family Pencils! Limited quantity! Interested buyers, please proceed to the side hall for purchase! First come, first served! The first five buyers will receive an exquisite handmade notebook as a gift!"
The entire teahouse fell silent.
It was unclear whether people hadn't yet recovered from the exaggerated yet somewhat awkward plot, or were simply shocked at having never seen such a method of promoting something before.
Standing at the very front of the stage, Xiao Yu felt uneasy, his heart pounding. Although Fang Yu had only told him to perform faithfully and hadn't specified any required reaction, seeing the audience's response like this still left him feeling very uncertain.
Just as he was hoping the curtain would quickly close and was holding his breath, someone in the audience suddenly shouted out a "Good!", followed by another voice shouting: "Do it again!"
Upstairs on the second floor, Li Yun, who had been specially invited by Fang Yu to watch the commercial, was now doubled over with laughter: "Brother Fang, oh, Brother Fang, why did you ever become a scholar? You were truly a businessman whose talent was held back by your studies! No, no, I should correct myself: you were a playwright whose talent was held back by your studies."
"Brother Li, you're mistaken," Ji Yunlu said. Although not laughing as openly as Li Yun, he couldn't hide the smile on his face, joining Li Yun in teasing. "I actually think Brother Fang is truly talented, able to come up with such a script."
"This trip was truly not in vain. Brilliant, brilliant! Novel, novel!"
"But why call it an advertisement?
"What is an advertisement? It means to advertise widely," Fang Yu took a sip of tea. "With so many guests in the teahouse today, I specially reserved the best seats for you two gentlemen. Now that you've seen the commercial, drank the tea, and eaten the snacks, isn't it time to show your support?"
Li Yun straightened up from his bent-over laughter: "Support, we must support! Isn't this much more interesting than the plays we watch at Baihong Tower!"
He leaned over the railing and tossed a handful of broken silver onto the stage: "Well performed! Save two Qiao Family Pencils for me! Light a lantern for my imperial examination path!"
Ji Yunlu, somewhat influenced by Li Yun's informality, followed suit and tossed some broken silver onto the stage: "Understand my worries, relieve my troubles."
The people upstairs and downstairs were stirred up by the two. They began clapping and also started throwing reward money onto the stage. Some, curious about the novelty, hurried to the side hall to see these highly touted pencils.
"Gentlemen, ladies, and gers who wish to purchase pencils, please come to the side hall to try them! Limited quantity! First come, first served!"
With this announcement, even more people went to see the commotion, directly resulting in very few people listening to the storyteller's subsequent content.
It wasn't entirely an exaggeration in the commercial. Fang Yu had indeed only prepared thirty pencils, priced at three taels of silver each—a deliberately high price. He didn't intend to pursue small profits but high volume. The pencils were not easy to produce anyway. Having advertised them, those who could afford them would buy; those who couldn't, he wouldn't force. Developing them as a high-end product was worth all his efforts.
Fang Yu went downstairs and found Lin Xuan, who had also come to watch the commercial today: "Uncle, isn't my method of introduction and explanation quite good?"
Lin Xuan crossed his arms: "This certainly saves one the effort of explaining oneself. Someday, arrange a similar performance for the new farming tools from my workshop."
"If Uncle instructs, I will certainly comply," Fang Yu said. "Furthermore, from the profits of every pencil sold here, fifty percent will go to Uncle's workshop."
"You know I don't care much about these things. Besides, you provided the production method originally."
"This was decided after discussion between Hezhi and me. If you don't take it, what about all the people in the workshop to support?"
Lin Xuan shook his head with a smile: "You're starting to sound more and more like Hezhi. The people in the workshop are becoming more skilled in production. I'll also go back and do some research, have them make the products even more refined, so there can be different grades and prices."
"Then I'll trouble you with that, Uncle."
Unexpectedly, today's performance turned out to be a complete success. The guests gave a considerable amount of reward money. When Xiao Yu collected all the money behind the curtain, he gasped in surprise. Originally afraid someone might throw eggs to pelt them, he never expected they'd throw silver instead.
He quietly calculated—it was actually over fifty taels of silver! Even famous performers like Pinxiang and Wanqiu might not necessarily receive this much reward money thrown on stage during a single performance. To think that one day he would receive such a large sum of reward money in this manner... He couldn't suppress the smile on his face. All those days of rehearsing from dawn till dusk were finally worth it.
After tidying up the stage, he happily took all the silver to hand over to Qiao Hezhi: "Young Master Qiao, all of today's reward money is here."
Before their performance, Fang Yu had already paid the Baihong Tower. For such performances, while money privately given to them by guests could be kept, money thrown onto the stage could not be taken. Although the money couldn't go into his own pocket, seeing such a large amount and knowing he had contributed to it, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
Qiao Hezhi accepted the money: "You all worked hard today."
"Not hard, not hard at all," Xiao Yu liked talking to Qiao Hezhi. The young master of the Qiao family was even better-looking than Pinxiang, and his temper was better too. Clearly from a wealthy and prosperous family, yet his personality was so approachable and amiable. "We should thank Fang Xiucai for giving us this opportunity. Otherwise, I'd have few chances to appear on stage, let alone be the lead like today."
Xiao Yu clasped his hands: "If there are jobs like this in the future, Young Master Qiao, could you call on me again?"
Qiao Hezhi smiled and said: "Naturally, we can."
He then took out twenty taels of silver: "Consider this as additional reward. Take it and share some with the others who participated this time."
Xiao Yu received so much reward money and happily cupped his hands: "Thank you, Young Master Qiao! I'll go do that right away!"
Seeing how happy the person was, Qiao Hezhi also showed a slight smile. He looked up at Fang Yu in the distance, and his smile grew even wider. With all these schemes and plans, only he could be so full of ideas. Clearly loves to stir things up, yet often complains to him about being tired. Now that this matter is over, in a few days it will be his mother's birthday. That will be another chance to take him back to his family's home for a big feast.
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