Upon hearing Old Lady Zhang’s words, Zhang’s father turned pale. The imposing demeanor he had just displayed while scolding Zhang Gousheng vanished, and he stammered, “This… Mother, does he really look like him?”

“I… I don’t remember.”

He had only seen the young Master Wang a couple of times in his youth. Later, when he saw him again, the man had become as plump as a steamed bun, so he truly hadn’t noticed the resemblance between Zhang Gousheng and Master Wang.

But while he didn’t remember, Old Lady Zhang did.

“Get him out of here!” she snapped fiercely at her son.

Zhang’s father nervously replied, “Yes, yes, I’ll take him back soon. It’s just that I strained my back working yesterday, so I had him carry the baskets for me.”

“Oh, the baskets!”

Zhang’s father’s eyes lit up as he turned to Old Lady Zhang. “Mother, I brought some pickles that Fugui likes. They’re in the baskets. I’m not sure if he still likes them now, but I remember you saying he loved our family’s pickles when he was young.”

At the mention of her beloved grandson, Old Lady Zhang’s face softened into a smile.

“He still loves them,” she said. “I make some for him every year. By the way, did you bring the ones made by Cuiniang? Cuiniang is Fugui’s birth mother. Her pickles are something Fugui should definitely taste.”

After a moment of thought, she added, “Here’s what we’ll do. Come with me.”

Old Lady Zhang whispered, “It’s been years since you last saw Fugui, right? I’ll take you to see him later. Fugui is studying with a tutor now. He can already recite poems, and his handwriting is excellent—big and bold!”

“As for Gousheng, just send him back first.”

Naturally, Zhang’s father had no objections to seeing his own son. He dismissed Zhang Gousheng and, despite the lingering pain in his lower back, shouldered the heavy baskets and entered the back gate of the Wang residence.

However, when Zhang’s father finally saw his biological son, Wang Fugui, under Old Lady Zhang’s guidance, he was met not with the warm welcome he had imagined, but with disdain.

Wang Fugui thought Old Lady Zhang must be losing her mind, bringing all sorts of riffraff to him. He didn’t even spare Zhang’s father a glance, but out of respect for Old Lady Zhang, he had a pretty maid hand over a small purse.

The maid, treating Zhang’s father as a beggar, showed no respect and even demanded that he kowtow to Wang Fugui in gratitude.

But how could Zhang’s father bring himself to kowtow to his own son? He was stunned, panicked, and conflicted…

Yet Old Lady Zhang, who knew the truth, did nothing to stop it. Not only did she not intervene, but she also noticed Wang Fugui’s displeasure at Zhang’s father’s expression and turned to order Zhang’s father to kowtow.

Moreover, she fawned over Wang Fugui, saying, “Young Master Fugui, my son here hasn’t seen much of the world. Please don’t be angry.” Then she sternly scolded Zhang’s father, “Why aren’t you kowtowing to Young Master Fugui?”

“Young Master Fugui is the only grandson of the Wang family. He’s precious!”

And so, Zhang’s father kowtowed in confusion and left the Wang residence in a daze.

As for Zhang’s father’s plan to have Old Lady Zhang arrange a marriage between his eldest daughter and one of the Wang family’s servants, that also fell through. Old Lady Zhang believed that Wang Fugui would one day return to his roots, and their family would enjoy endless fortune. Having a servant as a brother-in-law was nothing compared to finding a decent family for her eldest granddaughter.

Once Wang Fugui became Zhang Fugui, he could always lend a hand later.

…

At this point, Fu Wenyu put down his pen.

He felt this scene was deeply ironic, and readers would surely be emotionally stirred when they reached this part.

Whether they felt heartache for Zhang Gousheng, who was turned away from his own home, or anger at Zhang’s father, who had to kowtow to his own son, or even disdain for Old Lady Zhang, the mastermind behind it all, Fu Wenyu’s goal had been achieved.

He had learned a truth from writing “Sacrifice to Heaven”: bland writing has no future!

Drama and conflict are essential!

So, in the next moment, he shifted his focus to Zhang Gousheng, who, after leaving the Wang residence, wandered the streets, distracted by the novel sights around him, and nearly got hit by a carriage.

Inside that carriage was Master Wang, who had returned early from a business trip!

Father and son had finally met!

…

Zhang Gousheng’s injuries from the carriage accident were not severe—just some minor flesh wounds that would heal in three to five days.

But the plump Master Wang was a kind-hearted man, and he felt an inexplicable fondness for the young man before him. Not only did he step out of the carriage to apologize to Zhang Gousheng, but he also personally took him to a clinic to have his wounds properly bandaged. Seeing the patches on Zhang Gousheng’s clothes and his thin frame, Master Wang’s heart ached, and he handed him five taels of silver.

But Zhang Gousheng refused.

He said earnestly, “Master Wang, it was my fault for not paying attention and bumping into your carriage. That you didn’t blame me and even brought me to the clinic is already a great kindness.”

“I cannot accept your silver!”

“Although my family is not wealthy, I am a man who has studied. My tutor once taught me, ‘A gentleman knows what to do and what not to do.’ Accepting your silver falls under ‘what not to do,’ so I cannot take it.”

Master Wang’s eyes lit up, and he praised, “Good, good boy!”

He grew more and more fond of Zhang Gousheng, finding him not only familiar but also someone whose temperament suited his own tastes. He almost wished Zhang Gousheng were his own son.

But alas, he was not.

So, with regret, Master Wang bid Zhang Gousheng farewell, leaving him his address and telling him to seek help at the Wang residence if needed. Then, with a sigh, he returned home.

Upon arriving home, he happened to see his son, Wang Fugui, skipping school and instead chasing and playing with a group of pretty maids in the courtyard, behaving like a spoiled brat.

Master Wang’s anger flared, and he grabbed a stick and stormed over.

Next, Fu Wenyu drew inspiration from the scene in Dream of the Red Chamber where Baoyu is beaten, vividly describing the chaos that ensued when the family’s precious heir was punished.

The maids and servants were in an uproar.

Madam Wang wept bitterly, wishing she could take the punishment herself.

Grandma Wang cried out, “Beat him! Why don’t you beat me to death instead!” Then, after Master Wang replied with a timid “I wouldn’t dare,” she scolded him for being away all the time and only coming home to cause trouble, accusing him of not respecting her.

In the end, the matter was dropped.

Over the next two years, Master Wang was often away on business, and his discipline of Wang Fugui grew increasingly lax. With Old Lady Zhang’s help, Wang Fugui successfully played the role of a well-behaved child in front of Grandma Wang and Madam Wang, but in private, he acted recklessly, often skipping school and even beating servants.

At the age of fifteen, he encountered an old man blocking his path while out and accidentally killed him in a fit of rage.

Terrified, Wang Fugui fled home.

To emphasize his despicable behavior, Fu Wenyu meticulously described the scene after Wang Fugui returned home.

At first, the young master of the Wang family was frightened, but under the comfort of those around him, especially Old Lady Zhang, he gradually regained his composure. After a nap, he even convinced himself that it was just one person—his mother could buy a servant for ten taels of silver, so he only needed to compensate with ten taels as if he had bought the old man.

After all, he could do whatever he wanted with his own servants.

But before he could act on this, the victim’s family filed a lawsuit with the county magistrate, demanding justice. Enraged, the magistrate ordered his officers to storm the Wang residence and arrest Wang Fugui.

Only then did the Wang family learn that Wang Fugui had killed someone!

Grandma Wang was so frightened that she fell ill, while Madam Wang fainted on the spot. Master Wang, though he didn’t faint, was in disbelief. He stumbled out to investigate and discovered that Wang Fugui had ordered his servants to hold down an old man who hadn’t moved out of his way fast enough and had then proceeded to beat him mercilessly.

One of the kicks had struck the old man’s temple, killing him instantly.

Master Wang, who prided himself on being upright in both business and life, stood dumbfounded in the empty street, his gaze unfocused as fallen leaves swirled around him in the wind…

…

Fu Wenyu set down his pen and stretched.

After dealing with Fu Dashí, he had sat at his desk and written until sunset, when the fading light made it hard to see. He continued to ponder the plot as he ate dinner and even as he prepared for bed.

The passages he had just written, Fu Wenyu felt, would benefit from an illustration. That way, readers would better empathize with Master Wang’s disbelief, despair, and pain.

But that was a task for later. For now, he continued writing.

However, as he dipped his brush into the ink and prepared to write more, he suddenly realized a problem: in the story The True and False Young Masters, there were too few moments highlighting female characters.

The female characters in the story were either like Old Lady Zhang—vicious and unjust—or like Old Lady Wang and Madam Wang, who doted on their descendants and adhered to traditional virtues, or like Zhang’s eldest daughter, who was consumed by jealousy, or the maids and servants of the Wang family, who enabled wrongdoing. Positive female roles were scarce.

In contrast, the male characters were different. The protagonist, Zhang Gousheng, was the embodiment of kindness, determination, and hard work. Master Wang, as conceived, was also commendable. Beyond these two, the county magistrate of Ping’an County, who would soon appear, was a wise and formidable figure.

These were all positive characters.

In comparison, the positive portrayals of female characters were far too few.

This wasn’t intentional on Fu Wenyu’s part. When the protagonist is male, the surrounding characters naturally tend to be male as well, and the author’s focus naturally shifts more toward male character development.

But then he thought of Madam Zhou, of Fu Rong…

He remembered their joyful smiles when he taught them how to make velvet flowers, and the vibrant colors they displayed when they went to the city to sell their embroidery. Fu Wenyu felt he needed to do something.

So, after some thought, he decided to add a new character.

This character wasn’t the female lead—that role was already set as the daughter of Zhang Gousheng’s mentor, whom he would marry after becoming the top scholar. Her role in the story was less than a hundred words, as the core of the script was the “true and false young master” plot, not romance, so the female lead didn’t require much development.

The new character was the daughter of the old man who had been killed, named Liu Hui.

Additionally, Fu Wenyu added a new scene: on the day of the killing, Zhang Gousheng was also present. He had come to the city again to deliver a letter for his tutor to a friend. On his way, he encountered Wang Fugui beating the old man. Zhang Gousheng rushed to stop it but was held back and beaten by Wang’s servants.

When Zhang Gousheng, bruised and bloodied, along with some kind-hearted townsfolk, brought the old man’s body back, Liu Hui wept bitterly. With their help, she took the body to the authorities to report the crime.

Later, when Master Wang arrived with lavish gifts to apologize and shamelessly begged Liu Hui to forgive Wang Fugui so that he could receive a lighter sentence, Liu Hui spat in his face.

With red eyes, she cursed, “I spit on you! Take your filthy money away!”

“That was my father!”

“What did my father do wrong? He was just walking down the road and didn’t move out of the way fast enough, and for that, he was beaten to death. Have you no conscience, Wang family?”

She glared fiercely at Master Wang. “If you had a father, if you were a good father, you wouldn’t come to me with such words. I wish I could eat Wang Fugui’s flesh and drink his blood.”

“You want me to forgive him?”

“Dream on!”

Master Wang, thoroughly shamed by her tirade, could only leave with his entourage.

After finishing this scene, Fu Wenyu reviewed the earlier parts and made a few adjustments. He felt that the new character’s portrayal was sufficient for now. The next step was to shift the focus back to the Wang family and reveal Zhang Gousheng’s true identity.