Liu Changmiao reluctantly placed “The Woodcutter” on the table.

“Indeed, when it comes to storybooks, it’s always best to read those by Mr. Sanliu. If I had known Mr. Sanliu would release a new storybook this month, I wouldn’t have stayed in Jiangzhou for so long. Although Jiangzhou is quite interesting, their storybooks are not enjoyable.”

“By the way, are there any other good storybooks from the past two months?”

Zhang Er, who was well-versed in the contents of the bookstore, immediately replied upon hearing Liu Changmiao’s question: “Yes, there is. Scholar Sun also released a new storybook last month called “The East Chamber”. I’ll fetch it for you right away.”

However, The East Chamber, which was also selling well, didn’t stay in Liu Changmiao’s hands for long. After flipping through a few pages, he casually tossed the book onto the table and said disdainfully:

“Same old stuff. Can’t he come up with something different?”

“Forget it, just wrap them all up.”

Zhang Er, with his good temper, began wrapping the books. He was already accustomed to Liu Changmiao’s attitude.

The Liu Changmiao before him was the youngest son of Liu Juren, a prominent figure in the city. Known for his lavish spending and blunt speech, which often offended people, he had earned the nickname “Liu Dandy” behind his back. It was no surprise that he would act so dismissively.

However, as Zhang Er was wrapping the books, his peripheral vision caught sight of a stack of papers behind the shelf. These were the newly printed Liuzhou Tabloid from last night. He suddenly slapped his forehead.

“Oh dear, I almost forgot something.”

“Young Master Liu, our bookstore has a new item. It also contains storybooks.”

Without waiting for Liu Changmiao to respond, he pulled out a sheet from the stack of gazettes and said, “Look, this is the Liuzhou Tabloid printed by our owner and a few other distinguished individuals.”

“It also has storybooks!”

“Really?”

Liu Changmiao, who had initially retracted his hand upon hearing Liuzhou Tabloid, extended it again, half-doubtingly accepting the newspaper, which was twice the size of the previous ones. Since he disliked poetry and overly literary articles, he had never been interested in this Tabloid before. Even if he did glance at it, it was only for the street gossip.

“How dare I deceive you, Young Master Liu?”

“Look, Young Master Liu, this is the The Woodcutter you just read. Of course, since you’ve already read The Woodcutter, it’s nothing new. What I want to recommend is another story.”

Zhang Er skillfully pointed to a section of the Tabloid: “This is a new storybook our manager recently acquired, titled “Jiu Occupying Magpie’s Nest: The True and False Young Masters.”

“Young Master Liu, didn’t you just complain that Mr. Sanliu’s The Woodcutter was too short? This new story is much longer. I heard from the manager that it will be three times the length of The Woodcutter! Our owner has decided that from now on, the best storybooks will be printed in the Liuzhou Tabloid. Today is the first time it’s being printed.”

“Young Master Liu, you’re the first customer to see it!”

“Jiu Occupying Magpie’s Nest: The True and False Young Masters?” Liu Changmiao held the tabloid, reading the lengthy title word by word, and then pronounced the pen name Fu Wenyu had used.

“Two Coins for a Steamed Bun?”

“What a strange name.”

Liu Changmiao scoffed: “I’ve seen many people imitate Mr. Sanliu’s naming style, like Mr. Yiliu or Mr. Sanshi, but naming oneself ‘Two Coins for a Steamed Bun’ is a first for me.”

“Is he so poor he can’t even afford a steamed bun?”

“Haha, I wouldn’t know about that,” Zhang Er chuckled awkwardly, then explained: “This is a newcomer. When he brought the storybook, I had the chance to read it. It’s definitely good.”

He gave a thumbs-up, praising without reservation, “I think this storybook is no less impressive than Mr. Sanliu’s The Woodcutter.”

“Our owner said today’s Tabloid is free of charge.”

“Young Master Liu, shall I wrap one up for you?”

“Then wrap it up,” Liu Changmiao said casually. Since it wasn’t a story by Mr. Sanliu, he wasn’t in a hurry to read it. He had his servant take the stack of storybooks Zhang Er had wrapped, paid, and then went home.

The Liu residence was one of the larger mansions in Liuzhou, primarily because the Liu family was a scholarly household with considerable wealth. Moreover, Liu Changmiao’s father, Liu Juren, held an official title and was a guest of honor at the prefect’s residence.

Upon returning home, Liu Changmiao first paid his respects to his grandmother, Lady Liu, and others, then went out to meet some friends who knew he had returned. After the sun set, he came back in a less-than-cheerful mood.

“Young Master, the kitchen has prepared some new pastries. Would you like some more?” a servant asked eagerly.

“No, I’m too angry to eat. That Sun Datou is really too much! From now on, wherever he is, I won’t go!” Liu Changmiao sat down gloomily and gulped down a cup of water.

“Bring me those storybooks.”

When he was in a bad mood, he liked to immerse himself in the world of storybooks. His servants were already accustomed to this, and as soon as he spoke, a stack of storybooks was presented to him.

Liu Changmiao flipped through them one by one, commenting as he read.

“This is well-written. He should just punch him!”

“What garbage is this? Can’t he write anything other than bad poetry?”

“This one’s good, but it’s too short.”

…

By the time the candles were lit, Liu Changmiao had devoured the seventeen or eighteen storybooks he had bought. Apart from three or four that he praised, the rest were dismissed with criticism, especially Scholar Sun’s masterpiece The East Chamber. Liu Changmiao threw it on the ground halfway through and even stomped on it.

“Leaving his wife at home while he goes to the capital to take the imperial exams and happens to meet a princess?”

“Is the princess blind? How could she fall for someone like that? He can’t do anything except write poetry, and the clothes he’s wearing were made by his wife.”

“What a shameless freeloader! Disgusting!”

After venting like this, Liu Changmiao’s mood finally calmed down.

Then he picked up the last item, the Liuzhou Tabloid that Zhang Er had included as a gift.

He first carefully read the street gossip and shop advertisements in tabloid, muttering in surprise about the latter, wondering why he hadn’t seen them before and whether the shop was really that good. He resolved to try it tomorrow. Finally, he skillfully skipped over the poetry and imperial examination articles, his eyes landing on the story Zhang Er had mentioned.

“A child swap? Interesting.”

“Wang Fugui, Zhang Gousheng, the Wang family is rich, the Zhang family is poor…”

“This old nanny is truly despicable, and the Wang family is so stupid. How could they not recognize their own family? They deserve to be deceived. Poor Zhang Gousheng.”

“Huh? Why does it end here?”

Just as Young Master Liu was getting into the story, it abruptly ended. He flipped through the pages in disbelief, only to find that it truly ended there, with Zhang Gousheng, who had been swapped into the Zhang family, crying loudly while the Zhang family ignored him, and the eldest Zhang sister secretly pinching him.

…It ends here?

On this day, many people shared Young Master Liu’s sentiment.

Since this issue of the Liuzhou Tabloid was an extra print and given out for free, not only did regular readers see it, but many new readers also got their hands on it. Especially in teahouses and entertainment venues, where they usually bought some to leave for patrons to read, the free distribution meant that almost anyone who could read had a copy.

In an era where storybooks were typically only a few tens of thousands of characters long, readers had no concept of “serialization.” They bought a complete book and read it all at once. Even for longer works divided into volumes, they were printed together, so the only issue was affordability, not availability.

As a result, after reading Fu Wenyu’s story, many people were puzzled.

“Huh? Why does it end here?”

Some even called over the waiter, ordering as if they were ordering food: “Waiter, bring me another copy of this Liuzhou Tabloid!”

“Just the next one, don’t get it wrong.”

The waiter looked embarrassed, “Uh, sir, this is the latest issue. It just arrived this morning, still fresh. How about I bring you the previous issue?”

The guest immediately expressed dissatisfaction, “You mean there’s no more? Could it be that this story isn’t finished yet?”

“How can this be?!”

After grumbling for a while, the guest reluctantly asked, “Ahem, so, how often is this Tabloid printed? Will there be one tomorrow? Where can I buy it?”

“What?! Only once every five days?”

“Why so slow? Hurry them up to write more!”

The waiter: …

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, knowing that such guests couldn’t be reasoned with, and quickly said, “Yes, yes, I’ll have someone urge them right away, right away.”

After going downstairs, he thought for a moment and then approached the manager, whispering, “Manager, several guests today asked about the new story in the Liuzhou Tabloid…”

He recounted the situation, emphasizing the guests’ dissatisfaction with the lack of a continuation.

The manager had already heard similar reports from the staff today. After pondering for a while, he said, “Hmm, then let’s inform Kaiyuan Bookstore to send more next time.”

At five coins per copy, it wasn’t expensive.

After buying them, apart from leaving a few copies in the teahouse for regular patrons to read, they could also sell them outside, as some guests might want their own copy. So, this wouldn’t be a loss. Moreover, if they bought in bulk, the bookstore would offer a discount.

The manager thought it over and found it increasingly feasible, so he instructed the staff to tell any guests who asked that in five days, the teahouse would have more copies of the Liuzhou Tabloid. He was sure they would attract more customers then.