From the original host’s memories, Fu Wenyu learned that literacy was widespread in the current society, scholars enjoyed high status, the economy was prosperous, and bookstores had already begun producing mature fiction books. A group of people had even emerged who made a living by writing these stories. Those who wrote well could even become esteemed guests of high-ranking officials and nobles.

What made Fu Wenyu happiest was the existence of “Tabloid.” These were newspapers printed by major merchants in various regions, modeled after the court’s “official gazette.” One example was the local Liuzhou Tabloid.

The Tabloid didn’t discuss politics. Instead, it featured stories about famous people, street anecdotes, or poems and articles submitted by scholars. Since literacy rates were high and entertainment options were limited, these Tabloid sold well.

Fu Wenyu’s initial plan was to use the two-plus years he had to stay home during mourning to both improve his physical health and make money by writing stories. After the mourning period, he would be seventeen. By then, with money and time on his hands, he could consider taking the imperial examination or pursuing other ventures.

Fortunately, he still had the ink, paper, and brushes left by Fu Qingshan and the original host. The original host’s muscle memory remained intact, allowing him to not only recognize characters but also write in a relatively neat Guange style.

As for the first novel, Fu Wenyu had already decided what to write: The Real and Fake Young Masters!

Though the trope of “switching the prince with a civet cat” was old, it naturally attracted readers.

He planned to keep the story simple.

The plot took place in the fictional Ping’an County.

A fake young master raised in a wealthy and charitable Wang family and the real young master who grew up in a poor farming family had no knowledge of each other’s existence, yet their fates were intertwined.

Because the Wang family was wealthy, Mr. Wang’s wet nurse, a servant surnamed Zhang, colluded with the midwife during the birth of the Wang family’s youngest son. Taking advantage of Wang Laoye’s business trip, the elderly matriarch’s illness, and the chaos of Madam Wang’s labor, they swapped her newborn son with the wet nurse’s grandson.

In the blink of an eye, fifteen years passed.

The fake young master, raised in luxury, grew up spoiled and arrogant, while the real young master endured countless hardships in the countryside.

Originally, their lives wouldn’t have intersected. But when the fake young master accidentally killed someone, the authorities sought to arrest him for trial. At that moment, the fake young master’s biological grandmother, the wet nurse Zhang, was eager to save her grandson. She told Mrs. Wang that there was a grandson in the family who was born in the same year, month and day as the young master and looked somewhat similar. She offered him as a substitute to take the punishment.

Mrs. Wang, eager to protect her son, was overjoyed and immediately informed Mr. Wang.

This marked the opening of Fu Wenyu’s first novel in this ancient world. He gave it a catchy title: Jiu Occupying the Magpie’s Nest: It’s Hard to Tell the True and False Young Masters.”

The title was straightforward and clear, immediately telling readers what the story was about.

Wasting no time, he began writing the next day.

Although the Fu family’s division of assets had left the first branch with the least and poorest farmland, the possessions originally belonging to the first branch were still theirs. This included the house, furniture, clothing, and all the books, paper, ink, and inkstones related to studying that belonged to Fu Qingshan and the original host.

Fu Wenyu sat at the desk, ground the ink according to the original host’s memories, and started writing.

At first, he wasn’t accustomed to it, and the characters he wrote weren’t as aesthetically pleasing as the original host’s. But Fu Wenyu viewed this as an opportunity to practice calligraphy, so he remained patient.

By the end of the morning, he had written 1,500 characters.

“Brother, it’s time to eat,” Fu Rong called, knocking on his door.

“Coming.” Fu Wenyu tidied up briefly and stepped out.

Today’s meal was noticeably better than yesterday’s. Not only was there plenty to eat, but there was also an extra dish on the table. However, there was still no meat. Fu Wenyu decided that once he had money, the first thing he would do was improve the family’s diet. Although mourning customs prohibited eating meat, they could still eat tofu, bean curd, and bean skin.

Properly cooked, those ingredients could taste as good as meat.

After lunch, he returned to writing.

In the morning, he had completed the part where Mrs. Wang gave birth and the wet nurse Zhang and the midwife swapped the babies. Now, Fu Wenyu decided to give the swapped children names.

The fake young master raised by the Wang family would be called Wang Fugui, while the real young master left in the countryside would be named Zhang Gousheng.

Then, he employed a time-skip technique.

Wang Fugui grew up showered with love in the Wang family. As the family’s only son, he was pampered by his grandmother, mother, and the servants. Wet nurse Zhang, in particular, doted on him excessively. She indulged his every whim, covered up for him whenever he made mistakes, and spared no effort to please him.

Meanwhile, Wang Yuanwai (Mr. Wang), though intent on disciplining his son, was often away on business trips that lasted months. His attempts to educate Wang Fugui were futile. Unsurprisingly, Wang Fugui grew up to be a spoiled wastrel.

In stark contrast was Zhang Gousheng in the countryside.

The Zhang family, knowing he wasn’t their biological son, treated him poorly. He was constantly scolded, beaten, and forced to feed the chickens and pigs, cook, clean, and take care of the entire family.

Fu Wenyu drew on his past experience writing melodramatic novels to make Zhang Gousheng’s childhood as tragic as possible.

He described scenes where Zhang Gousheng would sleep later than the dogs and wake earlier than the chickens, where his foster mother forced him to break ice in the winter to wash the family’s clothes, or where his eldest sister, jealous of his good looks, deliberately dumped a bowl of mung beans into the ashes and made him pick them out one by one.

Wait… something seemed off about this.

But no matter. The more Fu Wenyu wrote, the more excited he became, fully immersing himself in the atmosphere of his past life when he could churn out 20,000 characters a day.

He also incorporated local values into Zhang Gousheng’s character, portraying him as “kind-hearted,” “resilient,” and “incredibly lucky.”

And then, he began giving Zhang Gousheng golden opportunities at every turn!

Sleeping later than the dog: The old dog kept by the Zhang family is quite spiritual. After sunset, it would lead Zhang Gousheng into the nearby mountains to forage for food, ensuring he wouldn’t go hungry. Over the years, this routine strengthened Zhang Gousheng’s body, making him grow up taller and stronger than any of the Zhang family’s children.

Waking earlier than the chickens: Zhang Gousheng naturally required less sleep and was always full of energy. Waking up early was a joy for him.

Breaking the ice to wash clothes: When Zhang Gousheng broke the ice, fish from the river jumped out in abundance. Not only did he manage to catch a large fish for himself, but many villagers also benefited, and were very grateful to him.

Picking mung beans from ashes: Thinking quickly, Zhang Gousheng used a bamboo sieve to solve the problem. Instead, his eldest sister, who had wasted the mung beans out of spite, was scolded harshly by their mother, leaving her humiliated.

Thus, despite thirteen years of intentional mistreatment by the Zhang family, Zhang Gousheng did not succumb. Instead, he grew into an outstanding young man, diligent and resilient. Moreover, he was smart enough to take advantage of the opportunity to go out to cut grass every day, hide under the window of the village school and listen to the teacher’s lessons. Eventually, the teacher took him under his wing and privately tutored him.

It took Fu Wenyu three days to write this part of the story. By this point, his manuscript had grown to 20,000 characters.

He decided it was time to discuss with Mrs. Zhou about going to the city.

Mrs. Zhou was surprised. “Going to the city?”

“Yes,” Fu Wenyu put down his chopsticks and said, “Mother, I’ve written a story over the past few days, and I plan to sell it in the city. I remember Father once sold a storybook to Kaiyuan Bookshop.”

“A storybook?” Mrs. Zhou was even more surprised. Reflexively, she said, “Haven’t you been studying these past few days?” She had always assumed her son was reading in his room, even instructing her daughter not to disturb him.

She hadn’t expected he was writing a storybook instead!

Realizing this, Mrs. Zhou frowned. “Wenyu, writing storybooks is not something a proper scholar should do. You should focus on your studies.”

Mrs. Zhou’s objection came as no surprise to Fu Wenyu.

So he explained, “Mother, I’ve been studying while writing. It won’t interfere with my education.”

“Besides, I’ve already finished reading the Four Books and Five Classics. Taking a break from them won’t hurt, especially since it’s still a long time before the mourning period ends. I can’t take the county examination yet, so instead of wasting time, I might as well write storybooks. With the money I earn, we can improve our lives. And in the future, when I prepare for the imperial exams, I won’t be delayed like Father was, simply because we didn’t have enough money.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Zhou’s eyes reddened.

The imperial exams weren’t just about studying. From everyday necessities like ink and paper to larger expenses like hiring a tutor, buying examination papers, traveling to distant locations, and staying at inns—all of it required money.

Given Fu Qingshan’s level of knowledge, he could have attempted the provincial examination years ago. However, both the mourning period and financial constraints had caused significant delays. Mrs. Zhou had initially planned to earn more money through embroidery to send her son back to school next year. If she could save enough in three to five years, he could take the county examination. As long as he passed as a scholar or a child prodigy, his future would be secure, and she could feel she had fulfilled her duties to her late husband.

But she hadn’t expected Wenyu to find a solution first.

Still, writing storybooks…

Fu Rong, sitting nearby, didn’t overthink it. Curious, she asked, “Brother, what kind of storybook did you write?” She knew what storybooks were, though Mrs. Zhou never allowed her to read them.

“I’ll get it,” Fu Wenyu said, standing up.

He was confident in his work. It was undoubtedly better than the ones the original host had read. Moreover, his story of the real and fake young masters conveyed positive values, making it suitable for his sister to read.

Unexpectedly, after reading it, Fu Rong burst into tears.

“Waaahhh…”

“Brother, Zhang Gousheng is so pitiful!”

Mrs. Zhou also wiped her tears. “Indeed, what a poor child. That Grandma Zhang is utterly heartless, daring to swap someone else’s child. Those two boys’ lives were completely ruined because of her.”

Fu Wenyu shifted uncomfortably.

Although he had intentionally written Zhang Gousheng’s struggles to be tragic, it was merely a writing technique to create contrast. The current misery would make the future triumphs all the more satisfying.

But seeing Mrs. Zhou and Fu Rong crying like this…

Had he gone overboard?

He quickly changed the subject. “Mother, Sister, what do you think of the story?”

Fu Rong wiped her tears and exclaimed, “It’s amazing!”

“Brother, is there more? When will Zhang Gousheng reunite with his family? Will those horrible people in the Zhang family face retribution? That Grandma Zhang must get what she deserves, right?”

Mrs. Zhou added, “Wenyu, you wrote this so well. I’ve never read such a captivating storybook. But you must also take care of your health and not overwork yourself.”

“I know, I know,” Fu Wenyu nodded repeatedly.

After reading Fu Wenyu’s storybook, Mrs. Zhou agreed to let him go to the city. However, having just realized the cruelty of human nature, she hesitated and said, “I need to deliver some finished embroidery to the city as well. Let’s go together tomorrow.”

Having not visited the city since transmigrating, Fu Wenyu had no objections to having someone lead the way.