Liu Changmiao was not the only one who was frustrated by the abrupt ending of the story.

Throughout the entire morning, disbelieving voices could be heard from time to time in Liuzhou City. They came from men and women, old and young, all dissatisfied with the ending of the chapter and curious about what would happen next.

Some, like Young Master Liu Changmiao, were more impatient. Dissatisfied with the ending, they didn’t even bother to read the two new stories added to the newspaper. Instead, they hurriedly had their servants drive them to Kaiyuan Bookstore.

Some went to question why the story ended so abruptly, while others were simply curious about what would happen next and didn’t want to wait any longer. Some were eager to secure the book mentioned in the story, wanting to know the ending of The True and False Young Master faster than others.

By the time Fu Wenyu arrived in the city, the pre-orders for the storybook had already reached nearly 700 copies.

Shopkeeper Zhang laughed heartily, “Wenyu, I have good news for you.”

“The storybook has already been pre-ordered 700 times. Even the deluxe edition, priced at ten taels of silver per set, has been pre-ordered twelve times because it can be obtained two days earlier, along with the next issue of the Liuzhou Tabloid.”

“I’ve already instructed the printing house to hurry up and bind all the copies that have been printed.”

The results were indeed impressive.

The standard edition was already selling well, with so many sets ordered in just one morning in Liuzhou City alone. Once the pre-order numbers from other places came in, it was obvious that the total would exceed 1,000 sets. It might even reach 2,000, 3,000, or more. After all, traveling merchants, seeing how popular this storybook was, would also order some to sell elsewhere.

What surprised him even more was that the profitable deluxe edition had sold twelve sets.

Twelve sets, plus the five sets already ordered earlier, made a total of seventeen sets. At ten taels per set, that was a total of 170 taels! After deducting printing costs and necessary personnel and venue expenses, each set netted a profit of seven taels. According to the previous agreement, Fu Wenyu would get half of that, which was nearly sixty taels—twice the fee he earned from the standard edition.

In other words, he had essentially earned enough to buy a two-courtyard house in Fujia Village. After all, the initial budget for their family’s two-courtyard house was only fifty taels.

And this was just the beginning!

This good mood lasted until Fu Wenyu bid farewell to shopkeeper Zhang and arrived at the teahouse he had visited last time, the one with the storyteller.

As soon as he entered, he skillfully said to the waiter who greeted him, “A plate of tea eggs, two plates of pastries, and a pot of tea. Oh, and find me a seat close to Mr. Feng. Will Mr. Feng be storytelling today?”

The waiter nodded and bowed, “Please come in, sir. There’s a seat available right now. Mr. Feng will be here shortly.”

Fu Wenyu nodded and followed the waiter to a seat facing the stage.

But as soon as he sat down and was about to look around to see who was in the teahouse today, he suddenly heard a loud slapping sound from the table next to him, followed by a young man’s angry voice.

“If I ever find out who Fu Wenyu is, I’ll make him pay!”

Fu Wenyu: “…?”

Make ‘Fu Wenyu’ pay?

This ‘Fu Wenyu’… could it be me?

When Fu Wenyu wrote The True and False Young Master, he used the pen name “Two Coins for a Steamed Bun,” which was based on his modern pen name “Two Yuan for a Steamed Bun.”

At the time, he didn’t think much about it.

When The True and False Young Master was published, perhaps because the pen name was too down-to-earth, few people used it. It was a classic case of “the work is famous, but the author is not.”

Later, when the scandal involving the Tang family broke out, and they sent him gifts in a grand manner, along with a large piece of land, his real name inevitably spread.

So, although he didn’t want to believe it, considering that the name “Fu Wenyu” wasn’t as common as “Zhang San,” “Li Si,” or “Wang Wu,” and that some modern readers who were frustrated by cliffhangers would indeed threaten to send the author knives, even shouting slogans like “One day, with a knife in hand, I’ll kill all the cliffhanger authors,” he cautiously turned his head to take a look.

…He needed to identify the person first.

If this person was indeed one of his extreme readers, he would have to keep his distance in the future.

But when he got a clear look at the person, he was surprised.

It was someone he knew.

Of course, it was only Fu Wenyu, or rather, the original owner of this body, who knew the other person. The other person didn’t know him.

—It was the infamous “Liu Dandy” of Liuzhou City.

This young man, who was secretly called the “Liu Dandy” was about the same age as the original owner. Fu Wenyu remembered that when Shopkeeper Zhang had asked him if he had heard of this person, his answer was, “I’ve heard of him when I lived in the city before.”

But in fact, the two had a deeper connection.

The private school Fu Wenyu had attended was on the same street as the one Liu Changmiao attended. The original owner had crossed paths with him a few times on his way to and from school, but the two had no real relationship.

At this moment, Liu Changmiao’s face was flushed, and he was slapping the table excitedly.

“This Fu Wenyu is truly despicable!”

“How could he make the blood of Mr. Wang, Zhang Gousheng, and Wang Fugui all mix together? Doesn’t he know that only Zhang Gousheng is Mr. Wang’s real son?”

“With this kind of writing, when will Zhang Gousheng and Mr. Wang ever reunite? Does he want to keep the father and son separated forever?”

Fu Wenyu: “…”

Well, based on these words, he could confirm that one of the sets of storybooks pre-ordered today definitely belonged to this Liu Dandy, Young Master Liu.

Before he could figure out how to handle the situation, the man sitting across from Young Master Liu, a casually dressed man in his twenties, spoke in a clear voice, “Ah, that story is indeed torturous.”

“When I was in the capital, I read many works by famous authors, even those written by scholars who had passed the imperial exams. But none of their stories were as unforgettable as this one, Jiu Occupying Magpie’s Nest: The True and False Young Masters.”

“How did he come up with the idea of printing only 3,000 characters at a time?”

Fu Wenyu, who was eavesdropping: “…”

Sorry, but that’s how I was trained on a certain green website. Posting 3,000 characters earns you a little red flower and an additional bonus for consistent updates. Over time, many authors developed the habit of posting 3,000, 6,000, or even 9,000 characters daily to maintain a neat row of little red flowers on their work pages.

So it’s not that I don’t want to post daily, but the printing technology in ancient times is just too slow.

At this point, Liu Changmiao slapped the table again, “That despicable Fu Wenyu!”

“I asked the bookstore clerk today if I could read the rest of the story. I even offered to pay, but they refused. I’ll have to wait another five days for the next printing.”

“Despicable!”

Fu Wenyu: “…”

He was starting to feel uneasy. Thinking that this Young Master Liu probably didn’t lack the money, he interjected, “Young Master Liu, when I passed by Kaiyuan Bookstore earlier, I heard the clerk mention that they have a deluxe edition of The True and False Young Master. Not only is it beautifully made, but you can also get it earlier.”

The two at the neighboring table turned to look at him.

Liu Changmiao pouted, “I know about that.”

“When I was there earlier, I had already ordered it, but the clerk refused to give it to me, saying I had to wait another five days. In five more days, Mr. Wang and Zhang Gousheng, this father and son, will have to suffer another five days of separation!”

Fu Wenyu: “…”

He felt like he had been rendered speechless too many times today.

But considering that this young man was only fifteen, possibly even younger than himself, it was normal for him to say exaggerated things when he was excited. With that thought, he decided to end the conversation with Young Master Liu, as there was no point in continuing, and it would be awkward if the other party found out he was Fu Wenyu.

Just then, the waiter brought over his tea eggs and pastries.

As Fu Wenyu was about to pick up a tea egg, he suddenly heard Young Master Liu ask curiously, “Hey, I’m Liu Changmiao. Who are you?”

His hand froze in mid-air.

“Ahem, I,” Fu Wenyu picked up a tea egg, avoiding looking at them to prevent them from noticing anything unusual, and then answered in a low voice while peeling the eggshell, “My name is Zhou Yu.”

His father’s surname was Fu, and his mother’s surname was Zhou.

He was Fu Wenyu, and he was also Zhou Yu. No problem.

The table next to him fell silent.

Not long after, the voice of Mr. Feng sounded from the stage.

“Esteemed guests, today we will be telling the story of Mr. Wang from Ping’an County, whose child was switched by the wet nurse. This story is full of twists and turns, even more bizarre than what happened in the Tang family.”

“On that day, Mr. Wang learned that his only son had committed murder…”

—It was The True and False Young Master.

Hearing this, Fu Wenyu suddenly remembered something.

The True and False Young Master had not been published for long when he first came to this teahouse. At that time, Mr. Feng was telling the story The Woodcutter by Mr. Sanliu, which received a round of applause. After finishing one segment, the guests were reluctant to leave and urged him to tell another story. He then told the first chapter of The True and False Young Master.

At the time, Fu Wenyu had wondered in his heart whether Mr. Feng had paid for the copyright.

Later, he asked Shopkeeper Zhang and learned that these storytellers relied on teahouses, restaurants, entertainment venues, and even brothels for their livelihood, and their earnings were shared with the venue owners.