Chapter 98: Chapter 98: Ingratitude
The guests in the building were still engrossed in the fact that Zhu Ganglie was a pig.
"No wonder he’s named Zhu, turns out he’s really a pig!"
"He actually turns out to be a Pig Demon, truly a toad wishing to eat swan meat, delusional."
"This Pig Demon was once a hero saving a damsel, diligently working in the Gao Family, gaining unanimous recognition from the Gao Family. If he were not a demon, this union would be perfect, but now human and demon are different paths; what a pity."
"All because of alcohol causing trouble, if he didn’t drink, he wouldn’t have shown his true form, and this marriage would have happened."
There were those who felt regret, those who pitied, and those who scolded for being delusional.
However, the story was not over yet. As the storyteller narrated eloquently, the emotions of the audience fluctuated, some were surprised, and some laughed heartily.
The whole "Flower Garden Ode" was bustling with activity, business was very booming.
It made the surrounding other taverns envious, watching as people constantly flowed into "Flower Garden Ode", while they too had patrons, the atmosphere couldn’t compare at all to "Flower Garden Ode".
Previously, it was fine with just "Tingya Building" competing for business, but now there was another "Flower Garden Ode", which was even more formidable than "Tingya Building", making others envious to the extreme.
Qu Fulan wasn’t worried about business being too successful causing jealousy and revenge, if she had no support, she would naturally be afraid, but she had the backing of the Pei Family.
Because of this, she dared to do things boldly, otherwise, without protection, no matter how capable she was, she couldn’t show it, it would only bring disaster upon her.
At this time, her focus was on the "Ten Thousand Books Bookstore".
The name of this bookstore was quite well chosen, reading ten thousand scrolls makes writing flow like magic, Ten Thousand Books Bookstore is a good name, majestic and grand.
Logically, with such a name, the bookstore should have all kinds of books, living up to the word ten thousand.
However, when Qu Fulan took a walk inside.
The bookstore was quite large in area, but there were only six or seven rows of bookshelves, the rest were empty, the lighting wasn’t good, the books on the shelves looked plenty, piled up fully, but sadly too disorderly without classification, no wonder there were few visitors and the atmosphere was lacking.
Who is in charge here? They really don’t know how to manage.
At this time, she had been in the store for a while, and no one came to greet her.
If it were an ordinary person being neglected, it might be said that the shopkeeper was snobbish, favoring the rich and dismissing the poor, but now Qu Fulan’s attire was unusual, along with a veil hat, with guards following behind, clearly the grandeur of a wealthy family, yet the shopkeeper did not come to greet, this was very unusual.
Because someone had to keep an eye on the carriage, only Shi San and Shi Si followed Qu Fulan into the bookstore.
At this time, the two of them stopped the listless clerk arranging the books, "Where is your shopkeeper?"
The shopkeeper was lying under the counter sleeping, upon hearing someone calling, he instantly got up and came over.
"I wonder what orders the esteemed guest has? I am the shopkeeper of this Ten Thousand Books Bookstore."
Qu Fulan observed the bookstore shopkeeper through her veil hat, seeing a middle-aged man around forty, with a mustache, thin build, appearing a bit disheveled.
"You are the shopkeeper, what’s your name?" Qu Fulan asked.
The shopkeeper, seeing it was a noble lady asking, dared not look randomly, bowed his eyes, and said, "I am surnamed Wu."
Qu Fulan nodded, slightly moving her head, Shi San perceptively handed over the badge.
Upon seeing the badge, Manager Wu’s eyes widened immediately, then his expression became solemn, quickly instructing the store clerks to prepare tea.
Qu Fulan raised her hand to stop, "No need for trouble, my surname is Qu, I am here on matters for the Princely Heir, I came today to discuss something."
Manager Wu understood, and promptly invited everyone to the accounting room for a conversation, as usual, asking for tea to be served.
Qu Fulan took off her veil hat, did not drink tea, but got straight to the point, "Manager Wu, I just came from Wanfu Road, saw another bookstore bustling with people, business thriving, why is our bookstore so deserted, is there any reason for this?"
Aside from the shortcomings she observed, she felt there were other issues, otherwise, it wouldn’t be so deserted.
Upon hearing this, Manager Wu let out a bitter laugh, then got up, respectfully bowed to Qu Fulan, "I ask for the lady’s forgiveness, the desolate state of the bookstore is my fault..."
Then, under Manager Wu’s narratives, Qu Fulan understood the reason for the bookstore’s poor business.
It turns out, initially, Ten Thousand Books Bookstore was once the hottest business on this street, leading a trend for a period.
The reason Manager Wu was appointed shopkeeper was due to his certain talents. Manager Wu was previously an official, but due to lack of patronage, he was just a minor official, later getting implicated in something and dismissed, with nowhere to go, the Heir Pei had met him a few times in the past and admired him, thus recruited him as the shopkeeper.
In the past, business was booming because he liked to create, often writing stories to attract guests, gaining considerable fame.
Later, Manager Wu took in an apprentice because the apprentice was sincere and studious, very much like his younger self, he not only took him in but also taught him attentively.
He originally thought the apprentice was someone who knew to repay kindness, but unexpectedly turned out to be an ungrateful person.
After the apprentice learned skills, he stole Manager Wu’s manuscript, which had taken a year of his efforts to write, and went to join another bookstore "Furui Bookstore", which is the other bookstore on Wanfu Street now.
It appears he was bought off with a heavy price or he was originally a spy sent by that bookstore.
Plus, the apprentice had some brains, combined with getting thorough teachings from Manager Wu, upon arriving at "Furui Bookstore", he used Manager Wu’s manuscript as a starting piece to gain fame, later, inspired continuously, making "Furui Bookstore" business more prosperous day by day.
And Manager Wu, after being betrayed and having his hard-earned work stolen by the apprentice, was greatly affected, resulting in a significant setback, and naturally, the business at "Ten Thousand Books Bookstore" began to decline.
...
The storytelling at "Flower Garden Ode" had ended, Journey to the West paused at Tang Seng being captured by an underwater monster, Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie preparing for rescue, the audience was still immersed in the exciting content of Zhu Bajie carrying his wife, although eager to know the continuation, they could bear with it for now.
And only at this moment, Mrs. Pei had the time to inquire from Yinhua.
Manager Yu and his wife were also waiting by the side, hoping the Old Lady would take Yinhua in.
As a result, the Old Lady asked Yinhua, "Are you willing to come to Pei Mansion with me?"
Yinhua lowered her head, tugging at the hem of her clothes, her face flushed red, unable to utter a word for a long time.
This made Manager Yu and his wife anxious, they quickly tugged on Yinhua’s arm, "Yinhua, the Old Lady is asking you, answer quickly."
Yet Yinhua still bit her lip, not saying a word.
This tested people’s patience.
The elderly don’t like young ones who can’t express a word for ages, it truly was too bashful to even bring it up.
"Forget it, if you don’t want to go, then let it be."