Half a month had passed. Rong Zheng stood at the construction site and looked around. The courtyard walls stood tall around the entire plot, and the five rooms were taking shape. Some of the craftsmen had already begun laying roof tiles; it looked as though the house would soon be ready for its main beam.
Having more hands really made a difference. Under Master Zheng's orderly supervision, the new house was more than halfway built, and Rong Zheng was very satisfied.
After checking the house's progress, Rong Zheng set off for town. Today was the day he had arranged to meet Feng Xuanwen. Once he reached the teahouse, he ordered a pot of tea and some food, then waited.
As he drank his tea, he saw Feng Xuanwen hurry in from outside.
"Brother Rong, my apologies. Sorry for the wait." Feng Xuanwen cupped his hands in greeting, sweat beading on his forehead. To save a few copper coins to buy medicine for his mother, he walked both ways to and from town. In the hot weather, the walk had left him drenched in sweat. He raised a hand to wipe his forehead, feeling very embarrassed.
"I haven't been waiting long. Xuanwen, sit down, sit down. Have something to eat." Rong Zheng treated him with easy familiarity. "Just call me Rong Zheng from now on."
"All right. This is the storybook I wrote based on the story you told me." As he spoke, he handed over a stack of manuscript pages.
Rong Zheng took them and began reading carefully. He had to admit that Feng Xuanwen wrote well. He had included all the satisfying moments from Rong Zheng's telling and expanded considerably on that foundation. The storybook's characters were fleshed out, and its plot was vivid and engrossing.
Setting down the manuscript, he praised it. "Not bad. Very well written. Let's go to the Distant View Bookshop and talk to Shopkeeper Sun about publishing it."
Seeing that Rong Zheng was satisfied, Feng Xuanwen inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He found the Cthulhu style Rong Zheng had described very distinctive, and the story he provided was novel as well. The more he wrote, the more absorbed he became, and he wanted to hear Rong Zheng finish telling the rest.
The two hurriedly finished eating, then headed to the bookshop. They found Shopkeeper Sun and told him they wanted to publish a storybook.
Shopkeeper Sun knew Feng Xuanwen and did not have high expectations for his storybook. He felt that the young man could write, but unfortunately lacked ideas. Still, he was running a business, so naturally he would not turn anyone away.
He took the manuscript and casually leafed through a few pages. Unexpectedly, the longer he read, the faster he turned the pages.
A long while later,
"Good. Excellent! The story is extraordinarily original. I've never read such a wonderful story before. This is no ordinary storybook. Not only will women and gers enjoy it, I believe men will be interested too." Shopkeeper Sun was delighted and clapped his hands in praise.
But he was a little puzzled. Young Master Feng's previous manuscripts had never been in this style. How had he suddenly made such a great change and come up with such a distinctive story?
Feng Xuanwen did not conceal anything and said frankly, "Rong Zheng provided the story. I turned it into a storybook."
"I see. This work the two of you created together is excellent indeed." Shopkeeper Sun stroked his beard.
Rong Zheng said, "The inspiration came from reading a great many accounts of strange occurrences. This book will be built on a Cthulhu-style foundation, with horror, mystery, and the supernatural as its main elements..."
The Cthulhu style was nothing novel in modern webnovels, but here in ancient times, it could certainly become a selling point. Rong Zheng trusted Shopkeeper Sun's judgment to recognize this opportunity.
Great Old Ones, mythical creatures, sefirot, chaos, Beyonders, Outer Gods...
One new term after another bombarded Shopkeeper Sun's mind. He realized that this new subject matter for novels and storybooks would spark a craze. It would be an enormous business opportunity.
Shopkeeper Sun was overjoyed and full of praise. "Stories of this kind are unheard of. Fascinating and wonderful." Once published and put up for sale in his shop, this book would surely attract many customers, and the profits would certainly be considerable. He could not afford to miss this opportunity.
Without delay, the three began discussing the details.
Shopkeeper Sun said, "It looks as though this storybook isn't finished yet. Will you finish the rest before publishing, or...?"
Rong Zheng said, "The story is divided into six parts, with each part forming one volume. We can print this manuscript first."
"Good. But although the story is certainly wonderful, we don't yet know how customers will respond. For now, I intend to print two hundred copies first and see how it goes. What do you think?"
Feng Xuanwen was astonished. "Two hundred copies?" A new storybook usually had a trial print run of one hundred copies. Only well-known storybook writers could have two hundred printed. With their reputations, there was no fear of losing money. He had not expected Shopkeeper Sun to have such confidence in this manuscript.
"Yes. Young Master Rong, Young Master Feng, you can sell your book here. The shop will charge for production costs, sales fees, and so on, totaling twenty percent of the overall proceeds." He turned to Feng Xuanwen and continued, "You've worked with us before, so you know the standard practice. We usually take thirty percent. I'm giving up ten percent now, so these are very fair terms."
To keep them, Shopkeeper Sun offered extremely favorable terms. This was the treatment popular authors received.
In his experience, the response to this book would certainly be strong once it was published. He had to keep it here and seize this chance to make money.
Feng Xuanwen nodded to Rong Zheng. "That's true. Only popular storybooks receive terms like these."
"All right, then. We'll put it on sale here as a trial. I have another idea too. I want to give this story to the storyteller at the Forget Worries Pavilion and pay him to spread it."
Hearing Rong Zheng's words, Shopkeeper Sun and Feng Xuanwen were baffled. Why would he reveal the story to a storyteller? If everyone went to listen, who would buy the book? Disapproval was written all over their faces.
In fact, this was a marketing strategy: using the storyteller to advertise the novel. Only by making more people aware of it could they uncover potential customers.
Rong Zheng explained it to them in detail.
Shopkeeper Sun was even more delighted. This idea was excellent and could attract more people. Why had he never thought of it before? He felt Rong Zheng was highly intelligent, beyond comparison with ordinary scholars, and could not help thinking even more highly of him.
This man had ideas and brains-a rare talent. To be honest, he even wanted to hire him.
After asking, he discovered that Rong Zheng had not yet passed the preliminary examinations. He was somewhat puzzled, but being socially adept, he did not pry. Still, he felt that for someone as clever as Rong Zheng, becoming a tongsheng was only a matter of time.
He believed that with Rong Zheng's outlook, knowledge, and way of speaking, he was sure to become someone of consequence. Wanting to cultivate a friendship, he grew increasingly courteous and respectful as they talked.
"Let's not delay. I'll draw up the contract now, then have people hurry with the printing. It can be finished in five days. Come collect a copy then and discuss with the storyteller whether this is feasible."
After signing the contract and leaving the bookshop, Feng Xuanwen could hardly believe it. Shopkeeper Sun valued this storybook so highly. Not only was the initial print run large, but their share of the proceeds was considerable too. Even now, he felt as though he were dreaming.
He was immensely glad that he had listened to Rong Zheng that day and agreed to work with him, giving him this opportunity to write the story.
Seeing that he was still in shock, Rong Zheng reminded him, "Don't celebrate too soon. We need to see how it sells."
That was what he said, but both of them knew that after running a bookshop for so many years, Shopkeeper Sun had naturally developed a keen eye. Even if it did not become a huge seller, it would not do badly.