Chapter 131: A Book Sale in the Teahouse

In front of Ji Yun An and Chen Xiao Cai were 200 copies of Journey to the West.

Not long after Chen Xiao Cai arrived at the capital city, he bought a closing down to printing house to print Journey to the West. In order to ensure confidentiality, Ji Yun An filled all the key posts with his confidants.

"Alright, now we have 200 copies in hand. We should do a book sale at the Auspicious Cloud tea house tomorrow like Lin Ge instructed me."

Ji Yun An nodded in approval, it had been says since the storyteller told the first chapter, many customers couldn't wait to find out what happened in the following chapters. He was optimistic about the book sale.

Chen Xiao Cai said expectantly, "I hope we can sell them all."

Ji Yun An said confidently, "We definitely can."

Chen Xiao Cai and Ji Yun An went to the tea house to talk to Zhao He early next day. When they arrived at the tea house, they saw Zhao He arguing with a middle-aged man and Zhao He turned the middle-aged man out of doors in a fit of pique.

There were quite a few people watching the scene. When they saw the middle-aged man being chased out, they burst into laughter.

The middle-aged man fled from the scene in embarrassment.

Zhao He beamed on seeing Ji Yun An and Chen Xiao Cai, he greeted them warmly, "Come on in, my guests."

Zhao He was in the ascendant recently. Not only did the Journey to the West win the love and support of the people, but it also won the affection of many nobles.

His tea house was not exactly one of the high-class ones. The patrons were usually some petty officials, merchants and some plain folks. However, thinks became different these days. He had spotted several high officials and noble lords in the boxes upstairs which were usually empty, he even had found some eunuchs among them.

Zhao He was shocked to the core, chances were the eunuchs were here to listen to the stories so they could tell the story to the members of the imperial house.

Zhao He knew his tea house wasn't Ji Yun An's first choice, Ji Yun An only turned to him after being turned down by the high-class ones. And now all the other tea houses were seized with remorse.

Knowing this situation, Zhao He became more and more proud, he felt like he was the only one who had recognized a diamond in the rough.

"Manager Zhao, who is that person?"

Zhao He's lips twitched, "An ungrateful soul, he was the old storyteller at our tea house."

The storyteller was cultivated by Zhao He him and he was very generous towards the storyteller, the storyteller gained some fame over the years and he was poached away by one of Zhao He's competitors. He even said Zhao He's tea house was unworthy of his talent before he left.

Zhao He put in so much effort to cultivate the storyteller only to be betrayed like this. Zhao He foamed with rage, not only had he lost money on this, but he was reduced to a laughing stock among his peers, they all looked down upon him for not being able to keep an employee.

Zhao He's tea house had been doing so great recently, packed with customers for every performance, and of course this meant his competitor's business went downhill. His competitor didn't take that very well, he fired that ungrateful soul right away.

The other tea houses were reluctant to hire someone who showed no sense of gratitude towards his previous employer. And that person had the guts to show up at Auspicious Clous Tea House to simulate loyalty. Zhao He was disgusted by that behavior.

Both Chen Xiao Cai and Ji Yun An were indignant on hearing that story.

"Is this the first volume of the book?" Knowing that Chen Xiao Cai and Ji Yun An were going to bring books to the tea house, Zhao He had long been waiting.

"Yes, Manager Zhao, we are going to have a book sale today. I hope that your storyteller can promote for us."

Zhao He flipped through the book and found that most of the chapters were had been told, there were only a few left untold.

"Of course." Zhao He reassured them.

Zhao He took out 400 taels of silver and split them in half, then he handed the silver to Chen Xiao Cai and Ji Yun An.

"Manager Zhao, what are you doing?"

"Young Master Ji, please take little token of my appreciation. This is a bonus for you. If not for your story, my tea house would still be struggling! And recently, quite a few nobles are frequently my tea house, that is an invisible fortune, even my father has praised me."

Ji Yun An was indeed really pressed for cash at the moment, so he didn't stand on ceremony with Zhao He. Zhao He promised them bonus money when they signed their agreement.

Ji Yun An and Zhao He discussed about the book, they decided to sell each copy for 1 tale of silver.

This book was sold out within two hours. Many people bought more than ten, twenty copies in one go. Chen Xiao Cai who was worried that the might get cold reception let out a sigh of relief, he decided to print more copies.

......

At Zhao He's invitation, Chen Xiao Cai and Ji Yun An spent some time in the tea house.

Chen Xiao Cai could not help but feel excited on hearing the audience's cheering and exclaiming over the stories.

"This story is really popular," said Ji Yun An.

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and thought to himself, 'Things are really different in the capital city! If we were still in Sha County, people wouldn't spend their day hanging out in a tea house doing nothing, they would be busy working and supporting their family.'

Chen Xiao Cai murmured, "No wonder Lin Ge told me that we could make a fortune in the capital city!"

Chen Xiao Cai walked out of the tea house in a daze, he recalled how they had sold out 200 copies books within two hours and he found everything too good to be true.

"Hey, young masters, what a coincidence to meet you guys here!" A well-dressed guy greeted Ji Yun An and Chen Xiao Cai warmly when they walked on the street.

Chen Xiao Cai recognized him immediately, it was the owner of the Cloud Lake tea house. A few days ago, they were chased out by him from his tea house when they tried to pitch the story to him.

The waiters in his tea house chased them out with haughty disdain.

Ji Yun An knew this manager must be regretting now, so he stepped forward and did the talk, Ji Yun An was more experienced in dealing with traditional code of conduct than Chen Xiao Cai. He turned down the manager's offer by saying they had made a deal with Manager Zhao in Auspicious Cloud tea house.

......

Chen Xiao Mai enjoyed the pastries with relish. The assorted pastries in front of Chen Xiao Mai were bought by Ji Yun An.

"Second Brother, Brother Ji didn't lie, there are so many yummy foods in the capital city," Chen Xiao Mai said.

Chen Xiao Cai nodded. "Yeah, but I think there are more rich people than yummy food in the capital city."

"Mai, how much did these pastries cost?" asked Chen Xiao Cai casually.

"One tael for each box. I heard it from the servant at home," Chen Xiao Mai said.

Chen Xiao Cai's eyes twitched, "What a rip-off!"

Chen Xiao Mai said sullenly, "Yes, they are very pricy, but Brother Ji said that the price of the capital city is like this."

Chen Xiao Mai sighed. Although he had made a lot of money, he was born and raised in Big Stone Village, frugality takes strong root in his heart. He just felt uncomfortable spending extravagantly even though he could afford that.

Chen Xiao Cai took a deep breath and he was more determined to work hard and make a great plan with noble ambition.

"Now I miss our Sha County for all the cheap stuff," Chen Xiao Cai said.

Chen Xiao Mai nodded and said, "Actually, these pastries aren't as delicious as the ones I made," Chen Xiao Mai grumbled as he stuffed himself.

Chen Xiao Cai looked at Chen Xiao Mai's puffy cheeks with a doting smile, "Yeah, whatever, this is Mai's first trip to the capital city, he can spend as much money as he wants, I just want him to be happy. Plus I can always make more money!'

Chen Xiao Cai did a quick math in his mind, he beamed with smiles as he thought about how much money he could make from the second batch of books.

Chen Xiao Cai reckoned he could bring home at least 1000 taels of silver home, he couldn't wait to surprise his family.

Chen Xiao Cai suddenly recalled something Lu Lin always said. 'You gotta dream big, young man!'

Chen Xiao Cai sometimes felt that Lu Lin was a little crazy and often muttered things that he couldn't understand. But as he grew older, he idolized Lu Lin more and more.

"Second Brother, you are here to do business, right? How is the business going?" asked Chen Xiao Mai.

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, "Yes, the business is going great. We have made a lot of money already."

There were still people having not sufficient food to eat in Sha County, but most people were leading an extravagant life in the capital city, some even staked tens of thousands of cash in one throw of the dice.

Chen Xiao Cai had mixed feelings on thinking about the book sale in the tea house, some customers even stamped their feet when the books were sold out.

Chen Xiao Cai recalled a poem, 'Behind the vermilion gates meat and wine go to waste while out on the road lie the bones of the frozen'.

Chen Xiao Mai said excitedly, "That's great, Second Brother, you're making money already. You have to buy me some delicious food!"

Chen Xiao Cai smiled, "Of course..."

......

Ji Cheng Kang looked at Ji Yun An with a strange expression and said, "Is it you who is selling that booked called Journey to the West?"

Ji Cheng Kang had been busy finding the best academy for Ji Yun An since they came back, little did he expect his nephew suddenly became famous now.

Ji Cheng Kang heard about this from his friends. Some people asked him whether they could buy the second volume in advance from Ji Yun An and they were more than happy to pay more money.

At first, Ji Cheng Kang thought that those friends were just messing around, no one would be this intrigued by some story-teller's scripts.

However, Ji Cheng Kang could not help but be stunned when more and more friends visited him and asked for the second volume of the book.

Ji Cheng Kang found it mind-blowing that even some of the most reserved friends bracing themselves up and visited him over a book.

Ji Yun An nodded and said, "Yes, let me show you some of the money we have made, Uncle." Ji Yun An took out three hundred taels of silver and showed Ji Cheng Kang.

Ji Cheng Kang's lips twitched when he saw this.

Ji Cheng Kang thought to himself, 'They have made this much money over a few days! A big commercial house in our family can only earn this much over a year!'

Ji Yun An nodded and said, "This is just from the first batch of the first volume, we are going to sell another batch in a few days."

Ji Cheng Kang looked at Ji Yun An suspiciously. "Who is the author? Is it you?"

Ji Yun An shook his head and said, "No, it's not me. Magistrate Lu told me this story, and I am only responsible for the recording and transcription. However, Magistrate Lu said he didn't write the story, he heard it from some mountain people in Big Stone Village."

"Where is that mountain people now?"

"He passed away a few years ago."

Ji Cheng Kang sighed, "It's a pity! How did you and Chen Xiao Cai split up the money?"

"We go half half."

Ji Cheng Kang said awkwardly, "Xiao Cai should take more."

Ji Cheng Kang was not used to taking advantage of people. Lu Lin told Ji Yun An the story, so Lu Lin and his family should take more.

Ji Yun An nodded and said, "I think so too, but Magistrate Lu insisted on going half half before we left Sha County. He told me if we didn't feel comfortable, we could use some of the money to buy military supplies for our soldiers."

Ji Cheng Kang was stunned for a moment and asked, "For military supplies? An, I've never met an official who is willing to do that for us!"

Ji Yun An suddenly recalled what Xiao Mai told him a long time ago, 'Lin Ge said a good official is someone who is able to bring benefit to the people! Being honest and upright doesn't make you a good official.'

Ji Yun An originally thought that was a groundless statement, but now he seemed to be convinced.

Looking at the silver in front of him, Ji Yun An suddenly felt that Lu Lin was very unfathomable. He had predicted everything even though he had never been to the capital city. Ji Yun An knew that Ji Cheng Kang had been busy contacting all the great academies for him but to no avail, it had something to do with money.

Ji Yun An used to hate money and now he started to appreciate it.