Old Lady Zhang was full of fear, her pale face nearly in tears, looking at Zhang Fang like a child who had done something wrong.
Old Man Zhang was stunned. He never expected to lose so much face in public!
Seeing this, Hao Zhuang seized the opportunity to mock him, saying, “Zhang Silang, isn’t your father a wealthy man? With dozens of acres of land, how can you not even afford to take home leftover food?”
Zhang Fang bent down to pick up the chicken leg on the ground, placed it back in the cloth bag, and calmly replied, “I come from a farming family and have always been poor. I have never said such a thing. Why does Classmate Hao always target me? You laughed at my writings before, and now you try to shame me publicly. What grievances do I have?”
Hao Zhuang’s eyes widened as he glared at Zhang Fang, “You clearly said that before!”
Zhang Fang looked at the other students in the academy and asked, “Does anyone here know about Zhang and have you heard me say such words?”
“I have never heard Zhang classmate say anything like that.” As the top student in the academy, Mu Qing hadn’t been paying attention to Zhang Fang. But he chose to help Zhang Fang at this moment because he was starting to view Zhang Fang’s story with interest and wanted to befriend him.
The other scholars chimed in to defend Zhang Fang.
Hao Zhuang was so angry that he turned red, never imagining that Zhang Fang would be so shameless! He retracted his words after saying them! This made him look like a petty man envious of talent!
Zhang Fang kindly clasped his fists to Mu Qing and the others and helped Old Lady Zhang leave the tea house.
Manager Wu stepped forward to stop them, leading Zhang Fang to the backyard to wait for a moment.
After finishing up at the front, Manager Wu was grinning from ear to ear.
There were nearly two hundred people standing in the hall, all specifically there to listen to the storytelling. However, some refused to pay the full tea fee and only shelled out ten wen for the storytelling. But Manager Wu still made three taels of silver! And the private rooms upstairs earned even more—at least thirty taels of silver!
Manager Wu planned to take out ten taels to give to Zhang Fang, but Old Cai, standing behind him, cleared his throat and reminded him, “When Manager Wei handed over some money, he gave a literary talent twenty-five taels at once.”
Manager Wu, who was counting the money, froze at the smile. But thinking about needing to get in good with Zhang Fang, he realized that the tea house would be relying on Zhang Fang’s stories to earn money before the official publication. He could only grit his teeth and add an extra twenty taels, giving a total of thirty taels to Zhang Fang!
Old Cai followed Manager Wu to the backyard, still holding Zhang Fang’s manuscript.
“Ah! I forgot to take the manuscript! Thank you, Mr. Cai, for bringing it to me!” Zhang Fang pretended to reach out to retrieve the manuscript.
Manager Wu placed the heavy pouch of money into Zhang Fang’s hands and said with a smile, “Talented Zhang, this is a small token from the tea house.”
Unable to catch so much money with one hand, Zhang Fang extended his other hand. He embraced the heavy pouch, looking puzzled, and asked, “Manager Wu, what does this mean?”
“You also saw that so many people came for your stories. Our tea house relies on your stories to attract many guests, so it’s only fair you receive some silver. Can this manuscript be copied by Old Cai? Before the book is published, let Mr. Cai continue the storytelling?” Manager Wu felt he was being quite sincere.
“In that case, I will accept it. After all, my purse is tight, and I need funds to attend the provincial examination. Thank you, Manager Wu! This manuscript, please let Mr. Cai hand it over directly to Manager Wei after he copies it.” Zhang Fang knew Manager Wei would definitely block him for the manuscript outside.
Hearing this, Manager Wu felt he had given too little! These past two days, thanks to Zhang Fang’s stories, the tea house made over a hundred taels of silver! He judged that before the book was published, customer flow and daily income would remain this stable! He intended to befriend Zhang Fang, investing in this scholar. If Zhang Fang succeeded, he could share in that glory! He regretted not giving enough just now!
So, Manager Wu added, “The money our tea house earns from Young Master Zhang’s stories will continue to be divided, and I will hand over thirty percent to you, Young Master!”
Zhang Fang shook his head to refuse, “I appreciate Manager Wu’s kind intentions, but I can only accept it this once.”
He could take the money, but he didn’t want to be tied to the tea house long-term, as he was unsure of Manager Wu’s character.
Manager Wu was extremely frustrated, considering what else he could do to please Zhang Fang, so he arranged for a carriage to send Zhang Fang off.
Old Lady Zhang remained in a trembling state of embarrassment until they were in the carriage, which held only their family of three. Her eyes were filled with tears as she choked back her feelings, saying, “Silang, I’m sorry. Mother embarrassed you…”
Old Man Zhang also felt that his old wife had embarrassed their son, so he remained silent.
“Mother, speaking of being embarrassed, those things I did before were what truly brought shame. You packing up food is a virtue of frugality; what is wrong with that?” Zhang Fang spoke soothingly to Old Lady Zhang, as if comforting a child.
Old Lady Zhang stared blankly, hesitantly asking, “Has Mother truly not brought you shame? It won’t affect your reputation, right?”
“Mother, count how much money is inside.” Zhang Fang simply stuffed the money pouch into her arms, redirecting her attention.
Old Man Zhang’s eyes fixated on the pouch of silver as he began counting the money together with Old Lady Zhang.
This was shiny silver! So much money! They had truly struck it rich!
Old Lady Zhang and Old Man Zhang were agitated with excitement. Old Lady Zhang even bit a piece of silver to confirm it wasn’t a dream, then revealed a simple, joyful smile.
Looking at them with a smile, Zhang Fang could feel the happiness and contentment of this body at that moment.
They arrived at the apothecary, and the coachman halted. Zhang Fang told Old Lady Zhang and Old Man Zhang to stay in the carriage while he went to grab the medicine.
With thirty taels of silver, Old Man Zhang generously took out the three taels he had brought with him to let Zhang Fang buy the medicine.
Before getting on the carriage with the medicine, Zhang Fang exchanged a few words with the coachman.
As they reached the outskirts of the city, the carriage stopped, and Zhang Fang instructed Old Man Zhang and Old Lady Zhang to get off the carriage together.
Farmers from the surrounding areas came to the city gate to set up stalls with their agricultural products. Zhang Fang encouraged Old Man Zhang and Old Lady Zhang to make generous purchases.
Old Lady Zhang bought four chickens, not too big and not too small. After a while, they would grow large.
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