Struggle in Ancient Times

After Liao Tingyu sent the candy to Huang Zilan, he went back to his room and took his works to the bookstore. Unexpectedly, he met a smart-looking middle-aged man dressed in rich clothes. Liao Tingyu frowned and talked to him, “What can I do to for you?”

“I wonder, are you Liao-xiucai?” the middle-aged man looked at the notebooks in Liao Tingyu’s hand and asked eagerly.
Liao Tingyu was stunned, he had no impression meeting in this. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know who you are. Have we met before?” He asked politely.
“You are a teacher; I know you teach well and fair.” The middle-aged man didn’t answer but knew Liao Tingyu good fame.

“It was my student who praised me well. I just did what I should do. Do you anything to do with me?” Liao Tingyu humbly accepted the praise.
“Yes, I wasn’t easy to say here. Why don’t we sit inside for a tea?” the middle-aged man was a little nervous and said with a little twirled of his fingers.
Liao Tingyu looked at his nervous behaviour, he nodded, “Then, please wait a moment. I will go there after I finished my business. It will take a moment.”

The middle-aged man nodded his head, “Yes, Liao-xiucai don’t need to be worried. I will wait for you.”
.
Liao Tingyu went inside the bookstore and handed his works to the boss. This boss was a scholar, but his ambition wasn’t in the exam and fame, he preferred to read books and wrote scripts.

The boss looked at the content of his works and felt emotional, “I have read many novels in my lifetime. But no one was as magnificent as your story. This is better than the last story you brought; it will definitely make a lot of money.”
Liao Tingyu was a little embarrassed, this was the stories he heard from his previous life and he adapted them to make money.
“Thank you for your praise. It was still your store who make it famous.”

“It is natural, I have a good taste. I know which stories are great; your books are the best seller in my store. We added calligraphy and painting to make it more beautiful. You can see later once it was done.” The boss felt, this book must be decorated beautifully and sold with higher price. There must be someone who willing to spend money over it, the story was written well. It would be good to hang it in the bookchest with beautiful cover.
“Come with me, I will give you your salary.”
Liao Tingyu followed him in. The boss brought him inside, he didn’t care about a man who was still standing outside the bookstore. No one invited the middle-aged man inside or served him a tea, this was the reality of different class. Scholar didn’t bother to sell favour for common people.

The middle-aged man outside was accustomed by this treatment, the way he dressed was like a merchant. Even if he went inside, people would frown at him. So, he waited outside patiently.
Liao Tingyu sighed in his heart; the society of ancient time was bullying in their own ways.
The boss invited Liao Tingyu in and gave him his share of money which was two hundred taels.

“These are the money from previous books. Recently, your reputation was growing so the selling got better.” The boss paused and took out a paper, “This was given by the owner for storytelling business.”
In the paper it was written contract about using his books as the source for storytelling.
“This s a big thing.”
“Indeed, what do you think?”

“The condition is good. If I don’t agree, what will happen?” Liao Tingyu asked with a smile.
“Well, I will make an appointment for you to talk with the owner.”
“Thank you, boss. Please make the appointment.”

Just as Liao Tingyu walked out, the boss called him, “That person you met just now is the owner of Zhiwei Restaurant. This person has bad heart, his brother was sick and he didn’t care about him. Later, the brother died leaving two sons in the countryside to farm for living. There are people who don’t recognize their own parent and didn’t care for their siblings. You don’t be fooled by him.”
Liao Tingyu nodded his head, “Okay, I understand. Thanks boss, for reminding me.”