Chapter 11: Righteousness Above All

……

Time passed slowly……

Lin Zheyu practiced the Barbarian Bull Fist for two or three hours every day, followed by consuming large amounts of meat.

After being enhanced by Source Power, his body had built a solid foundation; it only required sufficient nutrition to recover and grow stronger at an astonishing rate.

Three days passed. All five medicinal decoctions had been used up, and his depleted blood and energy had been fully replenished.

Lin Zheyu’s body grew increasingly robust, his muscles firm and powerful.

Throughout these three days, he had lived in a state of vigilance, carefully guarding against Jia Yanyong showing up at his door.

He carried chili powder with him at all times and had set up numerous traps around his home.

However, several days had passed, and he hadn't seen a trace of the man.

……

Yixiang Teahouse.

Jia Yanyong sat down brazenly across from Jia Yanming.

"Brother, I'm back."

He shouted toward the inner hall of the teahouse.

Unlike last time, the scent of blood on him was a bit stronger, and there was a new knife wound on his neck, wrapped in gauze.

"Is your injury alright?"

Jia Yanming walked out from the inner hall. He spotted the wound on his brother's neck at a glance and couldn't help but frown as he asked.

"It's nothing, just a small wound. It'll be fine in a few days," Jia Yanyong said dismissively.

"In the future, take it easy when you're doing things or getting into fights. Don't always be the one leading the charge."

"Your life is your own, but the money belongs to others. Why risk your life so much?" Jia Yanming said.

"Brother, you don't understand."

"Those are my brothers. I can't just watch them get hacked to death for nothing," Jia Yanyong shook his head and said.

In the underworld, loyalty comes first; one must be willing to go through fire and water for their brothers!

"Foolish!"

"They are just fair-weather friends. There’s no such thing as true brothers in gangs; I am your real brother!"

Jia Yanming scolded. As a businessman, he had seen all kinds of darkness and scoffed at the brotherhood Jia Yanyong spoke of.

"Brother, you don't need to worry about my affairs."

"Weren't you going to have me teach... hmm... right, Lin Zheyu!"

"I'm free now. Once I rest for two days, I'll go beat him up for you the day after tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll go easy on him."

Jia Yanyong said with a grin.

……

Bidan Teahouse.

Lin Zheyu had promised Liang Song that he would tell him a story about a martial artist.

"It was a time of great unrest, with wars breaking out across the land. There was a dynasty called Song, surrounded by wolves on all sides..."

This was Master Jin’s *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*, a story about a true hero who serves the country and the people.

Through his observations over this period, Lin Zheyu discovered that although Liang Song looked slovenly and unrestrained on the outside, he possessed a righteous heart.

He liked the free-spirited and upright nature of Yan Chixia, who traveled the world slaying demons, and he also admired the integrity and righteousness of Commander Zuo.

Telling this story was much more troublesome than *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*. The dynastic background of *Strange Tales* was vague and almost non-existent.

But *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* was different; the dynastic background was crucial.

Lin Zheyu made some edits and performed a simple fictionalization.

"The Qiantang River surged and roared, flowing day and night without rest past Niujia Village in Lin'an, before emptying into the sea."

"By the riverbank, a row of dozens..."

"..."

"...It is said that after Bao Xiruo was saved by the mysterious man who called himself Yan Lie, she intended to commit suicide to follow her husband in death, but was persuaded otherwise by Yan Lie’s kind words.

Coaxed by Yan Lie’s fine clothes and gourmet food, she muddled-headedly followed his arrangements and left Lin'an with him."

Lin Zheyu stood on the storytelling stage, speaking eloquently.

This story was very long, and as he spoke, the content gradually unfolded.

At first, the guests were not used to it. There were no stories of scholars having romantic encounters like in the past—how could this be!

They had all come for the scholar-romance stories!

However, as they listened, they gradually became captivated.

"Despicable!"

"How could this Bao Xiruo go with that guy? It’s truly... truly shameless, lacking in virtue, not knowing..."

Someone slammed the table and shouted angrily.

It was a scholar, his face flushed red from listening.

"Don't make noise, be quiet, and let Mr. Lin continue."

Hearing the discussions below, Lin Zheyu smiled slightly and tapped his gavel: "If you wish to know what happens next, please listen to the next installment."

"..."

"Ah, it's over already!"

"No way, tell us quickly, what happened next?"

"How can you stop in the middle of a story? Mr. Lin, continue!"

Seeing the crowd getting agitated, Lin Zheyu quickly slipped away.

Just kidding, this was different from writing novels in his past life.

If you leave a cliffhanger in a novel, at worst you get called a "cliffhanger dog."

If you leave a cliffhanger while storytelling, you might accidentally get hoisted up by the agitated guests to continue. Lin Zheyu had the misfortune of experiencing that once.

"The opening was good, very exciting," Liang Song commented.

Lin Zheyu smiled and said, "I'm glad you liked it."

After chatting with Liang Song for a while and asking about his doubts regarding martial arts, he left.

Stepping out, he walked two hundred meters along Baiwei Street and turned into a restaurant.

He had an appointment here.

Lin Zheyu scanned the room and sat down at one of the tables.

"Gentlemen, have you considered my offer?"

Lin Zheyu looked at the three elderly scholars in front of him.

They were dressed in green robes, sporting beards, and their faces were full of wrinkles earned from a lifetime of hardship.

Their robes were washed until they were pale, with inconspicuous holes in some places, showing that they were living quite frugally.

These were the storytellers Lin Zheyu had found over the past few days; they were all men without connections who were struggling to get by in Songyi City.

"Can you guarantee that the stories will be as exciting as the one you told at Bidan Teahouse?" the man on the left asked.

"The style of the stories is different, so it's hard to say which is better, but they are definitely fresher and more exciting than those old, worn-out stories you've been telling!"

Lin Zheyu said.

Competition among storytellers was fierce. Many scholars who failed the imperial examinations and couldn't make a living turned to storytelling.

With stale, cliché stories, poor storytelling skills, and weak emotional resonance, such storytellers couldn't attract customers.

The three storytellers Lin Zheyu had found had decent skills and passable emotional expression, but unfortunately, the stories they told were old and lacked innovation.

This world was too lacking in good stories.

Or rather, good stories existed, but due to the lack of convenient information circulation, they only circulated in small regions.

People had already heard the good stories of Songyi City until they were sick of them.

This was why Lin Zheyu was able to become popular so quickly.

"Can you let us see the content before we make a decision?" another man asked.

"Of course."

Lin Zheyu took several sheets of paper filled with dense handwriting from his pocket and gave one to each of them; they all contained the same content.

"You can take a look first. If you use the manuscripts I provide to tell the stories, you'll get 80 wen per installment. If you agree, we'll sign a contract."

Lin Zheyu said.

This was the money-making path he had been pondering: finding people to collaborate on storytelling.

However, in this era, there was no copyright for stories. Once told and heard, they became someone else's.

Because of this, it was difficult for Lin Zheyu to sell them at a high price.

An average storyteller earned 70 wen a day, and with tips, they could make around a hundred wen.

Based on this, Lin Zheyu set the price at 80 wen.

Because with a good story, the tips received often exceeded the base pay.

"...This matter happened in a brick tower alley south of Xisi Pailou. Two brothers lived there, surnamed Ta—one was Ta Da, the other was Ta Er.

The younger brother worked at the Governor's Yamen, and the older brother was a cook..."

This was a classic story that had circulated for a long time in his past life: *The Nine-Head Case*.

The three men picked up the papers and began to read, their eyes brightening the more they read.

……

(End of chapter)