The reason why Xu He suddenly came up with this plan was because after the imperial examination, he went to bookstores in Yangzhou with Chu Yuan and others.
Among the books sold in bookstores, in addition to the daily Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian classics, the most common ones include scientific research, Chengwen, and books on science and weirdness.
But the way these books are run is actually different.
For example, books used for imperial examinations were only sold but not borrowed, because they were afraid that scholars would take them back and make excerpts.
However, books on fantasy and monsters are sold and borrowed, and the business is very good.
Because compared to the Song and Yuan Dynasties and earlier, more people in this era are reading and literate.
After becoming literate, people's exploration of the spiritual world is much higher than at any other time.
Xu He casually flipped through some books from this era.
It can be said that the routines are quite serious, and most of them are stories about talented people and beautiful women.
It's not so much a fantasy, but rather a story written in the voice of the creator using notes.
It's absurd, and the logic is unclear. It's impossible to even think about getting some principles of life from the story. Anyway, the main theme is horror, or it lists the gods, Buddhas and ghosts in the sky.
The story of Pu Songling is different. Although "Liao Zhai" is a legend of strange things, it surpasses similar works of any dynasty in truly reflecting the real society.
For example, compared with Legends of the Six Dynasties, although the latter also reflects social suffering and the sins of the marriage system, "Liao Zhai" has more works in this area and has more in-depth content.
For example, the famous "Promoting Weaving", "Xi Fangping", "Dream Wolf", "Plum Girl", "Crow Bird", "Gongsun Xia", "Lu Ling", "Cui Meng", "Shang Sanguan", " Chapters such as "Red Jade", "Shi Qingxu", and "Xiang Guo" are all more penetrating than similar works in "The Legend of the Six Dynasties".
Let's compare Liaozhai with Tang Dynasty Legends. The latter mostly focuses on the tragedy of young men and women falling in love, but Liaozhai not only describes the persecution of people by ethics, but also has positive aspects, such as the persistent pursuit of love by men and women.
This is obviously better than Legend of Tang Dynasty.
But these are not important. What is important is that "Liao Zhai" is good-looking, and there is nothing like it on the market.
What others don’t have and what I have is a barrier to making money.
Xu He wrote excitedly all night.
When Li Sikui got up the next day, he found that his senior brother had already gotten up and was sitting by the window, working hard.
Look, what is the gap?
This is the difference!
Senior brother is well-read and was the first Xiao Sanyuan in the founding of Southern Zhili. If it were anyone else, he would have been confused by this title.
But his senior brother is still working so hard.
Looking back at myself...
Because of my flexible mind and my memory of reading, I felt that I was great. In the past, I often had the idea of laziness.
Li Sikui got out of bed full of thoughts and came to Xu He's case.
I saw a thick stack of papers piled on my senior brother's desk.
Seeing that his senior brother was [studying], Li Sikui quietly took down the top page of the manuscript.
But as soon as he took a look, he suddenly felt bad.
I saw the manuscript written on the paper: "Lv, a native of the country, is addicted to snakes. Whenever he gets a small snake, he will swallow it whole, like eating an onion. If it is a big one, cut it off inch by inch with a knife, and then eat it. Chew it with a clank. , blood stained his forehead. He was good at sniffing, tasted the fragrance of snakes on the partition wall, and rushed outside the wall. He found a snake that was as big as a foot. He didn't have a knife at the time, so he bit its head first, and its tail curled around the mouth."
"Ugh..." Li Sikui started retching while holding the case after reading.
The movement woke up Xu He who was [creating]. When he saw it was Li Sikui, Xu He smiled and said: "Get up, wash up, we will go out to exercise and have breakfast later."
Li Sikui retched even more when he heard about breakfast.
Xu He was a little surprised at first, thinking that the child had eaten something unclean last night and had gastroenteritis.
But when he saw the manuscript he had just written in Li Sikui's hand, he immediately laughed.
It turns out that this manuscript is the article "Snake Addiction" in "Liao Zhai".
It is about Lu Fengning, the servant of Wang Puling, a fellow villager of Pu Songling. This man has a hobby of eating snakes.
Whenever he got a small snake, he always swallowed it whole, just like eating an onion.
When encountering a big snake, cut it into inch-by-inch pieces with a knife, then eat it with your hands, chewing it loudly, and blood covering your cheeks. His sense of smell was very keen. Once, he smelled the scent of a snake through the wall and hurried outside the wall, and sure enough he caught a snake over a foot long.
He happened to not have a knife with him at the time, so he ate the snake's head first, while the snake's tail was still twisting and twisting around his mouth.
If this were placed in modern times, he would probably be a pica patient.
But no one understood this at that time. Everyone thought this person was weird.
A kind of weirdo.
Pu Songling doesn't just write thought-provoking stories.
This kind of story is actually very eye-catching.
After all, Xu Hewen's original intention when copying this book was to make money. People like it because of its market value.
This kind of weird story is very similar to those "Worldwide Strange People" and "Guinness Records" on the bookstall before the Internet era. Together with the books in the hidden drawer under the boss's tricycle, they are all bestsellers at the mobile bookstall!
Xu He took the paper manuscript out of Li Sikui's hand, put it back solemnly, and carefully pressed it down with a paperweight before standing up.
Li Sikui looked disgusted, but he couldn't help but ask: "Brother, I have only heard that people in Lingnan are addicted to snakes. There are also people in Hailing who eat snake meat? Or do they eat it raw?"
Xu Hewen copied "Liao Zhai", so naturally he would not copy the original text foolishly.
The original text begins with: "Lü Fengning, the servant of King Pujin of Yuxiang, is addicted to snakes."
If someone really pursues the case at that time, although it can be made up as a fiction, it is troublesome after all, so Xu He changed it casually.
The trouble is, having to explain to the first reader is very troublesome.
So Xu He said: "This is not from my hometown. It is also a story I have heard. It was recorded in someone else's voice!"
Li Sikui then breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought dad came to be an official in a place where hair and blood drink!"
"..."
The sky was already slightly lit at this time. Xu He led Li Sikui to wash up and then went out. According to the arrangements of [Summer Camp], he should jog for a while at this time.
But it was quite pleasant for the two of them to walk along the willow bank and talk under the cool morning breeze.
After the exercise, the two returned home. As soon as they sat down to eat, there was a knock on the courtyard door.
Ding Ze went to open the door and saw a scholar dressed as a businessman standing at the door.
Seeing Xu He, the visitor was very polite: "My lord, you can make it easy for me to find him!"
Xu He put down his bowl and chopsticks and asked the visitor: "Are you..."
The visitor quickly smiled and said: "I am the shopkeeper of Guangling Bookstore, my surname is Ji. I went to Hailing a few days ago to pay a visit. Unexpectedly, the old lady of your house said that you have now entered a private school. No, I found out about your life in Yangzhou." Where you live, I came to the door again to bother you!"
"Oh?" Xu He said, "Shopkeeper Ji, are you looking for me?"
"I came here specifically to ask for the collection of essays from the head of the case. Bookstore is willing to buy it at a high price!"
