Zhao Meier followed behind Yao Niang discreetly.

Once she was sure that the Zhu couple had left and hadn't noticed them, she breathed a sigh of relief, straightened her back, placed her hands on her lower abdomen, and calmly stepped forward to call out to her aunt.

The young woman turned around at the sound, and seeing it was her, she bowed and politely greeted, "Miss."

Zhao Meier raised her chin, her gaze sweeping over him from head to toe, and said unhappily, "What are you doing here?"

"I've finished writing the new storybook and sent it over. I'll also send some clothes and food to Fenglang while I'm at it."

The young woman lowered her eyes, her posture was very humble, and even her voice was soft and small, giving people a feeling of weakness and vulnerability.

But Zhao Meier had dealt with her before and knew some things about her family.

This seemingly frail woman, possessing a rather attractive appearance, was harassed by local thugs while caring for her seriously ill father at home. In an attempt to escape and save herself, she nearly stabbed one of the thugs to death with a hairpin.

She was a woman who appeared weak but had a certain amount of spirit.

On the contrary, her husband Yao Feng, apart from being able to tell stories, was completely ignorant of everything else, like a lump of soft, useless mud.

The reason their family's teahouse was willing to take Yao Feng was because Yao Niang said that as long as they wanted Yao Feng, she would write storybooks for them free of charge.

Yao Feng was quick-witted and his storytelling skills were actually quite good, but his elder brother had initially chosen Yao Feng because he valued his mother's ability to write storybooks.

As it turns out, her brother's judgment was correct; given time, her aunt could indeed become a money-making machine.

However, in order to get closer to Madam Zhu today, she said that she wrote the script herself, so she naturally couldn't reveal any flaws now, and she couldn't let Yao Niang appear in the teahouse again.

Zhao Meier's mind raced, and she stretched out her hand: "Where's the storybook? Just give it to me."

The young lady whispered, "This should be given to the young master."

Zhao Meier said impatiently, "Isn't it the same whether it's given to my brother or to me?" She took a silver ingot from her purse and threw it to her, "Here, Yao Feng's storytelling has been quite popular lately, this is a reward for you and your husband."

The young lady accepted the silver ingot and thanked her, saying, "Thank you for the gift, Miss."

Taking the opportunity, Zhao Meier said, "But you don't need to come to this teahouse anymore. The teahouse is frequented by distinguished guests. If you dress like a beggar, the guests will think that our teahouse is taking in beggars."

The young lady remained expressionless, bowed, and said, "I'll hand the clothes to Feng Lang and then leave."

“No need for that trouble,” Zhao Meier called over the shop assistant and said to Yao Niang, “Give him the things and let him deliver them. You should go home early.”

Her words were polite enough, but the disdain in her eyes was undisguised.

The young woman could only nod, hand the items to the shop assistant, and then hurriedly left with her head down.

After leaving the teahouse, she held the reward money she had just received and mentally calculated her expenses. Besides the money for her father's medicine, she had some left over to buy a pound of pork and a jar of wine to take home. Feng Lang hadn't been home for almost half a month since he took this job. She had slipped a note into his clothes; if he saw it, he must come home tonight so they could have a good meal together.

As the young woman thought this, a faint smile appeared on her face.

Although she wore a bulky, tattered cotton-padded coat, her unadorned face was extremely beautiful. However, she didn't seem to care about her beauty. She hastily smoothed her wind-blown hair, lowered her head, and hurried off to the market.

*

On the other side, Shen Youying was being pushed around town by Xue Shen.

While Shen Youying was still savoring Fang Cai's story, she couldn't help but say to Xue Shen, "Although this Miss Mei'er comes from a small place, the stories she writes are more exciting than those of many scholars and writers. Although Miss Xu is gentle, she has an indomitable tenacity when faced with difficulties."

Women in the capital city, having nothing to do in their spare time, enjoyed reading storybooks, so these books usually sold very well in bookstores. Some popular storybooks were even read by storytellers in teahouses, and adapted into operas by theatrical troupes.

This was naturally considered a lowly job by noble families, but it became a way for many poor scholars to earn money.

But most of those scholars wrote stories of noble ladies eloping with poor scholars, or, at most, tales of poor scholars and vixens providing companionship. After reading so many of these, they lost their appeal.

Zhao Meier's story is different. She writes about a fallen scholarly family, where a woman goes to great lengths to preserve the family's academic heritage, even disguising herself as a man to take the imperial examinations, risking being exposed and beheaded to revitalize the family's reputation.

Shen Youying was captivated after hearing only the first act, and as a result, her opinion of Zhao Meier also improved significantly.

Xue Shen turned his head, recalling Zhao Meier's actions yesterday, and his expression became indescribable. However, not wanting to spoil Shen Youying's mood, he did not mention the events of last night, but only reminded her: "The author of the story and the characters in the story may not have the same personality and character."

Shen Youying sensed something amiss and looked up at her: "You don't like Zhao Meier?"

Xue Shen did not deny it.

Shen Youying was puzzled: "Why?"

Xue Shen didn't explain further, but said, "There are still some things I don't understand. I'll tell you later."

Shen Youying knew that he never spoke without a reason. Although she still had some doubts, she did not make excuses for Zhao Meier because of this goodwill.

The two did not continue the topic and walked until they arrived at the market.

Shen Youying suddenly had a craving for sour things today. When she saw the hawthorns displayed by the roadside vendors, she was immediately tempted and directed Xue Shen to push her over to buy some.

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