At this moment, Chen Jiannan looked sorrowful.
"What's wrong? I've arranged a great job for you, why are you looking so gloomy? Do you know how many brothers envy you? Didn't you used to frequent brothels, flirting and reciting poems with so many girls? Now, facing so many women, you can't say no!"
Chen Jiannan is in charge of all newspaper affairs, and the most important task at present is to arrange plays for the courtesans.
As the only green leaf among a sea of flowers, Jing Zhe couldn't imagine what Chen Jiannan had to be unhappy about—truly, a well-fed man doesn't know the hunger of a starving man; how many people dream of this job!
Upon hearing this, Chen Jiannan continued with a pained expression: "President, let whoever wants this cushy job do it. I don't want to do it! If you say I can't do it—then I can't do it!"
Unexpectedly, Chen Jiannan was willing to publicly admit his incompetence in order to get rid of this cushy job. Jing Zhe was very curious and asked, "Who among you is willing to take over from Editor-in-Chief Chen and manage the newspaper's affairs? A man can't say he's not good enough!"
Upon hearing this, the newspaper staff did not show the expectant expression that Jing Zhe had anticipated. Instead, they all shook their heads, as if the newspaper's affairs had become a hot potato that no one dared to take on.
Zhang Xiaoyu watched from the side and covered her mouth to chuckle.
"Husband, you should go and see for yourself!"
"Alright, follow me!"
Even Zhang Xiaoyu said so, it seems that things at the newspaper are not as simple as he thought, so Jing Zhe waved his hand and led the group over.
Before even entering the newspaper office, the first thing I heard was noise.
They say three women make a drama, but if you put together a play with a dozen or twenty women, that's going to be a real spectacle.
Once inside the newspaper office, Jing Zhe finally understood why Chen Jiannan and the others had reacted that way. He saw a group of women dressed in brightly colored clothes, chattering away, making his head spin.
Upon seeing Jing Zhe enter, a group of women swarmed around him.
"President Jing, why don't you perform stories from Dream of the Red Chamber?"
"Yes, President Jing, I also want to play Daiyu!"
"You? Daiyu? You should just stick to playing your vixen role!"
"What's wrong with a fox spirit? She's better than your black bear monster!"
"..."
The group of women started arguing after only a few words. Chen Jiannan and the others very consciously took a step back, leaving Jing Zhe alone in the center of the argument, so that he could truly understand what they had been going through for the past day...
Sure enough, when they saw Jing Zhe's expression gradually stiffen as he was surrounded by women, they revealed a knowing smile: So even President Jing can't do it...
...
Whether it's the Da'an Newspaper Branch, or the Wenxiangju and Zhangjia Winery branches, these three stores complement each other.
However, of these three shops, the most important and far-reaching is undoubtedly the newspaper branch, because it carries a certain political mission: to transmit Emperor An's governing philosophy and, when conditions are right, to promote compulsory education.
With the grand opening tomorrow, Wenxiangju, Zhangjia Winery, and Da'an Newspaper Office all need to achieve immediate success.
Wenxiangju and Zhangjiajiufang, with their strong liquor, found it easy to become famous, but it was a different story for newspapers.
Considering that the education level of the people of Ruzhou was far lower than that of Jingzhou, and given the lack of any prior preparation, it's easy to imagine that if they had directly launched a newspaper on the first day of business, it would most likely—no, it would be a complete flop.
So Jing Zhe came up with the idea of turning the newspaper office lobby into a "theater," putting on plays first to whet everyone's appetite before starting to print and distribute the newspaper.
This was also his promise to the courtesans, allowing them to act out the Dream of the Red Chamber stories they loved.
So why are they reacting so strongly now?
Jing Zhe mainly considered that the story of Dream of the Red Chamber was too vast and complicated. Although the story was good, it needed to be developed step by step. If it were to be performed right away, not only would it be difficult to know where to start, but there would also be too few exciting moments.
Just like online novels of his era, established authors had their own fan base, so they could write as much groundwork as they wanted without any problem because their old fans were willing to pay for it. But new authors couldn't do that; if they didn't have the "golden three chapters," their readers would just leave.
This principle applies here as well: if the first day's scenes aren't engaging, who would want to watch the rest?
So Jing Zhe changed his mind and decided to put on a monkey show to make havoc in the Dragon Palace on the first day of the newspaper's opening. This was also the reason why the courtesans were dissatisfied and why Chen Jiannan had a headache.
Imagine this: a group of graceful women dreaming of playing the melancholic female characters in the Dream of the Red Chamber, only to suddenly be told they have to play all sorts of animals and monsters. Who could stand that? It would be strange if they didn't rebel!
This explains the aforementioned terms "fox spirit" and "black bear monster".
Jing Zhe gestured for everyone to be quiet.
"Do you think this monkey story is interesting?"
"Wonderful…"
The women, now calmer, said.
To be honest, they had never heard such bizarre and fantastical fairy tales before, and they were immediately hooked. But as much as they were hooked, they knew that the main characters in the Dream of the Red Chamber were real women who were very close to their lives. But what about these monkey stories?
There isn't a single main character in it—they're all monsters!
The contrast was so great that they couldn't accept it for a while.
"But President Jing, as wonderful as it is, how can some of us women... play those monsters!"
"Why can't I perform?"
Jing Zhe said with dissatisfaction, "You yourself said that this story is so wonderful just by being told. What if it were performed? Have you ever thought about how the common people of Ruzhou, as well as the high-ranking scholars and the powerful people of Ruzhou, would react if they saw you perform such a wonderful story?"
"..."
Everyone craves attention and praise; it's human nature.
Aren't these women the same?
Back when Juxianlou was still a brothel, the women vied to become the most beautiful courtesan. Why? Wasn't it to get the attention of all the men who came to the brothel?
Whenever they play the zither and sing, they derive immense satisfaction and pleasure from applause or admiring glances from the audience—a pleasure they can't even experience in bed…
So after Jing Zhe finished speaking, they could already imagine that such a wonderful monkey story, as long as it could be performed, it didn't even need to be performed perfectly. Just performing the general outline of the story would be enough to draw applause from the audience!
At that time, everyone will be the protagonist, and will receive the praise and cheers from the common people, scholars and dignitaries of Ruzhou City, as Jing Zhe mentioned. This kind of pleasure is more important than anything else!
————
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