Chapter 167: The new book will be released next year, and there won't be any more copying assignments next month...
There were two kinds of tables in the theater, one long and one square, but they were all exquisite and small, unlike the rough ones in the teahouses outside. Yao Xiaoyu picked a square table and sat down. After a while, a young lady brought two plates of snacks and tea.
The food wasn't fancy; a small yin-yang plate, no bigger than the palm of your hand, had some roasted melon seeds on one side and two pieces of mung bean cake on the other. The tea was also very weak, but for ten copper coins you could sit and watch a play and have something to eat—what more could you ask for!
Snacks were served, and the guests took their seats. Soon, the characters on the stage appeared. Yao Xiaoyu had bought a script before the opera started. These were also called opera brochures, and the concept was similar to a modern song lyric book. The lyrics were written on them, and if you heard something unclear, you could just glance at it and it would be clear.
After all, traditional opera is truly magical. Without the aid of clear written text, the first listener will only find it vague and unclear. But after comparing it with the written text, they will realize that every word of the lyrics is exquisite.
Yao Xiaoyu had come across similar short videos in modern times. The videos featured a character named Xianglin's Wife picking apples without any subtitles at the beginning. Only after the subtitles were added did she realize that she was saying that everyone was lying to her, which made Yao Xiaoyu doubt her hearing.
"Enamel—"
The heart-wrenching soprano on stage jolted Yao Xiaoyu out of her reverie. She subconsciously glanced at the script in her hand, and her initial confusion about why she was singing about cloisonné instantly vanished.
Because of the profoundness of Chinese characters, she misheard the lyrics again; the person on stage was crying for her husband, singing:
"Fan Lang—"
Luckily, I bought the script, otherwise it would have been just like math class, where I would have completely lost the lesson in the time it took to bend down to pick up a pen.
The performers on stage were quite skilled. Yao Xiaoyu, who had initially just wanted to see the novelty of an all-female opera troupe, gradually became engrossed in the performance. Before leaving, she even bought a ticket for a private room, planning to come back the next day.
The people here said they're going to perform "The Soul Lock Pouch" tomorrow.
Shanghai is now the commercial center of the country. Even if you remove the entertainment options that Yao Xiaoyu can't accept, there's still enough for her to while away the time. She might stroll through a park one day, listen to music the next, and occasionally take a break to visit her nominal canary in the grand hotel. It wasn't until Pi Kangxiu cornered her at home and urged her to finish her manuscript that Yao Xiaoyu realized several months had passed.
Having finally managed to persuade Pi Xiukang to leave, Yao Xiaoyu glanced at the Yao family members watching the commotion behind her and realized she couldn't be the only one in such a predicament.
"When I went to deliver the books yesterday, they said that the young lady's dowry had already started to be packed, and they would no longer be accepting copies of books next month."
The family's debts have been paid off, and they have accumulated some savings over this period of time. Yao Xiaoyu feels that this private subsidy has been more than enough, and it is time for the Yao family to walk independently.
Yao Xiaoyu originally planned to talk about this after the Mid-Autumn Festival, but Ye Junshu's matter came too suddenly, and with a bunch of other things to do, Yao Xiaoyu got so busy that she forgot about it.
"What?!"
Wenrou exclaimed in surprise, a rare occurrence for her. Zhou Chunhua and Yao Ping'an also stared at Yao Xiaoyu in astonishment. Although Yao Xiaoyu's excuse was that the young lady needed to copy some rare books for her wedding, so much time had passed that they had forgotten that this task had a time limit.
"This, this..."
Zhou Chunhua wanted to say something but didn't. She only regretted not working harder back then. Now, she hadn't had much time to enjoy copying books before her good days were over. After calculating her income from copying books, Zhou Chunhua spontaneously worked hard to learn to read and caught the last train of this job. Unfortunately, this train had a final stop, and now her good days were over.
Yao Xiaoyu looked at the family, who were completely stunned by the news, and didn't offer any words of comfort. She only reminded them that now was not the time to be at a loss.
"The deadline is next month, but the words copied this month will still be paid."
This is a small buffer period that Yao Xiaoyu deliberately left. Today is only the second day of the Lunar New Year. Several family members will copy books until the end of the month and receive their last sum of money. As for how much, it depends on how hard the Yao family works.
Zhou Chunhua understood the information and abandoned her original intention to rest. She immediately took Wenrou and Yao Pingan to continue copying the book. When Yao Tianrui and Yao Xiaoli came back from school, she simply asked for leave for the two of them and brought them over to copy the book together.
Studies are indeed important, but compared to our meager family fortune, they are not so important that we should disregard everything else. We thought that copying books could continue indefinitely, and that our two youngest children could pursue their studies at a leisurely pace. But we don't know where to find work in the future, so making money has become the top priority.
A person can live without knowledge, but they will starve to death if they have nothing to eat.
Yao Tianrui's handwriting wasn't bad, and Yao Xiaoyu paid him the same price as his parents and grandmother for copying books. Yao Xiaoli's handwriting could only be described as straight and even. After considering it for a while, Yao Xiaoyu gave her five copper coins out of consideration for family.
Yao Xiaoli's wages for copying books were lower than Yao Tianrui's, but the latter was much more enthusiastic about the job. Yao Xiaoyu wasn't sure if it was related to the promise Yao Xiaoli had made that "for every five copper coins earned, one copper coin would be given to you," but after three to five days, Yao Tianrui was indeed somewhat reluctant to copy books.
However, this had little to do with Yao Xiaoyu. The day after she was informed of the deadline for copying the book, she went to the editorial department and delivered some terrible news—
"Your new book won't be released until after the new year?"
Pi Kangxiu considered himself a mature and steady man, but upon hearing this news, he couldn't help but scream. The editors looked over in astonishment at first, and after processing the information Pi had just conveyed, they also showed expressions of utter dismay.
Novel Daily has indeed been thriving recently, but Xiaoyu is undoubtedly the mainstay. Although the newspaper's sales were decent in the first two weeks when Yao Xiaoyu didn't write continuously, they gradually declined afterward. Some editors initially thought that Yao Xiaoyu was being treated too well, but after comparing her situation with the others... they thought Yao Xiaoyu had come with new manuscripts, but it turned out to be a nightmare of delayed submissions!
"I've been writing for too long and want to take a break for a while."
Yao Xiaoyu sounded a little guilty, but when she thought about how many works were under the name of "Little Fish," she straightened her back silently—she had written so many works for so long, shouldn't she be allowed to take a break for a while? Besides, it wasn't that she wasn't really stopping writing, but rather writing slowly, gradually, and rhythmically.
"Do you think the royalties are too low...?"
"And I'm moving, so my head is spinning every day."
Yao Xiaoyu, who had been playing from morning till night, spoke without blinking. Pi Kangxiu, who had been prepared to talk about the generous payment for the article, was interrupted and his train of thought was completely swayed.
Moving is indeed quite troublesome...
He moved things himself. If his family helps, it's okay, but if he's alone, it's like Jingwei trying to fill the sea or ants trying to move mountains. I really don't know how such a small house can hold so much stuff.
"And I was sick before, and now it hurts whenever I try to think."
Seeing that Pi Kangxiu was showing signs of softening, Yao Xiaoyu quickly pressed on. She had indeed been sick a few days ago, but it was just a common cold. The doctor massaged her acupoints, and she slept soundly under the covers and sweated a lot, which made her almost better. But when you're out and about, you can always make up your own stories, so it's not a big deal.
"There's a lot to collect for the new book, so it's very difficult to write."
This statement is absolutely true. Her new book involves foreign situations and emphasizes authenticity. However, it's not just about this aspect. Yao Xiaoyu also included her writing recovery period in the book.
Writing is like performing opera; if you don't practice for a day, you'll get rusty. The longer the interval, the harder it is to regain your previous form. Yao Xiaoyu hasn't written much since finishing the book "Cat's Nest," and now that it's past the new year, it's hard to say how much she'll be back to her former self.
Under Yao Xiaoyu's combined efforts of persuasion and coercion, the Novel Daily finally agreed to her request to submit the manuscript after the New Year, and even did not reduce the manuscript fee. Yao Xiaoyu took the book she was going to copy for her family from the editor-in-chief, Bei, whose eyes were filled with complicated emotions, and happily continued playing music and dancing. Half a month later, she received the news that Ye Junshu was leaving.
"Now that the man is dead, I no longer need to hide."
Ye Junshu thanked Yao Xiaoyu with a relaxed expression. Yao Xiaoyu didn't mind at all; it wasn't like she wasn't being paid. The hairdryer and other small items in the room were still there. It was just that the Yao family didn't have any electrical outlets for the time being, but that wasn't a big problem. The new house had already been renovated, and they could enjoy them as soon as they moved in.
Are you leaving now, or staying a few more days?
Yao Xiaoyu asked casually, and Ye Junshu didn't delay. He picked up his suitcase and was about to leave when Yao Xiaoyu pulled him back. Since he was going to keep up the act, he shouldn't give himself away at the last step. The focus of a male concubine is not on the man, but on the concubine. There is no reason for a subordinate to take precedence over the master.
"Wait, you can't do it like this."
Yao Xiaoyu opened the door halfway, saw Ye Junshu's face, and seemed to remember something. She frowned and said...
Ye Junshu had put on makeup before coming over, and her facial features were not the same as the original version. It didn't matter that no one saw her in the room, but going out so openly would defeat the purpose of hiding her.
Yao Xiaoyu's big hat could cover her face, but she wasn't wearing makeup. With the hat on, even if she really used the excuse of playing around, Ye Junshu's face would still be covered. What would she do?
"Xiaoxiao, you..."
Yao Xiaoyu pondered for a while, then pulled Tao Xiaoxiao aside for a private chat. Tao Xiaoxiao glanced at Ye Junshu, nodded, and left.
"We'll leave when she comes back."
Yao Xiaoyu said to Ye Junshu, her eyes scanning Ye Junshu's suitcase again and again—if she remembered correctly, even though the contents of the suitcase were consumed because of the combination of some small appliances, the things that were replenished in the later times still far exceeded the volume of the suitcase. How did Ye Junshu manage to put them all in and turn them into a compressed package?
The last time I saw this kind of packaging technology was when I saw a compressed mattress in a short video.
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