Chapter 8 Street Stall Literature

  Upon hearing this, Fan Ruoruo suddenly remembered that her conversation with her brother had all fallen into her younger brother's ears. She didn't know if the little guy would tell Liu Shi afterwards and bring trouble to her brother. The calm expression on Fan Ruoruo's face turned into a faint worry as she glanced at Fan Xian.

  Fan Siyan's gaze had changed from shock to a hint of admiration.

  "What's wrong?" Fan Xian asked with a strange smile as he gazed at him.

  Fan Siyan could no longer bear the gaze that seemed gentle but was actually icy cold, and stuttered: "I'm just very surprised, this book was written by you."

  Fan Xian felt somewhat embarrassed: "Have you read this book?"

  In his impression, people who read "Dream of the Red Chamber" at the age of 12 and loved it would generally grow up to be either literary youths or rascals who deceive female literary youths.

  "No." Fan Siyan hastily shook his head: "I've read some, it's really boring." After saying this sentence, he seemed to have regained a bit of face and raised his head slightly.

  "He just read it and said...". He thought for a moment, then told the truth, "The master was full of praise, saying that the author's poetry has a unique style, with a solid foundation."

  "These are two very high praises, Fan Xian did not blush, and smiled: "So you admire me?"

  "I admire you, sir." Fan Siyan thought for a moment: "And you, sir, like reading the books she writes."

  Suddenly, a greedy glint flashed in his eyes, and he envied: "Moreover, although I don't look at it, I know that on the market now, this manuscript is sold in installments, each installment can be sold for eight taels of silver."

  He nodded, and his gaze at Fan Xian had a hint of idolization: "Being able to make so much money just by writing a few words is really impressive... I think I understand why my sister admires you so much."

  "I didn't earn this money." Fan Xian casually corrected, but felt a bit strange in his heart. The other party's impression of him had improved, not because of his extensive knowledge of poetry and books, but because the things he wrote could make money. After some thought, he understood that his father, Southern Uncle, was the private financial manager for the Emperor of Qing Dynasty, so it was no wonder that this little guy seemed to have a natural passion for silver and wealth from birth.

  Fan Siyan rubbed his hands together excitedly and said: "But only you can write it, in the future if you are willing to earn this money, I can invest."

  Fan Xian sighed, finding that the brother in front of him was still quite naive, but unfortunately, there were conflicting interests between them. Although he didn't really have any thoughts about the Fan family business, the Liu family's ideas had already taken root.

  Suddenly, he had a change of heart and decided to try something out. After all, being blood brothers, it would be best to avoid some miserable endings if possible.

  "Haven't you said why you're following me? Don't you have school today?" Fan Xian's mind was made up, so he had an interest in chatting with this half-brother of his.

  Although Fan Siyan was young, he wasn't a simpleton. He knew that the hint of meaning he had just revealed made the other person happier, so he put on an adorable smile and replied in a trembling voice: "Because... Mom said... Brother is capable, so she let me play with Brother more often, it's always good to learn from him."

  Fan Xian sighed inwardly, thinking that no one in the world could use the "cute" trick better than himself, yet someone had just played it on him. It was truly a case of "Fan's shame, Confucius' words".

  He knew in his heart that Fan Siyan was following him, it must be Liu's idea. But the other party should not have to show kindness to himself, even if he noticed that his father did not regard himself as a mere utility, nor was there such a reckless reason.

  The dishes arrived, and Fan Xian moved his chopsticks like the wind, scanning each plate in a flash, and with incredible accuracy, he picked up some food from each dish and sent it into his mouth, completely disregarding the stunned expressions of his siblings beside him.

  He licked his lips, savored for a moment, and then nodded: "The food in Kyoto is indeed good."

  Fan Ruoruo was very delicate, and she stopped eating after having a few bites, half-turning her body to carefully read the book "Dream of Red Mansions". Only Fan Xian and Fan Siyan were devouring their food with gusto at the table. Fan Siyan became increasingly depressed as he ate, thinking to himself: I'm much fatter than you, so why can't I eat as much or as fast as you?

  The more Fan Ruoruo looked at the book, the more she frowned. She found that the "Dream of Red Mansions" published by this bookseller was not much different from the one in her house, except that the preface had deliberately excerpted the passage about Lin Daiyu, which would make people who read this book in Kyoto think that "Dream of Red Mansions" is a licentious book.

  Fan Xian saw her expression and knew she was angry about something. He smiled slightly, put down his chopsticks on the edge of the fish plate, and said: "This is just a marketing ploy, what's there to be angry about?" At this time, the brother and sister's conversation gradually became louder.

  Fan Ruo vaguely guessed what the marketing ploy meant, while Fan Si was completely confused.

  "For example, when buying a book, people will definitely flip through it to see what it's about. Therefore, the preface, introduction, postscript, and other similar things must be clear and concise. It doesn't need to clearly explain the entire content of the book, but it must pique others' interest."

  Fan Xian took a sip of tea and continued, "Sister, you're angry because this unscrupulous bookseller put the part about Duo Niang at the very beginning, but that section clearly can't represent the overall style of the story. On the contrary, it's easy for ordinary people to misunderstand and think that this is a romantic story, right?"

  Fan Ruo opened her eyes, nodded slightly, and thought to herself: Such beautiful words that are as fragrant as flowers, being treated like some kind of filthy thing for sale, shouldn't she be angry?

  "But the bookseller has to do it this way." Fan Xian looked at his sister's serious expression and couldn't help but laugh, "If I were to do it, I would make it even more excessive. This volume is ten chapters, so we should write ten chapter titles on the cover page, with a few lines of the most enticing words under each title. Only then can we make the readers' hearts itch and unable to scratch, forcing them to buy the book back home to read carefully."

  "For example?"

  "For example, like Du Niang."

  "What's written this time?" Fan Ruo had already understood her brother's meaning, and smiled as she pointed to a place in the book - it was the 23rd chapter: "The Wonderful Words of the Western Chamber, The Beautiful Melodies of the Peony Pavilion, A Warning to the Fragrant Heart". This chapter told the story of burying flowers before they bloom, but no matter how hard you looked, you couldn't find any words that would make people's faces flush with excitement.

  Fan Xian chuckled and said, "Since there are the words 'beautiful melody', of course it's easy to write. If I were to rewrite it, I would use that passage... In the garden, most of those people are girls, still in a state of innocent confusion, carefree and naive, sitting and lying around without restraint, laughing and chatting without a worry, who knows what's on Bao Yu's mind at this time. Bao Yu feels uneasy in his heart, so he lazily stays in the garden, only wandering outside, but still foolishly... just seeing the fallen red petals forming an array."

  Then all the words "sit and lie without avoiding", "laughing without a care", "ghostly mixing", "dazed" and "fallen red" were painted in red.

  Fan Ruo thought for a moment and found that it was indeed the case. These were just casual words, but when combined with the two characters "Yan Qu" on the back of the painting, they couldn't help but give people some space to imagine.

  Her face turned slightly red, and she said in a low voice: "So brother often does this kind of unseemly thing."

  Fan Siyan was stunned on the side, thumbs up and said: "Brother, you are really too talented."

  Fan Xian suddenly spat out all the tea in his mouth with a "pu" sound.

  Just then, a very arrogant voice came from outside the hall: "Where does this presumptuous person come from, with a heart full of lust and evil, daring to claim that he has talent?"

  There is still one more chapter tonight, personally I am not a person who likes to change the plot, everything will be done according to plan, haha.