Green Mountain-Chapter 676 - 533: Something More Meaningful

Only three people were on the top floor of Meirui Building, and the wind outside the building swept through, making the papers on the desk rustle loudly. Were it not for the paperweights holding them down, the papers might fly outside like snowflakes.

Brother Pao sat carelessly on the desk, holding a smoking pipe, and said rather proudly, "They think they can compete with me in poetry, but not even in ten lifetimes. I don't even need to visit Wenyuan Bookstore to imagine their expressions—they'll be stunned at first, then amazed, and finally, they'll look at the author and rack their brains trying to remember when there was ever a 'Chen Chong' in the Imperial Capital."

At this point, Brother Pao suddenly lamented, "The moon rises over the sea, we share this moment from faraway places... This line alone is beyond many poets' reach in their lifetime, enough to be eternal. By the way, do you think this poem could make Yan Xingshu of Changle Square in Baishun Alley offer her pillow seat voluntarily?"

Er Dao said gruffly, "Bro, 'little man suddenly prospers' describes you perfectly right now."

Brother Pao scratched his scalp with his little finger and turned to look at Zhang Xia nearby, "Second Miss Zhang, am I being a 'little man who prospers'?"

Zhang Xia looked down at the official correspondences, "It's alright; if I could write such poetry, I'd be rather pleased for a while too."

Brother Pao laughed heartily and leapt off the table, "Second Miss Zhang, you speak so beautifully..."

Zhang Xia interrupted without looking up, "But it's tough to make Yan Xingshu offer her pillow seat; she's focused on getting her freedom with Yang Yuan's help now and isn't seeing any guests. When brothel women reach her age, they naturally understand that, while poetry is beautiful, it can't grant peace in their later years behind faded beauty; silver can."

Brother Pao smoked his pipe, exhaling smoke and quietly watching the gray smoke rise above the beams, "Second Miss Zhang, genuine feelings can too."

Zhang Xia replied casually, "Not everyone has genuine feelings."

Brother Pao was undeterred, "Then I'll find a younger one to deceive... By the way, why hasn't the landlord been to Meihua Ferry Crossing lately? What's keeping him busy?"

Zhang Xia sketched on the article with her brush, "Being righteous and able to gather people, kind and able to win people, self-disciplined and able to convince people, leading and able to guide people—Brother Pao has the talent to hold his own, so he's naturally assured not to come."

Brother Pao clicked his tongue, "Your praise is making me feel rather delighted."

At this moment, footsteps sounded on the wooden stairs.

Zhang Xia finally lifted her head and watched Chen Ji walk upstairs, "Why have you come today?"

Chen Ji nodded, "I heard about the literary contest with Wenyuan Bookstore and came to check things out."

Brother Pao said with a smile, "The landlord shouldn't worry; those bookworms are no match for us… Has the landlord read today's evening newspaper?"

Chen Ji raised the newspaper in his hand, "I have read…it…I've always wanted to ask you something, Brother Pao."

Brother Pao grinned, "Please, landlord."

Chen Ji pointed to the poem in the newspaper, "How did Brother Pao memorize this poem? The moon rises over the sea, we share this moment from faraway places is easy to recall, but the rest is difficult."

The moon rises over the sea, we share this moment from faraway places.

Lovers resent the long night, beginning to miss each other.

Extinguish the candles, love the moonlight filling the room, feel the dew soaking through your clothes.

Unable to bear it in hand to offer, return to sleep hoping for the best time in dreams.

Chen Ji could recite the first line, but no amount of pondering could help him remember the rest, and Brother Pao, a wanderer of Jianghu, should not have memorized it either.

He took a deep breath, "Are there any other fellow townsmen?"

Brother Pao laughed, "The landlord is right, normally I wouldn't have remembered. Ever since I learned that Shen Ye could write poems to lure women to bed, I've been racking my brain day and night but could only recall about ten familiar poems, none of which are very fitting."

Chen Ji listened quietly.

Brother Pao switched gears, "Until Second Miss Zhang suggested a method that enlightened me."

Chen Ji turned to Zhang Xia, "What method?"

Zhang Xia calmly replied, "Little monk. Let him look through Brother Pao's eyes and then write it down. Those once forgotten are remembered."

Chen Ji was stunned, he looked at the little monk, surprised at how he could be used.

The little monk pressed his palms together, softly saying, "Benefactor Chen Ji was the first to dare let me see into his heart, Benefactor Chen Chong was the second."

Brother Pao said unrestrainedly, "In this lifetime, I've made mistakes, but when wrong, I dare admit them; there's nothing that can't be seen."

Chen Ji pondered for a moment, then looked at Brother Pao, "What is Brother Pao planning for Wenyuan Bookstore?"

Brother Pao grinned widely, "If someone issues a challenge, naturally, we'll teach them a lesson, so that they'll remember the pain whenever they think of us. Landlord, this is the rule of the marketplace." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Chen Ji shook his head, "Don't bicker with them anymore."

Brother Pao suddenly lamented, "Second Miss Zhang truly predicted it."

"Hmm?" Chen Ji asked in confusion, "Guess what?"

Brother Pao tapped his pipe on his shoe sole: "Second Miss Zhang said you wouldn't compete with Wenyuan Bookstore over this. I asked her if it was because the landlord didn't want to offend the Qi family and the Xu family. She said no. I then asked if it was because the landlord felt guilty towards Third Miss Qi. She also said no. Second Miss Zhang said, it's not that you don't want to compete, but because you simply don't care about these things... because those people and matters are not important."

Chen Ji remained silent for a long while, then looked out of Meirui Building: "Brother Pao, even if you publish all the poems you remember in one go, it would only be some amusement for the people of the Imperial Capital. No matter how much noise they make, they cannot stop us from selling a single copy. With the newspaper and the little monk's telepathy, let's not get entangled in these meaningless conflicts anymore; perhaps we can do something more important and meaningful without wasting time on them."

Brother Pao thought for a moment: "I understand the logic, but on the Mid-Autumn Festival, I still want to publish another poem. If it doesn't get published, I won't be able to sleep."

Chen Ji agreed: "Then publish another one as a means to suit the occasion."

Brother Pao sat back at the table: "Now, the landlord can tell us what is more important and meaningful."

...

...

The next morning.

Wenyuan Bookstore was bustling early, and a green silk curtain sedan chair stopped at the door. The accompanying servant lifted the curtain with a bamboo stick, and Cui Qinghe bent down to step out of the sedan. Before he even entered the main hall of the bookstore, he heard Xu Bin inside loudly asking, "Have you found out where Meihua Ferry Crossing got their engravers and how they managed to publish two editions a day and have four more pages than us?"

Cui Qinghe walked inside and saw that many people had already gathered in the backyard, Qi Zhaoning had also arrived early: "Why is everyone here so early?"

The crowd remained silent.

At this moment, the shouting of a Meihua Ferry Crossing peddler was heard outside: "Today's Capital Morning News! The small barbarian 'Siam' refuses to pay tribute, murders our Ning Dynasty envoy and seeks rebellion. Governor of Jiaozhi, Yang Xun, leads eight thousand elite troops from 'The Kingdom of Annam' to suppress the rebellion, annihilating twenty thousand Siamese soldiers, and is escorting the Siam King to the Imperial Capital. The Kingdom of Annam's envoy has already reached Jinling, and will arrive at the Imperial Capital within a month!"

Xu Bin waved to the clerk: "Go buy five copies."

The clerk hurried out, and soon came back with five bundles of newspapers. Yuan Wang stepped forward to take a copy and unfolded it, immediately flipping to the page of published poems and essays.

Others followed suit, and those without a newspaper gathered around those who had one.

They hadn't answered Cui Qinghe earlier about why they had come so early; it was because yesterday's phrase "The bright moon rises over the sea, we see the same moment from far and wide" had weighed heavily on them. After much inquiry, they discovered that the obscure "Chen Chong" was actually the street ruffian they looked down upon.

Everyone was holding their breath, eager to see what poem or essay this Chen Chong of the Capital Morning News would publish today as a challenge.

"Eh," Yuan Wang remarked in confusion, "Why is the poetry section missing?"

Cui Qinghe also expressed confusion: "What's with this chaotic publication, why did they replace the poetry section?"

Qi Zhaoning sighed in relief: "Perhaps that Chen Chong only had that one poem, and knowing he couldn't compete, he decided to avoid confrontation."

Cui Qinghe nodded in agreement: "After launching a good poem, then switching the pages, even if others ask, they can claim they have poetic talent but chose not to harm the harmony among peers, thus changing the section... it gives them an excuse, saving some face."

Qi Zhaoning sneered: "Does he think this can settle it? Brother Xu, tomorrow..."

Only then did everyone notice Xu Bin standing dumbfounded, holding the newspaper, seemingly entranced by something.

Cui Qinghe called out loudly: "Brother Xu?"

Xu Bin snapped back to reality: "What is it?"

Cui Qinghe asked in confusion: "What were you daydreaming about?"

Xu Bin pointed to the newly replaced page of the Capital Morning News: "That Marquis of Wuxiang, he published their exclusive technique in the Capital Morning News."

Cui Qinghe was stunned for a moment, then looked at the newspaper in his hand, the new page contained a comprehensive exposition on how to cast copper type, mix ink, and improve printing from brushing to pressing.

This was exactly what Xu Bin had been dreaming of.

In the courtyard, the scholars looked at each other in dismay: "Why would the Marquis of Wuxiang cut off his own future path, could it be he knows he can't handle us, so he just disclosed this exclusive technique to the public, and plans to stop publishing newspapers in the future?"

Qi Zhaoning remained silent.

The improvements to movable type printing covered only half a page, so what about the other half? She continued reading, finding a detailed article on improving papermaking techniques in the newspaper.

Although bamboo paper is now considered cheap, it is still unaffordable for many humble scholars.

According to the Morning News, the most difficult aspects of papermaking are twofold: first, the long fermentation period of the bamboo material, taking hundreds of days. To address this, selective mother liquor from the quickest fermenting batches can be used with lime water to reduce the fermentation period to thirty days.

The second difficulty is the need for a large amount of timber for steaming and drying, leading to high costs. By adding a specific amount of wood ash to the steaming process, the time can be shortened.

The Morning News elaborated in thousands of characters on just these two matters, ending the page with the line: May all humble households have books on their desks and light at their windows.

Throughout these thousands of characters, there was no further mention of Mid-Autumn poetry.