Chapter 8

Chapter 8

As the saying goes: No one is perfect.

There is no perfect lover in the world, and if there is, they are most likely acting.

Han Zhang knew that scheming to get married wasn’t honorable, but he didn’t feel guilty, because as long as he could maintain the act for life, he would be a good person.

Besides, after seeing Shen Qinglan’s appearance, he genuinely liked this handsome young lad.

He was even looking forward to a life with him after the wedding.

After confirming that his "husband-hunting plan" had no issues, Han Zhang sent word to his family in Shangpo Village, using his studies as an excuse to skip returning to the village on his days off.

Then, he brought the custom-written storybook he had written specifically for Shen Qinglan to Lingyun Book Studio.

This was his first step: fishing with storybooks!

According to his investigation, Shen Qinglan loved reading storybooks so much that he had even opened a bookshop called Lingyun Book Studio to facilitate collecting them, supporting many impoverished scholars who made a living writing tales.

And as everyone knows: love me, love my dog.

If his storybook could win Shen Qinglan’s approval, then Shen Qinglan would naturally think highly of him.

If the effect was good enough, Shen Qinglan might even seek him out on his own, without Han Zhang needing to stage a chance encounter.

—

At Lingyun Book Studio.

Han Zhang took off his academy uniform, put on slightly worn clothes, and dressed as a poor scholar. He went alone to the entrance of the studio.

Well, he didn’t need to deliberately dress up; he was already a poor scholar in the first place.

"Good day, young master. Does the young master wish to buy or sell books?"

The shop assistant had a very good attitude, greeting him with a full smile, and did not look down on him for his shabby attire.

This was not surprising.

There were too many nobles and high-ranking officials in the capital, and many of them went out in plain clothes. Scholars, even if temporarily down on their luck, could rise to prominence at any moment, so it was wise not to offend them.

Thus, compared to remote areas, the managers and assistants in the capital rarely showed contempt openly, as that would offend customers, instead preferring to do business amicably.

Han Zhang had a packed daily schedule, with little free time.

So he didn’t waste words and got straight to the point, cupping his hands: "May I trouble you, young man, to lead the way? I’ve come to sell a storybook."

This was a task the assistant knew well.

"Please, young master, have a seat here. I’ll go get the manager."

Upon hearing this, the assistant led Han Zhang to a seating area for guests and happily went to fetch the manager.

His delight was understandable since their master loved storybooks, and every time they presented one that pleased him, they received generous rewards—this was a good opportunity.

After just a few words, the manager came out with a smile to receive him: "May I ask for the young master’s honorable surname and how to address you? What is the storybook about? Have you brought the manuscript?"

"My surname is Han, no need for formalities. This is the tale I wrote, *Tale of Two Souls*. Please, manager, take a look…"

After brief pleasantries, Han Zhang handed over the storybook he had written.

"What fine handwriting!"

The manager opened the manuscript and, before even reading the content, exclaimed in admiration.

As a modern person accustomed to ballpoint pens and machine typing, Han Zhang’s brush calligraphy was not originally so good.

But the original Han Zhang had put serious effort into calligraphy, and the body had already developed muscle memory. In the days since he had transmigrated, he had been working hard to adapt to the original’s skills.

Now, his brush writing, shaped by his mindset, had even more grandeur and power than the original's, so the admiration was no surprise.

When the manager read the content, he clapped and praised: "Excellent! Excellent! A tale of two souls, a soul swap! What a brilliant idea!"

Indeed!

The storybook Han Zhang wrote was about a wealthy young lad and a poor scholar who, due to a twist of fate, swapped souls. This led to a series of hilarious events, and eventually, they fell in love…

The soul swap trope was a common web novel trope in modern times.

But in ancient times, while not unprecedented, it was still very novel.

Moreover, Han Zhang used the top-tier character design of Sun Wukong: the male lead was intelligent, honest, brave, bold yet careful, and respectful to women and young lads…

In short, the charm of Brother Monkey was irresistible.

However, due to time constraints, Han Zhang hadn’t finished the storybook, having written only half of it.

But after reading it, the manager was still very satisfied and said:

"Master Han, our Lingyun Book Studio has always been fair. I won’t deceive you. Your storybook is very well written. Both the characters and the plot are vividly portrayed, and the writing is witty and humorous."

"However, the content leans more towards women and young lads, so the audience is likely to be mostly noble ladies and young masters. This makes the sales volume difficult to estimate."

"So, I have two options for you to consider."

"First, we buy the entire storybook outright for 15 taels of silver."

"Second, we pay you a royalty based on sales: in the capital, 100 wen per copy, and outside the capital, 50 wen per copy. What do you think?"

Given the current market conditions, ordinary storybooks usually ranged from a few dozen wen to a few hundred wen.

The exact price varied depending on the book’s popularity, regional economy, and transportation and printing costs.

As a newcomer with no prior fame, Han Zhang’s publishing risk was high. The manager’s offers for these two options were already very fair.

After a brief consideration, Han Zhang said, "I’ll choose the second option."

He had confidence in his book and in Monkey Brother’s character design.

Besides, he didn't write it for the money—the main goal was to lure him in!

"Alright. This book will go on sale in a few days. Payments will normally be settled at the end of the month. If there are any special circumstances, we will contact you, Master Han. So, could you leave your address? Also, please use these days to write the remaining content…"

"Sure, thanks for your help, manager."

Han Zhang settled the details with the shopkeeper, signed the contract, and left his address.

Afterward, he left the bookshop.

Not long after he left, the shopkeeper personally delivered the recently acquired storybooks to the Shen residence.

...

At the Shen residence.

Lanwei Pavilion.

Shen Qinglan, who was bored, lit up when he saw the shopkeeper arrive.

"Shopkeeper Wang, what brings you to the mansion today? Have you received any new interesting storybooks at the shop?"

"To answer you, young master, we have indeed received a few promising storybooks recently. In my experience as your servant, they should sell well. But you'll have to see if they catch your fancy."

Shopkeeper Wang respectfully handed over several books.

He didn't dare show any carelessness or deceit toward the Second Young Master.

Even though the Second Young Master had a bad reputation and was often called foolish, he wasn't truly stupid.

Especially in managing the shop, he took after his mother, Lady Shen, who came from a merchant family—he was a born businessman.

"Is that so? Let me see. Don't tell me they're more stories about a rich lady who marries a poor scholar, lives on wild vegetables until he succeeds, only for him to keep his promise and marry her—but with a harem of beautiful mistresses!"

"If you ever bring me such rubbish again to insult my eyes, see what I'll do to you..."

Shen Qinglan muttered as he took the books and began flipping through them.

His main purpose in opening the bookshop was to entertain himself.

Back when the shop first opened, eight out of ten storybooks collected by the shopkeeper were love stories between poor scholars and wealthy ladies.

Actually, that alone wouldn't have been a problem—he didn't look down on poor scholars.

After all, a young man who passed the imperial exams so young—especially a poor scholar from a humble family—was truly exceptional.

But the problem was:

In every book, by the end, the poor scholar didn't just stay with the wealthy lady—he had multiple concubines and countless unnamed lady friends.

That... infuriated Shen Qinglan!

Where was the sweet, lifelong monogamous love between the rich lady and the poor scholar? They'd played him for a fool!

Those wretched scholars who wrote these books were absolutely infuriating.

He ended up personally scolding Shopkeeper Wang right then and there.

Remembering that, Shopkeeper Wang winced and felt awkward.

"Young master, rest assured—I've vetted these. I wouldn't dare bring the ones you hate to offend your eyes ever again."

"You know it..." Shen Qinglan waved him off with a grumble. "Alright, you can head back now. I'll send for you when I'm done with them."

With that, he began reading eagerly.

The first book: The Innocent Scholar and the Willful Miss

—Well, the plot was clichéd, but the writing was really fun.

The second book: The Golden Hairpin Tale

—A story of a couple torn apart by snobbish parents. Nothing new, but the male lead and the young lad truly loved each other, and the lovers finally got together. So heartwarming—could read it a hundred times!

The third book: Miss Xue and Wang Shimei

—A story about a jerk dumping his loyal wife. Miss Xue going to the capital to file a lawsuit was awesome! Wang Shimei dumped his good wife to cozy up to the prime minister's daughter—he deserved to have his head chopped off...

Shen Qinglan devoured the books with gusto, commenting along the way.

Though most stories were clichéd, they still hit his favorite themes. Same old wine in new bottles, but he still loved them.

In those days, books were written in classical Chinese and weren't very long.

Having read tons of storybooks, Shen Qinglan was a fast reader. He sped through them and quickly finished the stack.

That is, until the last one.

Right from the start, his eyes went wide.

The book was titled "Tale of Two Souls"—the protagonists, as usual, were a rich young gentleman and a poor scholar.

But this time, something was different.

At the story's start, the rich young gentleman and the poor scholar actually swapped souls!