Chapter 21

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Zhou Chong had Zhao Er spread the story that began with the Song family visiting the Zhou residence and ended with Zhuo'er angrily rebuking the Song family and tearing up the marriage contract herself. Although Zhuo'er only appeared at the end of the story and had only one line, she left a deep impression on all the listeners as a girl with deep feelings and a fiery temper, while also highlighting the despicable nature of the Song family from a positive perspective. Although the story was fabricated, the despicable nature of the Song family was a fact. Zhou Chong had artistically embellished the story and portrayed Zhuo'er in a positive light. This way, even if Zhuo'er was jilted, she would still gain the goodwill of many people, and it was believed that many would be willing to marry a girl like her in the future.

Once the news of the Song family's jilting spread, it immediately had the effect Zhou Chong had anticipated. All the discussions began to lean heavily in favor of the Zhou family. After all, in the Ming Dynasty, jilting was highly despised, especially when the jilted party was in a weaker position. Adding to this, the despicable methods used by the Song family made everyone sympathize with the Zhou family.

Do not underestimate the power of public opinion, especially in ancient society where personal morality was highly valued. The impact on someone with poor morals was much greater than in later times.

The despicable methods used by the Song family to jilt Zhuo'er placed them at the center of social criticism, and even their business was greatly affected. For example, they had previously controlled the purchase of cloth from many Songjiang weavers, but now many weavers, who despised the character of the Song family, began to sell their cloth to others. After all, the price was the same, and it made little difference to the weavers who they sold to. As a result, the Song family's business was severely impacted, and many of the goods they had promised to others were not delivered on time, further damaging their credibility.

Of course, the Song family was not a pushover. They also made several counterattacks, even claiming that Zhou Chong had voluntarily given up the marriage because he could not repay the Song family's debt, and had exchanged the marriage contract for a promissory note. Although the first part of this news was fabricated, the exchange of the marriage contract for a promissory note was true.

In response to the Song family's adoption of his fabricated story, Zhou Chong, through Zhao Er, countered by telling everyone that he had already repaid all the debts of the Zhou residence, totaling tens of thousands of taels. How could he possibly owe the Song family a mere two hundred taels?

Zhou Chong's counterattack was ruthless. Everyone knew that the Zhou family owed a large amount of debt, but no one expected that in just over a month, the Zhou family had repaid all their debts. Some even verified this with some of the Zhou residence's creditors, confirming that Zhou Chong was telling the truth.

This made everyone firmly believe Zhou Chong. Although the Zhou residence had fallen, Zhou Chong would not abandon his sister's marriage to the Song family over a mere two hundred taels. After all, jilting would ruin the Zhou lady's life, and she was Zhou Chong's own sister. Moreover, Zhou Chong was a scholar and would never do such a thing.

Most importantly, Zheng Jing, Li Zheng, and Zhang Kuang mobilized the students of the prefectural school to support Zhou Chong while strongly criticizing the Song family's despicable jilting. The influence of these students was not to be underestimated. They either came from scholarly families or wealthy backgrounds, and very few were from poor families.

Neither the influence of these scholars nor their potential power could be resisted by the Song family. Faced with the united condemnation of the scholars, the Song family did not dare to defend themselves. Even the Song family members became like rats in the streets of Songjiang, almost in a situation where everyone wanted to beat them.

Even Zhou Chong himself did not expect this situation. As a person from the future, his understanding of scholars was still limited to "poor scholars," and he never imagined that the scholars of the Ming Dynasty were not poor and had such significant influence in the region. If he had known this earlier, he would not have needed to spend so much effort and could have directly sought help from Zheng Jing and the others.

Although public opinion could not kill or bankrupt the Song family, it at least made the Song family lose face and severely impacted their business. The once prosperous Song family had fallen from grace, and their business had shrunk by at least half, losing much of its former glory.

Zhou Chong felt no pity for the Song family's plight. Anyone who did wrong must pay a price, especially the despicable Song family, who had almost ruined Zhuo'er's life. If they did not receive their due punishment, it would be too lenient on them.

"Good! Good! Excellent!" In the courtyard where Zhou Chong lived, Manager Xu was flipping through the completed "Journey to the West" and constantly praising it.

Zhou Chong did not pay much attention to the Song family's affairs. After all, his most important task now was to earn money to support his family. He quickly wrote the first ten chapters of "Journey to the West." However, only half of these chapters were written by Zhou Chong himself, while the other half was dictated by him and written by Zhuo'er. After all, writing for a long time could strain the arm, and alternating between the two of them saved a lot of time.

It's worth noting that "Journey to the West" contained some rebellious phrases, such as Sun Wukong's line, "The emperor's throne can be taken in turns, and it will be my turn tomorrow." Zhou Chong made some modifications to make "Journey to the West" more like a pure mythological novel, reducing some of the satirical elements to avoid future trouble.

"Master, this 'Journey to the West' is truly excellent. I can guarantee that if it is performed in the market, all previous versions of 'Journey to the West' will disappear, and all future versions will be based on this book!" Manager Xu looked at the first ten chapters with admiration. If the book itself was excellent, that would be one thing, but what was even more remarkable was that his master had written so much in just a few days. This speed made Manager Xu and Zhuo'er regard him as a genius, making Zhou Chong even more mysterious in their eyes.

"Hehe, naturally. It's just a 'Journey to the West.' If this book can sell well, I have many more good novels!" Zhou Chong said proudly. Besides "Journey to the West," he had read many other classical novels, such as "Dream of the Red Chamber," "Investiture of the Gods," and "The Golden Lotus." These novels were on par with "Journey to the West" and would certainly cause a greater sensation if they appeared earlier. However, writing novels to earn money was only a temporary measure. Once he had his first pot of gold, he probably wouldn't have the heart to write novels anymore.

If Manager Xu had any doubts about Zhou Chong's words before, after seeing the first ten chapters of "Journey to the West," he no longer had any doubts. He thought to himself that his master was not only a prodigy in the imperial examinations but also a genius in writing novels. Just based on "Journey to the West," he would likely be remembered in history.

With the first ten chapters of "Journey to the West" completed, it was now up to Manager Xu. Storytelling was not just reading the book but required adding content and actions to make the story more vivid and engaging. This required some time for Manager Xu to prepare.

Manager Xu also suggested to Zhou Chong that they should not tell the entire first ten chapters but only up to the sixth chapter. The sixth chapter, which featured Sun Wukong's great disturbance in Heaven and his battle with Erlang Shen, followed by his capture by Laozi, was the climax of the disturbance in Heaven. Ending here would leave the audience with endless anticipation.

Zhou Chong agreed with all of Manager Xu's suggestions. After all, he was not familiar with storytelling, and Manager Xu, as a semi-professional, had his reasons. It was better for him not to interfere.

After a few more days of preparation, Manager Xu finally compiled the first six chapters into a storytelling format. To test the effect, he gathered the household and performed it in front of everyone. Concubine Wang and Duor were completely engrossed, especially when the plump Manager Xu portrayed various monkey images, which made everyone laugh heartily.

In the future, storytelling and opera were rarely encountered by young people. For example, Zhou Chong had only seen some elderly people listening to storytelling on the radio, but he himself had never listened. However, after hearing Manager Xu's "Journey to the West," despite being familiar with the content, he still found it very interesting and engaging. No wonder storytelling was so popular in the Ming Dynasty.

Encouraged by the positive feedback from the household, Manager Xu immediately contacted the White family's manager, proposing to perform storytelling at the Fengyou Teahouse to support his family. The White family's manager was a righteous person and admired Manager Xu's loyalty to his master. Therefore, he quickly arranged for Manager Xu to perform at the teahouse in the afternoon.

Coincidentally, just as Manager Xu had finished preparing for the storytelling, Zhou Chong suddenly received an invitation from Zheng Jing, Li Zheng, and Zhang Kuang. They said they had not gathered for a long time and wanted to invite Zhou Chong to meet and discuss important matters. They also knew that Zhou Chong was busy, so they let him choose the time and place.

Zhou Chong was delighted and quickly replied, telling them to meet at the Fengyou Teahouse in two days and specifically mentioning that they should meet in the main hall on the first floor, where he would treat them to a good show!

Since Zheng Jing and the others had helped him a great deal with the scholars, Zhou Chong suddenly realized that he had an overlooked identity as a scholar. In the Ming Dynasty, a scholar's status could bring many unexpected benefits. This realization made Zhou Chong start to value his scholar identity. He also wanted to maintain contact with Zheng Jing and the others, both to express gratitude and because these connections were valuable and should not be easily abandoned.

Of course, Zhou Chong also wanted to use their connections by inviting them to the Fengyou Teahouse to listen to Manager Xu's storytelling. If they were interested in "Journey to the West," he would give them the manuscript. If the book could spread among the scholars through them, it would certainly help him gain a reputation more quickly.