Chapter 27

"The Four Great Classical Novels and other Ming and Qing novels have the greatest influence, can enhance my literary reputation, and are the most profitable. However, there are three issues: one, the text is too long; two, the market needs to be cultivated; and three, there are some things I have never encountered, so I need to buy some related books to cover up. Therefore, the most suitable works to publish now are the Tang Dynasty Legends, which seamlessly connect with this era. Once the Tang Dynasty Legends have cultivated some readers, I will write those long classic novels. In the future, I can write historical events from the later era into novels, making it easier to use poetry and allusions."

Fang Yun thought about it and decided to focus on "The Story of Yingying," the most influential Tang Dynasty Legend, which was the basis for the famous Yuan Dynasty play "The Romance of the Western Chamber." This novel has a very high historical and literary status and would undoubtedly cause a sensation in the current Holy Yuan Continent.

The famous Qing Dynasty literary critic Jin Shengtan once listed "The Romance of the Western Chamber" as one of the "Six Talent Books," placing it on par with "Water Margin," "Records of the Grand Historian," and Du Fu's regulated verse.

"However, the original 'The Story of Yingying' is too short, with only about 3,000 characters, and cannot be published as a book, nor will it sell for a good price. This short novel has a tragic ending and does not suit the current readers' tastes on the Holy Yuan Continent."

"Since 'The Romance of the Western Chamber' has the greatest influence and a stronger story than 'The Story of Yingying,' I should base my work on 'The Romance of the Western Chamber.' However, I cannot retain elements unsuitable for the Holy Yuan Continent." Fang Yun thought.

Thus, Fang Yun began searching for novels or Yuan Dynasty plays related to "The Story of Yingying" and "The Romance of the Western Chamber" in the World of Extraordinary Books, and then slowly pieced together a new novel.

"The Romance of the Western Chamber" has over 50,000 characters, but as a Yuan Dynasty play, it needs to be significantly shortened when adapted into a novel.

At this time, each page of a book contained only 160 characters, and each sheet 320 characters. Fang Yun decided to compress the text to about 30,000 characters, making it 100 pages, which would be considered a long novel in this era.

After an hour of work, Fang Yun extracted the essence from "The Story of Yingying" and "The Romance of the Western Chamber," removing or altering elements unsuitable for the Holy Yuan Continent, and thus wrote a new "The Romance of the Western Chamber."

This story is similar to the original "The Romance of the Western Chamber" but has some differences. It tells the story of an official's daughter, Cui Yingying, who is forced to marry the son of the Left Chancellor to save her father. Before the wedding, she meets a poor scholar, and they fall in love. The poor scholar later becomes the top imperial scholar and defeats the Left Chancellor's son in a poetry contest, ultimately marrying Cui Yingying.

"The story of a nobody defeating a rich and handsome man and overthrowing a beautiful and wealthy woman is indeed a timeless theme. Should I write a historical version of 'Titanic'? No, I won't." Fang Yun couldn't help but chuckle.

A new "The Romance of the Western Chamber" was stored in the World of Extraordinary Books, and Fang Yun began to grind ink and write.

Fang Yun named the poor scholar in "The Romance of the Western Chamber" 'Fang Zhiyun,' kept Cui Yingying's name unchanged, and changed the Left Chancellor's son to 'Liu Zizheng.' Just thinking about Liu Zicheng's reaction to this book made him want to laugh.

This way, without much explanation, people would speculate that Fang Yun, having been bullied and humiliated by Liu Zicheng, wrote this extraordinary book based on his own experiences.

The entire book was stored in the World of Extraordinary Books, so Fang Yun didn't need to think much and just kept writing.

In this era, books did not have punctuation. Fang Yun added commas, periods, and colons for the first time, but did not add other punctuation marks. Additionally, he divided the text into paragraphs to improve the reading experience.

"Moving the reader with the story and surprising them with the punctuation, I don't believe this book won't become popular! The Confucians here are much more enlightened than those on ancient Earth. Once they realize that this punctuation is more convenient than the traditional method, they will quickly adopt it, especially the military, as punctuation can minimize misinterpretation and ambiguity, avoiding issues with military orders. The novel has limited literary talent, but this book should at least reach the level of a Prefecture! After it has been around for a while, it will surely reach the level of a Prefecture. However, I must keep the original manuscript safe."

Fang Yun wrote rapidly, unaware of the time, and it was already evening. He hurriedly ate dinner, asked Yang Yuhuan to leave him some night snacks, and then continued writing.

It was dark, but with his Night Vision, the darkness had no effect on him, and he continued to write diligently.

Fang Da Niu went to bed before him, and the little fox never woke up.

In the middle of the night, after eating the night snacks, Fang Yun continued writing until dawn, writing for twelve hours straight. His arm was sore, and he could no longer write, so he went to sleep.

After only three hours of sleep, he got up, ate breakfast, and continued writing.

As noon approached, the room was filled with the aroma of cooking. Fang Yun rubbed his sore wrist and took a break.

Writing with a brush pen was very tiring. If it weren't for the constant nourishment from literary talent and good food, he would have been exhausted.

"Ying..."

Fang Yun followed the sound and saw that the little fox in the bamboo basket had woken up, looking at him with its black, beady eyes, appearing innocent and cute, but also a bit silly.

The little fox sniffed the air, turning its head toward the door, where the scent of food was coming from.

Fang Yun smiled and said, "You're awake? Are you hungry?"

The little fox immediately showed a shy expression, lowering its head and avoiding Fang Yun's gaze.

Fang Yun was surprised. Could this little fox understand human language?

"Come, I'll carry you to eat." Fang Yun said as he walked over.

To his surprise, the little fox struggled to run away, but its limbs felt like they were on cotton, and it had no strength. It could only curl up and look at Fang Yun with a frightened and pleading gaze, as if begging him not to harm it.

Fang Yun slowly extended his hand, placing it in front of the little fox without touching it.

The little fox sensed that Fang Yun had no ill intentions, and the fear in its eyes disappeared, but it still had a pleading look.

"If I wanted to harm you, you would have died outside the city. How could you still be alive?" Fang Yun said.

The little fox immediately showed a thoughtful expression, and the pleading look gradually faded.

Fang Yun reached out and gently stroked its head, and it showed a reluctant but resigned expression.

"Come." Fang Yun reached out to carry it.

The little fox didn't like being carried by Fang Yun and struggled, but it was too small, and Fang Yun could easily hold it with one hand.

"If you move again, I'll throw you out of the city and let the monsters that were chasing you eat you."

The little fox's body trembled, and it stopped struggling, looking up at Fang Yun with a pitiful expression, its eyes welling up with tears.

"If you behave and listen to me, I'll let you stay here. Once you recover, you can choose to stay or leave. How about that?" Fang Yun asked.

The little fox nodded instinctively.

Fang Yun smiled and asked, "Can you understand our human language?"

The little fox hesitated, its black, bright eyes turning slightly, and then it shook its head firmly, as if to say it couldn't understand.

Fang Yun laughed at the silly fox.

The little fox looked confused, as if to say, "I shook my head, why don't you believe me?"

"From now on, I'll call you Little Stupid Fox." Fang Yun said with a smile.

To his surprise, the little fox's face changed, and it angrily called out, opposing the name.

"You didn't tell me your name, so who's to blame? Little Stupid Fox."

The little fox became agitated and quickly called out, "Nunu! Nunu!"

"Your name is Nunu?" Fang Yun was surprised. He wondered why a fox would have such a name, but it sounded nice.

The little fox immediately nodded happily and looked a bit proud.

"Nunu, let's go eat."

Nunu nodded vigorously, her eyes shining brightly.

Fang Yun used his left hand to hold Nunu and his right hand to open the door. Suddenly, Nunu let out a soft cry.

Fang Yun looked down and saw that Nunu had become shy again, her white fur on her face turning slightly pink, and she was covering her face with her small paws.

Fang Yun couldn't understand why Nunu was shy. After taking a few steps, he realized his left hand was warm, as if it was holding Nunu's belly.

"Is she shy because of this?" Fang Yun moved his fingers, gently rubbing her belly.

"Yingying..." Nunu's voice was shy, urgent, and a bit sad.

Fang Yun cleared his throat, stopped teasing Nunu, and walked to the main room.

The ordinary houses in this era had a similar layout. The house was divided into an eastern wing and a western wing, each with a brick bed.

Between the two wings was the main room, which had two stoves near the entrance for cooking and heating in winter. Inside the main room, there was a dining table, serving as both a living room and a dining room, but it was relatively small.

Fang Yun guessed that Nunu, the fragrant fox, was not an ordinary animal but a demon. However, since the Holy Temple of Dazhuan Prefecture did not suppress her, she must be harmless, so he felt safe bringing her to eat.

Yang Yuhuan was happy to see that the little fox had woken up and said to Fang Yun, "You stayed up late last night and wrote all morning. I was worried you wouldn't eat enough, so I stewed an extra chicken. Your appetite has increased since you became a scholar, and I wasn't sure."

Nunu looked curiously at Yang Yuhuan and then examined the main room, her eyes showing a bit of caution.

"Thank you, Sister Yuhuan." Fang Yun said.

"Family doesn't need to thank each other!" Yang Yuhuan replied.

Nunu's eyes lit up when she saw the clay pot with two chickens, as if her gaze was glued to it.

"Let's all eat together. Aunt Jiang, prepare a small bowl for Nunu, and use it only for her." Fang Yun said.

"Okay."

Fang Yun put Nunu on the ground and placed an empty small bowl in front of her.

Nunu sat obediently in front of the small bowl, looking up at Fang Yun like a child, but with a hint of drool at the corner of her mouth.

The four of them sat down one by one. Yang Yuhuan put a chicken leg in Fang Yun's bowl and said, "All four chicken legs are for you."

Fang Yun, though his status had changed, did not look down on Aunt Jiang and Fang Da Niu. In his eyes, they were still relatives and neighbors. In the future, they might not dare to eat with him, but since they were eating together now, he treated them as guests.

"One chicken leg for each, no more, no less. Sister Yuhuan, you can divide them." Fang Yun said.

"Okay." Yang Yuhuan divided the chicken legs among the others.

"You are truly a great benefactor, young master." Aunt Jiang's mouth was wide open with a smile.

"Hehe." Fang Da Niu laughed foolishly.

The two of them had not dared to eat much meat the day before, only taking a few bites of vegetables.

Jixian County was a poor county, with enough grain but meat being a luxury.

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