Volume One: River City Song, Chapter 26: The Counterstrike (Part I)

"Brother!" As soon as Li Ling stepped into the house, Yue'er came running out quickly, calling his name. She latched onto his left arm and dangled there, refusing to let go.

Although the siblings had only been separated for a total of two days, the little girl was as affectionate as if they hadn't seen each other for a year. Even after they were inside, she kept holding onto his arm as if she were glued to him. Li Tong was also in the room, and seeing this, he chuckled: "Da Lang is back. Yue'er has been asking when you would return these past two days. You said you would arrive before dark today, so why are you only getting back now?"

"Uh, there were some issues on the road, so I was delayed," Li Ling said with a smile. In truth, when he had entered the city, he had wondered why he had risked helping Shao Qiuxi escape the prefectural city. If he had been caught on the spot by the authorities, the consequences would have been unthinkable. The only explanation was that he felt some sympathy for these downtrodden rebels and perhaps a desire to experience the thrill of adventure.

"Brother, we were waiting for you to eat together. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, after all." Only then did Yue'er obediently let go of Li Ling and sit at the side of the table. Several dishes were already set out, though they had grown cold and no longer steamed.

Li Tong didn't probe further, saying with a smile, "It's good that you're back. The food has gone cold. I'll take it to be reheated, and then we'll have a reunion dinner together."

"Alright, thank you, Uncle Tong," Li Ling replied with a smile. After the older man carried the dishes out, he took two clay figurines and some candies from his satchel and handed them to Yue'er: "Here, gifts for you."

"Oh, what beautiful little figures..." Yue'er fell in love with the colorful clay dolls immediately. She took them, studied them carefully, and then popped a candy into her mouth: "So sweet, delicious!"

"Don't eat too many; we're about to have dinner," Li Ling reminded her. He then took a golden-hued bracelet from his pocket and placed it on her wrist. The bracelet added a touch of unique beauty to her slender, fair wrist. "This is also for you. It's only brass, but I'll buy you a better one in the future."

"Mmm, it's pretty. Anything you buy is pretty." Li Yue'er beamed with happiness, admiring her wrist. She even set the clay figurines aside. She used to have a silver bracelet, a keepsake from her mother, but her father had pawned it to gamble, which had made her cry many times. Even though this was just brass, it was enough to make her truly happy.

Seeing his sister's radiant smile, Li Ling felt a surge of joy, suddenly feeling that living a peaceful life like this forever wouldn't be so bad.

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people and the moon were both full. At least for Li Ling, the Li family was now a reunited whole.

...

Two days later, the silver from the Wan Family Bank finally arrived. It consisted of three full chests, two large carts, and over a dozen burly men who made the already sturdy Gu Gang look quite thin by comparison.

When the silver was counted and the chests were moved into the shop, the previously anxious craftsmen and staff burst into cheers. They finally felt secure; they had been genuinely worried that a lack of funds would halt production and lead to the closure of the bookstore that had operated for so many years.

Gu Yuezi and Shopkeeper Wu were overjoyed. The former immediately ran to the Qingfeng Restaurant to prepare a feast for the men who had escorted the carts, while the latter gathered everyone and shouted, "Alright, we've rested for several days! Now that the funds are here, your wages will be paid in full today. You must put in the effort and print the books the owner wants as soon as possible!"

"Understood, Shopkeeper! Let's get to work!" the foreman, high in spirits, shouted back. He led the way to the workshop, and the others followed, filled with renewed energy.

A moment later, the previously quiet workshop was buzzing with activity. Engravers, inkers, and paper-preparers all took their places, throwing themselves into their work.

When Li Ling arrived to check on them, he saw this busy scene. Gu Yuezi, as the owner, was moving around, encouraging everyone. Seeing Li Ling, he hurried over with a smile: "Brother, you have truly done me a huge favor this time. I never imagined the Wan Family Bank would lend us so much silver—five thousand taels! It's enough to do everything we planned! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call you the great benefactor of the Gu family. Please, accept my bow!" He clasped his hands and bent down to bow.

Li Ling quickly reached out to stop him: "Don't do that, Brother. I cannot claim the credit. The bank only agreed to the loan because of our bookstore's own strength; I was just the one running errands and speaking on our behalf. By the way, how is the large-format scripture coming along? Is it ready?"

"Almost finished. Come, let's take a look!" Gu Yuezi wasn't one to dwell on formalities. He took the compliment in stride and led Li Ling to a finished sample. Pointing to the unbound pages, he said: "Actually, the results have been quite good for the past two days. Take a look."

Li Ling carefully picked up a page—it was a chapter from the *Analects*. He examined it closely; the font was more than twice the size of standard books. The next page featured an illustration of Confucius and his disciples sitting and debating, which looked quite professional.

"What do you think?"

"It looks good. The cost of this book is much higher than before, isn't it?"

"About twenty percent higher, mostly due to the extra paper and ink, but if we print in large quantities, it won't be too expensive."

"If we sell them at the original price, are we making a profit or a loss?"

"At best, there's no profit, and that's not even counting the materials wasted during the initial test prints."

"But it's worth it. I believe that once the price is set, even if it's slightly more expensive than the scriptures from the Wan Family Bookstore, most people will choose our large-format version. After all, ours includes illustrations, and it's less strenuous to read, isn't it?"

Gu Yuezi nodded repeatedly at this: "That's only natural. I've already checked, and many old scholars in the county are complaining that the scriptures are too small and difficult to read at night. Now that they have a large-format version, they will naturally choose ours."

Li Ling smiled: "Furthermore, we can spread the word that the Gu Family Bookstore, to give back to the scholars in the city, is printing large-format scriptures regardless of cost, unlike other bookstores that continue to fob people off with tiny books!"

"That's a great idea; it's time we let off some steam." With the money in hand, Gu Yuezi’s confidence had returned. He laughed, "As long as we can win back some ground with the scriptures, everything else will be easier to handle."

"By the way, I have another thought. Did you keep all those painters on?"

"Of course. You've mentioned it several times, and I know we must keep all the county's painters in our employ. How could I not listen?"

"Good. Listen to me: the scriptures are just to counter the Wan Family Bookstore; we don't rely on them for profit. The real profit lies here..." Li Ling whispered his next strategy, leaving Gu Yuezi stunned.

After a long pause, he asked hesitantly: "Can this really work? Will people actually read books like that?"

"Why wouldn't they? Do you think there are more people in our county studying for the imperial examinations, or everyone else? It's the latter, by far. So, as long as we turn these people into our customers, why worry about not making money? And if you follow my instructions, even those who are illiterate will enjoy reading our books!"

Gu Yuezi, who was already full of admiration for Li Ling, only hesitated for a moment before nodding: "Then we shall do as you say. But what book should we start with?" He looked at Li Ling and had an idea: "Since it's your idea, let's start with your *Investiture of the Gods*. It's been very popular lately, and there's nothing more suitable."

"That... that's fine." Li Ling agreed.

While the Gu Family Bookstore was a scene of excitement and activity, the atmosphere in the back office of the Wan Family Bookstore was heavy with gloom.

The brothers, Wan Ai and Wan Rong, sat opposite each other with dark expressions, remaining silent for a long time.

Finally, Wan Rong gritted his teeth and said: "We worked so hard to gain a foothold in Jiangcheng, and now someone is coming to drag us down. It's outrageous! This is all the work of those people in the main branch. They actually lent money to the Gu family! Do they really think the Old Master won't hold them accountable?"

Wan Ai sighed softly: "The main branch and our third branch have always had friction, but they've never been so blatant before, actually helping an outsider to deal with their own kin! We must report this to the Old Master and have him uphold justice for us. But at this point, the most important thing is to do our business well and at least drive the Gu family into bankruptcy within this year."

"Don't be too nervous. The situation is still in our favor. After all, several bookstores are now closely tied to us, and our prices are lower. Why worry about some new version of the scriptures they've produced? No matter what they do, it's just the same old *Four Books and Five Classics*."

Wan Rong nodded: "I know. I'll talk to those bookstore owners again. It would be best if we could get them to stop selling the Gu family's books entirely."

"That's a bit difficult; we can't afford to offer such large benefits. But you must grasp one point: never let the Gu family's books overshadow ours. We must ensure our prices are cheaper than theirs. Hmph, it's only five thousand taels of silver. We brought twenty thousand taels. We can simply outspend them and crush them!"

Shortly after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the direct confrontation between the two bookstores in Jiangcheng County officially began!