The shopkeeper brought some good tea, and after the two sat down, Liu Hanyan looked at Li Mu with some confusion and asked, "Why do you want to tell stories?"
No matter how she tried to think of it, she couldn't connect the detective and the storyteller.
Li Mu couldn't tell her that he wanted to gather his inner strength as soon as possible and revive his male prowess, so he could only say: "The monthly salary of the catcher is 500 Wen, which is just enough for food..."
Liu Hanyan was stunned for a moment, then he remembered something and apologized: "I'm sorry, I forgot that you still need to help me draw the talisman, or I will give you money..."
"No need." Li Mu waved his hand and said, "If it weren't for you, and no bookstore would be willing to print my book, you already take good care of me, how can I ask for your money again?"
Liu Hanyan asked: "But you also have to be a policeman, write a book, and talk about books. Are you too busy to come here?"
"It's okay." Li Mu smiled and said, "If Yunyan Pavilion is inconvenient, I will go and ask elsewhere."
Liu Hanyan was worried that he would misunderstand, and said helplessly: "If you are willing, you can try it here. I will give you ten taels of silver a month as wages, and all the silver rewards from the guests will be yours..."
In her mind, Li Mu had obviously become a hard-working figure who was forced to work three jobs by herself due to pressure to survive, and part of this pressure was given by her.
Li Mu shook his head and said: "I have asked about it. The best storyteller here only earns 20 yuan a month, and he can only get 50% of the guests' rewards. Miss Liu, I know you take care of me.
But I still want to make money through my own efforts instead of relying on charity from others..."
Liu Hanyan was worried that her persistence would hurt Li Mu's fragile self-esteem, so she could only nodded and said, "Okay then..."
Li Mu was not unmoved by the salary of ten taels of silver. Who would be at odds with the money? It was just that he owed Liu Hanyan too much. What was the difference between accepting her relief calmly and being taken care of by her?
Although there is always a voice in his heart telling him to promise her, promise her, so that he doesn't have to work hard, the man's self-esteem still won in the end.
Liu Hanyan stood up and said, "Wait here for a while, I will make arrangements."
Of the four shops in Yunyan Pavilion, Lefang's business is the best, followed by the theater, then the bookstore, and finally the teahouse.
After all, the people who spend money in such places are young people who have free time and money. It is more interesting to watch beautiful girls singing and dancing than to hear an old man talking to himself there.
However, the storyteller business also has many regular fans. When Li Mu walked into the teahouse, he saw a dozen guests drinking tea and listening to the old man on the stage telling stories.
There is no charge for listening to stories, but most of the guests who come here order a pot of tea and a few dishes of side dishes when listening to stories. This is where most of the teahouse's income comes from.
Occasionally, a generous guest would take out his wallet and give some silver as a reward after hearing the interest. The teahouse would deduct half of it and the rest would be used as extra income for the storyteller.
After a while, the old man finished speaking, and a guest shouted loudly: "It's still early today, let's do another part!"
At this time, a waiter came up to the stage and walked to the old man's ear, whispering a few words. The old man stood up, bowed his hands to the audience, and said with a smile: "I'm not feeling well today, so that's all. What's new in our store today?"
A storyteller is here, you might as well listen to him tell everyone a story..."
After the old man finished speaking, there was a commotion among the guests in the audience.
"Newcomer?"
"What's good to say about newcomers? Among these people, you are the only one who speaks interestingly, Mr. Song."
"Let's go, let's go..."
…
After the old man stepped down, several people immediately paid their bills and left. The teahouse owner looked at Liu Hanyan and wondered: "Girl, this..."
Liu Hanyan shook his head and said, "Listen."
The few remaining guests either had tea that had just been served or had not yet finished the side dishes they ordered. Although they were still sitting there, they looked away from the stage.
It wasn't until two waiters moved a screen to the stage that everyone took an unexpected look.
"What are you doing?"
"Why are you still blocking it?"
"Mysterious, what kind of stunt are you doing again? Drink it quickly. After finishing this pot of tea, go to the other side to listen to music..."
Li Mu came up from the backstage and sat on the chair behind the screen.
As a police agent, he patrols the streets every day. Not only does everyone in Yangqiu County know him, but at least most people on Weiyang Street are familiar with him.
So he asked Liu Hanyan for a screen to cover himself.
Sitting on the chair behind the screen, Li Mu cleared his throat and said, "The story I'm telling today is called "The Transformation of Butterflies."
"During the previous dynasty, in Zhujiazhuang, Yangqiu County, North County, there was a daughter named Yingtai, who was not a member of the Zhu family. She was beautiful and intelligent. She studied poetry with her brother since she was a child and liked reading. However, her family had no good teachers and she wanted to study in Zhongjun...
…”
In order to harvest the sorrow of these people, what Li Mu told was an adapted version of "Butterfly Lovers".
As one of the four great love tragedies in ancient times, the tragedy of "Butterfly Lovers" is really sad to the core. I still remember that when Li Mu was twelve or thirteen years old, he had just started to fall in love and didn't know what love was, he cried when he watched the TV series "Butterfly Lovers" for the first time.
A handful of snot and a handful of tears...
Even if the people here today are all strong men, as long as they still have human emotions in their hearts, Li Mu can harvest their sorrow.
"On the way to study, Yingtai met Liang Shanbo, a scholar who also went to Zhongjun to study. The two hit it off and enjoyed reading each other. They gathered soil on the Caoqiao Pavilion to make incense and became "brothers"..."
Under the stage, several guests gradually slowed down as they drank tea.
"A woman disguised as a man?"
"interesting……"
"You can't tell from this, how flat is that woman's chest?"
…
Although this new storyteller's skills were not as good as those of other storytellers, his stories were quite interesting, fresh and unconventional. After they tried listening to a section, they actually listened to it.
A series of ridiculous stories caused by the heroine disguising herself as a man also made several people present frequently lick their lips. Two guests who were about to leave silently asked the waiter to refill the pot of tea.
"interesting."
"This story is novel and quite funny..."
"It's funny, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with "Butterfly". The name is off topic..."
Everyone listened and discussed with great interest until Li Mu told the story that when Liang Shanbo went to Zhu's family to propose marriage, he learned that Zhu's father had betrothed Yingtai to Ma Wencai, the son of Nanjun's governor. The happy marriage was already in Cangying. 2
We met on the balcony, looked at each other with tears in our eyes, and parted sadly...
The faces of the guests gradually became serious, but they also knew that this was the usual routine of storytellers. If they want to be strong, they should be suppressed first, and if they want to be suppressed, they should be strong first. The subsequent development of the story must be that the two people overcome many obstacles and achieve happiness.
Living happily together...
However, from behind the screen, the voice of the storyteller came slowly: "Shan Bo became depressed and fell ill, and soon died. When Yingtai heard the bad news about Shan Bo, he vowed to die..."
"Dead, dead?"
"This is impossible, his ghost must still be waiting..."
"What will Zhu Yingtai do? Are they going to fall in love with each other..."
Everyone in the audience looked anxious, and Liu Hanyan's heart was also clenched.
At this moment, Li Mu stood behind the screen, frowning slightly.
Just when he talked about the most tragic part of Butterfly Lovers and wanted to guide everyone's sadness, he found that he couldn't guide it at all.
He originally thought that these people were really hard-hearted, but it was not until he looked through the screen with his clairvoyance that he discovered that almost everyone was filled with a touch of sadness, but this sadness could not be directed away by him.
But Li Mu couldn't see anything without using his clairvoyance.
When this happens, there is only one possibility, and that is that their grief is not caused by Li Mu.
"How could this happen?" Li Mu frowned. Could it be said that even the emotions caused by him, as long as they are not directed at him, cannot be guided by him?
The reason why he couldn't absorb the sadness of these people was because their sadness was directed at Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, not Li Mu!
Then wouldn't it be that he has been busy for so long in vain?
In the audience, everyone heard the tension, but saw that there was no sound coming from behind the screen for a long time, and couldn't help but urge.
"Hurry up and tell me what's going to happen next!"
"Where's the storyteller? Is he asleep?"
"I've given you all the rewards, hurry up and continue!"
The hope of condensing Que Yin was ruthlessly wiped out. Li Mu was depressed and said impatiently: "The bottom is gone!"
The audience was silent for a moment, and then the atmosphere exploded.
"What did you say?"
"Obviously I haven't finished speaking yet!"
“There’s no way to tell only half of a story!”
"You thief, how dare you play tricks on us!"
…
Hearing the roar of the crowd and feeling the majestic anger channeled from behind the screen, Li Mu froze on the spot.
The flowers planted intentionally did not bloom, but the willows planted unintentionally made shade. Although the sadness was not collected today, the progress of collecting anger greatly exceeded Li Mu's expectations.
His mind moved and he immediately had a brilliant idea.
Li Mu jumped off the backstage from behind the screen and said loudly: "Today is gone. I know what will happen next, and I will listen to the breakdown next time..."
When everyone in the audience heard this, they immediately became furious.
"You bastard, come back here!"
"Don't even think about leaving until you finish speaking today!"
"If you dare to play this trick, believe it or not, I will beat you to death!"
Li Mu hid in the background, took a deep breath, and showed satisfaction on his face.
In front of the stage, someone yelled and cursed, while holding on to the table, he said feebly: "Oh, why are you so tired? I'll take a break first. Who will catch that thief..."
