"Grandpa Sun?"
Listening to the way the girl addressed him, she seemed to be quite familiar with the old man.
However, although the old man's storytelling ability was very good, the story itself did not appeal to him. Li Yi looked at the girl and said, "Young lady, you have heard a few stories …"
Scholars devoted themselves to poetry and imperial examinations. Although there were novels and legends in this world, they were "crooked ways" in their eyes. They were far from being prosperous. A few ghost stories could scare a large group of people. The girl was at most 16 years old. She had not heard many stories. It was very likely that she was fooled by the old man's words.
"I am already 16 years old this year!" The girl looked at him unconvinced and said.
Of course, she was not convinced. The young master in front of her was at most two or three years older than her. Even if he was a scholar, she had grown up in a brothel and had heard many stories told by scholars since she was young. After so many years, how could she be convinced when Li Yi said in a childish tone, "How many stories have I heard at such a young age …"?
She had been trained as an actress since she was a child. After listening to stories for a long time, she was familiar with these routines. Even if she was asked to go up and say a paragraph now, it would not be a problem.
Li Yi saw the stubbornness on the girl's face. He felt a little funny in his heart. He took a sip of tea and asked, "What stories have you heard?"
"A lot!" The girl curled her lips and said a lot of things as if she was showing off a treasure.
Li Yi was a little surprised. He did not expect this girl to have heard a lot of stories.
In order to kill time, he would sometimes buy some popular ghost stories on the market, novels and legends. However, after reading them a few times, he found that the content inside was dull and lacking in imagination. It was better to find books in the library.
Of course, it might be because he came from the 21st century. His knowledge was much more than the ancient people here. There was never a lack of these in the library. The stories that circulated in the streets were novel enough for the people here.
Among the books that the girl had just mentioned, many of them were inferior novels that he had seen in the market before. There were also some that he had never heard of, but this was not surprising.
This world was similar to a parallel space. Although the historical trajectory before the Tang Dynasty did not change much, the details were very different. Some famous people did not exist, such as Li Bai and Du Fu. There were also many unfamiliar names. As for the literary works, of course, they were different.
The little girl's tone was filled with dissatisfaction, showing off, and contempt. However, in front of a scholar who only knew how to study, she indeed had the right to be arrogant.
Looking at the proud expression on the girl's face, Li Yi smiled and asked, "Little girl, you've heard a lot of stories …"
"Of course!" The girl's expression became even more proud, but after a moment, it froze on her face.
"Have you heard of the Legend of the White Snake?" Li Yi looked at her and asked with a smile.
"White … Legend of the White Snake?" The girl was slightly startled, and gently shook her head.
"What about Journey to the West?"
"…"
"'A Chinese Ghost Story', 'Painted Skin'?"
"…"
As the girl shook her head, she began to doubt her life.
She thought that she was very familiar with the current popular stories, but she had not heard of any of the ones that Li Yi had just mentioned.
She did not suspect that Li Yi had casually made these up to deceive her. Just by hearing the names, she knew that these were stories that she had not heard of.
"'Painted Skin', what is that? I have never heard of it …" The girl's eyes turned, and she looked at Li Yi with her big eyes.
They were not having a good time now. Whether it was storytelling or acting, they were all old-fashioned stories and scripts that lacked novelty. The number of spectators that they could attract was decreasing, and they urgently needed new stories or scripts to attract more customers. Otherwise, they might not even be able to maintain the most basic of living.
However, good stories and scripts often sold for a very high price, and they could not afford to hire those talented storytellers. Just now, when she heard those unheard stories from Li Yi, the girl could not help but have ideas about him.
Just now, Li Yi had said a lot, and the girl only remembered the last two, 'A Chinese Ghost Story' and 'Painted Skin'. Ghosts and whatnot sounded a little scary, and she was most afraid of listening to ghost stories. The girl pondered in her heart, and chose the other one.
Li Yi took another sip of tea, and had no intention of telling a story.
Every time he told a story, it was like a 3D movie in front of him, and the picture was especially strong. Last time, he wanted to tell a ghost story to scare Liu Ruyi, but he ended up scaring himself. He would not be foolish again.
Seeing Li Yi's indifferent expression, as if he was unwilling to tell a story, the girl bit her lip, as if she had made a difficult decision.
She took out a folded handkerchief from her pocket and placed it on the table in front.
Li Yi looked at the bulging handkerchief, and he did not know what the girl wanted to do. The next moment, he saw her open the folded handkerchief, and said with some reluctance, "This is the osmanthus cake made by Sister Ruoqing. It is very delicious. Tell me a story, and I will treat you to this, okay?"
Looking at the pastries on the table that emitted a faint fragrance, Li Yi could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
Osmanthus cake made by Ruoqing … It was really a nostalgic taste!
…
"Deal!"
Li Yi pinched a piece of osmanthus cake and put it in his mouth. The osmanthus cake in this season should be made with dried osmanthus and ground into powder. Although the taste was not as good as when the osmanthus bloomed, it was not much worse.
The girl did not know that she had accidentally taken out a temptation that Li Yi could not refuse. Seeing that he was willing to tell a story, a smile bloomed on her pretty face again, and she hurriedly sat up straight. She thought that when he told the story, she must secretly write down the story and tell it to Grandpa Sun later. That way, there would be a new story to attract customers.
The Painted Skin was a very classic story in Strange Tales from Liao Zhai. There were many changes in modern movies and TV series, and some love and resentment were added. No one knew what kind of adaptation it had become. Li Yi could not find these scripts in the library, so he could only tell the original story of Pu Songling.
Strange Tales from Liao Zhai was so popular in ancient times, and in this similar world, the effect should not be bad.
Using it to scare people … was also very good.
Looking at the girl's excited expression, Li Yi could not help but have a little bit of wicked interest in his heart.
"A long time ago, there was a scholar in Qing 'an Prefecture called Wang Sheng. He went out in the morning and met a beautiful girl who was carrying a bag and hurrying on her way. Wang Sheng was puzzled. A weak girl was hurrying on her way before dawn. Could it be that she had some difficulties? He hurriedly followed her …"
The girl's face showed an expression of interest. "So it is a story of a scholar and a beauty. It sounds good …"
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