"That 'Ying Ning', you haven't finished." After sparking with Xiao Huan's gaze, the girl turned her head and said to Li Yi.
She had already told Grandpa Sun the complete story of the Painted Skin. After listening to Ying Ning, Grandpa Sun had another story that others didn't know, which could attract many customers.
Grandpa Sun only told the first half of the Painted Skin twice, but the number of customers in the brothel today was several times more than usual. Although most of them came to listen to the Painted Skin, they were in a good mood after seeing the song and dance and acrobatics. They didn't receive as much as Grandpa Sun, but they were all in the same brothel, so they received some positive effects.
If she could receive so much money every day, she would be able to afford the hairpin that she had been yearning for for a long time.
"Next time. Next time you want to listen to it, just climb the wall." Li Yi drank tea while watching the song and dance on the stage.
In this kind of occasion and atmosphere, they should be eating melon seeds. Watermelons existed in this world, but he didn't know if they had the habit of eating melon seeds.
The girl looked disappointed. Although she didn't like climbing the wall, she had to bear with it for the sake of the new story.
After the song and dance ended and the girls picked up the money on the stage, Li Yi saw the old storyteller walk onto the stage again.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the brothel suddenly became lively.
"Hurry up, hurry up!"
"Don't talk nonsense. Tell me about the Painted Skin."
"If you try to fool me with 'next time' again, don't blame me for being rude!"
…
…
Even Li Yi's expression was slightly startled when he saw the crowd urging him to hurry up.
Was the Painted Skin so popular in this world?
At this moment, the old man raised his hand and pressed down. The voices of the crowd immediately stopped. A few men who were still chatting without knowing what was going on were immediately stopped.
The atmosphere in the brothel suddenly became quiet.
From noise to silence, it only took a breath or two.
Fang was still regretting that the young girl on the stage had been replaced by the old man. He was shocked by the sudden silence and asked subconsciously, "What's wrong?"
Shua!
Dozens of people turned their heads at the same time. This corner suddenly became the focus of everyone's attention.
Under Fang's innocent expression, the old man had already begun to speak.
Considering that there were new guests, the old man told the story from the beginning. The guests who had heard it before didn't show any impatience, but the expressions of those who heard it for the first time changed from puzzled to focused, and then to pale.
Xiao Huan had already heard of 《Painted Skin》. Although this old grandpa was scarier than the son-in-law when he talked about it, but she had already developed an immunity to it and would not run far away in fear.
"This old man is quite good at scaring people," Fang said in a low voice while listening.
With his personality, he would not be scared by the old man. If a ghost really dared to scare him like this, he would most likely beat the ghost to death again.
Having already memorized the entire story, the old man did not stop when he reached the place where he had left off last time. Instead, he continued.
Those who had been fooled by him twice immediately felt relieved. This time, they could finally listen to the next part of the story. They threw a lot of money at him …
It was raining copper coins on the stage. The wrinkles on the old man's face bloomed like flowers, and he became more attentive in telling the story.
Looking at those people throwing money at him, Li Yi was astonished again.
It was just telling a ghost story. How could it earn so much money?
It seemed that in the other world, when Pu Songling wrote 《Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio》, he was still poor. But here, a storyteller's story had such an outstanding effect?
It seemed that he had only exchanged a few pieces of osmanthus cake with a chapter of 《Painted Skin》. It was a bit of a loss.
He turned to look at the girl named Xiao Zhu. He didn't expect her to be so smart at such a young age.
Feeling Li Yi's gaze on her, the girl cursed in her heart. After today's scene, if she wanted to hear more stories from him in the future, it would no longer be as simple as stealing a few pieces of osmanthus cake from sister Ruoqing.
The story of 《Ying Ning》 was only half told.
If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have asked Grandpa Sun to tell the story at this time …
Looking at his expression, he probably regretted telling the story. Such a story could be sold at a high price in Wa City.
Li Yi didn't regret it. The money that the old man got was not even as much as the profit from selling a bottle of Ruyi nectar. He was just curious about the entertainment in this world.
These people watched the programs in the brothel, and when they were happy, they would give tips. These tips were the main source of income for the ordinary actors and storytellers. The tips weren't much, and it was only enough for them to make ends meet.
Compared to the stars in the future, who could easily earn tens of millions of yuan by participating in a movie, a TV series, or a commercial performance, these seniors were living a miserable life.
In any era, the entertainment industry should be relatively easy to make money. However, the entertainment industry in this world obviously had a lot of room for development.
In layman's terms, there was still a lot of room for making money.
As the weather gradually entered winter, the mosquitoes were almost frozen to death. Young ladies no longer needed it to drive away mosquitoes. In the cold weather, scholars didn't sleep easily either. The business of Ruyi nectar gradually cooled down. Sometimes, only a few bottles were sold in a day.
As for strong alcohol, although it was always in short supply, this thing was too wasteful of food and could not be brewed without restrictions. Most of the people in the Jing country were still hovering around the line of food and clothing and did not even have enough to eat. Even Ning Wang Fu could not waste food without scruples. If they were targeted by the imperial censors and imperial censors, even Ning Wang would have a headache.
Therefore, a few wine-making workshops had been closed recently. The production of Ruyi nectar was limited, and the supply of hard liquor was limited. Naturally, the daily income was greatly reduced.
Of course, he had saved up a lot during this period of time, so he didn't lack money. However, things like buying a house in the prefecture city could only be postponed.
As for the soap and perfume that were only for personal use, it was not suitable to be produced in this season. It was necessary to think of new ways to make money.
At this moment, he only had this thought. The most important thing now was to recover from his injuries.
He once again focused his attention on the old man. The content of his story was slightly different from what he told the young lady. He had probably made some small changes to cater to the audience.
It had to be said that this old man was indeed a professional. Even though Li Yi already knew the complete story, listening to the old man's story still made his hairs stand on end.
This time, the old man didn't play tricks and honestly finished the story.
The audience below the stage applauded. Naturally, there was no lack of rewards. When the old man retreated, it took him a lot of time to clean up the rewards on the ground.
Li Yi was purely here to kill time. Xiao Huan and Fang accompanied him. The young lady stayed for a while and left. When Li Yi turned his head, he saw the old man walking over with the young lady following behind him.
"For today's matter, I still have to thank you, young master. These rewards should belong to young master." The old man placed a small cloth bag on the table and said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Li Yi looked at him, puzzled.
"If it wasn't for the 'Painted Skin' that young master told me, this old man wouldn't have received so many rewards. This money, please don't refuse, young master." The old man explained.
He told the story of the 'Painted Skin' without prior consent from Li Yi. Although it was exchanged by Xiao Zhu with a few pieces of hanging flower cakes, he could only continue the story with peace of mind if Li Yi accepted the money.
"Yes, young master, please accept it." The young lady also said.
"In that case, it would be impolite of me to refuse." Li Yi nodded and took the bag. It was filled with heavy copper coins.
Seeing that Li Yi accepted it, the old man relaxed. He hesitated and said, "This old man has a presumptuous request …"
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