You are unlucky and I am tough

Chapter 211: Uncle, who are you?

The waiter at the teahouse brought out several large boxes of storybooks and placed them neatly in stacks on the table.

The nameless gentleman sat behind a table with writing brushes and ink, his eyes slightly closed, waving a fan, looking indifferent to everything.

He pretended to be quite convincing. Cheng Shuang looked at him for a while and complained in her heart.

All the guests in the building rushed to the stage. The teahouse owner stood on the stage to maintain order, shouting loudly that everyone had a share and asked them to line up first. He also told everyone that as long as they spent ten taels of silver to buy the whole set, they could get Mr. Wuming's personal inscription, etc.

"Liangshan" has a total of 120 chapters and 24 volumes, each volume is 400 wen, and the whole set is 9 taels and 6 qian.

Someone quickly did the math and figured out that it would only take a few hundred more coins to get the master's inscription. But even though Huanhua County was wealthy, not everyone could afford ten taels of silver.

Many people regained their senses in the face of reality. Some stepped aside to watch others queue up, while others turned around and left for fear that they would act impulsively.

There was a waiter at the entrance of the teahouse shouting to promote the news, and with word of mouth from people who had left, more and more people knew the news, and people kept pouring into the teahouse.

Those who were not short of money squeezed to the front to line up. They were willing to spend the money even if it was just for bragging or as a topic of conversation in the future. Some people who could not afford ten taels of silver did not stop from squeezing in at the side to join in the fun. The teahouse was soon full.

The first person to get the title was a scholar whose family ran a small business. After paying the money and getting the complete set of stories, he ran up to the stage to write an inscription. He could say whatever he wanted. The scholar was very excited and asked to write a wish for a speedy success in the imperial examination.

Cheng Shuang looked at the excited look of the scholar who got the inscription and gently pulled Wei Qinglang's sleeve. "That old fellow is really cruel. Ten taels per person, a thousand taels for a hundred people. He is deliberately trying to cheat those stupid people with a lot of money."

Wei Qinglang nodded. "Anyone who casually offers ten or two taels to satisfy their vanity will most likely keep quiet for the sake of face, even if they later discover they've been cheated, and certainly won't unite to make a big deal out of it. This person is clearly planning to make a quick buck and run."

"He's running around committing crimes? I heard that his story is all the rage in the capital. Seeing how easy he seems to be doing it, I wonder how many people he's already scammed."

"He ran into us today and we dealt with him."

"Without any evidence, what are you going to do?"

"How can it be without any evidence?" Wei Qinglang said, "You forgot that when we submitted the manuscript, we took back the original manuscript. Every page of the manuscript was stamped with the seal of Moxiang Bookstore."

Cheng Shuang blinked. "Then are you going to go up and clear your name? Master Wuming?"

"Isn't it enough to prove he's fake?" Wei Qinglang asked, "Why should I bother showing off?"

"What are you going to do?"

Wei Qinglang smiled, pulled her out of the crowd, and found a man outside who was watching the excitement. He whispered a few words to him and gave him a handful of copper coins.

The man looked at the money in his hand, nodded happily and left.

Cheng Shuang asked, "Where did he go?"

"I've reported it to the police."

Cheng Shuang opened her mouth wide.

Wei Qinglang smiled and whispered in her ear. After that, he asked Cheng Shuang to stay where she was and wait, and he went straight to the queue alone.

The audience was packed, and since the stage was not high, people outside could not see the people on the stage at all. People who had bought the storybooks and had them inscribed had lined up in three rows, with more than a hundred people queuing up in an orderly manner.

Wei Qinglang squeezed in and pushed forward in the queue, which immediately caused dissatisfaction.

"Hey, why are you cutting in line?"

"That's right, are there any rules? Go line up at the back."

Wei Qinglang pretended to be indifferent and said, "I don't need to queue. Mr. Wuming and I are old acquaintances. Let me pass."

A man pushed him hard and said, "You're telling lies just to cut in line, aren't you? Don't embarrass our Huanhua County in front of Mr. Wuming."

"That's right, you dare to cut in line without even buying the book. If you don't have money, get out of here."

Wei Qinglang refused to give in and said loudly, "I am from Qushan County. Mr. Wuming and I are from the same hometown and are good friends. I don't need to queue to see him."

"You don't understand what people are saying, right? Even if you are the king of heaven, you still have to queue up."

"How dare you, a boy, try to make friends with Mr. Wuming? I even said that Mr. Wuming and I are close friends regardless of age difference."

Wei Qinglang was tall and strong, and those people pushed him but he was able to shake them off and continue to squeeze forward. The people who were cut in line started to make noises in dissatisfaction, which soon attracted the attention of the teahouse owner who was on the stage to maintain order, and he asked loudly what the commotion was about.

"This kid didn't even buy the storybook and yet he cut in line, and even said he was good friends with Mr. Wuming. I think he was just causing trouble on purpose." The person who was cut in line shouted angrily.

The counterfeit who was writing on the stage paused when he heard this.

Wei Qinglang took the opportunity to squeeze to the front and said to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, Mr. Wuming and I are indeed old acquaintances. If you don't believe me, you can ask him. Eh..."

After seeing the person on the stage, Wei Qinglang let out a cry, "Uncle, who are you?"

"Don't be rude." The shopkeeper scolded, "This is Mr. Wuming. Didn't you just say we were old acquaintances? You're lying just to see the master."

In the eyes of the shopkeeper, Wei Qinglang was just a fanatical admirer who couldn't afford ten taels of silver but wanted to meet the master.

"He's Mr. Wuming?" Wei Qinglang exclaimed, "How is that possible?"

"How is that impossible?" the shopkeeper said impatiently. "Mr. Wuming came here specially to thank everyone for their love of Liangshan and gave everyone calligraphy. You couldn't afford to buy the scripts, so you kept making trouble. Now that you've met the master, it's already a great honor for you. Why don't you get out of here right now?"

"Oh, I see." Wei Qinglang looked at the person on the stage with a look of sudden realization on his face, and pointed at him, "He's a liar, he's pretending to be Mr. Wuming."

He turned to the crowd and shouted, "Everyone, don't be fooled by the person on the stage. This person who calls himself Mr. Wuming is fake, a counterfeit. I have met Mr. Wuming, and he is not the author of Liangshan at all!"

"fake?"

The crowd was suddenly in an uproar.

"How could it be fake? Liangshan is so popular, who would be so bold as to pretend to be Mr. Wuming?"

"Yes, we just got the master's inscription and it's not even warm yet!"

"What's going on? Why would someone say the master is fake?"

A flash of panic flashed across the eyes of the man sitting upright on the stage, but it quickly faded away. He said calmly, "Sir, please don't talk nonsense. I am Mr. Wuming, and I don't even know you. How dare you, an ignorant child, slander me?"

"I'm slandering you?" Wei Qinglang snorted coldly. "I'm from Qushan County. The storytelling novel 'Liangshan' originated from Qushan County. The author, Mr. Wuming, is from Qushan County. And your accent isn't from Qushan County at all."

The man continued writing calmly, saying, "I'm not from Dongzhou. I lived with relatives in Qushan County when I was young. Is that a problem?"

Seeing that he was not at all panicked, the people in the audience nodded and thought it made sense. The accent could not explain the problem. There were many outsiders living in Huanhua County.

"Boy, you said you knew Mr. Wuming, do you have any evidence?" A cautious person in the crowd raised the question.

"Of course I have it." Wei Qinglang stepped directly onto the stage, reached into his arms, and took out the manuscript with the seal of Moxiang Bookstore from the space. "Everyone, I have here the manuscript of the first chapter of "Liangshan". It was given to me by Mr. Wuming himself. Every page on it is stamped with the seal of Moxiang Bookstore. You can compare the handwriting to see if it was written by the same person."

The teahouse owner frowned and quickly took the manuscript from Wei Qinglang's hand to check it.

Seeing this, the counterfeit's hand trembled as he wrote the inscription. He then put down his pen, slammed the table, and stood up. "How ridiculous! You just made up a bunch of empty promises and called it an original manuscript. I think you've been fooled, haven't you?"

"I've been tricked?" Wei Qinglang sneered, "Then do you dare to produce the original manuscript with the Moxiang Bookstore seal to prove your identity?"

"Don't tell me you don't have any. The main store of Moxiang Bookstore is in the capital. All the original manuscripts they sell will be stamped and returned to the author. This is the rule."

The man was stunned. "Why would I carry such a precious manuscript with me? Don't make such a fuss, you ignorant child!"

"This, this seal is real, the handwriting is completely different."

The owner of the teahouse was also a scholar. He had many books at home and recognized the seal of Moxiang Bookstore. After checking it and confirming that it was an authentic seal, he took a book with inscriptions to compare it. He could tell at a glance that the handwriting on both sides was not from the same person at all.

The people in the audience looked at each other in surprise.

"what's the situation?"

"Is the person on the stage really a fake?"

The shopkeeper stamped his foot and looked at the man angrily, "I was actually deceived by you."

The man clenched his fist under his sleeve, his expression remaining calm. "Boss, don't listen to this kid's nonsense. I just have the original manuscript with me today, so I can't prove it myself at the moment. How can you say his manuscript paper is not forged? Just stamping it with the bookstore's seal doesn't prove anything. I just need to find someone to carve a duplicate seal."

"If, as you say, we are strangers, what would I gain by having someone forge the manuscript and expose you? What good would that do me?"

"You..." The man glared at him, "Who knows if you're jealous of my talent after seeing me write such a masterpiece?"

"Pfft...jealous of you?"

Wei Qinglang sneered mercilessly, then took the picture book from the shopkeeper and turned to the last page to take a look.

"As you all know, every batch of books sold by major bookstores in our dynasty has a unique serial number and printing date. The one I have was printed half a month ago. This alone proves that it is definitely a fake."

"What's wrong with this date?" someone in the audience asked loudly.

Wei Qinglang said in a clear voice, "Mr. Wuming once told me that the twenty-four volumes of Liangshan were too scattered and not conducive to collection by those who like it. So he discussed with the owner of Moxiang Bookstore and decided to combine the twenty-four volumes into four, each with thirty chapters. Printing will begin in February and it will be officially available in April.

"So after February, Moxiang Bookstore stopped printing old editions. Where did you get the old edition you printed half a month ago?"

The man was choked speechless by Wei Qinglang's words. He gritted his teeth and made a final struggle, "Your words are not evidence, they are simply nonsense."

Wei Qinglang said, "That's easy. The main store of Moxiang Bookstore is in the city. Now, send someone to invite the shopkeeper to come for a confrontation. He will know whether what I said is true or not."

The decision to release the revised version was made after consultation between him and the owner of Moxiang Calligraphy. The owner immediately sent a letter to the head office to stop printing the old version, and he was the one who set the date.

"Damn it, it looks like we've really been cheated."

When everyone saw that the man was speechless and had a guilty expression on his face, they immediately understood.

Many people threw their books directly onto the stage and shouted in unison, "Swindler, give me your money back!"

"You're ruining the reputation of my teahouse." The shopkeeper was almost mad with anger and said, "I'm going to report you to the police."

Yesterday, this person came to the teahouse and said that he was the author of "Liangshan" and wanted to use his teahouse to hold a meet-and-greet to write inscriptions for people who bought the book. He was so surprised that he believed it directly. He was really confused.

When the counterfeit saw that the crowd was furious, he turned around and wanted to escape. However, at this moment, there was a sudden commotion at the door of the teahouse.

"The police are coming!" a voice outside shouted loudly.