The Story of a Spoiled Daughter Raising a Husband

No wonder Brother Xiuping has had that expression lately. I wouldn't have cared if I hadn't seen it, but now that I know, I can't just let it go on like that. However, Master Qiu's abilities are undeniable. Thinking this, I quickly came up with my own idea.

After a pause, he said to Master Qiu, "Master, I'm afraid I can't agree to this. Although I wrote these scripts at the beginning, I later gave them all to the head of the drama troupe. If you want the scripts now, you can either ask the teahouse owner or ask the troupe leader. If you really want to see them, I can take some time to borrow them from them."

"After all, once I gave those things to them, the ownership of those things belonged to them. If I were to deliberately keep a copy or show it to others, it would be disrespectful to them and would go against the principles of integrity that Confucianism advocates. I'm sure even the Master would be ashamed of such behavior."

When Master Qiu heard Tong Qian suddenly elevate such a simple matter to the level of Confucianism, he was at a loss for words. She was using what she admired most to talk to him, so what reason did he have to refuse? But her script was something he was really curious about, and there were many things in it that he had never known before.

For a moment, he felt he was in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat. No matter what he did or said, it was not what he wanted. However, if he let Tong Qian tell the people in the teahouse about these things, he was not sure what they would think of him. If the news got out, what would become of the reputation he had worked so hard to maintain?

Seeing Qiu Fuzi's conflicted expression, Tong Qian chuckled inwardly. She knew that once she brought up the matter, he would immediately lose his composure. She wouldn't need to do anything else; she could simply keep dodging the question, and he would easily let go of the idea.

Thinking about it, she said with some hesitation, "Actually, I think this method is indeed feasible. Not to mention that I provided my script to them, not sold it to them, it shouldn't be a problem to borrow it from them. Moreover, we are in a cooperative relationship, so they shouldn't refuse my request, which is not a request for everything."

As she said this, she shook her head again, seemingly oblivious to the remarkable changes in Master Qiu's expression. However, Tong Qian, who had been paying attention to Master Qiu, couldn't possibly miss such a brilliant performance, yet she still pretended not to notice and said:

"No, no, this won't work. I said before that the script is the foundation of the collaboration, and no one else can know the details. Otherwise, where would all my money come from? So it seems it's still not feasible." He said this, then sighed, as if he really felt it was a great pity.

Seeing her like this, Master Qiu knew that she had blocked all his excuses. However, during this process, he also felt that the breath in his throat was stuck, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. But he had no way to change the situation, so he just coughed lightly.

Before Master Qiu could say anything more, Tong Qian feigned regret and said, "If I break this relationship, how will I still have the money I have now? At that time..." She stopped abruptly after saying that.

After observing Master Qiu's expression, he continued, "If you have any other needs, I will do my best to help you. However, I am truly powerless to do so. But you can go to the teahouse, Master. I will find you a quiet room where you can listen to the play and look for things in it that you find helpful for your studies."

When Master Qiu first met Tong Qian, he thought that with Tong Qian's smooth way of handling things, she would naturally not refuse him on this matter. However, he did not expect that after he brought it up, she would give him a bunch of seemingly plausible reasons. What was most upsetting was that he had no excuse to refute her reasons.

He could only ponder in his heart how to gain the greatest benefit for himself. However, since she had already said so, why should he dwell on the matter any longer? Thinking this, he simply replied, "In that case, it is not convenient for me to make things difficult for you, Miss Tong."

"After all, everyone has their own difficulties. If I were so heartless, how could I have stayed in this position? Since it's so troublesome to deal with, then let's not bother. If there's anything I need to ask you later, I can ask Miss Tong directly. I just hope you won't find it troublesome for me."

"Alright, alright, I was being rash. But if I can't talk about this, then Miss Tong, could you tell me how you obtained so many good things, or how you came up with that idea when you were writing the script?"

"Although I have never been to a teahouse to listen to those plays, nor have I ever witnessed the sensational scene when plays and storytelling were combined, there are still many scholars who like that performance style, and many storytellers are also very shocked by that novel form. Naturally, they are full of praise for Miss Tong's approach."

"Although I only heard about it secondhand, I was still able to learn from some of the teachers who were relatively close to me that many of the plays you wrote were based on events that had happened before, and there were also some novel stories that we had never heard of before."

"So I really want to know how you did it. After all, there aren't many people who can write something so unique, especially in such a completely new form. So I really want to find some possible future developments or established patterns from these things." Tong Qian sighed inwardly as she listened to her say this.