Starting with photographic memory, I've worked my way up to become a martial arts immortal.

A stern voice rang out: "Make way, can't you see Third Master is here!"

Everyone immediately fell silent, and spontaneously parted to make way for each other.

Liu San walked slowly with his arms crossed, his triangular eyes coldly sweeping over the crowd.

As Liu San passed by, Jiang Yuan could even sense the warning in his eyes, and he quickly lowered his head like everyone else, not daring to look again.

"What are you all doing gathered here with nothing better to do? Disperse!"

Hearing Liu San's menacing voice, everyone shrank back and left in silence.

Jiang Yuan helped his mother back into the house and locked the door tightly.

Soon after, a woman's piercing scream came from Uncle Sun's house: "What are you doing? Don't come any closer! No!"

The sound stopped abruptly.

The air fell into a deathly silence.

Whether it was his imagination or not, Jiang Yuan felt as if those piercing screams were still echoing in his ears.

"Xiao Yuan".

Jiang Yuan turned around and saw his mother leaning against the bedside, her eyes filled with deep worry and fear.

"Mom, it's alright, I'm here." Jiang Yuan walked over and hugged his mother tightly.

"When will this ever end..." Li Guihua sighed deeply.

As darkness fell, lanterns outside every household lit up, their red glow casting an eerie glow on the ground.

Jiang Yuan sat by the stove, the only sound he could hear was the constant coughing coming from the bed.

He realized that his mother's illness seemed to have worsened again.

···

three days later.

"Have you heard? Old Sun sold the Sun family's daughter-in-law."

"Really?"

"It's true, Third Master even brought out the indenture, and sold it for two taels!"

"He was such a person, even selling out his family before he died."

"Old Sun didn't die unjustly; he deserved to go to hell."

"People like that deserve to die!"

Groups of people were chatting idly by the roadside. Jiang Yuan tightened the bag on his shoulder and brushed past them.

Half an hour later, he had changed into a blue short shirt and appeared in the teahouse.

"Brother Li, where have you been these past few days? I was so worried about you."

Inside the room, Xu Chuan rushed over in a great hurry.

Jiang Yuan smiled. The day after leaving the teahouse, he found another storyteller and used the same method to finalize a deal.

Of course, he was selling a different book.

However, this person saw through Jiang Yuan's intention of "hunger marketing" and immediately offered a high price of two hundred coins per visit.

Of course, since the "ancient books have been destroyed," the storyteller even hired a copyist, which was quite generous.

"I was delayed by something, please forgive me," Jiang Yuan said, cupping his hands in apology.

"No problem, no problem, Brother Li, you don't know, the teahouse has been packed every day these past few days, the line is almost stretching out onto the street, everyone is waiting for me to tell stories." Xu Chuan pulled Jiang Yuan to sit down at the table and quickly served tea and water.

"Really?" Jiang Yuan asked knowingly.

"It couldn't be more true. You can easily find out how I could lie to you by asking around."

Xu Chuan smiled wryly: "It's all thanks to Brother Li's excellent story. I've told that story several times in the past two or three days. If you hadn't come, I would have been devoured alive by the audience."

"Then I should congratulate Brother Xu on becoming famous in this outer city from now on," Jiang Yuan said with a smile.

Xu Chuan feigned a mixture of laughter and tears: "Brother Li, please stop flattering me. As for the aftermath..."

"The sequel will certainly be even more exciting, and the price will naturally be higher."

"How many?"

"Four hundred coins each time!"

"Four hundred coins! Impossible, that's too high!" Xu Chuan plopped down in a chair, now truly on the verge of tears. "Brother Li, please stop joking around at a time like this."

Jiang Yuan slowly said, "Of course I'm not joking. The teahouse owner hired you here because you get a monthly allowance and a share of the profits, right? Business is so good here now, you'll be able to earn that money back quickly."

Xu Chuan's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "How about we split it in half? Two hundred coins, that's already far above the market price."

"Brother Xu, you're an expert. You know very well how much the things I'm selling you are worth. To put it bluntly, if you don't want them, there are plenty of other people who will." Jiang Yuan shook his head, not giving an answer.

Xu Chuan's expression changed. "Brother Li, how about you lower the price a bit more? This price is really too high; I can't afford it."

"Then three hundred coins, and you can hire another scribe."

After saying that, Jiang Yuan picked up the teacup, took the lid, stirred the tea leaves floating on top, and said no more.

According to his calculations, this price was probably Xu Chuan's bottom line. If he insisted on keeping the price unchanged, there was a risk of pushing the other party to the brink, adding further complications.

"Fine, three hundred coins it is." Xu Chuan slumped into the chair as if his spine had been removed.

Jiang Yuan glanced at him: "Brother Xu, why go to such lengths? It's only nine taels of silver in total, which is just a drop in the ocean for you."

Xu Chuan sat up straight with a wry smile and sighed, "Brother Li, you don't know this, but the Poison Scorpion Gang, which manages this area, has recently had a conflict with the Black Tiger Gang in the west of the city. As a result, the pumping fees they charge have gone up, and we're having a tough time too."

"I see." Jiang Yuan felt a growing sense of urgency, sensing that this area was about to descend into chaos again.

He picked up his teacup: "Let's not talk about that. I wish Brother Xu great fame in the outer city. Who knows, he might even be invited by a prominent family in the inner city to give a lecture. I'll offer this tea in place of wine to Brother Xu."

Xu Chuan finally laughed upon hearing this, "Haha, no problem, please."

···

At the dock, Zhang Yong and his two companions had been working absentmindedly for the past few days.

Once they've experienced the ease and joy of making quick money, it would be incredibly difficult for them to go through the ordeal of carrying heavy loads all day for a mere thirty or forty copper coins.

Before the sun had even set, they finished work early and returned to the city, intending to find a place to relax.

"Brother Yong, we're almost out of money. Have you found a new target today?" Li Han asked as they walked.

"Yeah, soon I won't even be able to afford steamed buns," Sun Hao added.

"What happened? Didn't we just sell one a couple of days ago? Where's the money?"

"The two of us together only get 40%, how can we afford to spend it all? Besides, a new batch of girls have recently arrived at this dark room, all of them very young and fresh, hehe."

Zhang Yong glared at him: "What, now you think the money isn't enough? How did you beg me back then? You were living a life of extravagance every day, how much money could you possibly have afforded?"

"That's not what we meant. We'll just make another one when we run out of money," Li Han said shamelessly.

"Very well." Zhang Yong's gaze was cold. "The demand for male virtue academies has been high recently, so prices have gone up a bit."

Since he got into this line of work and tasted the sweetness of success, he felt that he had wasted his life before.

Anyway, the world is in chaos. As long as you're careful, even if you lose a few poor souls, nobody will care.

He found it funny whenever he thought of the families crying and calling for their loved ones. He was the murderer, standing right in front of them, and they couldn't even recognize him. This feeling was strangely exciting.

Zhang Yong turned his head and instructed, "These dockworkers are all covered in soot and ash, making them look like ghosts. It's not easy to find good goods. Everyone should keep their eyes open tomorrow."

"I know, Brother Hao. It's just a pity that the kid disappeared somewhere a while ago. I haven't seen him for more than ten days," Sun Hao muttered with a steamed bun in his mouth.

As he was speaking, his eyes widened, and he pointed uncertainly into the distance, "Look, isn't that the kid?"

"Yes, it really is him." Li Han recognized him at a glance, and said with a puzzled look, "Why did he change his clothes? He looks quite presentable now."

"This kid must have had some good fortune; no wonder he hasn't been going to the docks lately."

Zhang Yong spat on the ground and his lips moved: "All of you, keep up, hang far away, don't let this kid find out."

"Don't worry, Yong-ge, it's not like it's the first time we've done something like this." Sun Hao patted his chest loudly and volunteered to follow.