Chapter 64: Escape at Night
Yu San is very efficient in his work.
The storytelling stage has been set up, and the shed was built rather hastily. Currently, only the position near the storyteller and the front row with tables, chairs and benches are covered with oilcloth paper, and the rest of the place is open to the air.
At this time, on a platform as high as a person, the storyteller was telling the story of "The Complete Biography of Yue Fei" with great enthusiasm, which was about the story of Yue Fei's resistance against the Jin Dynasty in the Song Dynasty.
The reason why Zhu Hao gave this story to Yu San was that the story of Yue Fei's resistance against the Jin army was widely circulated among the people, and there were endless legends about Yue Fei. Only when the people had a general idea of the historical figure and what had happened would they come to listen. If one rashly started a story that was earth-shattering but had no mass base, it would be impossible to gather a lot of popularity in a short period of time.
This takes full advantage of people's psychology.
I know this story, I just want to hear how others tell it and how it differs from what I know. In the process of listening, I can also tell my companions the part I know...
If you want to start a new story, you have to wait until the venue becomes famous, find some time to test the waters and see which stories are more popular in this era.
Zhu Hao and Jing Hong were both little kids with flexible bodies, so they easily got to the front.
When he was about to approach the podium, he was stopped by a porter who was less than 20 years old. He pointed to the back and said, "Don't come near, kid. You have to pay to listen to the lecture."
Zhu Hao deliberately asked, "Isn't it free to listen to books?"
"It's free to listen in the back, but you have to pay for the good seats in the front, especially those with seats..." The porter stared at Zhu Hao.
Jing Hong didn't want to cause trouble, so he pulled Zhu Hao and said, "Let's go."
Zhu Hao pointed at Yu San, who was holding a broken gong full of copper coins in the front row, and said with a smile: "I'm looking for him... Yu San, I know him... Hey!"
Zhu Hao shouted loudly, immediately causing dissatisfaction among the audience around him.
After all, there were no good sound amplification equipment in that era. This kind of storytelling venue with air leaks everywhere had no echo wall effect. The storyteller had to have a loud voice, and it had to be "durable"; he couldn't suddenly become hoarse in the middle of a speech.
When people heard a child shouting in such a quiet scene, they certainly didn't look at him in a good mood.
Yu San looked over, and when he saw it was Zhu Hao, he walked closer with a smile.
"Go down, go down, you don't have any vision...Brother Hao, look, this stall is very lively, there are at least hundreds of people listening to the book, we are going to be rich this time."
Yu San showed off to Zhu Hao as soon as he came up.
Zhu Hao waved his hand: "I'm not here to check the accounts today, you go ahead and do your thing, find us a place to sit down, and bring us some sunflower seeds and snacks..."
"Okay!"
Yu San quickly made arrangements.
The seats in the front row had already been occupied by those audience members with wealthy families, so Yu San temporarily added two seats and arranged them near the side in front of the stage.
Jing Hong asked in confusion: "Zhu Hao, do you know that person?"
Zhu Hao picked up a melon seed from the table in front of him and said while eating it, "Of course I know him. From now on, we can listen to books for free. This place is good. It's close to the palace. It's only a few steps away. I can come here every day to join in the fun. I won't have to worry about having nothing to do at night... Well, there's a lot of open space around here. I can set up a stage and find a troupe to perform..."
"Don't talk nonsense. You asked them to set up a stage, and they did it, right?"
Jinghong just thought Zhu Hao was dreaming.
Zhu Hao smiled and did not explain to Jing Hong for the time being. In fact, this bookstore was his own business. As a planner and the big boss behind the scenes, if there was really money to be made, he could of course add projects according to his plan.
However, the stage and the storytelling venue are too close to each other and may easily interfere with each other, so they may need to find another place to place them.
…
…
The storyteller was a middle-aged man in his thirties. His voice was not very loud, but whenever he talked about some key points, his voice was so ups and downs that it was fascinating.
Unfortunately, he was not very familiar with the notebook and often lowered his head to look at it, but the light from the lanterns hanging on both sides of the table was too dim, and Zhu Hao's handwriting was not big, so he often had to stop and carefully identify it.
This made Jinghong very anxious.
It's a rare opportunity for him to listen to a book and hear some points that fascinate him. For a child, there is no better entertainment experience than this.
Zhu Hao saw Jing Hong standing up and looking at the scene with an anxious look on his face. He thought, "Oh no! If this kid gets addicted to this and stops making progress in his studies, wouldn't I be harming him?"
Just as he was thinking about it, Yu San ran over again.
"Brother Hao, since the day before yesterday, the storytelling venue has officially started, and more and more people have come to listen, but many of them come for the free service... When do you think it would be best to charge everyone for the service?"
Yu San squatted aside and discussed business matters with Zhu Hao in a low voice.
Jing Hong glanced at Yu San and wanted to ask what the relationship between Zhu Hao and this person was, but he soon became immersed in the storyteller's story and no longer cared about anything that was not related to the storytelling.
Zhu Hao said, "Business is good, so of course we have to charge. We'll fence off the venue and let people buy tickets at the entrance... The best seats in the front will be charged five cents. If you provide tea, it will be ten cents. Melon seeds, candied fruits and dried fruits will be charged separately ... The seats in the middle will be three cents, two cents, and one cent at the end... We'll have two lectures during the day and one at night, and charge people three times a day. Now we don't have to worry about losing money."
Yu San said with a smile: "It's great to be able to make money with Hao Ge'er, but we don't have enough help. I asked two brothers to come and maintain order, but they have jobs during the day. Now that we don't pay them, we can't do this for long..."
"Hiring help is necessary, but it should be based on making money. Those who help for free now will be given priority when hiring help in the future."
As they were talking, the storyteller on the stage came to another exciting point, and the audience burst into cheers and applause.
This is the important reason why storytelling venues can quickly gain popularity. When they hear something exciting, the audience can't help but applaud in unison, and when they hear something bad, they will make a noise. After listening to a section, they may even question the previous plot and inquire about how the story will develop next. The seats close to the stage have a natural advantage, so it is natural that the tickets are sold at a higher price.
…
…
As the second watch drum sounded, the number of listeners decreased significantly.
Zhu Hao stood up at the right time and pulled Jing Hong away. He couldn't let this kid continue to be addicted.
On the way back, Jing Hong felt a little regretful: "I just listened to the general idea. It was so boring without a beginning or an end."
Zhu Hao looked him over.
Just looking at your obsessed look just now, you are just like a student who was addicted to reading novels in school. How dare you say it is boring? If it is interesting, I don’t know what you would do!
"Go back to bed early. If you feel bored, don't come out. Listening to books is free, but it cost me a lot to leave the palace."
Jing Hong suddenly remembered the copper coins that Zhu Hao gave to the guards when he went out.
He wanted to support him and give some money to share the burden, but unfortunately his family did not prepare any pocket money for him. This was also related to the family education of the Jing family, which did not allow children to have too many opportunities to come into contact with money.
There is food and drink in the palace, and they even bring you snacks, so why do you need to pay? If I give you money, do you have a place to spend it?
The two returned to the west gate of the palace. Zhu Hao went forward and knocked on the door. After a conversation, the guard named Lian opened the door and said sarcastically, "Is your mother's illness healed? You're back so soon!"
Zhu Hao pretended to look sad and said, "I just went back to visit you. I dare not delay any longer. After all, I have to go to class tomorrow... Let's go back and rest. I won't disturb you."
"let's go!"
Even the guard waved his hands disinterestedly.
According to the rules, you are not allowed to drink alcohol while on duty at night. This makes the night shift quite boring, but you cannot leave your post to gamble like those craftsmen. Even if you want to leave your post, you have to wait until the second half of the night when there is no one patrolling, but by then no one will be in the mood to play.
…
…
After returning to the yard where they lived, the two of them simply packed up and lay down.
Didn't fall asleep right away.
Zhu Hao never expected that the business he came up with by chance would develop so smoothly and attract a large number of fans in just a few days. Perhaps it was because people of this era lacked nightlife, and in a small place like Anlu, no one discovered this business opportunity, and it became popular throughout the city once it was launched.
Secondly, there is indeed a market for the books written by Zhu Hao.
If you want to do good business in a bookstore, the key is to have stories that attract people, not anything else.
"Zhu Hao, how did you get to know ? Is he the owner?" Jing Hong asked, breaking the silence.
Zhu Hao said, "It's good that you have free books to listen to, don't ask too many questions... Isn't that place nice today? If someone else went there, it would cost a few coins to listen to a book... But we have to focus on our studies and can't think about playing every day. It's good to go and listen occasionally."
Jing Hong turned his head to look at Zhu Hao, somewhat dissatisfied: "But if we don't listen to them in succession, won't the story be disconnected?"
"Do you still want to listen to the whole thing? Wouldn't it be better if you buy a book and read it yourself later?" Zhu Hao said unhappily, "We came to the palace to study. You and I are still young, and it's the right time to learn knowledge. If your family knew that you sneaked out of the palace at night to listen to books..."
Jinghong had originally been fantasizing about sneaking out to listen to the story later so he could continue it, but when he heard what Zhu Hao said, he couldn't help but shudder.
When his family found out that he left the palace so late at night...
When punishing someone according to family rules, even a few sticks can be broken!
"Okay, go to sleep and stop talking!"
…
…
No words were spoken that night.
When the two got up early in the morning, Jinghong was still thinking about the story he heard last night. The formal storytelling was more touching than the half-hearted story told by Zhu Hao.
"Zhu Hao, did you hear clearly what General Duan Yue said last night?"
"besides……"
Zhu Hao ignored Jing Hong.
This kid is addicted to storytelling. I can't let you fall into this trap. After all, you are half my student.
When Lu Bing arrived, the three were about to walk towards the school yard, when Lu Song came over and called Zhu Hao aside.
"Lu Dianzhang, what's up?"
Zhu Hao probably thought it was related to his leaving the palace last night.
Lu Song's face was gloomy: "Last night...you left the palace, what did you do?"
Zhu Hao said, "I just took the son of the magistrate of Beijing out to listen to a story. There is a storytelling place on West Street. There are many people listening to the stories in the evening. Does Lu Dianzhang know?"
"Listening to a book?"
Lu Dianzhang obviously didn't believe what Zhu Hao said.
Zhu Hao curled his lips and said, "Why else would I go? What information did you get from the palace? Can't I tell you when I get home on the fifth day? Besides, I haven't even seen the prince yet, so where can I get the information to tell my family? Lu Dian relies on you..."
Lu Song's expression suddenly became tense.
Zhu Hao was actually hinting to him that you knew much more about the inner workings of the palace than I did, and you hadn't told anyone, so where could I tell it?
"By the way, Lu Dianzhang, let's go listen to books together when we have time. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to follow me secretly. I have never thought of entering the inner courtyard of the palace to get information. I told you that my goal is to stay in the palace to study and make a difference in the future. I will not ruin my future just to collect information for my family."
Having said that, Zhu Hao turned and walked towards Jing Hong and Lu Bing, saying, "I think your purpose is the same."
