Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Shameless One

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“Young Master Feng, are you feeling better?”

As soon as Zhao Qingxue saw Feng Yuan appear, she immediately stepped forward to greet him, a smile on her face. She held out a brocade-wrapped gift box and offered it to Feng Yuan. “This is a hundred-year-old ginseng. I hope it will help restore your health.”

“Thank you for your concern, Miss Zhao. Thanks to your help, I have fully recovered. Now, with such a generous gift from you, I am truly overwhelmed with gratitude and will never forget your kindness.”

Feng Yuan reached out to accept the ginseng box, expressing his heartfelt thanks.

“There’s no need to be so formal, Young Master Feng. Since you’re well again, that’s wonderful news. You must write more novels for me to read!”

Zhao Qingxue smiled at Feng Yuan as she spoke.

“Of course, I’ve already finished writing the latest one and was just about to send it to your residence. I didn’t expect you to come here first—it’s such a coincidence!”

Feng Yuan smiled at her, secretly pleased with himself. Zhao Qingxue was clearly enamored with his novels; otherwise, she wouldn't be so generous.

To Feng Yuan, Zhao Qingxue was like those wealthy patrons on the big online fiction platforms back in his previous life: if the story was good enough, they’d lavish gifts without a second thought—sometimes as much as a million! He could already imagine more gifts coming his way in the future, and the thought made him very happy.

“Really? That’s wonderful!”

Zhao Qingxue clapped her hands in delight, her smile radiant. She seemed less like a dignified young lady and more like an adorable girl, captivating in her joy.

Over at the pavilion, Scholar Ding watched Zhao Qingxue treat Feng Yuan so kindly, his expression darkening with jealousy.

“Oh, that’s right—Young Master Feng, let me introduce someone to you.”

Zhao Qingxue glanced at Feng Yuan, then gestured toward Scholar Ding and walked toward the pavilion. Feng Yuan handed the gift box to Hu Xiao and followed her.

“Young Master Feng, this is Ding Changqing, Scholar Ding. Like you, he is an accomplished novelist and quite renowned. He wrote ‘Legend of the Immortal Fate,’ which I believe you’ve heard of. When he heard I was coming to see you today, he insisted on joining me, hoping for a chance to meet you.”

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Zhao Qingxue introduced them.

Feng Yuan was a little surprised—so this was the author of ‘Legend of the Immortal Fate.’ He felt awkward, because ever since his ‘Covering the Heavens’ came out, no one read ‘Legend of the Immortal Fate’ anymore, and piles of copies sat unsold in bookshops. Without meaning to, he’d cut off Ding’s income.

Seeing the sour look Ding Changqing gave him, Feng Yuan wondered if he’d come to pick a fight.

Putting on a polite smile, Feng Yuan said, “I am Feng Yuan, junior to Scholar Ding. I’ve had the honor of reading your masterpiece—it truly shakes the heavens and moves the spirits. I never imagined you’d visit me in person today; I am most flattered.”

As the saying goes, no one strikes a smiling face. Ding Changqing forced a smile in return. “You’re too modest, Brother Feng. Compared to you, I am nothing. Who in the book market hasn’t heard your ‘Covering the Heavens’? I have long since been forgotten.”

Feng Yuan laughed. “You flatter me, Brother Ding. I’ve only been lucky for a moment. The book market will always belong to you!”

“Come, Miss Zhao, Brother Ding, let’s sit and have some tea.”

The three of them sat down, making small talk over tea. The conversation was all pleasantries and empty words.

After a while, Zhao Qingxue couldn’t resist her curiosity about the new novel, so Feng Yuan asked Hu Xiao to show her the manuscript, while he stayed in the pavilion to chat with Ding Changqing.

As they talked, Ding Changqing suddenly heaved a deep sigh and looked at Feng Yuan with a troubled expression. “Brother Feng, could you do me a favor?”

Feng Yuan was taken aback. “What do you mean, Brother Ding?”

“You may not know, but I am Miss Zhao’s personal novelist. She loves reading, and before ‘Legend of the Immortal Fate’ became popular, I wrote many books for her. After that novel’s success, she hired me exclusively to write for her. But now, your ‘Covering the Heavens’ has made her obsessed, and she’s lost all interest in my work. If this goes on, I’ll lose my livelihood and starve. So I’d like to ask you to stop writing novels. I know this is a lot to ask, but it’s for your own good too. You’ve probably made plenty of money from your books by now and have no worries about food or clothing. You should focus your efforts on your studies and the imperial exam coming up in two months, instead of wasting your future for the sake of wealth. I’m willing to help you—I’ll give you five taels of silver to support your studies. What do you say?”

Ding Changqing finished speaking and took five taels of silver from his pocket, placing them before Feng Yuan.

Feng Yuan inwardly sneered at his shamelessness. Instead of reflecting on why his own books weren’t being read, Ding wanted him to stop writing to make way for himself, even claiming it was in Feng Yuan’s best interest. And to try to brush him off with five taels of silver! Was he mad?

“Brother Ding, I appreciate your concern. Come, let’s have some tea,” Feng Yuan replied, neither accepting nor rejecting the offer.

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Seeing Feng Yuan neither refuse nor accept, Ding Changqing grew anxious. “Brother Feng, do you agree to my suggestion or not?”

“Brother Ding, if you and I were in each other’s shoes, would you agree?” Feng Yuan shot back.

“Ah...!”

Ding Changqing was momentarily stunned, but quickly replied, “Of course I would. For a scholar, the imperial exam is everything!”

Shameless, Feng Yuan thought, cursing inwardly. He smiled and said, “Brother Ding, for me, money is everything. I don’t care about official rank.”

“You... how could you say such a thing? It’s a disgrace to scholars!” Ding Changqing was so agitated he leapt to his feet, his face pale.

“Let it be a disgrace, then. It doesn’t matter to me,” Feng Yuan said coolly.

“You... You’re simply ungrateful! I’ve done everything for your sake, and you make things so difficult for me. You’re truly heartless!” Ding Changqing shouted angrily, stomped his foot, and stormed out.

“Take care, Brother Ding. I won’t see you out,” Feng Yuan called after him with a cold smile. Ding Changqing really was shameless—forcing others to do what they didn’t want, then blaming them for being ungrateful when they refused. Such twisted logic.

Back in his previous life in China, Feng Yuan had met many such people—using the excuse of caring for you to force you to do things against your will. If you refused, they’d accuse you of not appreciating their kindness.

Whenever he met people like that, Feng Yuan’s response was always the same: a punch first, then reason with them. If they didn’t listen, another punch, and more reasoning—until they listened. Nothing else worked.

He’d almost punched Ding Changqing just now, but remembering his current status, he restrained himself. If there was a next time, though, he certainly wouldn’t hold back.