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

Inside the room sat a middle-aged man with a thin, gaunt face and a mustache.

"And who are you?"

Jiang Yuan cupped his hands in greeting and said, "My surname is Li, and I would like to discuss a business matter with Brother Xu."

"Business?" Xu Chuan's mustache twitched, and he became much more enthusiastic. "Brother Li, please take a seat."

Jiang Yuan sat down opposite Xu Chuan with a smile, exchanged a few pleasantries with him, picked up the tea he had poured for himself, and took a sip.

"The lake reflects the lush greenery, its bittersweet journey mirroring life itself."

Jiang Yuan raised an eyebrow, picked a line of poetry from the book, and recited it in a refined manner.

Xu Chuan's eyes lit up: "You know about tea too?"

"This lakeside greenery is quite famous in the county; everyone knows it," Jiang Yuan said casually.

Having established a decent tone, he chatted with Xu Chuan for a while longer, then suddenly changed the subject and got to the point:

"Just now I saw Brother Xu's eloquence on stage, quoting classics and allusions with ease, it's clear he comes from a family of storytellers."

Upon hearing this, Xu Chuan's mustache twitched up, as if he had been scratched on an itch: "I don't deserve the praise, I'm just trying to make a living."

"It's just a pity..." Jiang Yuan added.

"What's a pity?" Xu Chuan was taken aback.

Jiang Yuan twirled the empty glass between two fingers, a half-smile on his face, and said, "It's just a pity the story is old-fashioned and uninteresting!"

"What?!"

Xu Chuan's face turned cold: "I don't know what I've done to offend Brother Li, that he would dare to speak ill of my ability to make a living like this?!"

"Not at all." Jiang Yuan remained calm and spoke slowly, "Brother Xu, have you perhaps forgotten what I said when I entered?"

"You said you wanted to discuss a business deal?"

"good."

"Speak plainly; I don't like beating around the bush."

Jiang Yuan nodded: "Brother Xu, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"This... Brother Li is outstanding in appearance and speaks eloquently; he is clearly a literate scholar."

Xu Chuan's tone remained harsh, but his expression softened.

Brother Xu has a discerning eye.

Jiang Yuan admitted it without batting an eye.

Even if the other party doesn't say it, he will take the initiative to say that he is a scholar.

When you're traveling, you usually give yourself your own identity.

If I were still dressed like a laborer, I probably wouldn't even get to see the storyteller, and I wouldn't be able to sell anything to him for a good price.

When two parties of unequal status engage in a transaction, the weaker party will inevitably be exploited, and that's no longer business.

Jiang Yuan sighed, his voice lowering: "I have studied diligently since childhood and believe I have some talent, but unfortunately I have failed the imperial examinations time and time again. Now my family has fallen on hard times, and I have no choice but to sell my belongings to continue my studies."

Xu Chuan looked at him carefully, then took the teapot and poured him another cup of tea.

"Brother Li, with your persistent spirit, you're sure to pass the exam. But you just mentioned doing business with Xu, could it be selling books?"

Jiang Yuan clapped his hands lightly, making a crisp sound: "It's so convenient to talk to a smart person like Brother Xu. Of course, I'm not selling books directly, but rather stories to you."

"story?"

"Indeed, I once possessed an ancient family heirloom; its contents are ten or even a hundred times more compelling than the story you're telling!"

"Is this true?" Upon hearing this, Xu Chuan couldn't sit still any longer and stood up abruptly.

As a storyteller, superb performance skills are not enough; one must also have a rich repertoire of stories. Otherwise, if one keeps repeating the same old, tired tales, the audience will eventually stop buying it.

"Don't rush, words are not enough. Let me tell you a story, and you can judge for yourself." Jiang Yuan pressed his palm down, gesturing for him to sit down.

Xu Chuan slowly sat down: "Alright, I'm all ears."

Jiang Yuan pondered for a moment, then moved the dough and adopted the demeanor of a storyteller: "It is said that Pan, the wife of Wu Da who sold sesame cakes, was setting up the curtain upstairs one day when a man walked under it. Pan lost her grip on the fork and it slipped and fell, hitting the man's headscarf squarely. Little did she know that the man was none other than Ximen, a high-ranking official in the city..."

Xu Chuan, who was sitting opposite him, was initially very composed, but as he listened, he became more focused, his fists clenching and unclenching as he became engrossed.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan smiled to himself, thinking that any one of these four great books could easily overwhelm the others, and was ten or a hundred times better than the story of a small-town bookworm.

Just as the story was getting into its best part, he suddenly stopped talking, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then quietly looked at Xu Chuan.

Xu Chuan had just reached the climax of the story when it abruptly ended, leaving him feeling frustrated and impatient: "Why did it stop? Continue!"

Jiang Yuan shook his head, extended his right hand, and tapped his fingers on the table: "To find out what happens next, please listen to the next episode."

"Well, now I understand how the audience feels," Xu Chuan said with a wry smile.

"Haha, what do you think, Brother Xu?" Jiang Yuan laughed heartily.

"Excellent, excellent! Brother Li, are you trying to sell this story to me?"

"That's right, it's just a pity that the ancient book has been destroyed, I only remember thirty chapters."

"That's a real shame, but thirty times is enough, it's just the price..."

Jiang Yuan waved his hand: "Let me tell you some things first so that Brother Xu can write them down. We can see the audience's reaction after we go on stage tomorrow, and then we can talk about the price."

"This... alright." Xu Chuan hesitated, got up to get paper and pen, and looked at Jiang Yuan expectantly.

Jiang Yuan chuckled and recounted the entire story he had just told, word by word.

When he came out, the temperature outside had dropped considerably, and there were more pedestrians on the long street.

The seeds have been planted, and the harvest will be ready in a few days, which has greatly improved Jiang Yuan's mood.

He walked to a secluded corner, took out some old clothes from his bundle, changed into them, and then headed home.

Before even reaching my house, I could see a crowd gathered at the entrance of my alley.

"What happened?!"

Jiang Yuan felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly pushed through the crowd and saw his mother standing at the door talking to someone. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mother, are you alright?" Jiang Yuan walked over with lighter steps and carefully examined his mother.

Li Guihua looked at her son with a puzzled expression: "What could possibly be wrong with me? This child is so easily startled."

Jiang Yuan scratched his head, puzzled, and asked, "Why are so many people gathered here?"

"Sigh, Old Sun next door is dead," Li Guihua sighed.

"Uncle Sun is dead?" Jiang Yuan was stunned, and immediately thought of what happened that morning.

"Yes," Aunt Liu, a neighbor, recounted the story in a rambling manner.

There are three households in this alley, and the path is only wide enough for two people to walk on. Jiang Yuan's house is at the entrance of the alley, and Uncle Sun's house is at the end of the alley. Further in, the road ends in a dead end, and ordinary people do not walk in this alley.

Uncle Sun, covered in wounds, died at his doorstep sometime during the day. His body remained undiscovered until his daughter-in-law returned from work.

A picture flashed through Jiang Yuan's mind: an old man covered in wounds, dragging his injured leg, limping home.

He tried to open the door, but the pain all over his body left him with no strength, and he could only slump down at the doorway.

He closed his eyes helplessly, intending to take a short nap, but he never opened them again.

"Old Sun is a pitiful man. His wife was kidnapped when he was young, and he raised his son alone. He finally managed to find a wife for him, but his son died of illness, and he is still in debt."

"If you ask me, his wife is the one who's really pitiful. Her husband had only been working in the fields for a short time when another member of the family died. They probably can't even afford the burial. She just fainted and is still in the house. I don't know how she is now."

"What a terrible thing! Cough cough!"

Hearing the whispers of her neighbors, Li Guihua wiped her moist eyes and suddenly began to cough violently.

"Mother, let me help you back." Jiang Yuan said tenderly as he helped his mother.

Just then, a riot broke out in the crowd.