Chapter 25: This Crisis Management Is Impressive

"How dare you even have the face to open the doors!" the man shouted, his face twisted in disdain as he hurled several rotten cabbage leaves at the entrance of the Shanhe Bookstore.

The bookstore owner, a man of short temper, stormed to the door. "Hey, watch your mouth! Do you want me to call the patrol officers to arrest you?"

His attempt to strike back was like poking a hornet's nest. It only drew furious glares from the crowd. People began pointing fingers and gossiping loudly.

"No wonder they can make money by plagiarizing others' scripts; their skin is thicker than the corner of a city wall."

"And he has the nerve to call the officers? If they come, you'll be the first one they drag away!"

The owner was frantic. "You bunch of ruffians! Be careful, or I'll sue you for slander and libel!"

Seeing he showed no remorse and dared to threaten them, the crowd’s anger flared even higher. They began pelting the owner with rotten vegetables and fruit. Realizing the situation was dire, the owner scrambled back inside and slammed the door shut, yet he still wouldn't concede. "You are just ganging up on me! I won't lower myself to argue with commoners like you."

However, his arms were trembling as he braced them against the door. He swallowed hard, his throat dry with anxiety. "Manager, what should we do now?"

The manager couldn't bear to look at him. He had tried to stop the owner earlier but failed, and now he was helpless. "The bookstore has lost its reputation, and no one is willing to visit. I'm afraid we have no choice but to close down."

"That won't do! I spent a fortune to buy this place, and I haven't even broken even yet!" the owner cried, his face ghastly.

The manager felt trapped. As a mere employee, what could he do? Yet, since he was taking the man's money, he had to come up with a solution. "Perhaps we should apologize to Shanhai Bookstore and beg for mercy. We could claim we were in dire straits and forced to resort to such measures, hoping they will forgive us."

The owner's eyes lit up. "Tell me more about this 'dire straits' idea."

...

"Ha! That owner scurried away like a rat, hiding behind closed doors like a turtle!"

Inside Shanhai Bookstore, the manager was gesturing wildly, reenacting the scene with dramatic flair. The crowd erupted in laughter, joining in the conversation with great excitement.

Xue Zhenrui applauded enthusiastically. "Serves him right! Who told him to do such a thing!"

When she first arrived, she had been reserved and shy, barely daring to speak above a whisper. But she was never one to be timid by nature. As she grew familiar with everyone, she began to blossom. Her cheerful personality meant she could chat with anyone, even knowing where the bookstore’s delivery driver was from and how many children he had.

Xue Zhenrui was incredibly grateful that she hadn't let prejudice keep her from Shanhai Bookstore. Thanks to this job, she could stand tall at home; her parents no longer ordered her around and deeply respected her opinions. She loved Shanhai Bookstore dearly.

Xu Chengyue entered quietly, watching the manager's spirited performance with amusement. Every time she saw him, she was surprised anew—she never expected him to have a talent for storytelling. Just look at those vivid expressions, the perfectly timed sound effects, and the rhythmic cadence of his voice; he drew everyone's attention the moment he spoke. He was truly a natural.

Xue Zhenrui was the first to notice her. Her gaze swept the room and landed on Xu Chengyue standing in the corner. "When did you arrive, Miss Xu?"

The crowd turned toward the door. Unfazed, Xu Chengyue blinked. "I just got here. I was so captivated by the manager's storytelling that I forgot to say hello."

She turned to the manager, teasing with a smile, "With talents like yours, Manager, you'll never have to worry about putting food on the table."

The manager was delighted by the praise and secretly considered the feasibility of becoming a professional storyteller. Externally, however, he remained modest. "You are too kind, Miss Xu."

Lü Hongzhuo, seeing that the two were about to continue their chat, interjected, "Miss Xu, is there something you needed at the bookstore?"

Reminded of her purpose, Xu Chengyue handed him the manuscript. "I’ve drawn the portrait of the heroine. Would you like to take a look, Master Lü?"

They had previously agreed to provide portraits as a gift for readers, and Lü Hongzhuo had been searching for a suitable artist. He hadn't expected Xu Chengyue to be skilled in painting, let alone so fast. He raised his eyebrows in pleasant surprise and eagerly unfurled the scroll. "Miss Xu, you are truly multitalented—even your brushwork is exceptional."

Nearby, the others crowded around, curious to see.

"Wow! Wait, what?" They exclaimed in wonder, followed by sounds of confusion.

The woman in the portrait was undoubtedly stunning, exactly as described in the book—hair like mist, skin as flawless as snow, eyebrows like distant mountains, and eyes sparkling like stars. She leaned against a couch, a delicate wrist supporting her tilted head, her languid gaze looking past the paper at the viewer.

However, this portrait did not follow the usual impressionistic style of the lady-paintings they were accustomed to. Every stroke was incredibly detailed; one could even see the individual eyelashes and the subtle curve of the woman's lips.

Lü Hongzhuo loved painting, especially landscapes, but he was quite knowledgeable about famous masters of portraiture. He understood the stylistic features of various schools, and what he held in his hands was unlike anything he had seen before. The artist's brushwork was slightly amateurish and unrefined, yet this unprecedented technique was enough to shock him. He was completely entranced.

The others, though not experts in art, began to shower Xu Chengyue with praise. "Miss Xu, this is wonderful! It's much better than those so-called famous masters."

"The person in the painting looks alive! It's too beautiful!"

Xu Chengyue blushed slightly. Her technique was far from excellent. In her past life, she had been burned by artists when commissioning cover art and character designs, so she had stopped ordering them and learned to draw the characters herself. It was just a hobby, nothing worthy of high praise.

She had only decided to draw this herself because, while traditional ancient portraits were beautiful and rich in detail regarding clothing, she—forgive her for being a commoner—couldn't quite appreciate their depiction of facial features. So, she had taken the risk to draw it herself, thinking if it didn't work, she would figure something else out later.

"Master Lü, is this portrait acceptable?" Xu Chengyue asked, puzzled by his long silence.

Lü Hongzhuo snapped back to reality. "Acceptable? Of course! But is this technique something you created yourself, Miss Xu?"

"No, it's... I saw it in a book." Xu Chengyue was stumped by his question and scrambled for an excuse.

"Which book?" Lü Hongzhuo was impatient.

"That... it's been a long time, I've forgotten. I think I lost it?" She shifted her gaze away, nervously twisting the tassels hanging from her waist.

Just as she worried he would press further, he nodded with a look of sudden realization mixed with regret.

Xu Chengyue: ...I didn't say anything, how did you reach that conclusion?

Realizing he had lost his composure, Lü Hongzhuo quickly changed the subject. "By the way, Miss Xu, this book is nearly finished. Have you thought about what you'll write next?"

As soon as he said it, he felt embarrassed, as if he were pushing her to earn money. Fortunately, Xu Chengyue didn't mind.

She nodded. "I've already decided. The next one will be about food."

A "farming" story featuring food and revenge against nasty characters was something Xu Chengyue had settled on long ago. She really wanted to eat sweet and sour pork, boiled fish, braised eggplant, mouth-watering chicken...

Xu Chengyue listed a string of dishes in her mind, her mouth watering. Yet, forget those delicacies; she couldn't even get a decent stir-fry here. No, now that she had money, a wok was a must. If there was no vegetable oil, animal fat would do—she wasn't picky!

Just as she was thinking this, a shop assistant hurried over and reported, "Master, someone has suddenly arrived and is kneeling at the entrance. He says he is here to apologize for wronging us and is begging for our forgiveness."

Hearing this description, could it be—Shanhe Bookstore?

Xu Chengyue and Lü Hongzhuo exchanged glances, both realizing they were thinking the same thing.

They walked to the door to see a man in coarse hemp clothes kneeling on the ground, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.

"My sixty-year-old mother is bedridden and critically ill, relying on medicine every day. Fearing she is a burden to the family, she has repeatedly tried to starve herself and stop taking her medicine, refusing to live any longer. How could I bear to watch? I threw away my pride and did this wrong thing just to afford her medical care..."

The man wept as he spoke of how hard his mother had worked to raise him and described the agonizing internal struggle he went through before resorting to plagiarism.

"When the owner of Shanhe Bookstore heard of my situation, he took pity on my filial heart and my dire circumstances. He allowed me to write books to make a living and took the blame upon himself. He has the heart of a Bodhisattva, saving me from the fire!"

By the end, his voice was trembling and choked with sobs, as if he were overcome with emotion. The surrounding crowd was moved.

"It's hard to believe he would lower himself like this for his mother's medicine money. His heart must be full of bitterness."

"Filial piety is the greatest of all virtues. This man hasn't done anything wrong."

"The owner of Shanhe Bookstore is a good man too!"

"I think we should just let this go. To forgive is divine. The people at Shanhai Bookstore have good hearts; they won't be petty."

If this wasn't about her, Xu Chengyue would have applauded him. With a few words, he had flipped the public narrative; the PR teams of her past life would have called him a master.

In the eyes of the ancients, filial piety was paramount. No matter what wrong was committed, once you draped it in the cloak of filial piety, it was considered "understandable."

Even in the classic tales of filial piety, there were stories of men who would bury their own children to save their mothers, and people still praised them. This man had first wrapped himself in the mantle of filial piety, then used moral kidnapping against the victims—if they didn't forgive him, they were the ones being unreasonable.

*Hah, this world!*

Xu Chengyue wasn't about to play along. As long as she had no morals, no one could kidnap her.