Volume One: River City Melody Chapter 28: Counterattack, Part Two

"What is the meaning of this?" Wan Rong’s eyes raked viciously over the faces of the five bookstore owners before him. He truly wished he could kick these fickle, fair-weather turncoats to death. "If my memory serves me correctly, those books were ones you insisted on taking to sell. Now you actually want to return every single one of them?"

Storekeeper Liu wore a bitter smile, but his tone was somewhat firm: "Master Wan, that is not how things work. There has always been a precedent among our bookstores and publishing houses: books that cannot be sold are eligible for return. You surely wouldn't expect us to buy all these books ourselves, would you?"

"Hmph, I don't think so! Those are the classic scriptures required for the imperial examinations. Every month, plenty of them sell. I’m not in any hurry even if they sit on the shelves a while longer, so what are you panicking about?"

"But things are different now. Your scriptures really have no takers anymore," another storekeeper said, emboldening himself. "We figure that not only today, but for the next few months, it will be impossible to sell even a few copies, so we might as well return them to you."

"You..." Wan Rong was instantly incensed. He slammed his hand on the table, leaned forward, and glared at them. "Don’t forget, you all received favors from the Wan family back then. It won’t be so easy to wash your hands of us now. Do you really think the Wan family is easy to bully?"

Seeing his fury, the owners looked uneasy, but their stance remained unchanged. Just as Wan Rong was about to erupt completely, the tightly shut hall doors were pushed open. Wan Ai, his face equally grim, strode in. Ignoring them entirely, he spoke only to his brother: "A melon forced from the vine is not sweet. There is no need for you and me to force them any further. Just let them return the books."

"But..." Wan Rong still couldn't swallow his anger and wanted to retort, but he was interrupted by a wave of his brother’s hand. "Isn't it just that the Gu family bookstore released some large-format scriptures, and you want to go back to cooperating with them? The Wan family doesn't even consider him a threat. Do as you please. But let me say this clearly: today you return all the books, but in the future, the prices won’t be as cheap as they were before!"

"Many thanks for your understanding, Master Wan. We have noted this." Upon hearing that the return was accepted, the owners were all delighted. They no longer cared about Wan Rong’s sour face or Wan Ai’s threats; they bowed in thanks with smiles on their faces and hurried away, clearly off to arrange the returns.

Watching them leave, Wan Rong was so enraged that he swiped the teacup off the table, shattering it on the floor. "A pack of ungrateful wolves! To think that in the end, we were bitten by the very people we helped!"

Wan Ai’s expression was equally dark. Their publishing house was indeed in a dire state. Their fiction line had been completely suppressed by *Investiture of the Gods*, leaving thousands of unsold copies of *The Legend of the Immortals* gathering dust in the warehouse. Now, with the scriptures—on which they had pinned their greatest hopes—being returned in large quantities, business here was becoming truly difficult to sustain.

Even so, he comforted Wan Rong: "Enough. There is no need to get worked up over these small-minded people. In fact, we should have known their true nature the moment they so easily defected to our side!"

"But I just can't accept it! How can the Gu family print a few books and leave us this passive? Are those large-format scriptures really so good that people would rather pay two extra silvers to buy theirs? And how did they manage to print the books in just a few days? Didn't that Gu Kui say before that they still had many technical hurdles to overcome?"

"Don't you understand yet? We were deceived by that fellow from the start! What he told us was eighty percent true, but the final twenty percent—the crucial part—was false. It was all to lull us into complacency, to make us self-satisfied and lower our guard. It was true that the Gu family bookstore was short on silver, but who could have guessed they would go to the prefectural capital to borrow money from our own Wan family! As for the printing, it’s the same logic. Look at this!" Wan Ai said, pulling a copy of the *Analects* published by the Gu family bookstore from his sleeve and handing it over.

Wan Rong took the book, glanced at it, and the anger on his face faded slightly. As he opened the volume and flipped through the contents, his expression shifted from rage to shock: "They actually achieved this? The book is much clearer and more convenient than the old ones, and there are illustrations! It looks much more aesthetically pleasing!"

"Indeed. Even we, if we are to be honest, would choose to read theirs if these two books were placed in front of us, even if it cost two silvers more. Hah, this Gu Yuezi is truly clever. Knowing he couldn't compete with us on price, he came up with this novel strategy."

Seeing Wan Ai’s look of admiration, Wan Rong felt even more unsettled. "So we just admit defeat like this? This was an opportunity we fought hard to secure. If we go back having failed like this, I fear we will never be able to hold our heads high at home. And our third branch..."

Wan Ai scoffed, "Of course we won't just admit defeat! In my view, the situation is not entirely without a turning point. You saw it yourself—his book is much better than ours, so the cost must be extremely high, far exceeding the two-silver price difference. Do you know what that means?"

Wan Rong understood immediately. "You mean they are selling at a loss?"

"They are absolutely selling at a loss. For every extra book like this the Gu family bookstore sells, they likely lose one silver, perhaps even more! Their goal is clear: to use this tactic to force us out. Once we leave, they will be able to raise the book prices back up. In the end, what supports them in doing this is nothing more than the five thousand taels of silver sent by the main branch."

"Those turncoats who side with outsiders—I will definitely report them to the Old Master!" At this, a thought struck Wan Rong, and he grasped his brother’s meaning. "So, as long as we hold our ground, we don't even need to take action ourselves; the Gu family bookstore will collapse on its own."

"Exactly. As long as we remain in Jiangcheng County, they can only sell books at a loss, and their capital is ultimately limited! I was originally considering if we should change our editions too, but now it seems this strategy is more effective and simpler. All we need to do now is stay patient and see what they do next!"

"Brother, you are right. We will do as you say. I want to see how long they can hold out. When the time comes, I will make those fence-sitters kneel before me and beg me to sell them books!" Wan Rong gritted his teeth, clearly deeply affected by the day's events.

Wan Ai merely smiled, offering no further advice. Whether it was the Wan family or his own brother, their pride was paramount; how could they let a few small bookstore owners bully them and get away with it?

Over the next half-month, they patiently followed their plan. They stopped doing business and simply stayed in Jiangcheng County, watching how the Gu family bookstore operated. Meanwhile, the Gu family bookstore remained bustling and busy, sending out batches of newly printed books every day, as if they were truly willing to spare no expense to drive them out.

Then, in the middle of the ninth month, while the two brothers were playing chess and drinking tea, they received news that left them unsettled: "Masters, the Gu family bookstore just delivered a new batch of books to every shop. They look different from the previous ones."

"Then go buy one and bring it here immediately," Wan Rong said, his heart skipping a beat.

"We have already sent someone; they should be back with the book soon..." Before the servant could finish, a clerk hurried in, looking stunned. "Masters, this is the new batch of books from the bookstore. It’s... it’s all pictures..." He presented the item.

Wan Rong stood up immediately and snatched it. It was a small volume, looking half the size of the *Four Books and Five Classics*. The cover featured an illustration and four large characters: *Investiture of the Gods*, with the words "Volume One" in smaller print below.

"Wasn't *Investiture of the Gods* already released? Can they really make people buy it again just by shrinking the book..." The word died on his lips, for Wan Rong had already opened the pages and discovered, to his astonishment, that every page was filled with illustrations.

The first page showed a dark void with a single point of light in the center, where a figure could be faintly seen crouching in the darkness, holding an axe. To the right of the illustration was a column of text: "It is said that billions of years ago, heaven and earth were one, known as Chaos. There was no day or night, no growth of all things, until the great god Pangu descended. One day, he suddenly awoke..." It was precisely the opening of *Investiture of the Gods*.

The look of disdain on Wan Rong’s face vanished, replaced by a grave expression. With a flick of his finger, he flipped the page. The second page depicted Pangu splitting heaven and earth, accompanied by descriptive text, followed by Nüwa creating mankind, the birth of Fuxi...

In this way, the first volume used the most concise language to present the story from the beginning of the book up to King Zhou’s desire to take a beauty, all in the form of illustrations. Although far less detailed than the novel, the accompanying pictures provided a unique sense of novelty.

Wan Rong’s hands trembled as he held the book, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead despite the cool autumn air. Wan Ai, who had leaned in to look, also wore a horrified expression. He immediately realized the impact such illustrated volumes would have on the entire book market.

"How much silver did you spend on this book?" Wan Ai asked, staring at the clerk.

"Six... six coins..."

"Such a thin little book is so expensive? Are many people buying it?"

"Not many at first, but after I bought mine, the gasps of amazement from the crowd made the bookstore’s business much better."

"Just as I thought!" Wan Ai shook his head bitterly. "You and I still underestimated Gu Yuezi. He had this planned all along; he’s left us absolutely no room to maneuver. The cost of this book is less than half that of the scriptures, but the price is seventy or eighty percent of it, giving them a healthy profit margin. It is truly brilliant."

After a pause, he added with a bitter smile, "And it was a long-term scheme. They were preparing for these illustrated volumes back when they first inserted pictures into the scriptures. This counterattack is fierce—our defeat is well-deserved!"

This time, even Wan Rong had to admit that the Wan family’s plan to enter Jiangcheng County had failed completely.