Okay, here is the translation following your instructions: Two Inches Off the Table, Astonishing Events

Author: (Ming) Ling Mengchu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book is one of the "Popular Edition Series of Chinese Classical Novel Masterpieces," a collection of fictional tales written by Ling Mengchu during the late Ming Dynasty. It was compiled in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign (1627) during the Ming Dynasty and is collectively known with "The Second Collection of Surprising Cases" as "The Two Pings." The content is complex, and the ideological tendencies are also varied. Although the themes of the stories are mostly derived from previous works, they are re-created by Ling, reflecting the social reality and era atmosphere of late Ming, imbued with Ling's own ideological concepts and a sense of indignation against the secular world. The book mainly features works depicting the thoughts and actions of merchants, their destinies, and stories of love and marriage, all of which hold cognitive value and positive significance.
There are two main issues in terms of the themes and content of "The First Collection of Surprising Cases." The first is the crude erotic descriptions. Many works, such as "The Western Mountain Temple Envisions the Departed Souls, Kaifeng Prefecture Prepares Coffins to Rescue the Living," "Qiao Exchange of Beards for Sexual Debauchery, Manifest Retribution of the Sleeping Master," and "The Village Woman's Self-Sacrifice for Strange Passion, False Heaven's Judgment by the Clerk" contain lewd content. Such works reflect the vulgar tastes of the urban populace. The second is the strong influence of religious superstition, the belief in retribution for good and evil, and fatalism. Works like "The Minister Wang's Authority Among His Subordinates, Li the Ensign's Vengeance in Life" and "The Scheme for Wealth in the Outskirts, the Ghost's Testimony to Yang Huai's Borrowed Corpse," as well as "Li Ke-Rang's Race for an Empty Letter, Liu Yuan-Pu's Twin Sons of High Rank" and "Zhang Rong's Encounter with a Tiger Through a Medium, Pei Yue-Kuei's Marriage on a Lucky Day" are filled with descriptions of encounters with spirits, retribution for good and evil, and other supernatural elements.
"The First Collection of Surprising Cases" is a collection of fictional tales written by Ling Mengchu during the late Ming Dynasty. It was compiled in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign (1627) and published by the Shangyou Tang publishing house the following year. Later, Ling Mengchu compiled "The Second Collection of Surprising Cases," which was published in the fifth year of the Chongzhen reign (1632). The two books are collectively known as "The Two Pings." Originally, "The First Collection of Surprising Cases" was a 40-volume collection of 40 stories, but the original has been lost. The earliest and most complete version now available is the Shangyou Tang edition preserved in the National Diet Library of Japan, which consists of 39 volumes (missing volume 23), corresponding to 39 actual stories.