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Chapter 33: A Devoted Fan
🕑 Added 2025-02-24 10:19:59 +0000 UTCThe steward explained that most people found it unwise to exchange gold coins for spirit coins or spirit pearls. When Chen Xiao heard the specific exchange rates, he felt a pang of pain in his heart. The bank charged a ten percent handling fee for exchanges. In other words, for every ten thousand gold coins, he would only receive ninety spirit coins. This was because spirit coins were rare, making the exchange rate rather predatory. However, converting spirit coins back into gold coins incurred no such fee.
After some calculations, Chen Xiao realized that exchanging all three thousand of his gold coins at the bank would only net him twenty-seven spirit coins.
Earlier today, he had deliberately asked Pang Hemu about hiring cultivators. A high-level cultivator's monthly wage was one hundred gold coins. Based on his bank savings, he could afford to hire a high-level cultivator for two and a half years.
Meanwhile, the best martial artists only charged ten gold coins per month, the same salary as the chief shopkeeper of Taxue Xunxian Pavilion. No wonder Pang Hemu found the cost of hiring a cultivator excessive. Moreover, the terms of employment included a clause stating that if the cultivator reached a breakthrough in their cultivation, the employer could not interfere or delay their advancement. Additionally, the employer was prohibited from issuing orders that would demean the cultivator’s status or reputation.
In other words, a high-level bodyguard might leave at any moment or refuse to follow unreasonable demands. These high costs and conditions made it difficult for cultivators to collaborate with ordinary people. However, Chen Xiao wasn’t concerned about those details. Since he lacked the ability to protect himself, hiring a high-level cultivator was his best option for safety.
Chen Xiao had already resolved to make a name for himself as a feng shui master in this world, which required the assistance of a compass. However, the current amount of fortune the compass had absorbed was barely enough to manifest its effects for a fleeting moment. To accumulate more fortune, he needed to conduct more feng shui work, or rather, larger feng shui projects to gather the necessary energy.
Feeling restless, Chen Xiao considered moving to a different location. While County City was large, it was still just a regional city. The acceptance of feng shui, a relatively new practice, was slow here. Through Pang Hemu's network, he had already conducted business with most of the wealthy merchants in the area. The remaining ones were staunch traditionalists who neither believes in nor supported feng shui, and Chen Xiao had no interest in trying to convince them. As for the noble families of the city, he was still an outsider in their circles due to his current status and reputation.
It was evident that the influential families in this city either had cultivators among them or maintained close ties with the cultivation world. An invisible barrier separated cultivators from ordinary people, making it nearly impossible for someone like Chen Xiao to break into their ranks.
In the past, he might have been patient enough to find a breakthrough point. But now, he valued his time too much to waste it on these rigid, self-satisfied elites.
While visiting the Pang family, Chen Xiao discussed his concerns with Pang Hemu after their conversation about hiring help. Pang Hemu agreed that the growth of residential feng shui in County City had reached a bottleneck. He then suggested that Chen Xiao head to the capital of Dai Kingdom to seek new opportunities. Perhaps there, he could gain fresh prospects or build enough reputation to eventually return and break into County City's upper circles.
Pang Hemu had some connections in the capital and offered to write a letter of recommendation for Chen Xiao. This would ensure that he could successfully set up his first feng shui project upon arrival. Once he had a successful case under his belt, he would quickly establish his reputation and gain a foothold, just as he had done in County City.
Chen Xiao thanked him for the offer but had his own plans in mind. However, he couldn’t share them with Pang Hemu just yet. First, he needed to find a suitable high-level cultivator for hire.
Having decided to leave County City, Chen Xiao began making preparations in advance.
First, he purchased the courtyard where he currently resided. Having developed an attachment to his first home in this world, he wanted to keep it. This way, when he eventually returned, he would have a place of his own, saving him the trouble of finding a new residence.
Second, he made arrangements for Chen Changen's family in Fancun. Although he had repaid his debt to them by setting up a feng shui array, fulfilling Hanwa’s obligations in the process, they were unaware of this. If anything happened, they might still seek him out, and he couldn’t ignore them.
He entrusted Master Zhou, who was visiting County City again, with delivering a message to the Chen family, informing them that he would be traveling for study. However, he assured them that he was still affiliated with Taxue Xunxian Pavilion as the Third Shopkeeper. If they ever needed help, they could turn to the Chief Shopkeeper, whom he had already spoken to and arranged support with.
Since Chen Changen couldn’t read, the message was delivered verbally. In addition to this, Chen Xiao gave Master Zhou three hundred silver coins and asked him to visit the market on his way to Fancun to purchase a strong plowing ox for the Chen family. Thanks to their hard work, they had repaid all their debts. Chen Changen was no longer a long-term laborer and had instead rented several acres of farmland to cultivate. With a plowing ox, their work would become much easier.
Master Zhou could hardly recognize Chen Xiao anymore. Every time he visited, Chen Xiao had undergone tremendous changes. Over the past six months, his progress had been nothing short of astonishing. A year ago, he was just an ordinary young man struggling to survive. Now, he was a respected figure in County City, with enough wealth to make such generous arrangements. Master Zhou sighed, patted Chen Xiao’s shoulder, and promised to carry out his request faithfully.
Hanwa had once been just a lowly errand boy, but now he was qualified to sit on equal footing with the caravan’s owner.
Master Zhou had a habit of smoking a bit of tobacco. As he looked at the fine-quality tobacco Chen Xiao had gifted him, he had a feeling that Hanwa would become someone remarkable in the future, perhaps even one of those figures he had only ever looked up to from afar.
After wrapping up his tasks, Chen Xiao visited two more places and finished inspecting the last of the Yang residences. When he returned, Pang Hemu informed him that he had found a few suitable candidates. This time, they met in the main hall at the back of Taxue Xunxian Pavilion, where Pang Hemu handed him a thin sheet of paper.
Pang Hemu spoke seriously, “You know that cultivators are different from ordinary people, both in status and temperament. That’s why I couldn’t summon them all for you to pick from directly. Take a look first, see who seems suitable, and then you can arrange for a proper meeting.”
Chen Xiao understood immediately, this was basically reviewing résumés before conducting interviews. He nodded. “Thanks.”
Pang Hemu’s stern expression melted away, and he chuckled. “It’s nothing. If anything, I should be thanking you for setting up that ‘gold and jade prosperity’ Feng Shui array for my shop. Business at Taxue Xunxian has been steadily improving every month since. Feng Shui really works!”
The Feng Shui Chen Xiao arranged for his shop was particularly effective. Pang Hemu had always considered himself lucky to have met Chen Xiao early on, back when he was still struggling, and had made a conscious effort to treat him as an equal. Now, he could only hope that Chen Xiao’s future would be even brighter, if he made a name for himself, it would reflect well on Pang Hemu, too.
Chen Xiao glanced at him with a small smile before lowering his head to examine the paper. For some reason, he felt like Pang Hemu was looking at him the way a devoted fan would look at an undiscovered star, just waiting for him to shine and take the world by storm.
The paper listed five names along with their ages, cultivation levels, family backgrounds, and brief life histories. Their ages ranged from twenty to forty, and their cultivation was fairly similar, all at the higher levels. Of course, there were likely more precise classifications within those realms, but such details were rarely shared openly. Even Pang Hemu wouldn’t have been able to find out more.
“I think this one looks promising,” Pang Hemu said, sitting across from him. “He stayed in an academy until he was twenty, then spent five years working in the security forces before setting out on his own. He’s still in his prime and motivated. You might want to consider him.”
Chen Xiao looked up at him, a little curious. “What makes you think he’s a good choice?”
Pang Hemu took a moment to organize his thoughts. “He didn’t neglect his cultivation after leaving the academy, going straight into the security forces shows that. Plus, he has some practical experience and isn’t much older than you, so you won’t have trouble getting along.” He glanced at the paper in front of Chen Xiao. “The others are older. You should know that as cultivators age, they lose their youthful drive. If they no longer have hope of breaking through to a higher realm, they tend to slack off in their cultivation.”
Chen Xiao didn’t look up, his eyes scanning the names. “I think the most important reason is that younger cultivators are less tied down by family obligations, which makes it easier to convince them to leave the city with me.”
Pang Hemu hummed in agreement. “That’s true. Another thing is that younger cultivators have more time before their next breakthrough. If someone reaches that critical point while under your employment, they might just abandon you midway to go into seclusion. If that happens in a dangerous situation, you’d be completely stranded.”
Chen Xiao blinked. “It wouldn’t be that bad, would it?” Surely, even if someone needed to leave, they would at least ensure their employer reached a safe place first.
Pang Hemu frowned. “Why wouldn’t it be? I know of a major tea merchant who hired a cultivator for protection while traveling a long route, worried about beast attacks along the way. Halfway through the journey, the cultivator suddenly had the urge to break through and flat-out refused to continue traveling. He insisted on stopping right there to go into seclusion. The merchant had no choice but to terminate the contract and continue alone. Fortunately, nothing happened on the rest of the journey. If it had, it would’ve been a real tragedy.”
Chen Xiao furrowed his brows. “That’s... incredibly unlucky.”
Pang Hemu smacked his thigh. “Exactly! Cultivators rarely get opportunities to advance, so when one comes, they’ll cling to it no matter what.”
In the end, Chen Xiao chose the two oldest candidates, one in his thirties and the other in his forties, completely going against Pang Hemu’s suggestion to pick a younger one.
Pang Hemu was puzzled, but Chen Xiao explained, “Young cultivators may be ambitious and driven, but older ones tend to be more experienced and steady. I’m already young myself. What I need is someone who has seen the world and can help me navigate tricky situations.”
Hearing that, Pang Hemu suddenly remembered, Chen Xiao was only eighteen. When speaking with him, he always forgot that the boy wasn’t even twenty yet, technically not an adult in this world. With a nod, he admitted, “That makes a lot of sense. I should’ve considered that.”
Comments
Liz v
Tftc!
