Chapter 274: Don’t Want To Be Unfilial
Chapter 274: Don’t Want To Be Unfilial
Zhu Peng was too stunned to speak for a while. He just watched as Xiang Ling finished the tea in her cup and stood up to leave. Realizing that the woman was leaving, he finally returned to his senses and quickly asked, "Young Lady Chen, you haven’t told me what personal benefit you are seeking from helping the beggars."
Xiang Ling stopped in her steps and turned to face the man. She didn’t say or move for a moment, but then she returned to the seat and settled down before finally answering, "Though they are beggars, they can be nurtured with skills. I have been teaching a lot of young and old people several skills and providing them with jobs as I’m constantly opening new businesses. I will see if there are skillful people among the beggars whom I can nurture and prepare them for jobs. It will also solve your issue of providing for them for a lifetime."
Zhu Peng was once again having a hard time keeping his shocked state hidden. He had heard several rumors about the Young Lady Chen, and while he initially didn’t believe them because he wasn’t one to judge anyone based on rumors, he finally changed his mind when he find out that the County Magistrate and his family left their own manor because of their daughter. Recently, he had also been hearing rumors about how she was turning out to be a better version of herself. However, it wasn’t until this very moment that he finally got to know exactly how much of a genius Young Lady Chen was.
"Official Zhu?"
Xiang Ling called out to the man when she noticed that he was too deep into his thoughts. The man shook his head quickly before speaking, "I will inform County Magistrate Chen about our discussion today. This is a great solution, I must say, Young Lady Chen. We will be waiting for your good news."
The two of them stood up and exchanged a few more words before Xiang Ling headed back to the Chen Manor with Xu Wei.
"Master, do you want me to handle the matter of buying the manor for the beggars’ shelter?" Xu Wei asked as they neared the front gate of the Chen Manor.
"You want to handle this work?" Xiang Ling asked as she turned her attention toward the young man who seemed anxious to prove his worth to her as her personal guard.
Xu Wei immediately kneeled down on the hard and cold road before he bowed his head and replied, "Only if Master wants me to. If you hand over this task to me, I promise to not let you down."
Xiang Ling helped the man to his feet before she responded, "Then let it be the case. I will let you take care of this matter. Make sure that the house is neither too big nor too small. It should be away from the hustling life of the main city market, and most importantly, it shouldn’t be too expensive. Make sure that the place is worth its price."
"Yes, Master!"
* * *
After returning to the Chen Manor, Xiang Ling decided to enter her space as she had nothing else to do. The people in the Wu Manor were still busy setting up the place and the residents of the Chen Manor were busy with their own stuff.
"You have been trying to keep your distance from the County Magistrate all this time. Then why are you suddenly delivering yourself right in front of his doorsteps?" Little Pink asked as soon as Xiang Ling entered the Spatial Realm.
"It has been over ten months since I came to the Mortal Realm. I initially stayed away from the County Magistrate because I was already dealing with way too many people and their hostility toward the previous owner of my body, I didn’t want to add her parents in that list either. But now, when so much time has passed and I have already reconciled with my two brothers and their families, it’s time that I reconcile with the County Magistrate and his wives. If I dragged this matter any further, people will start calling me unfilial and that wasn’t a name I want for my new image." Xiang Ling explained as she headed inside the Herb Cottage to start working on the new batch of spiritual pills that she needed to deliver for the next month’s auction.
She started arranging the equipments and the ingredients while Little Pink flew around the room, asking more questions. "Are you sure this new investment of yours will bring you enough returns? What if all those beggars will turn out untalented?"
"Don’t be a jinx, Little Pink." Xuelin reprimanded Little Pink as she entered the cottage and moved to help Xiang Ling with the work.
"I’m just being objective over here. The amount of money and effort that she’s going to put into this matter isn’t little. At least, we should get enough returns." Little Pink defended herself as it gave Xuelin a pointed look.
"Don’t worry too much, Little Pink. Even if all those beggars turned out untalented, I will make sure that they will learn the talent under my guidance. Besides, as long as they are healthy and capable of working, there are plenty of jobs they can do. I can train them as the servants of our new shops, or guards, or something along the line. There’s no certain demand on my part for them to be able to learn and write, and be able to learn skills like - cooking, knitting, accounting, dancing, music, or so on." Xiang Ling told her spirit beast who finally appeared satisfied with her answer.
Once Xiang Ling had everything set up with Xuelin’s help, she started refining the spiritual pills. The next month’s auction was during the Lantern Festival which would make it a grand one. This would generate a lot of buzz and bring in more rich customers. In short, this particular batch of pills were once again going to bring in a lot of money for Xiang Ling who was anticipating the big day.