Chapter 326 - 226: Merchants Pursue Profit, Parting Lightly
Chapter 326: Chapter 226: Merchants Pursue Profit, Parting Lightly
「After Wang Ji left.」
Chen Yi sat still, letting Zhang Dabao apply his disguise as he asked a question.
"When did the tavern across from Hundred Herbs Hall change hands?"
Zhang Dabao, deftly combing Chen Yi’s long hair, replied, "It’s been a while."
"It must have been the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival. A very luxurious carriage pulled up outside, carrying a very beautiful young lady."
"Ah, no, it was several very beautiful young ladies. They said they wanted to buy out the tavern."
"At first, the tavern’s owner refused. But after the young lady had her people bring out several chests of silver, he agreed."
Chen Yi tilted his head and asked, "Several chests of silver?"
Zhang Dabao replied, "You should have seen the spectacle."
"There were quite a few customers in the tavern, and they all watched as the young lady had the chests opened, one after another, asking the owner if he would sell."
"He wouldn’t sell for one chest, so she opened a second. It wasn’t until she opened the fifth chest—a full ten thousand taels of silver—that the owner finally gave in."
Chen Yi couldn’t help but chuckle. ’This is definitely something Cui Qingwu would do.’
To a certain extent, the Qinghe Cui Family was wealthier and more powerful than the Jiangnan Prefecture Chen Family, and naturally, stronger than the Jing State Liu Family as well.
If even Liu Wen could mobilize three hundred thousand taels of silver, then Cui Qingwu, as the Cui Family’s direct daughter, would have far more silver coins at her disposal.
But what concerned him was that Cui Qingwu had opened her establishment directly across from Hundred Herbs Hall.
He didn’t know if she had done it intentionally or not.
’If it was intentional, what is her goal?’
’Surely she wouldn’t go to such lengths just for him, the owner "Chen Yu"?’
’But if it was unintentional, it was too much of a coincidence.’
After pondering for a moment, Chen Yi still couldn’t figure out Cui Qingwu’s intentions. He decided to put the matter aside for now and wait for an opportunity to ask Chen Yunfan later.
"How has Hundred Herbs Hall been these past few days?"
"Same as always."
"After Shopkeeper Yan left with his people, Shopkeeper Wang is the only one left in the hall. He’s so busy his feet don’t touch the ground. I get tired just watching him."
"But Shopkeeper Wang said yesterday that business has been affected recently. A lot of customers who used to come to our hall for medicine have gone elsewhere."
"It’s called... Xinglin something..."
Chen Yi said, "Xinglin Hall."
Zhang Dabao quickly agreed, saying, "That’s the one," as he applied a light mask to Chen Yi’s face.
"I don’t know what their background is, but they just opened and have already snatched a lot of business from the other medicine halls."
"Shopkeeper Wang said that if it weren’t for the tea we serve at our hall, this month’s income in silver coins would probably be less than half of what it should be."
Chen Yi knew exactly what was going on.
Xinglin Hall had a renowned doctor in residence. Moreover, having just established themselves in Shu State, their medicine prices were even lower than Hundred Herbs Hall’s, so it was only natural they were squeezing out the competition.
However, that kind of three-trick pony approach would only work once.
If the Jing State Liu Family didn’t send more people, they would sooner or later find themselves in trouble, even with Liu Hong backing Xinglin Hall.
Shu State, after all, was not the Liu Family’s Shu State.
After a bit more small talk, seeing that his guest had not yet arrived, Chen Yi had Zhang Dabao bring him an Ancient Zither.
He took it, laid it across his lap, and casually plucked it a couple of times.
The notes from the Zither, some crisp, some dull, echoed through the main hall.
Zhang Dabao clapped his hands. "I’ve long heard that you, boss, are a master of Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting. I imagine your Zither Dao must be just like your Calligraphy Dao."
He had been at Hundred Herbs Hall for so long, with people coming and going every day, that he had naturally heard about the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gala. He also knew that Chen Yi had won the title of Poetry Champion with "Song of the Water Melody."
In his mind, since the boss’s literary talent and Calligraphy Dao were so outstanding, his Zither Dao couldn’t possibly be bad.
So, after speaking, he tilted his head, preparing to listen intently.
Chen Yi ignored him, merely looking at the five strings of the zither and placing his hands on either side.
He began to play.
TWANG—THUMP—CRACK!
The familiar trio of sounds from the Zither immediately rang throughout the courtyard.
The smile on Zhang Dabao’s face froze. He stared at him in astonishment.
Chen Yi seemed completely unaware, playing the score for "Carefree Travel" as if he were in his own world.
CRACKLE-CLACK, SNAP-CRACK, TWANG-THUMP-THUMP...
The series of sounds from the breaking zither strings was more piercing than the sound of the rain falling outside.
Zhang Dabao stared at him blankly. The string of noises echoing in his ears left him with only a single thought.
’The boss is quite good at fluffing cotton.’
’Sonorous and powerful, full of twangs.’
Soon, Chen Yi finished playing the piece.
Not only did he show no sign of embarrassment for his terrible playing, but he actually revealed a look of sudden understanding.
"Finger Technique, Power Dao, and rhythm must be coordinated."
Then, before Zhang Dabao could ask, Chen Yi began plucking the strings again, playing "Carefree Travel" for a second time.
With the experience from his first attempt, he reined in most of his Power. Using the nimble fingers he had developed through Martial Arts, he played in a much more structured manner.
Although it still had nothing to do with being "melodious and pleasant," it was enough to make Zhang Dabao abandon his plan to cover his ears.
’Perhaps the boss was just getting familiar with the Zither before.’
Before long, the second performance was over. Zhang Dabao clapped at the perfect moment and offered his praise:
"Boss, your zither skill is... good."
He really couldn’t think of a more suitable adjective. Just managing to say the word "good" was his limit.
Chen Yi glanced at him. "Good in what way?"
"It’s... well, it’s better than my playing, anyway."
Seeing Zhang Dabao’s sheepish grin, Chen Yi didn’t press him further. He summoned a light screen and glanced at it:
Cultivation: Lower Fifth Grade
[Opportunity: 525]
’Five hundred... I should be more frugal with these.’
With that thought, Chen Yi spent 11 Opportunity points to raise his Zither Dao to Minor Success.
Ever since gaining a huge amount of Opportunity from burning the summer grain of the Three Towns, he hadn’t spent any of it, aside from raising his Saber Dao to Great Success.
On one hand, it was because all the skills he had learned were already at the Great Success Realm, and raising them further required too much Opportunity.
On the other hand, he was also saving up with the intention of raising one of his Daos to Perfection.
After the Five Poison Sect’s attack, where he had an unexpected epiphany and achieved the Perfection Realm in Spear Dao, Chen Yi came to deeply understand the gap between the Great Success and Perfection Realms of Martial Arts.
If not the difference between heaven and earth, it was at least the difference between a sesame seed and a watermelon.