I consulted a feng shui master in Hong Kong.

Holland and his friends left, and the courtyard finally quieted down.

When it was time for dinner, Huang Shouzhou carefully took the remaining 100,000 yuan out of the envelope and stacked it flat on the table, his movements as light as if he were setting up ancestral tablets.

The light wasn't very bright, but the stacks of Hong Kong dollars still made his eyes water.

Huang Shouzhou sat down, pretending to be calm, but his eyes kept drifting towards the money.

One glance warms the heart; another glance and the mind begins to calculate.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to give half of 100,000 yuan to oneself, would it? He was the one who went to the Huo family last night, he was the one who was worried sick, and he was the one who was almost scared out of his wits.

Even if we don't take half, surely we should still have 30,000 or 50,000?

Even if he only gets 20,000, it will be enough to make him feel relaxed for a while.

From now on, I won't have to be stingy with my meals anymore, and I can hold my head high when I see my neighbors. If I'm lucky, I might even be able to buy myself a couple of decent outfits.

Having lived in Hong Kong for so many years, this was the first time he felt money was so close to him.

But as soon as the thought arose, he suppressed it again.

Ultimately, he didn't earn that money. Chen Qinghe orchestrated the Huo family's scheme, and Chen Qinghe also ensured Huo Yuncheng slept soundly.

If it weren't for this junior apprentice who just arrived in Hong Kong, he would probably still be trembling under the triads, let alone sitting here counting money.

Thinking of this, Huang Shouzhou's greed subsided, leaving only the discomfort of wanting something but not daring to ask for it.

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and casually asked, "Junior brother, how do you plan to spend this 100,000 yuan?"

Although that's what she asked, her eyes still involuntarily drifted towards the table.

"Speaking of which, I need to ask my senior brother for a favor. Help me find a storefront so we can open a proper feng shui shop."

These were the thoughts and ideas that had already surfaced in his mind ever since he saw his uncle's memorial tablet.

The master sent him to Hong Kong to gain experience and revitalize the Three Mysteries.

Isn't now the best opportunity?

Open a feng shui shop and get to know more feng shui masters and practitioners in Hong Kong.

On the other hand, making a name for themselves can also be considered a revitalization of the Three Mysteries.

Huang Shouzhou almost slipped the teacup he had just picked up from his hand.

"Opening the shop?" He paused, taken aback. "Right now?"

"Right now," Chen Qinghe answered decisively.

Huang Shouzhou stared at him blankly, and only then did he truly realize that the young man in front of him was never one of his own.

All these years, he had been guarding the Sanxuan Temple, barely making a living. Today he would swindle a peace charm, tomorrow he would consult an auspicious day, living one day at a time. But Chen Qinghe was different.

He wasn't doing this to make a living or to just get by; he genuinely intended to put the three characters "Sanxuan Temple" back up.

Chen Qinghe sat at the table, his voice low but steady: "Master sent me to Hong Kong for training and to revitalize Sanxuan Temple. You've seen the accounts and diagrams left by my uncle. Just guarding this old temple won't do; we need to establish Sanxuan Temple's reputation first. Once the reputation is established, those who are meant to come will naturally come."

Huang Shouzhou swallowed hard, feeling half feverish and half weak.

What's exciting is that if the Sanxuan Temple can truly be re-established, he, as a nominal senior disciple, will feel proud; what's less exciting is that once the temple is restored, the money on the table will probably have nothing to do with him anymore.

Clinging to a last shred of hope, he tentatively asked, "So...where should we start?"

Chen Qinghe said, "First, erect a statue of the patriarch."

Huang Shouzhou nodded, finding the suggestion prudent. He pondered how much of the 100,000 yuan would be left if he opened a feng shui shop…

But before he could add, "Making an ordinary wooden statue would be fine too," Chen Qinghe's next sentence had already fallen.

"It must be made of sandalwood."

Huang Shouzhou's smile froze instantly.

"Sandalwood?" His eyes twitched. "Good junior brother, do you know how much a decent piece of sandalwood costs in Hong Kong these days? Let alone the entire statue of the patriarch, even just making a decent shrine panel will cost a fortune."

He said that, but he was calculating even faster in his mind.

Sandalwood, statues, shrines—at the very least, a large portion of it would have to be removed first.

The 100,000 yuan on the table was originally a small mountain in his eyes, but at this moment, it suddenly felt as if someone had taken a knife and sliced ​​off a layer of it.

"This cannot be omitted." Chen Qinghe said calmly, "The ancestral statue is where the spirit resides; the wood must be stable for the incense to burn steadily. If this is omitted, everything else will be done incorrectly."

Huang Shouzhou opened his mouth, but couldn't refute it.

Because he himself knew that he couldn't refute Chen Qinghe's request.

If the Sanxuan Temple is truly to reopen, the first thing it must do is to properly honor its founding master.

But despite his reasoning, he couldn't help but feel heartbroken looking at the pile of money on the table.

As if knowing what he was thinking, Chen Qinghe raised his hand and tapped on the table again: "We can't skimp on the money for the statue, and we can't skimp on the money for the ritual implements either."

"Do we need to buy new ritual implements too?" Huang Shou-chou was genuinely anxious this time.

"Compass, copper coins, ink line, incense burner, wooden ruler, paperweight—we need to replace everything we need," Chen Qinghe said. "We're not going out to set up a fortune-telling stall; we're going to establish the facade of the Sanxuan Temple."

Huang Shouzhou's face turned pale and then red as he listened, his mind racing with a rapidly changing account of what he was doing.

The sandalwood statue was a stroke of the pen, the shrine a stroke, the incense table a stroke, and the ritual implements a stroke. Before the money was even spent, the 100,000 yuan on the table seemed to have been wiped away by unseen strokes.

He couldn't help but glance at the money again, only to find that what had been a thick stack of money just moments before now looked much thinner.

"How can 100,000 dollars be enough?" He gave a wry smile. "In Sham Shui Po, even a decent place costs 20,000 to 30,000 dollars with a deposit and rent. If you want a bigger storefront in a better location, the price will only go up. We seem to have money now, but if we deduct one expense after another, it won't last long."

Chen Qinghe pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Are there any cheaper houses to rent?"

Huang Shouzhou was taken aback: "A cheaper one?"

"Or rather," Chen Qinghe looked at him, "is there anything unlucky?"

Huang Shouzhou didn't react at first, but when he realized what it meant, his face turned strange: "Is it unlucky?"

"For example, the original owner would have bad luck after moving in, nothing would go smoothly, the shop wouldn't take off, and every business they tried would lose money. Or, the property might change hands several times but no one would dare to take it," Chen Qinghe said. "In places like that, the rent should be cheap."

Huang Shouzhou opened his mouth, but after a long pause, he managed to stammer out, "A place like this is acceptable?"

"Why not?"

"Those kinds of houses either have a bad feng shui or a terrible layout. Normal people would avoid them like the plague, so who would want to go in?" Huang Shouzhou paused here, his eyes slowly changing. "However... if you really don't mind, there are quite a few places like that. Some people get hurt as soon as they move in, some have several generations of residents die, some shops go bankrupt as soon as they open, and some have a series of misfortunes that happen to the family within six months of moving in."

"I want the cheapest one," Chen Qinghe said. "Preferably a larger place with a wider storefront."

Huang Shouzhou gasped, finally understanding.

They wouldn't let us skimp on the statues of the patriarchs, on the ritual implements, or even on the size of the storefront; their true scheme lay here.

What others dare not touch—dilapidated houses and run-down shops—are considered unlucky by others, but are seen as bargains by them.

When opening a shop, the storefront is the most important factor.

A large storefront is necessary to attract customers; a spacious area is needed to accommodate statues of patriarchs, ritual implements, and tables for entertaining guests.

If you really want to establish the Sanxuan Temple, you might as well find a tiny shop that's so narrow you can barely turn around and make do, instead of just staying in this dilapidated temple.

But with not enough money right now, if they want a grand storefront, they have no choice but to take a path that others dare not take.

Thinking of this, Huang Shouzhou suddenly realized another meaning, and his heart trembled violently.

"You mean," he lowered his voice, "to first rent a run-down house that everyone avoids, and then, in front of the people of Hong Kong, to renovate it properly?"

Chen Qinghe had only intended to alleviate his immediate financial difficulties, but after hearing what he said, he paused slightly.

His initial thought was simply to save money and find a place where he could use it; but Huang Shouzhou's words seemed to make things much clearer.

Yes.

If it's just renting an ordinary storefront and hanging up a signboard, at most it's just that the Sanxuan Temple is reopening.

However, if he rents a place that everyone says is bad, evil, and untouchable, and then personally sorts out the situation and revitalizes the shop, the reputation of the Three Mysteries Temple will not spread slowly, but will be established all at once.

Chen Qinghe glanced at Huang Shouzhou and said, "What you said makes some sense."

Huang Shouzhou was speechless at first, but at this moment he felt a heat in his chest and sat up a little straighter.

Yes.

There might not be much money left.

But if you can use this 100,000 yuan to build a real Sanxuan Temple, then the money will not have been wasted.

By then, let alone 100,000, even more money will come in eventually.

He looked down at the money on the table, and the selfish desire he had previously felt to tuck it into his pocket gradually dissipated.

Instead, he had a thought that even he found strange—that the 100,000 yuan should not have been used to divide the money, but rather to help revive the name "Sanxuan Temple".