I consulted a feng shui master in Hong Kong.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the breakfast stalls at the entrance of Fu'an Lane had just set up their pots and pans. Huang Shouzhou was still yawning when Chen Qinghe had already packed the compass, measuring tape, and old score into his cloth bag.

Huang Shouzhou still sought out Liang Zhongren for an introduction.

Liang Zhongren arrived early in the morning and waited at the alley entrance for a long time. As soon as he saw Chen Qinghe come out, he immediately came to greet him.

"Master Chen, you're quite efficient. I thought you'd need to think about it for a couple more days."

Chen Qinghe skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point: "We need to see the place clearly first. You only mentioned the old dye house with a courtyard, but how big is it exactly? What's the layout of the front and back? What's next to it? I need to go and see it myself."

Liang Zhongren laughed and said, "Of course. When doing business, you have to see the goods first. Don't worry, this place is incredibly spacious, to say the least. It's precisely because it's spacious that the prices are so competitive. If it hadn't been vacant for two years, most people wouldn't have been able to find this place."

Huang Shouzhou muttered to himself, "I'm afraid that even though it's spacious, it's a mess."

Liang Zhongren heard this but wasn't annoyed. He just turned around and laughed, saying, "Master Huang, what I hate most about middlemen is someone like you who undermines me the moment you open your mouth."

Huang Shouzhou shrank his neck and simply kept quiet.

The three of them walked towards the back street.

Fu'an Lane was never a grand place to begin with; the streets and alleys were crowded, the buildings were close together, and the storefronts were all old. But the further west you turned, the quieter the people became. When you reached a corner, a wide open space suddenly appeared in front of you, as if a piece of the tightly packed air vent had been forcibly cut open.

The old dye house stands there.

In front is a row of old two-bay storefronts with peeling paint on the wooden doors and a signboard hanging askew. The four characters "Dechang Dyehouse" have faded to only half their original size.

Although the storefront is old, the layout is quite large, with wide walls on both sides and a small stone area in front of the door, enough to park two carts.

Looking further inside, there was a shop in the front and a courtyard in the back, with a row of low bungalows behind the courtyard. All told, it was more than twice the size of the current Sanxuan Temple.

Huang Shouzhou's eyes lit up the moment he saw it.

"This place... is actually quite large."

Liang Zhongren pushed the door open and said as he walked in, "Originally, the front was a business, the back was for dyeing and drying cloth, and the back was for living. That family ran an ancestral business, which was quite prosperous in the past, but unfortunately, they later fell into ruin and were burdened with gambling debts. The shop was mortgaged and pawned, and finally ended up in the hands of the creditors. The creditors thought it was bad luck and didn't want to keep it themselves, so they asked a broker to release it."

Chen Qinghe didn't reply, but just stood at the door and glanced inside.

Those who practice Feng Shui never rush into a place to assess its potential; instead, they first examine the entrance and then the flow of Qi (energy).

Although the facade of this old dye shop is old, it is not narrow. The street in front is not directly facing it, but is angled to give way, without any road intersection or reverse curvature. The storefronts on both sides are about the same height, so that one side is not pressing down and the other is tilting. Most importantly, this place is not directly in front of the main street, so it is quiet in the midst of the hustle and bustle, neither too remote nor too noisy.

With just one glance, Chen Qinghe already had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on.

"Let's go in and take a look."

He stepped inside, and Huang Shouzhou quickly followed.

The front of the shop was empty, with a few round marks left on the ground from the removal of old dye vats. The beams were dark, and there were signs of dampness in the corners, but the main beams were not crooked and the load-bearing capacity was still stable. Chen Qinghe walked around the base of the wall, raised his hand and gently tapped on a pillar, listened to the echo, and then looked up at the opening in the roof and the lighting.

Huang Shouzhou followed behind, his desire growing stronger with each glance.

"If we really buy this place, the front can be converted into an incense hall and reception room. Then, we can add a quiet room and a study in the back, and still make room for the neighbors to offer incense."

Chen Qinghe said calmly, "What's ahead is ahead; the key is what's behind."

The three of them passed through the front bunk and arrived at the backyard.

Upon entering the courtyard, the view immediately opened up.

The courtyard is rectangular and much deeper than the backyard of a typical house. Although the walls on all four sides are old, they are neatly arranged.

There is an old well in the corner of the courtyard, with a stone ring around the wellhead and an old drainage ditch still standing next to it. A cloth drying rack used to be built against the wall on the west side, but now only a few wooden pillars remain. On the east side is a row of bungalows, with doors and windows still in place, but they have been in disrepair for years and need to be renovated.

The morning light slanted in, illuminating the entire courtyard.

Huang Shouzhou couldn't help but take a breath.

"This place is huge. It's big enough to house not only a temple, but also a place to support ten or so young Taoist disciples."

Liang Zhongren laughed and said, "That's why I said you two shouldn't be so quick to complain. It may be the same old place, but the layout is what it is. In a place like Hong Kong, it's not easy to find such a large, interconnected old courtyard in Yau Ma Tei."

Chen Qinghe had already opened the cloth bag and taken out a compass.

Liang Zhongren's eyes flickered, and he wisely stepped back two steps, saying no more.

Huang Shouzhou immediately shut his mouth as well.

Chen Qinghe stood in the center of the courtyard, first setting the center line, then adjusting the compass. His movements were steady, his thumb pressing down on the compass, his gaze lowered, even his breathing extremely soft. The compass needle trembled slightly a few times before slowly settling.

He looked up at the door, then down at the plate, before turning and walking toward the well. He then measured each of the four corners of the courtyard wall. After measuring the backyard, he returned to the front of the house, stood outside the threshold, and looked again at the street layout and the route he had come from.

Although Huang Shouzhou only learned a little bit, after watching for a long time, he could vaguely see some of the tricks of the trade.

"The front attracts people, the back gathers earth energy, and there's even a trace of flowing water at the left alley entrance. Could this place be a place that can accumulate wealth?"

Chen Qinghe put away the compass and said, "It can do more than just accumulate wealth."

Huang Shouzhou was taken aback: "Then what else can we gather for?"

Incense offerings.

Upon hearing these two words, even Liang Zhongren couldn't help but raise his eyes.

Chen Qinghe stood at the threshold, looking at the entire old dyehouse. His tone was calm, but more determined than usual.

"The front doesn't face a direct rush of energy, so the energy doesn't rush in, and there's a gentle flow as you enter. The backyard is deep enough to contain the energy, unlike a shallow hall that you can see right through as soon as you step inside. The old structure on the west side has been removed, and the Green Dragon position can be placed there; the bungalow on the east side has been renovated, which is perfect for a quiet room and storeroom, without overshadowing the main position. Although the well is old, the wellhead isn't dead, and after dredging, it can be used as a flowing water source. What's most valuable is that this place is quiet amidst the hustle and bustle, so pilgrims don't mind the distance, and those who stay here won't have their energy dissipated by the noise of cars and people."

Huang Shou-zhuo's eyes lit up as he listened.

"So, this place is actually suitable for observation?"

Chen Qinghe nodded.

"It can stand. And it's much better than that little courtyard in Fu'anli."

These words weren't harsh, but to Huang Shouzhou, they were more satisfying than anything else.

The Sanxuan Temple in Fu'anli was, to put it bluntly, just a dilapidated courtyard where one could barely find a place to stay.

It can provide shelter from the wind and hang plaques, but it can't truly represent a storefront. But this old dye shop in front of us is different.

It is large, deep, and complete from front to back, with smooth airflow. As long as the old, messy atmosphere of the old dye house is cleared away, and the positions of the gate, well, front hall, and quiet room are re-established, a decent temple can truly be built.

Upon hearing this, Liang Zhongren's smile became more genuine.

"Master Chen is an expert; he recognized its quality at a glance. I was worried yesterday that you wouldn't like it, but now that you think it's suitable, we can continue our discussion."

Chen Qinghe did not respond immediately, but instead took another slow walk around the courtyard.

He observed very carefully.

He had already thought through everything in his mind: whether the wellhead was cracked, how damp the base of the wall was, whether the door between the front shop and the back yard should be demolished, whether the old wooden pillars on the west side could be kept, which of the back bungalows was suitable as a meditation room, which was suitable for storing ritual implements and wood, and even where the incense table would be placed and in which direction the ancestral portraits would be enshrined.

The more he looked, the more reassured he felt.

This place is suitable as the new foundation for the Sanxuan Temple.

My uncle must have had his reasons for choosing to settle in Fu'anli.

Chen Qinghe could tell that although Fu'anli was a dilapidated place, it was indeed a place where great talents resided.

If the new Sanxuan Temple can really be established here, it might not necessarily be a bad thing.

Huang Shouzhou stood to the side, and seeing Chen Qinghe's expression becoming increasingly composed, he couldn't help but feel nervous as well. He knew that once Chen Qinghe showed this kind of expression, it meant that he was no longer just "looking" at this place, but was truly interested.

Sure enough, Chen Qinghe stopped and turned to look at Liang Zhongren.

"Who's in charge here now?"

Liang Zhongren hurriedly said, "The creditor has entrusted the matter to a brokerage firm; I'll handle the details. If Master Chen is truly interested, I can help you negotiate a lower price."

"Let's put aside the issue of haggling over the price." Chen Qinghe looked at him directly, "I only have one question: how much would it cost to buy the entire place?"

The courtyard fell silent for a moment after those words were spoken.

The smile on Liang Zhongren's face hadn't faded, but his eyes had become noticeably more serious.

He looked Chen Qinghe up and down, as if reassessing just how much confidence this young Taoist really had.

Huang Shouzhou's heart also jumped, and he subconsciously swallowed.

This is neither renting nor borrowing.

It's a purchase.

Buying such a large shop with a front yard and back yard in a place like Yau Ma Tei is definitely not a small amount of money.

Liang Zhongren remained silent for two breaths before slowly raising two fingers.

"If we go by the publicly offered price, it should be at least this much."

Huang Shouzhou's eyelids twitched: "Two hundred thousand?"

Liang Zhongren shook his head, looked at Chen Qinghe, and said, word by word:

Two hundred and eighty thousand.