Fairy, don't try to mess with my filial piety

Chapter 86: Taking the Big Fox Shopping

What's the matter?

Twin sisters from the Western Regions, I can’t think of one.

The twin ocean horses from the Western Regions came to mind immediately.

Chu Wuji couldn't help but mutter in his heart, could it be that when I asked it a few times before, I changed the word to "foreign horse" and these people immediately remembered it?

He didn't complain for too long and asked, "Tell me in detail, how is that group doing now?"

Shopkeeper Guan had been scratched on the face by the ghost baby for so long that he felt very weak. After he calmed down, his legs unconsciously became weak. He apologized:

"Senior, I'm not trying to be arrogant, but my legs are shaking like I haven't eaten in two days."

"It's okay, sit down and talk."

As Chu Wuzhi was speaking, the shop assistant quickly brought him a chair. He sat down first, and the shopkeeper Guan sat down a little later.

“Among all the countries in the Western Regions, I do the most business with Lou Jue. The farthest I’ve been is Persia Dayue because it’s relatively stable. Otherwise, there’s nowhere to talk about business.

Among them, the twin ocean horses are from the Persian Moon people. They can only be hired at a high price to escort the team and deliver the token.

Two years ago, I tried to open up a business in Persian Dayue, and I hired that escort team as my guide. Although the business failed, I did get to experience the local customs and people, and I returned safely to Wenshui County three months ago!"

Chu Wuji was a little surprised. This shopkeeper was really capable. He personally traveled so far to develop business.

He is extraordinary in courage. Even though his business is so big, he is not afraid that something might happen to him and he will not be able to enjoy the wealth and glory.

But if you take such a risk, you will inevitably feel uneasy at times and think of asking some strange things to protect you.

"So, Manager Guan was still working with that escort team until three months ago?"

"No, they sent me back to Loujue Country and told me that my family had an urgent matter and asked them to handle it. I found other escorts to serve as my guards. On the way back, I ran into them once. It seemed that they were indeed on urgent business. We exchanged glances and then parted ways."

......Is there something urgent happening in the family?

I'm afraid that by that time, they would have already been tracking down the Scorpion Demon's whereabouts.

This Scorpion Demon is too powerful. While being pursued, he also stole my mother's body!

Chu Wuji took the tea handed to him by the maid with both hands. The tea leaves were precious and had a unique fragrance. When he smelled the fragrance inadvertently, it lingered in his nose.

Tushan Yourong walked down from Chu Wuji's neck and sat sideways on his thighs, her round, smooth legs, more beautiful than mutton-fat jade, stretched out and rested on his arms, as if simply serving as a footrest, or as if letting him play with them.

When Chu Wuji was embarrassed and ashamed, she snatched the cup of tea away and tasted it.

When the people in the shop saw the cup of tea flying up by itself, they were horrified and surprised, and curious about what was going on.

Chu Wuji found an explanation and explained briefly:

"Don't worry about it. This is the Fox Fairy who blesses me drinking tea. She is satisfied with the tea made by the shopkeeper... Now how do we find the escort team?"

Shopkeeper Guan wiped his sweat and felt very relieved.

The white-haired young man subdued the two people who were trying to escape with just one palm strike from the air. The floor was cracked. This was a real skill, a magical power!

Isn’t this invisible fox fairy even more powerful?

Fortunately, I don’t do the fox fur business, otherwise there would be a fox fur hanging on the wall now, and my head would be hanging on it tomorrow.

Shopkeeper Guan didn't dare to ask any more questions, and only answered the question:

"I can help find out, just as a thank you for your kindness today. If there is any news, how can I contact the Immortal?"

"Send it to Prince Jing'an's Palace in the capital." Chu Wuji thought for a moment and said.

Since he has no fixed place to live, it seems that only the Jing'an Palace can help him receive information. He can't stay at Hai Lan's house all the time.

"So he's the offering from Prince Jing'an's Palace. I'm blind!"

Seeing that Chu Wuji had nothing else to say, Guan, the shopkeeper, stood up with his arms around something, intending to leave. He hurriedly tried to stop him, saying,

"Master, could you please stay at Hailan's House for a while? I want to interrogate the housekeeper and Master Shancai, but I'm worried that without you around, they might use their evil magic to harm us.

It will also be convenient for me to prepare one...two small gifts as a thank you, otherwise I will feel uneasy!"

Chu Wuji hesitated for a moment, and rarely did he leave in a hurry, because the big fox fairy said she wanted to see what the show was all about.

Although I have figured out the magic tricks used, I still don't know the whole story. Even if it ends up being a clichéd plot of robbery and frame-up, I still have to listen to it to the end.

"Okay, you go ahead and try it, I'll just help watch from here."

Chu Wuji sat back in the chair, and the Fox Goddess also changed the position of her legs crossed in his arms.

Two maids in open-collared clothes came over and served on both sides. One woman brought tea and was ready to pour tea at any time, and the other woman brought tea, fruits and cakes.

The maid was about to ask the distinguished guest if he wanted to try some snacks when she saw a cake floating up.

The cake was rubbed against Chu Wuji's lips. When he took a bite, a woman's beautiful voice suddenly sounded:

“How about this cake?”

"It's okay. The skin of this tea cake is slightly salty, and the filling inside is lightly sweet without being greasy. It's specially made to remove the tea flavor from your tongue. Otherwise, even the most fragrant tea will leave a bitter taste if you drink too much. After eating the tea cake, your mouth becomes dry, and you'll want to drink tea again."

"So they came together~?"

Tushan Yourong didn't get new cakes, but directly swallowed the tea cake that Chu Wuji had taken a bite of.

Noticing that Chu Wuji was looking at her subtly, the Fox Fairy's eyes were charming and she teased:

"I don't mind what a child has eaten. If you look at me like this, it's only fair to return it to you, young master~"

She brought another tea cake, but Tushan Yourong tasted it first before returning it to Chu Wuji's mouth.

This is really fair...

Chu Wuji decided to eat it for the time being, otherwise he didn't know what she would do next.

The two maids standing by were dumbfounded.

Listening to this conversation, is it possible that the fox fairy and this white-haired young man have such a close relationship?

*

The commotion at Hailan's house attracted quite a few people to watch, some of them were passersby, some were fellow merchants, and some were patrolling constables.

The constable was a typical slacker at work, taking advantage of his position to inquire about what had happened:

"I heard there was a fight here. Some said it was caused by a little ghost, and some said that the shopkeeper Guan had a hysterical attack. What exactly is going on? Someone who knows the situation, please tell me quickly!"

The curious people around who saw the process would say a few words, while those who came here to watch the show would listen carefully to what others said, curious about what was happening here.

"The white-haired master sitting over there turned his head and a placenta-like ghost appeared. He then slapped the spot, leaving this palm print on the ground!"

"The little ghost has been scalded to death, dispersing into a puff of black air. But do you see the dustpan over there? The golden doll inside is the little golden boy, the God of Wealth, who was invited back."

"Looks like pus and blood are oozing out of it, the stench of decay is so strong, and that smiling face is terrifying to look at!"

Manager Guan didn't expect that in just a short while, the place would be surrounded by people.

Thinking of the saying "don't air your dirty laundry in public", Manager Guan decided to move the case to the inner hall for retrial to avoid being laughed at.

However, it was not a good idea to let Chu Wuzhi move around, and people's rumors were scary. If he moved to the inner hall, people outside would spread rumors about him.

He simply started interrogating the female manager and Master Shancai right in the shop in front of so many people.

"Zhang Wei, I trust you. You've followed me for many years, so why am I letting you take over my affairs?"

The female steward Zhang Wei looked pale. She hesitated and wanted to make eye contact with Master Shancai to seek an explanation.

Tushan Yourong was unwilling to wait, so she waved her hand and summoned a magical little fox. The little fox, invisible to outsiders, ran behind the housekeeper, grabbed its big tail and fanned herself, stimulating the housekeeper's anger.

She immediately started to blurt out everything, as if she couldn't keep it back anymore.

"Two years ago, Shopkeeper Guan was out on business... I wanted to make some money for myself and build a family fortune, so I secretly withdrew 5,000 taels from the treasury to run the shop. I planned to make up for this debt once I made some money. I had absolutely no intention of falsifying the accounts!"

The housekeeper Zhang Wei's face turned even worse. She wanted to stop herself from talking, but she couldn't control herself. She was so scared that she burst into tears while saying to herself:

"Unexpectedly, my business suffered losses and I couldn't continue. I couldn't pay off my debts. I was so worried that I couldn't sleep and even had a miscarriage... I happened to meet Master Shancai who knew the art of Kumantong. I paid him to help me improve my fortune."

What happened next became clear. The Kumantong doll was made from her aborted fetus, not brought back by Manager Guan for worship.

The ghost baby helps to change fortune by stealing and cheating.

He stole the shopkeeper's incense money into the pocket of the female manager and asked her to make up for the loss in the account book.

Why did Shopkeeper Guan spend so much money on incense? The ghost baby had driven him into hysteria.

After hearing the whole story, the old servant was furious:

"You are such a heartless person, you're just picking on Shopkeeper Guan and trying to steal his money? First you take the money from the treasury, and then you ruin his health!"

After understanding the whole process, Shopkeeper Guan felt a wave of fear in his heart, his face became gloomy and uncertain, as if he had escaped death.

Thinking about the past few years, he has been out doing business and opening up trade routes. He has encountered horse caravan robbers several times in an unfamiliar environment, but he returned to Lihuo Country safely.

It turned out that he was in the most dangerous situation at home, and was almost killed by his own people!

In the past, Shopkeeper Guan did not believe in such supernatural things. There were so many people in the world who burned incense and prayed to Buddha for wealth, but he had never seen anyone richer than him.

How can we design good styles without being down-to-earth and collecting folk customs and understanding the costumes of different places?

If he didn't go there in person to discuss business, how would the trade routes from the Western Regions reach him?

Now it seems that I really believe it. I don’t ask the gods to give me wealth, but I just ask to block the weird things brought back by the people around me!

He drank a sip of tea, and after a long while, he suppressed the fear in his heart and said:

"Zhang Wei, I see that you have followed me for many years, from a small shop to the current business. Even if you have no merits, you have worked hard. I let you take care of daily affairs because I trust you.

Do you really think you have the ability to run a business of this scale? Five thousand taels right from the start!

I spent a hundred taels to start my shop, and I scraped it together from here and there!"

With the savings from the housekeeper's salary, it was more than enough to open a small shop, but she looked down on it and only had eyes for Hailan Home, which made a fortune every day.

If it was a small shop, when checking the accounts at the end of the year, if the profit was not even as high as her salary, then her efforts would have been wasted.

So I thought of opening a shop with a high starting point, and invested 5,000 taels right from the start, thinking that this would lead to faster development.

Then I lost everything.

The little fox stopped flapping its tail now. Zhang Wei regained her normal ability to speak. She wanted to argue, but she realized that she had already said everything clearly. She had no way to argue, so she could only kowtow and beg for mercy:

"Master, please forgive me this time! From now on, I won't ask for wages. I will work like a slave to make up for the loss. I will definitely make up for it!"

The old servant cursed:

"You idiot! Is this a problem with the account books? Is the money you lost the most serious mistake? You didn't mention anything about causing the master to have hysterics or conspiring to defraud money! You're avoiding the important issues!"

Shopkeeper Guan showed no sign of mercy. He shook his head and looked at the housekeeper, saying:

"I will give you a sum of money so that your family can settle down. It will be regarded as the hard-earned money for your years of following me. As for you, Zhang Wei, and this Master Shancai, let the government handle it!"

There happened to be a constable eating melons outside. Shopkeeper Guan walked out two steps, gave a few taels of silver to the constable, and asked him to help take the female steward and Master Shancai away.

"I'm sorry to have made such a fool of myself. I still have to repay my benefactor, so I'll close the door first!"

Among the onlookers, there must be some troublemakers. They are not seeking any benefits, they just want to cause trouble. These people are unwilling to leave easily.

But the constable had accepted a few taels of silver from the shopkeeper Guan, so those matters outside of his duties that he could have ignored now became his responsibility.

He dispersed the onlookers, and then he and the servants of Hailan's house took the two men to the yamen.

*

The little devil's plan to steal money has come to an end, and Manager Guan has already arranged a table of food to entertain him.

Manager Guan offered a box of treasures on his own initiative, but Chu Wuzhi confiscated it and took a silver ingot as a token of his appreciation.

Because he had no ability to store things, he couldn't carry such a heavy box of treasure with him. He couldn't carry it on his shoulder wherever he went, right?

Shopkeeper Guan asked, "Young Master Chu, I don't ask for prosperity, I just hope to ward off bad luck and protect my family. Could you please build a temple and offer incense to the Fox Goddess?"

Tushan Yourong was already eating the food, but she only ate what Chu Wuji put in her bowl and was too lazy to reach out to pick up the food that was so far away.

"It's useless to offer sacrifices to me. If you really want to offer sacrifices, then go and offer sacrifices to the ancestors and heroes of your family, your local area, and your country, and then do more good deeds."

Shopkeeper Guan couldn't see the person, but he could hear the voice and nodded in response.

Chu Wuji asked curiously, "Is it useful to do more good deeds? Will there really be rewards for doing good deeds?"

Tushan Yourong shrugged her shoulders:

"Who knows if it will be of any use? If you do a lot of good deeds, your good reputation will naturally spread, and more people will hear about you. If you run into trouble one day, the news will spread quickly. If a wise person passing by hears about you, they might help you out. But if you're unlucky, it might not be of any use."

Shopkeeper Guan thought it made sense.