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

"I don't know when the city lord suddenly realized the way of doing business, and he has promoted the management of Jieshi City over the years. He is indeed capable."

A look of doubt appeared on Miss Guanyin's face, and she interrupted:

"I remember that Jieshi City has always been good at business. Just like time passes by, it has grown bigger and bigger to its current size."

Sister Guan smiled, feeling that she was a senior among the people present when it came to this topic. She patiently explained:

"It's different. Take a store as an example. Each stage requires a different approach, otherwise it won't be able to continue to develop."

Guanyin was still puzzled. She indeed lacked experience and understanding in business affairs, and it was not something she could understand just by listening to a few words of advice.

Chu Wuji happened to share his experience at the tea stall when he entered the city, and said:

"Tea stalls want to show their class, but simply raising the price will never allow them to grow to the scale of a teahouse. They must change their business philosophy."

"Yes, that's the reason. From a small shop to a large shop, and from a large shop to a trading company, the difference is earth-shaking. Jieshi City has been stagnant for quite a while."

Seeing that Guanyin was no longer confused, Sister Guan continued to talk about the city lord:

"Merchants like us rarely see the city lord on weekdays. We're only occasionally invited to celebrations and grand banquets. Every year, we have to donate incense and offerings to the sacrificial ceremony. The two carts on the coast belong to our Hailan Family."

In addition to the shop rent, there are also large expenses such as incense offerings. It is really not easy to run a shop here.

However, businesses like Hailan House that sell rare and precious goods really have to rely on Jieshi City. No matter how much tribute they have to pay, they have to pay it with all their might. As long as they can make some profit, it's fine. But something has been wrong in the past two years.

The profits gradually became less than those of shops in other places because the share of the tribute was too large.

Wardfa felt very resentful about this and said depressedly:

"We escorted the caravan, transporting these treasures from far away, but the city lord dumped them into the sea. It's really..."

Sister Guan was also not very receptive, but she said that the city lord should not worry about how to spend the things offered, and should just regard it as asking for the blessing of the Dragon King of the Sea. She added:

"Moreover, in recent years, the city lord's pursuit of extravagance has become even more extreme, and he has lost interest in governing Jieshi City. Some time ago, in order to please his concubine, he even ordered people to burn the snow mountain..."

“Why has this changed?”

"At a banquet earlier, he said he needed to relax for a while. He'd been working so hard for too long and needed to recuperate his mind and brain. Then he relaxed all of a sudden until now."

"This breath is quite long..."

*

The food was served, all of it was delicacies from land and sea. Sister Guan was very generous in her hospitality, after all, she was her brother's savior.

The escorts from the Western Regions had big appetites and were busy making food.

In the most upscale box, he used the most vulgar...and generous eating style of a commoner.

As the host, Sister Guan was very happy and did not think that this "indecency" was inappropriate.

Chu Wuji accepted Sister Guan's hospitality and it was difficult for him to hide his recent plans, because taking action against the city lord would definitely affect them.

"There is one thing I must tell you. The city lord and I have a grudge to settle at the sacrificial ceremony the day after tomorrow. You should leave Jieshi City for a while and stay out of the spotlight."

The escorts are most interested in matters of grudges, which is a topic that never stops at the dinner table.

But Miss Guanyin stopped them from speaking with her eyes, signaling Wardfa and others not to ask any more questions. She said:

"It doesn't matter. We are just taking a break here and can leave at any time."

Sister Guan was stunned for a while, then she said:

"I was originally hesitating about whether to leave Jieshi City. Now is the perfect time! Maybe I should consider selling the shop here."

Chu Wuji guessed that this was probably a polite remark, but he couldn't change his mind because of this, so he apologized:

"I'm sorry."

He thought that maybe he could find Ning Xianzhi's godmother, buy some pills on credit, and give them to Guan and his siblings as compensation.

"That's not the case. Master Chu just helped me make up my mind, which might be a good thing!"

Seeing that no one here was a stranger, Sister Guan explained the underlying reason.

The relationship between her and her younger brother, Guan the shopkeeper, is a rather taboo one.

She came to such a faraway place as Jieshi City to run a shop just to sell the goods at a good price so that her brother could get a better return for the goods he found through his risky ventures outside.

Try to make him travel less frequently on the Western Regions trade route.

In the past two years, the profits of this shop in Jieshi City have been too low. In addition, her younger brother, Manager Guan, has encountered this kind of misfortune. Sister Guan plans to return to Wenshui County to be with her family and fill the vacancy of the female manager.

Otherwise, Manager Guan’s workload would be too heavy, and this position could not be given to a newcomer.

However, Jieshi City is a place with prosperous commerce after all, so Sister Guan hesitated whether to sell the shop or hire someone to run it.

Now that Chu Wuzhi has told her about his recent plans, Sister Guan is no longer entangled in the gains and losses.

"Sometimes when you encounter unexpected events, it's God reminding you to make certain decisions and changes. Young Master Chu might be the one sent by God to remind me... I'm sorry to bother you all with this personal matter!"

Wardfa raised a glass of wine and said, "It's not funny at all. You support each other, it's so enviable!"

Guanyin reminded Chu Wuji:

"Master Chu, on the day of the sacrificial ceremony, outsiders with magical powers are prohibited from approaching. The city lord should have a treasure that can capture the flow of spiritual energy. You must think of a way to deal with this matter.

In the past, there were those who intended to cause trouble and ruin the fortunes of Jieshi City, but they were all caught on the spot and executed immediately!"

Sister Guan nodded. If you pay attention to this kind of thing in the teahouse, you will hear about it. Every year at this time, people will bring it up again. She added:

"Yes, this is true. In Jieshi City, killing other people's lucky cats and money trees is a common competition.

Before the nearby cities annexed Jieshi City, they often disrupted sacrificial ceremonies, resulting in the deaths of many skilled magicians!"

I'm not that kind of person, don't worry!

Chu Wuji tentatively thanked her and said, "Okay, I'll keep an eye on it. That's about all we need to do for the meal, right? Sister Guan has to deal with the transfer of the shop, so time is pretty tight."

The Western Region escorts agreed, without missing any wine or food, and said together:

"We need to move the jewelry, right? We can be manual laborers, saving as much as possible. This meal will be our wages!"

Guanyin reminded the escorts not to be careless and damage Sister Guan's things, and said to Chu Wuji:

"If Mr. Chu has no place to stay, why not come to our martial arts gym? It's only for a day or two."

------

(PS: This chapter was actually last night. In order to make the content more complete, I merged it with today's chapter into one big chapter)

Chapter 116: Sacrifice Ceremony

After the dinner, Sister Guan immediately started to work on selling the store.

Chu Wuzhi and the Western Region escorts helped to sort out the things, focusing on packing the jewelry and jade. Sister Guan trusted them very much and was not afraid of them stealing, so she did not watch them.

It seems that the most important thing for her at this moment is to finish things here as soon as possible and return to her brother, Manager Guan.

Chu Wuji didn't want to influence her decision, so he just advised her gently:

"Sister Guan, wouldn't it be better to transfer some trustworthy old people from other places to take over this shop? If I want to buy another shop in the future, it will be very expensive!"

If I keep the shop, at least there will be an important sales channel, so there is no need to close it down and sell it directly.

In today's era, there are not many commercial cities that can develop. Exotic specialty products like those sold by Hailan House rely heavily on the luxurious atmosphere of this type of metropolis.

Wardfa agreed with Chu Wuji's statement. He moved the box nimbly and kept talking:

"That's right! The leader of our escort agency just temporarily sold the title deed to the house and land, and he was resurrected!"

Sister Guan understood everyone's good intentions and said:

"Keeping this shop open is very expensive. It might even put a lot of pressure on my brother in Wenshui County, forcing him to travel frequently on the trade route. It's best to sell it completely and stop him from even thinking about it!"

"Besides, if Jieshi City continues to develop, no one will be able to afford to buy things. Only the city lord can afford to pay. How can we do business just by looking at one person's face? Only royal craftsmen who serve the emperor should do so."

In the past, there were quite a few people coming to her shop, and occasionally some people from wealthy families would come to the shop to take a look and buy things.

But now with the annual tribute costs, many shops have to raise prices, and customers are basically limited to wealthy families, and they just wait for the occasional patronage of wealthy families.

If this trend continues, in two years, even the rich won't be able to afford the goods in the shop. With this kind of spare money, why not ask someone to go out and "buy" them for you? It'll probably be much cheaper.

When Chu Wuji heard this, he stopped talking and said:

"Then if I have time in the future, I'll go to Wenshui County and visit Sister Guan and Shopkeeper Guan!"

Sister Guan nodded happily. She looked around the shop and spent half the afternoon cleaning up. Basically, everything was ready. The account books, money, and jewelry were all packed.

I don't really want to take clothes with me, as that would make my luggage a bit too much. Also, clothes are quite expensive and not as valuable as hard currency like jewelry.

She said, "Master Chu, does your fox fairy lady like these rare and exotic clothes? Why don't you take them with you when you leave?"

Shopkeeper Guan mentioned the fox fairy in the letter, saying that a maid heard an invisible woman talking beside Chu Enren, so Sister Guan thought of taking advantage of the situation and expressing her respect to the fox fairy.

After Chu Wuji thought about it, she realized that it was possible that the Sky Fox Queen might like them. She immediately wanted to take a look at more of those rare, beautiful and interesting ones.

"Okay, I'll thank Sister Guan on behalf of my wife."

Chu Wuzhi used Shuilongyin as a shoulder pole and lifted up two large boxes with ease, which made a group of escorts exclaim in surprise.

Just talking about a box of clothes, it is indeed not too heavy, but these Western clothes are decorated with bells and gold and silver curtains, so they are actually quite heavy, and this is a sturdy thick wooden box.

When Chu Wuzhi picked it up, it seemed as if he didn't feel any weight. He didn't even use any strength in his arms, and he lifted it up with just two fingers.

Several escorts tried it, and they could lift a large box by themselves, but they couldn't lift two at the same time.

Wardfa asked quickly:

"Master Chu, what kind of magic is this? Can I learn it? With this magic, it will be easy for us to transport goods and travel!"

"It's not magic, it's just great strength."

Chu Wuzhi lifted up Shui Longyin with two fingers, and with his other hand, he held the knife and picked up a large jewelry box. The box flew into the air and then fell heavily. The Western Region escorts were afraid that the jewelry inside would be broken, so they hurried forward to catch it, but they saw Chu Wuzhi used his toes to stabilize the box.

"...?"

Several big men were stunned. They stepped forward to lift the box and found that it was still as heavy as before and had not become lighter. They saluted with admiration.

*

The large boxes that were cleared out from the shop were temporarily placed at the escorts' martial arts gym, where there was plenty of open space.

Just a few hours after Hailanzhijia's shop was put on the market, several wealthy businessmen from the neighboring city came to negotiate the price. In the end, the deal was completed on the same day, and the land deeds and house deeds were transferred.

Although the transaction price was extremely high, which could be described as a huge loss, the buyer still felt that he had picked up a great bargain. After all, the location of Hailan House is a prime area, and many people are jealous of it.

They all think that as long as they decorate their houses well and make them more luxurious, they will be able to make a profit next year!

Temporary bleeding is just for a better future!

Sister Guan received the silver note and felt it was incredible. She sighed:

"No wonder they said that selling the property deeds immediately revived the escort agency. This money is equivalent to almost ten years of profits!"

She felt a little guilty, as if she had done something shady.

At this time, several merchants walked over quickly. They were all shop owners in Jieshi City and had been old competitors for many years.

They came together to ask Sister Guan why she sold the shop for no reason, as it was obviously doing well.

Sister Guan said, "Go back to be with your family and focus on your life!"

"Okay, I wish you good luck in your future." Several merchants said goodbye and left.

Wardfa had sharp ears, and he could hear the people talking behind their backs from a distance. He spat and cursed:

"Bah! Those people are saying that you, Sister Guan, are too soft-hearted and short-sighted. You sold the most important shop for a moment of profit!"

Sister Guan didn't take it to heart and said:

"It's short-sighted, but I'm getting old and my energy is waning. It's good to focus on my family!"

......

Several people returned to the martial arts hall.

A blonde exotic beauty named Guanyin immediately stepped forward and asked the escorts to confirm the transfer of the shop, whether everything went smoothly, and whether anyone was targeting them for robbery.

The escorts from the Western Regions were very dissatisfied with this, and they didn't understand why their young lady had such concerns:

"Miss, you are looking down on us!"

"If we stand near Sister Guan, people will definitely think we are the robbers. How can it be someone else's turn to rob us?"