A Seed

A Seed

That evening, after Jiang Ning finished tempering his body, he took a walk around the village factory.

To his regret, the place had already been deserted.

After Jiang Ning repeatedly targeted him, the young man, Yan Bo, gave up his wrongdoing and moved the entire factory out.

Jiang Ning's life had lost a bit of its amusement.

He stood on the dam top, gazing at the village with only scattered lights still burning.

"Too weak."

This had merely been a spur-of-the-moment idea, something he handled casually. From beginning to end, no one had noticed, and he had dealt with his opponent with ease.

Even in his previous life, after entering society, accomplishing something like this would have been extremely difficult for him.

Jiang Ning glanced at his phone. It was only eight in the evening.

"I'll sell two gold bars first and top up my balance. Otherwise, I won't have money to buy the herbal merchant's Soul Submergence Incense."

Jiang Ning had originally planned to go to Qiaozhou City, find an uninhabited place, and sell the gold bars there. But on second thought, he felt it was too troublesome.

That would not completely eliminate the risk. He might as well go to the same pawnshop as last time. A colleague from his previous life had vouched for the owner's character, and it was close by. As long as he planted a Divine Sense Imprint, everything would remain under his control.

Besides, Jiang Ning could no longer wait to rapidly advance his cultivation. If he wanted to cultivate spirit herbs, he had to lease a treasured piece of land rich in Spiritual Energy, with mountains and water.

He had already chosen the location. It was Tiger Perch Mountain, beside Qingyu Lake. The place had mountains and water, clear air, and an elegant environment. A villa district had been built halfway up the mountain.

It was where the wealthy of Yuzhou City lived, and it was quite famous. Pedestrians at the foot of the mountain often saw all kinds of luxury cars coming and going.

For an ordinary person, living in the Tiger Perch Mountain Villa District would already make them a winner in life.

After graduating, Jiang Ning had once dreamed of buying a villa on Tiger Perch Mountain. Yet after working for several years, he had not even come close to saving a down payment.

Even now, a villa there could not be bought without several million yuan. Even if Jiang Ning sold every gold bar dug out from Xue Yuantong's family's hidden reserves, he still could not afford one.

And Jiang Ning did not merely want to buy a villa. He wanted the best-located detached villa, then lease a stretch of woodland, set up a Spiritual Qi Grand Array, and cultivate spirit herbs. Without a certain degree of local status, none of that would be easy to accomplish.

He planned to refine some spirit medicines, introduce and sell them in the modern world, gain wealth and status, then secure a Tiger Perch Mountain villa and the land leasing rights.

Given Jiang Ning's age and current identity, it was not particularly convenient for him to act personally. Besides, those matters were too tedious and would greatly slow his cultivation.

It was like a cultivation sect. The disciples busy handling everyday affairs were usually cultivators with no hope of advancing further, while the powerful elders generally spent years in secluded cultivation and only stepped in when major events struck the sect.

Jiang Ning preferred controlling things from behind the scenes. That way, he could enjoy greater benefits.

For the time being, he had settled on two external representatives—so-called "white gloves."

However, both were still under observation. One of them was the pawnshop's owner, Shao Shuangshuang.

He would first lure her in, then use that to control her and make her work for him.

Jiang Ning already had a preliminary idea. What relationship in this world was more secure than one built on control over life itself?

With that thought, Jiang Ning no longer hesitated. He used the Aura Concealment Art and headed toward the city center.

More than ten minutes later.

It was not yet half past eight, and the pawnshop was still open.

Shao Shuangshuang sat in a chair, her pale fingers tapping at the keyboard as she controlled the character on the screen to move and attack.

The pawnshop stayed open until ten every night before closing for the day.

There were usually few customers, but that was simply how the business worked. One successful deal could be enough to live on for ten days or half a month.

Relying on the connections left behind by her elders, she earned an average of a little over a hundred thousand yuan a year. After all, the shop belonged to her family, so there was no rent to pay.

A little over a hundred thousand yuan might seem like a lot in Yuzhou City, but it was not enough to make anyone truly rich.

Moreover, working in a pawnshop was boring and stifling, doing nothing but wearing down one's drive.

There was no helping it. Her older brother had been unwilling to take over the shop, so she had to do it. Otherwise, the connections her family had maintained for so many years would be lost, and that would be a shame.

Shao Shuangshuang had initially spent several years in Linzhou City. She had studied medicine and worked as a nurse. It was exhausting and difficult work, with rotating shifts, frequent night duty, and scoldings from patients and their families.

After turning twenty-five, she felt she could no longer endure it. Her elders' health had also worsened, so she simply returned to her hometown of Yuzhou and took over the pawnshop.

From then on, she lived a comfortable life. Yet she could see the end of that life at a glance. She was already twenty-seven, nearing thirty. Most likely, she would eventually find a man to marry and live the life of a wife and mother.

Shao Shuangshuang felt a little lost and afraid. Though she was already twenty-seven and capable of standing on her own, she still felt like a child.

She had considered giving up her current life and venturing into a big city. She was unwilling to remain in such a small place, but she had no special skills, and making a living elsewhere was not so easy. Most likely, she would end up worse off than she was now.

Shao Shuangshuang occasionally met with her old friends. One of them had also studied medicine, then passed the exam to join the Health Bureau. Her job was leisurely and her life comfortable. When Shao Shuangshuang confided her thoughts, her friend did not quite approve, believing that a peaceful, safe life was enough.

As Shao Shuangshuang let her thoughts run wild, her fingers never stopped tapping at the keyboard. Then the glass door opened.

She looked up and saw a tall, slender youth walk in. Shao Shuangshuang knew him. He was Jiang Ning.

Not long ago, she had made a tidy sum off him—several thousand yuan.

Jiang Ning sat down in a wooden chair and lightly turned his palm over. Two gleaming gold bars appeared in his hand.

Shao Shuangshuang's expression changed. She scrutinized Jiang Ning, trying to find something suspicious about him.

"They were passed down by my ancestors. Are you buying?" Jiang Ning asked calmly.

Shao Shuangshuang looked at Jiang Ning, then at the gold bars. She was somewhat worried that he had stolen them, or taken them from his family without permission. Taking stolen goods would bring her a great deal of trouble.

After thinking for a few seconds, Shao Shuangshuang still decided to take them.

First, if she resold these gold bars through her channels, the profit would equal two months of income. Second, she worked in the pawn business, and this line of work greatly tested one's judgment. One had to judge not only the goods, but the person as well.

Only then could she assess the customer's confidence and take the item at the lowest possible price.

She had seen people bring stolen jewelry to pawn before. Their eyes darted around, and they became nervous at the slightest disturbance, like powder kegs ready to explode at a spark. They clearly lacked confidence.

When facing such customers, Shao Shuangshuang generally refused to take their goods. Her family might have some foundation in Yuzhou City, but they could not withstand that sort of trouble.

Jiang Ning was different. He looked like a youth, yet his demeanor was remarkably steady, without the slightest trace of fear.

As the saying went, "The child is father to the man." From the way many young children behaved, barring major misfortune later on, one could roughly tell what they would achieve in the future.

And in Shao Shuangshuang's eyes, if Jiang Ning continued steadily on his path, he was bound to accomplish great things.

Just like last time, Shao Shuangshuang took out a full set of tools and began weighing, measuring, checking the purity, and testing for impurities.

After a series of tests, there was nothing wrong with the gold bars.

"The international gold price hasn't fluctuated much. It's still 310 yuan per gram. Because of the purity and other factors, we'll use the same price as last time—270. How does that sound?"

Shao Shuangshuang asked.

Jiang Ning nodded. "No problem."

He did not haggle over that small difference. He would need Shao Shuangshuang to work for him in the future, so what did it matter if he let her profit a little?

"The two gold bars weigh 620 grams in total. That comes to 167,400 yuan. I'll round it up to 168,000."

"Cash or bank card?" She glanced at Jiang Ning.

"Cash," Jiang Ning said.

"Wow, that's quite a lot to carry!" Shao Shuangshuang smiled. Her eyes were Phoenix Eyes, though slightly larger than usual. There was a tiny tear mole beneath one eye, giving her a special charm when she smiled.

The grooves beneath her eyes were faintly dark. Rather than detracting from her beauty, they made her seem more real. It was obvious that she often stayed up late.

"Please wait a moment."

After informing him, Shao Shuangshuang walked deeper into the room, pushed open a door, and locked it from the inside.

She pulled open a wooden cabinet, revealing a silvery-white safe. After entering the password, she opened it to reveal stacks of cash inside.

Quite a few customers who pawned items requested cash payments, so Shao Shuangshuang usually kept some cash on hand.

She took out a black Adidas backpack, filled it with more than half the cash, then carried the bag outside.

In front of Jiang Ning, Shao Shuangshuang ran the cash through a counting machine once and confirmed that the amount was correct.

She handed the Adidas backpack to Jiang Ning. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Jiang Ning slung the bag over one shoulder and pushed open the glass door. Before leaving, he suddenly turned back and said:

"Don't eat too much black sesame. It's not very good for your health. If you're losing hair, you should get more sleep and relax."

With that, Jiang Ning left directly.

He had merely planted a seed and waited for it to take root and sprout.