No Wages

Qin Yudie said gratefully, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Xu. Yudie has gained a lot."

These two games of chess with Xu Yan had improved her more than two years of cultivation. Her understanding of the Great Dao was now completely different from before.

Xu Yan said, "Miss Qin, you are too kind."

This was the first time he had ever met someone so happy after being thoroughly defeated in chess. Did cultivators have some kind of masochistic tendency?

"Senior Xu, then Yudie will take her leave now," Qin Yudie said.

She needed time to process the insights into the Great Dao she had gained during their match, otherwise, she would continue playing chess with Xu Yan.

Xu Yan breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried Qin Yudie would want to play more. He couldn't wait for her to leave and said with a bright smile, "Alright, take care."

Seeing Xu Yan's brilliant smile, Qin Yudie was deeply moved. She hadn't expected Senior Xu to be so happy about guiding her. She absolutely couldn't disappoint him.

She said with a hint of reluctance, "Senior Xu, I will visit you again next time."

With that, she left, her heart full of emotion.

Xu Yan was speechless for a moment before sighing, "This girl is terrible at chess. It's really testing my ability to maintain grace and decorum while going easy on her."

He had expected cultivators to be formidable chess players, but it turned out that the challenge was how to go easy on her with elegance and poise.

After Qin Yudie left, Xu Yan sold two small wooden puppets, making a decent profit.

Afterward, he cleaned the area outside his shop. Just as he finished, a young boy ran over.

The boy was about fifteen or sixteen years old, it was Jiang Li.

Jiang Li's face was etched with anxiety as he said, "Divine Doctor Xu, thank you for helping my mother and me yesterday."

His mother had woken up yesterday. Afterward, he used the money Xu Yan gave him to buy a chicken and some nourishing food to stew for her. After eating, his mother's condition had improved significantly.

Seeing Jiang Li's expression, Xu Yan knew he needed something. He asked, "Go ahead, what is it you need from me?"

He wondered if Jiang Li was going to ask for more money. After all, fifty copper coins weren't much and could be spent in an instant if squandered.

However, he had only given him fifty copper coins because he heard Jiang Li would be paid in two days. He wanted Jiang Li to continue striving on his own after those two days passed.

Jiang Li stammered, "My mother knows it was you, Divine Doctor Xu, who saved us. She wants me to work for you as repayment."

He also wanted to work for Xu Yan. In Tianren City, Xu Yan was famous for both his calligraphy and painting, as well as his medical skills.

Xu Yan refused, "Go back. I don't need anyone to work for me. It's better for you to continue your job and earn money."

His small shop barely had anything to do, so he didn't need to hire someone specifically.

Jiang Li said softly, "I can clean your shop, Divine Doctor Xu. I saw you cleaning just now."

He really wanted to work for Xu Yan. His mother had told him that interacting with someone like Xu Yan would bring him benefits.

Xu Yan asked, "What about your job? How will you support your family without it?"

If Jiang Li was looking for an easy job to earn money, he would be disappointed.

However, Jiang Li did not disappoint him.

Jiang Li looked up at Xu Yan and mustered his courage, saying, "I will continue my original job and use my spare time to clean for you, Divine Doctor Xu."

He couldn't lose his job at the teahouse; it was his source of income. If he lost that job, his mother alone couldn't support the family.

Xu Yan neither immediately refused nor agreed. He said, "As you wish. Just make sure you manage it well."

He saw the determination in the young man's eyes and found it hard to refuse. Besides, just cleaning wouldn't have too much of an impact.

"Okay!"

Jiang Li took this as Xu Yan's tacit approval. He responded excitedly and then ran off happily.

He still had to go to work at the teahouse and would come back later to clean for Xu Yan.

Xu Yan stood under the cherry blossom tree in front of his shop, feeling inspired. He turned and entered the shop, then painted a picture.

The painting depicted a young boy kneeling in a dilapidated hut, his face filled with gratitude and determination, looking up at someone.

The person the boy knelt before was a young man.

The young man was dressed in snow-white robes, exuding an elegant demeanor, but his face was somewhat blurred.

Xu Yan was painting the scene from the previous day in Jiang Li's home, when Jiang Li had knelt before him and expressed his gratitude.

He had put a lot of effort into this painting, and it was very well done. The only imperfection was the blurred face of the young man in the painting.

This, however, created an imperfect beauty and a sense of mystery around the young man's face.

As the sun began to set, Jiang Li arrived.

He was here to clean. Xu Yan gave him a broom and told him to clean as he saw fit.

As Jiang Li swept the outer hall of the shop, he looked at the dazzling array of calligraphy and paintings, deeply moved and filled with even greater admiration for Xu Yan.

He began to clean with exceptional diligence, far more so than Xu Yan himself.

Meanwhile, the Dao rhythm emanating from the calligraphy and paintings in the shop quietly entered his body, transforming his physique.

In the following days, Qin Yudie would come to play chess with Xu Yan during the day, and Jiang Li would come to clean the shop at dusk.

Xu Yan's shop was no longer so quiet.

On the seventh day of Jiang Li cleaning for Xu Yan, a tall man secretly followed him.

Seeing Jiang Li cleaning for Xu Yan, the man openly walked out and mocked, "Jiang Li, I thought you were rushing off somewhere after work every day to earn big money. Turns out you're here cleaning a shop for someone."

Jiang Li, who was cleaning at the doorway, looked at the man who had appeared and said, "Xiao Sheng, does this have anything to do with you?"

This man was also a handyman at the teahouse, and he often bullied Jiang Li due to his imposing physique.

In the past, at the teahouse, Jiang Li had chosen to swallow his pride. But here, he didn't want to endure it anymore.

He was a man, and he wanted to stand tall in front of Xu Yan. Enduring bullying was not the act of a man.

Xiao Sheng didn't expect the usual pushover to have the courage to speak to him like this, and he became furious, "Jiang Li, did you take the wrong medicine? How dare you speak to me like this!"

He would never let Jiang Li stand up to him; he absolutely had to make Jiang Li fear him so that Jiang Li would obediently pay him protection money.

"What's going on?"

Hearing the commotion outside, Xu Yan walked out and asked.

He had been painting, preparing to paint a picture of a "Cat That Couldn't Catch Mice," when he heard the noise outside the shop and came out to see what was happening.

Xiao Sheng sized up Xu Yan from head to toe and said with a lewd grin, "How much are you paying Jiang Li? Why don't you give the money to me instead? I can do a better job than him."

As long as he could make money, he was willing to do it. No one would turn down money, and snatching Jiang Li's job, he was even more delighted.

Xu Yan looked at Xiao Sheng and said calmly, "I'm not paying Jiang Li. Please leave."