Big-Spending Neighbors, a Missed Opportunity

Fang Shu's thoughts drifted to the scene he had witnessed on the main road when he returned to Guling Town.

"Could it be that this fellow's daughter really encountered some misfortune while she was out?" he wondered to himself.

Without making a sound, he looked at his second uncle Yu Le and the talisman master Li Yuan beside him, and began to chat with them, half casually and half asking questions.

Upon hearing this, the talisman master Li Yuan whispered, "Ask this steward Xiao Hu. I heard that his daughter has been afflicted by Evil Method and is seriously ill. She is currently being kept alive by medicine, and it can't be ordinary medicine; I've heard it's a precious medicine."

"My daughter is about to die, what's the point of buying a house? Of course, I have to find a way to make money to prolong her life."

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu's eyes flickered slightly, and he thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

However, he only glanced at Xiao Hu, who always had a smile on his face, before looking away and ignoring the matter.

This matter has nothing to do with him, and he's a stranger, so there's no need to worry about it too much.

Li Hou'er, who came with him, heard this, clicked his tongue, and suddenly thought of something, saying:

"And who is our neighbor? Are we just going to let him continue selling housing tickets like this?"

The Fang and Li families each occupy two side rooms. Dou Sufu has already entrusted them with her money to help buy the back room. Now, only the main room facing south, which is in Xiao Hu's possession, is still unsettled.

Upon hearing this, the talisman master Li Yuan looked helpless. "What can we do? They're desperate for money to save their lives. You can't just stop them from selling, can you? If you don't allow it, they won't listen to you."

Second Uncle Yu Le squinted at Xiao Hu:

"Don't worry, Manager Xiao will probably sell the housing voucher to a generous family, and won't find such a mean and stingy buyer."

Upon hearing this, Li Hou'er's eyes darted around the room, and he muttered to himself:

"It would be great if more daughters came to live in the courtyard; there are already two households with four bachelors each."

These words immediately drew wide-eyed stares from Fang Shu and the others.

Because Xiao Hu was selling housing vouchers, and no one wanted to tear up the joint insurance policy, they could only wait.

As a result, an hour or two passed, and Xiao Hu was still shamelessly wandering around the Paper Workshop, probably having already questioned every Immortal cultivator who came to pick up bargains.

Seeing that the Fang Shu was uninteresting, Fang Shu simply sat down on the edge of the crowd and practiced his stance training, while simultaneously pondering the contents of the Gu technique in his mind, repeatedly digesting and absorbing them.

Although the Dao Register helps with the analysis, and the analyzed content is like an enlightenment that allows him to understand it intuitively, Fang Shu always digests and absorbs the analyzed content on his own, and marks the key points according to his own learning.

This approach allows him to accept the teachings of the Dao Register without rigidly following them, making him more familiar with various principles and more likely to have flashes of inspiration.

For example, right now, as he pondered the formula for the Breath-Holding Insect gu that he had just finished analyzing a few days ago, many ingenious ideas for refining gu came to mind.

"The Breath-Holding Insect can not only conceal its breath and hide its scent, but also reduce body heat and decrease air consumption, allowing a person to hide in mud or pools, much like a turtle or snake."

Fang Shu thought to himself, "Perhaps to refine this insect, I should choose a pool of water, making the environment damp and dark..."

As he was lost in thought, Li Hou'er suddenly leaped up beside him.

Xiao Hu, with a broad smile, walked towards the group, occasionally speaking to an old woman beside him.

"Don't worry, Immortal cultivator, when I grabbed this housing ticket, I was planning to buy it for my daughter!"

To be honest, there was actually a separate house with its own courtyard, but it was too cramped, looked like a coffin, and was too expensive, so I settled for the best main house.

This fellow patted his chest and boasted, pointing at Fang Shu and the others. "Look at them, these are all top disciples of the martial arts school. The other one living in the back room is a girl. Now that you and your grandson have moved in, the number of people in the courtyard is just right!"

The old woman Xiao Hu spoke to was probably the wealthy man who paid a high price for the house, and would likely become Fang Shu and the others' future neighbors.

The old woman came over and asked the talisman master Li Yuan and her second uncle Yu Le if there were any discrepancies between what they said and what the man surnamed Xiao had said.

After a brief inquiry, the old woman showed a satisfied expression and then handed over the Talisman Coins to Xiao Hu in front of everyone.

As for the exact amount exchanged, the two kept their backs turned and exchanged the money inside their sleeves, so outsiders had no idea.

But Xiao Hu received the Talisman Coins, his face showing a hint of gratitude. He nodded to Fang Shu and the others before leaving, clearly indicating that the price was quite high.

While the elders were talking, Fang Shu and Li Hou'er stood aside, their eyes mainly on the woman behind the old woman.

The woman had delicate features and was quite young, appearing younger Fang Shu and Li Hou'er. She wore a simple ponytail and looked very lively.

The other party was also sizing up Fang Shu and Li Hou'er.

Suddenly, the old woman spoke up, "Lulu, you've also come to meet Uncle Li and Uncle Yu."

"Hello, Uncle Li and Uncle Yu!" The woman stepped forward obediently and greeted them with a cupped hand.

They then exchanged names.

Both the grandmother and granddaughter share the surname Jiao, so their relationship is indeed that of grandmother and granddaughter.

The old woman didn't reveal her name, only asking Fang Shu and the others to call her "Old Madam Jiao." As for her granddaughter, her full name was "Jiao Lulu."

The atmosphere was pleasant when the three families met for the first time.

After chatting for a few minutes, they headed towards the place to pay and draw lots.

Soon, the price for building the house and laying the tiles was announced. The courtyard house that Fang Shu and the others wanted to build would cost a total of 500,000 Talisman Coins!

The left and right wing rooms are priced at 100,000 and 110,000 respectively, while the rear room, being near the entrance, is small and has a latrine in one corner, and is only 50,000.

As for the main house, because it is large and has good feng shui, there is also a small side room that belongs solely to the main house. It can be converted into a latrine or something similar, which would cost 240,000.

Upon hearing the price, even though Fang Shu and the others had anticipated it, they still felt a pang of pain in their teeth.

Even Yu Le, the second uncle who was originally quite confident in Fang Shu, trembled with hesitation.

The Li father and son immediately launched into a tirade of insults:

"Black! It's fucking black!"

"It would take thirty years of not eating or drinking and selling blood to buy this dilapidated house, which is completely devoid of furniture and windows."

Fang Shu was also stunned for a moment upon hearing this.

He let out a long breath.

Not long ago, he thought that killing thieves and robbing others could make him a fortune, but now it seems that the people in the market are much more cunning, able to empty his pockets of all his ill-gotten gains in one go.

However, Fang Shu was only slightly moved before regaining his composure. On the contrary, the Li father and son continued to mutter incessantly.

The cashier, impatient, said, "What are you trying to rip off me for? Do you want it or not? If not, get the next one!"

"Yes, of course!" the Li father and son readily agreed.

After confirming that Fang Shu and his group were going to pay, the shopkeeper pointed to a group of merchants nearby. "Over there, people exchanging Black Ticket, lending money, and offering collateral. Hurry up."

The rules in Guling Town were similar to those in Fang Shu's dream, with elaborate schemes for lending money. However, Fang Shu didn't intend to get involved in this, to avoid trouble.

Moreover, the reason he bought this house was to provide a place for his second uncle Yu Le, to live out his retirement.

He didn't want his second uncle to be kicked out of the house one day because he couldn't return home for a while, his debts were piling up, and he was unable to return.

However, Fang Shu didn't pull out 110,000 yuan in cash all at once, lest he expose his sudden wealth and attract unwanted attention.

He found a pawnshop clerk nearby, took out the plain Pure-Moon Treasure Jade he had on him, and pawned it.

While Fang Shu and his nephew were haggling with the pawnshop clerk, the Li father and son were also busy with their own affairs.

Talisman Master Li Yuan pulled out about ten black Talisman Coins Black Ticket from his body; these Black Ticket belonged to different shops.

He asked Li Hou'er to help him exchange the money for Talisman Coins from each household. The smallest transaction was only about a hundred coins. Then he collected all the money together.

Finally.

Fang Shu and his nephew negotiated a price with the old pawnbroker and set a time limit for the pawn. Once the time limit was exceeded, the pawn would become a dead pawn, and not a single penny would be paid more.

Both parties signed and sealed the document.

The old magistrate took the jade pendant and immediately shouted loudly:

"Secondhand item, Pure-Moon Treasure Jade, weighing two taels, with a clean provenance, from the Seven Fragrance Tower, can be put on credit! Filed!"

With a snap, five Black Ticket Talisman Coins Black Ticket from the same shop were placed in front of Fang Shu, who then calmly handed Talisman Coins over to his second uncle Yu Le.

The second uncle accepted the Black Ticket with a pained expression, as if afraid of crushing them. He kept glancing at Fang Shu, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

Fang Shu smiled and took out several more Black Ticket from his sleeve, handing them to his second uncle and gesturing for him to go forward and pay the money to receive the spirit contract.

When Fang Shu was selling Pure-Moon Treasure Jade, the shouts of the old peddler attracted the attention of many people at the scene.

In particular, when the last three words "Seven Fragrance Tower" were called out, it attracted the attention of several people not far away.

These people were all women. The woman in the lead was plump and dressed in gold and jade, clearly the head of the household. Beside her were several young women of various appearances.

"Mother, it's the jade pendant from our building!" a woman exclaimed.

Another woman complained, "This is our restaurant's jade pendant. How could that person be so heartless as to replace it with something worthless?"

How tacky!

One of the women even looked up sharply, staring intently at where Fang Shu and the others were.

If Fang Shu turned around, he would find that this woman was none other than Xiang Xingwu had caused trouble in the Solitary Gu Hall.

The voluptuous woman was none other than the Seven Fragrance Tower.

Hearing the shouts, the Seven Fragrance Tower's eyes flickered, and she smiled as she looked at the Xiang Xingwu beside her:

"It's that brat from the Solitary Gu Hall. He must be short of money right now, and he even had to sell the apology gifts I sent him."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Xingwu lowered her head and remained silent.

Unexpectedly, the Seven Fragrance Tower suddenly said:

"I've come today to prepare dowries and betrothal gifts for you sisters. Xingwu, if you're willing, go forward and use your share to redeem that boy's jade and lend him a sum of money for free."

Even if it doesn't become a beautiful story, it can at least completely settle the past and create a positive connection. What do you think?

Upon hearing this, the other daughters all looked at Xiang Xingwu with wide, sparkling eyes.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Xingwu looked surprised. She pondered the matter carefully, her face showing a moment of difficulty.

Using a property to forge so-called illusory connections, even if the other party has considerable potential, seems too risky to her.

After all, this is gambling with your own things, not with someone else's.

Seeing Xiang Xingwu remain silent, the Seven Fragrance Tower turned her gaze to her remaining daughters.

The daughters quickly looked away, none of them showing any interest.

This left the Seven Fragrance Tower with nothing but a soft sigh.

She began to consider whether she should step forward and take care of it herself.

However, because she wanted to seize this rare opportunity to buy property for her children, she was very short of money. If she wanted to scrape together an extra tens of thousands of dollars, she would have to sell her belongings.

"Forget it, after all, the old grudges have been settled, and we owe each other nothing. Besides, it was just a vague and uncertain good deed, and the price was too high."

The Seven Fragrance Tower also suppressed this thought and did not consider it further.

Meanwhile, Fang Shu and his group...

The Fang and Li families finally managed to scrape together the money and reluctantly paid it.

The third person, Old Madam Jiao, kept a low profile and didn't bother to exchange the Black Ticket. Instead, she simply took one out of her sleeve.

With just one Black Ticket, the cashier actually gave her 240,000 Talisman Coins in change.

This grandfather and grandson were surprisingly quick to hand over a Black Ticket worth 500,000 coins!

This display of wealth truly astonished Fang Shu and his Fang Shu, as well as the Li family father and son, leaving them speechless and marveling at its extravagance!

If she hadn't failed to secure a suitable housing ticket, Old Madam Jiao would likely have owned an entire courtyard house, making her a truly wealthy household.

The money is in order, and the spiritual contract has been obtained.

Dou Sufu's case also had the formalities completed.

The four families gathered together, drew lots that same day to determine the location of the land, and started building houses and covering them with tiles overnight.

With the help of Immortal cultivator secret techniques, excavation can begin in a day, foundation can be laid in a day, and a new room can be built in a day.

Within seven days.

A brand-new, sturdy house with blue bricks and tiles sits steadily in the center of Guling Town.

After the tiled house was built, the inside was empty, and the smell of the tiles still lingered. My second uncle Yu Le, moved in overnight, ostensibly to help look after the house.

He didn't feel embarrassed at all; on the contrary, he was so happy that his cheeks almost twisted out of shape from laughing.