The deputy of the Cultivator Management Committee was a position that did not look like much, but actually held considerable power.
Nominally, this position was subordinate to the chairman, but in reality, it served as the chairman's secretary. In many districts, the deputy was even the true person in charge, and there were plenty of highly capable people in the role.
Chen Yu had considered getting in touch with him before, but he had not expected to meet him here.
Sitting on the sofa to one side, Chen Yu massaged Lian Qu's temples while asking Deputy Liu, "Deputy Liu, shouldn't you be judging the Dreamscape entries right now? What are you doing here?"
Deputy Liu scratched his head awkwardly. "Soliciting customers."
Chen Yu silently shifted farther back and casually began checking whether there was something wrong with the other man.
Noticing Chen Yu's strange gaze, Deputy Liu hurriedly waved his hands. "I mean soliciting customers in a perfectly respectable way. The judging process has already been finalized. Next comes publicity and building momentum—asking streamers to expand our influence and promote the event. But as you can see, Clear Spring City has no money."
"That is pretty obvious."
"So I've been guarding the only hotel, looking for anyone with money to discuss whether they might be willing to spare us a little."
"Did you get any?"
"No." Deputy Liu replied with a bitter expression, "Money has been hard to earn lately, and nobody grows money out of the ground. We only managed to scrape together a few hundred thousand after tremendous effort before, and it was gone after a little maneuvering."
"Oh... but didn't Clear Spring City sell quite a bit of land to the Xu Clan Group? Where did that money go?"
"Paying debts. The former Dietary Star Lord's cult