After exchanging a few pleasantries with Bai Mingde, Li Ping asked what had brought him here.
Bai Mingde hurriedly answered with deference, "Senior, the ancestor heard that you had moved into Immortal Peach Mountain. Knowing that you had no one to attend to things, he specifically ordered me to bring Lin'er here to see to your daily needs."
As he spoke, he pointed to the girl beside him, whose head was lowered, and said with a smile, "The ancestor personally selected Lin'er."
"Oh?"
Li Ping raised his eyebrows slightly, his gaze settling on the girl beside Bai Mingde once more. Just then, Bai Lin boldly lifted her head and looked at Li Ping with a hint of curiosity.
Their eyes met. Li Ping smiled and nodded, but a trace of panic appeared in Bai Lin's eyes, and she hurriedly lowered her head again.
Fairy Meng, Meng Qingyi, the Foundation Establishment cultivator from Azure Dragon Mountain whom Li Ping had met, also looked like a young girl and was no less beautiful than Bai Lin.
In reality, however, he was well over a hundred years old-old enough to be Li Ping's grandfather.
But as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his magical power slowed his aging. Combined with the special appearance-preserving effects of his cultivation method, this gave him the outward appearance of a lovely young girl.
When Li Ping spoke with him, he could clearly sense the passage of years reflected in his eyes.
Bai Lin was different. Her flustered movements, the sweet innocence in her eyes... she radiated youth from the inside out. After just a few glances, Li Ping felt his mood brighten.
What does the Bai Family mean by sending one of their younger members here to work for me? Li Ping silently pondered.
He guessed that perhaps the Bai Family hoped to draw closer to him this way, so that if they truly encountered a crisis in the future, they could use that connection to ask him to intervene.
Of course, if that was their goal, Li Ping could only say they were getting ahead of themselves.
The Bai Family had gifted him spiritwood, and he served as their Guest Elder in name, allowing them to make use of his standing as a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Their accounts were already settled.
So even if they were on good terms, he would never risk himself by intervening in the Bai Family's affairs.
In the end, however, Li Ping still agreed to let Bai Lin stay.
It was not because he lusted after her body. Rather, the following 999 reasons left him no choice but to keep her. (Specific reasons omitted.)
Bai Mingde left. Before his departure, Li Ping also sold the Bai Family a batch of the Qi-Boosting Pills and Qi-Gathering Pills he had refined.
As a Cultivation Family with several hundred cultivators, the Bai Family had always had a great demand for pills that could improve cultivation.
Being able to buy them from Li Ping was an unexpected delight for Bai Mingde.
Of course, he had not brought many spirit stones with him, so he would have to send someone to deliver the payment to Li Ping after returning to the lineage.
Once the pill transaction was concluded, Bai Mingde departed.
Only Li Ping and Bai Lin remained in the Cave Abode, which covered a thousand mu.
"Senior, what should I do?" Bai Lin stood before Li Ping and asked somewhat awkwardly.
Li Ping smiled and pointed to the dozen or so rooms on either side of the courtyard pond, intended for disciples and servants. "You can choose any of these rooms to live in."
After arranging Bai Lin's accommodation, Li Ping pointed to the ornamental plants growing in the courtyard. "Your next task is to dig up all these flowers and plants, then plant spirit herbs in their place. By the way, have you done any spirit planting work in your lineage?"
As he spoke, Li Ping looked at Bai Lin questioningly.
"Ah... I've learned to grow spirit rice, but I've never grown spirit herbs," Bai Lin answered, a little flustered.
"Never grown them..." Li Ping thought for a moment before continuing. "Then dig up all these flowers and plants first. After that, go to the Spirit Herb Garden in Fishing Square and ask a female cultivator named Cheng Yao to come plant the spirit herbs. You can learn from her while she's here."
As he spoke, Li Ping took fifty spirit stones from his Storage Bag and handed them to Bai Lin. "Take these spirit stones. Use them to buy spirit herb seeds and pay Cheng Yao."
"So many spirit stones?" Bai Lin could not help freezing for a moment. With her cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining, she did odd jobs within the lineage.
The Bai Family paid her fewer than twenty spirit stones a year as a reward. She also had to spend quite a few spirit stones on cultivation resources every year, leaving her with almost nothing to spare.
Now Li Ping had handed her two and a half years' wages all at once. Her shock was only natural.
Seeing her frozen in place, Li Ping thought nothing of it and simply urged her, "Go on."
Bai Lin hurriedly replied, "Yes, Senior."
Li Ping had seen through the Bai Family's intentions the moment they sent Bai Lin over.
He was no saint, and he had needs of his own, so naturally he would not reject the Bai Family's overture.
Besides, with such a large Cave Abode and his own time occupied by cultivation, he truly did need someone to help manage it.
Someone from the Bai Family was more dependable than a random person he might recruit in the Immortal City.
He had too many secrets, and someone who spent every day around him could easily discover them.
Thus, if Bai Lin earned his approval and stayed, he would definitely have to make her one of his own.
Just as in Li Ping's previous life, many companies' female accountants had close relationships with their bosses. Was it really because they possessed beauty that could topple kingdoms?
Not at all. It was simply that making them one of their own made them trustworthy.
Of course.
As a cultivator who prioritized keeping his head down, Li Ping did not want someone beside him who constantly stirred up trouble and brought it to his door.
Even if Bai Lin's looks met with his approval, he would not keep her if she turned out to be a brainless, greedy fool who liked stirring up trouble wherever she went.
He was not a man who let his little head control his big head.
As it happened, when he first moved into the Cave Abode on Immortal Peach Mountain,
Li Ping had already planned to dig up all the ornamental flowers and plants in the courtyard. That would free up a little over a hundred mu of spirit fields for growing spirit herbs, which would bring in a sizable income over time.
However, he had been busy all along and had not yet had time to take care of it.
Now, it could serve perfectly as a test for Bai Lin.
By watching how she went about the work, Li Ping could also gain a fairly comprehensive understanding of her.
Only then would he decide whether to let her stay.
Holding the "vast fortune" of fifty spirit stones in her hands, Bai Lin watched as Li Ping simply walked away.
The shock on Bai Lin's face gradually faded, replaced by the excitement of being trusted. She silently whispered to herself, Senior, thank you for your trust. I won't disappoint you.
Now, I'll clean my room first, then go dig up those weeds.
You can do it, Bai Lin!
In fact, when sending Bai Lin over, the Bo Family Ancestor and Bai Mingde had merely instructed her to attend carefully to Senior Li's needs and not anger him. They had said nothing else.
In their view, as long as Li Ping agreed to let Bai Lin stay, spending day after day with such a lovely, youthful girl would inevitably lead him to take her for himself. It was not as though he were a eunuch.
Anything more they said would only be painting legs on a snake.