The little girl

Su Mo tousled the little girl's hair, then withdrew his hand under her disgruntled gaze.

The little girl climbed onto Su Mo's rocking chair. It was roomy enough for her to lie on her side beside him. Although she called him Young Master, she also thought of him as her older brother. In this vast world, they had only each other to lean on.

Su Mo stretched out his arm for her to rest her head on. Gazing at the night, soft as water, and the stars filling the sky, he sighed softly. "Little girl... what should I do if I don't want to become an official anymore?"

The little girl turned her head and looked at Su Mo's profile.

"Then don't become one!"

She could not remember who she was, where she had come from, or where she was going. All she knew was that Su Mo alone treated her well, so she would treat him well too.

Whatever Su Mo said went... the little girl's thoughts were utterly simple.

"But... if you don't become an official, what will we do?" After thinking for a moment, she asked... We don't have much silver left.

"Go cultivate immortality?" Su Mo sounded a little uncertain.

The little girl felt Su Mo's forehead... He doesn't have a fever!

"Why are you talking nonsense again?"

Su Mo swatted the little paw off his forehead and pursed his lips... How could a sparrow know the ambitions of a swan?

"Did you hear that flute earlier?" Su Mo asked.

"I did!" The little girl nodded.

"Was it good?" Su Mo looked pleased with himself... Go on, praise me. That was your young master playing.

"The zither sounded better!" The little girl was honest.

Su Mo fell silent. He reached out and rubbed her head, mussing her lovely hair again.

...Little brat. No taste!

Su Mo swallowed all the things he had been about to say.

Feeling her hair become a mess again, the little girl's face filled with resistance, but she made no attempt to fight back.

"Tomorrow, I'll take you to sell calligraphy and paintings!"

"All right!"

That night, master and servant lay nestled together in the rocking chair until morning...

The next day...

"Young Master, why did you only bring one painting?"

Su Mo led the little girl down the street. Looking at the single painting in his hand, she asked in confusion.

Yesterday, Su Mo had said he would take her to sell paintings today, yet he had brought only one. The little girl suspected Su Mo's motives. He hardly looked as though he intended to set up a stall.

"Do you remember the essentials of marketing I told you about?" Lin Mo asked with an air of profound wisdom.

"Products, speculation, honesty, and service," the little girl answered.

Su Mo shook his head.

"Those are the four essentials of doing business!"

The little girl thought for a moment, then shook her head. She did not know.

"Product positioning and scarcity marketing!" Su Mo explained... In his previous life, a technology company that sold "coarse grains" had mastered this art.

The little girl did not understand.

Su Mo glanced at her and began explaining patiently with a smile... She really knows how to play along!

"Let me ask you: where do you think we should set up a stall?" Su Mo asked.

"Somewhere with lots of people!" the little girl said confidently.

Su Mo nodded and continued questioning her.

"Where are there lots of people?"

"Outside a gambling den!" she answered, still just as confidently.

Su Mo froze at her reply. "What? You set up outside a gambling den the last two days?"

The little girl nodded innocently.

Su Mo immediately realized what the two paintings she had sold for a pittance had been used for...

A gambler who had lost all his silver had simply bought a painting to take home as an explanation for where the money had gone. He could lie about the price and say, "I spent it all on this painting." Buying a painting to take home was a pretty ridiculous story too, but it was better than having no excuse at all.

Su Mo sighed mournfully... Let's hope their furious families haven't torn those two paintings up for kindling.

"That's a clear mismatch between your product positioning and your target customers. Think about the people outside a gambling den... they're either there to gamble their silver away or leaving after losing it all. Would people like that buy our calligraphy and paintings?" Su Mo explained helplessly.

The little girl nodded in sudden understanding.

"Then tell me, who should we sell our paintings to?" Su Mo continued.

"Scholars!" After pondering for a moment, her eyes lit up.

Su Mo nodded, then shook his head. "Right... but not entirely. We can sell to scholars and merchants."

Scholars understood paintings. Merchants might not, but they had money and liked showing off...

The little girl thought that made sense.

"Then where do you think we'll find the most scholars and merchants?" Su Mo guided her patiently.

The little girl shook her head.

"Outside the Riverboat Pavilion of the pleasure boat!"

The little girl nodded, but then felt something was off.

"Young Master, you just want to come listen to songs at the Riverboat Pavilion, don't you?"

"You little..." Su Mo waved his sleeve, the very picture of righteousness.

...Why did you have to blurt out the truth!

The little girl's face was full of suspicion. She kept feeling that her young master's intentions were not so innocent.

"Anyway, just watch me work my magic in a moment..." Su Mo said helplessly.

The little girl nodded emphatically.

Su Mo led the little girl all the way to the entrance of the Riverboat Pavilion on the pleasure boat.

Finding an empty spot, he spread out a stall mat and placed his sole painting scroll on the expansive mat. He did not unroll it, simply leaving it there tied shut. Then he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to rest, wearing an inscrutable expression... he hardly looked like he had come to sell a painting.

The little girl copied Su Mo, sitting beside him with her eyes closed, though such an expression looked rather comical on her young face.

This curious sight looked especially novel and eye-catching in front of the Riverboat Pavilion.

Before long, a wealthy merchant with a bulging belly approached. Looking at Su Mo's stall, he asked curiously, "Young fellow, are you planning to sell this painting?"

Su Mo slowly opened his eyes and said calmly, "I follow my whims. I may sell it, or I may not!"

The wealthy merchant grew even more puzzled. "But how can anyone see it if you don't unroll it?"

"Unrolling a painting doesn't guarantee anyone will recognize its worth. Keeping it rolled doesn't mean someone fated for it won't come along! Let fate decide!" With an air of unfathomable wisdom, Su Mo closed his eyes again, seemingly unwilling to bother with the man before him and indifferent to whether the painting sold.

Their exchange immediately attracted some of the people nearby.

"How can he sell it without unrolling it?"

"Exactly. If it's just blank paper inside, you'd lose every penny."

"Who would dare buy it without seeing the painting?"

"Maybe it's terribly painted, and he's trying to trick someone this way."

"I'm not so sure... there might be some hidden mystery inside."

Passersby and nearby stallholders began discussing it, drawing even more onlookers.

As the crowd grew larger, the merchant seemed to feel he was losing face. He said, "All right, keep it rolled if you like. How about I buy this painting for Ten Silver?"

Su Mo said nothing, merely shaking his head slightly.

The crowd immediately broke into discussion again, some whispering to one another while others spoke aloud.

"He won't even sell it for Ten Silver?"

"Could there really be a whole hidden world inside?"

"I doubt it. Maybe he's just afraid the buyer will open it right here and embarrass him!"

"That's possible too..."

"..."

The merchant had approached out of curiosity at first, then made an offer out of competitiveness. Now he felt as though a hundred claws were scratching at his heart.

"Twenty copper coins!"

On the surface, Su Mo remained detached and shook his head, neither rejoicing over material gain nor grieving over personal loss. Inside, however, he was almost doubled over with laughter... Where did such a cooperative NPC come from? He's just like an extra I hired!

Seeing Su Mo shake his head again, the crowd's discussion grew louder, and a few more busybodies gathered to watch the spectacle.

People in Capital City really do have too much time on their hands...