A flicker of approval crossed Shopkeeper Wu's eyes when he saw that the enormous profit hadn't gone to Lin He's head.
He glanced around, lowered his voice, and leaned closer. "Little brother, I won't hide it from you. The Li Household holds a share of the profits from this Drunken Immortal Pavilion without putting up any capital."
Lin He raised an eyebrow and understood instantly. "Oh, so you're handling this for your employers?"
"It's not just work-it's my future!" Shopkeeper Wu sighed, the flesh on his plump face quivering.
"The higher-ups in the Li Household urgently need a large number of Fanged Spotted Rabbits. They've issued strict orders. Whichever of us managers can collect the most, and the fastest, at this critical moment will really get to shine in front of our employers!"
"To tell you the truth, I've had my eye on the head shopkeeper's position at the county town's main branch for a long time. All I'm missing is that final push in performance."
Shopkeeper Wu rubbed his hands, his burning gaze fixed on the rabbit in Lin He's hand. "So consider this one tael of silver for your trouble a personal investment. If you catch any more of these things, little brother, make sure you bring them to me first. It's mutually beneficial!"
Got it. This fatty was chasing performance numbers and grinding his KPIs!
Lin He felt completely reassured.
Since this was just the capitalists' internal rat race for promotions, he might as well shear whatever wool he could off this sheep.
"Deal!" Lin He promptly handed over the rabbit.
Overjoyed, Shopkeeper Wu hurriedly waved over the assistant behind him to take it, reminding him over and over not to break its skin or draw blood.
Then, with great care, he drew a delicate little cloth pouch from his sleeve pocket and tipped out a fingernail-sized crystal, translucent milky white throughout.
The moment the crystal appeared, Lin He felt as though the surrounding air had grown fresher, with a faint coolness that seemed to open his pores.
So this was a Spirit Stone?!
Lin He suppressed his bumpkin-like excitement and accepted the Spirit Stone while trying to look worldly and knowledgeable. He also took the tael of broken silver Shopkeeper Wu offered, weighed it in his hand, and tucked it into his robe.
"A pleasure doing business, Shopkeeper Wu."
"A pleasure! Little brother, don't forget about me. If you have the goods, be sure to bring them here!"
Lin He waved and turned to leave.
Just then, a rich, meaty fragrance wafted straight into his nose. His stomach gave a perfectly timed growl.
Turning his head, Lin He saw glossy roast geese hanging beneath the sign advertising the Drunken Immortal Pavilion's old-well roast goose. His mouth watered at the sight.
"Shopkeeper, pack up one of your signature roast geese for me, please! The fattest one!" With soaring generosity, Lin He pulled out several dozen copper coins and slapped them on the counter.
Now that he had money, he had to improve the meals for that young miss at home who couldn't even move her legs!
Inside the ramshackle wooden house in Emerald Mountain Village.
With a bang, Lin He kicked open the tottering wooden door. Carrying an oil-paper parcel, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Little wife! Come welcome your husband! Tonight, we're feasting at the rich folks' expense!"
The grating scrape of a wooden wheelchair came from the inner room.
Su Qiuran wheeled herself out, her face still pale, but her peach-blossom eyes fixed on the oil-paper parcel in Lin He's hand.
"Quack! Quack!" Goudan emerged from some corner, the two mung-bean-sized eyes on his duck head gleaming too. Wagging his short black-and-yellow tail, he frantically rubbed against Lin He's calves.
"Shoo, shoo! None for you. What's a duck doing eating goose? That's slaughtering your own kind!" Lin He nudged Goudan aside with his toe, set the oil-paper parcel on the battered wooden table, and unwrapped it.
The glossy, fragrant roast goose instantly claimed every bit of air in the room.
Su Qiuran swallowed, then immediately looked up warily. "Lin He, did you rob Spring Restoration Hall? This roast goose must cost at least several dozen copper coins! Didn't we agree to keep that little bit of money from selling grass as startup capital?"
"Thinking a little too small, aren't you?" Lin He chuckled, dragged over a battered stool, and sat down. Reaching into his robe, he pulled out two things and slapped them heavily onto the table.
Smack!
A milky-white low-grade Spirit Stone and a little over one tael of broken silver gleamed alluringly in the lingering sunset.
Su Qiuran froze.
She looked at the Spirit Stone on the table, then at Lin He, so excited she nearly stood up from her wheelchair to perform a medical miracle. "Holy shit?! A Spirit Stone?! Where did you get it? Did you actually go rob a cultivator? Lin He, I'm warning you, these little bodies of ours can't take-"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Lin He hurriedly tore off a goose leg and stuffed it into Su Qiuran's hand to shut her up. "Is your husband the kind of man who doesn't use his brain? This is what they call 'even a pig can fly if it stands in the right updraft'!"
While Su Qiuran gnawed on the goose leg without a shred of decorum, Lin He gave her a complete account of his unusual encounters in town that day, particularly the Li Household's bounty and the inside story of Shopkeeper Wu's push for better performance.
By the time Su Qiuran finished listening, she had stopped chewing the goose meat. Her eyes darted about, her brain evidently already in high-speed processing mode.
Gulp. She swallowed the meat, grabbed a rag to wipe her mouth, and turned utterly serious. "Old Lin, we need to switch tracks and adjust our strategic direction immediately."
"Oh? What brilliant insight does Young Miss Su have?" Lin He asked as he tore off the other goose leg and ate.
"We originally planned on forcing Green Spike Grass to mature for a steady trickle of income because there wasn't any hugely profitable industry we could get into. But things are different now!"
Su Qiuran tapped the Spirit Stone on the table with an oily finger. "The Li Household's bounty can't last forever. The demand will only be there for this stretch of time. Once this updraft passes, earning Spirit Stones again will be as hard as climbing to heaven!"
"So?"
"So we can't waste our efforts on Green Spike Grass anymore!" Su Qiuran declared decisively. "Tomorrow, pull up every last stalk of top-quality Green Spike Grass left in the abandoned vegetable patch behind the house! Take it straight to Spring Restoration Hall and clear out our stock!"
Lin He paused. "Go all in at once? Won't Shopkeeper Qian suspect we're using cheats? Weren't you the one who said possessing jade makes an innocent man guilty, and that we should keep a low profile?"
"That was then; this is now." Su Qiuran displayed the cunning of a workplace elite from her previous life. "If he asks why you suddenly have so much, stick firmly to this story: you were wandering around the outskirts of the Immortals' Mass Grave when you stumbled across a treasure spot where Spiritual Qi had accumulated, covered in this mutated Green Spike Grass. You decided that since you'd started, you might as well go all the way, and scooped up the whole lot!"
Lin He's eyes lit up.
"Right! Just like that!" Su Qiuran snapped her fingers. "Tell him there won't be any more of this stuff, and leave him to decide what to do! We'll take the money and leave. From then on, our focus goes entirely ALL IN on catching Fanged Rabbits!"
"Done!" Lin He couldn't have been more eager.
Then he looked at the Spirit Stone on the table and pushed it toward Su Qiuran, his face full of anticipation. "Oh, right, hurry up and try absorbing this.
"Didn't you say the Essence of the Moon activated your Spirit Root? Cultivate directly with this low-grade Spirit Stone. Maybe by tomorrow morning you'll be able to stand up and show me how to wash your hair while doing a handstand."
Seeing Lin He's country-bumpkin look, Su Qiuran rolled her eyes hard and stared at him as though he were an idiot. "Handstand, my ass! Don't you know the common knowledge of the Cangming Realm? Qi Refinement cultivators can't directly absorb the spiritual power in Spirit Stones!"
"Huh? Aren't you supposed to hold it in your hand, silently recite a mnemonic, and then suck it dry with a whoosh?" Lin He scratched his head.
"Suck it dry, my ass!" Su Qiuran looked at him as though he were hopelessly illiterate and patiently explained, "Spirit Stones are stable, high-density crystals formed by Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi being compressed over millions of years! Their structure is extremely stable."
"They aren't like the free-floating Spiritual Qi in the air that can be absorbed freely."
Lin He was speechless. He really hadn't known this back in the Lin Household. "Then what's this thing good for? Can we only spend it as money?"
"For low-level Qi Refinement cultivators and mortals, Spirit Stones can't be consumed directly. They need to be converted first." Su Qiuran pointed at the cracked earth outside the door.
"Bury Spirit Stones in the soil and set up a formation, or simply crush them into fertilizer, to improve the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the soil. Then plant spirit rice seeds."
"As spirit rice grows, it gently absorbs the Spiritual Qi in the soil and converts it into nutrients and spiritual power that low-level cultivators and mortals can safely absorb."
"So!" Su Qiuran slapped the table, her momentum surging like a rainbow. "Our next tasks: clear out the Green Spike Grass, head into the mountains to catch rabbits, earn Spirit Stones, buy spirit seeds, and farm!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Lin He stood at attention and gave a rather dubious salute, casually tossing a piece of goose breast to Goudan, who was circling anxiously at his feet.
"Quack, quack!" Goudan caught it in one bite and happily ate, wagging his tail.