Chapter 93: Talent of the Fatty
When he landed, his legs carried on the momentum and continued running for a few meters. In the next instant, he revealed a horrifying expression as he looked at his own legs running.
He turned his head around; the instant the electrical light faded, he saw Xiao Chen’s ice cold gaze.
Xiao Chen fired out a stream of purple flames and burned the body to ashes. After that, he packed up some stuff in his room and immediately left the courtyard.
The next morning, Xiao Chen came out of a desolate inn. He was wearing a black cloak, shrouding his entire body in shadows as he slowly made his way to Liushang Pavilion.
A get-up like Xiao Chen’s was not too strange amongst cultivators. Thus, when he walked over to Liushang Pavilion, it did not attract anyone’s attention.
He casually found an empty table and took a seat. Xiao Chen called the waiter over, “Please get your boss to come over. Tell him there is some business for him.”
The waiter looked at Xiao Chen and found it funny, Can the boss of Liushang Pavilion simply be seen by anyone when they want to?
“My apologies, our guest. I believe that you do not understand our rules.”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and took out a 500 silver taels banknote, as well as a wooden carving. He handed them to the waiter saying, “Please do me this favor and run this errand. When your boss sees this wooden carving, he will not blame you.”
The waiter opened his eyes wide in glee as he received the silver banknotes, “Esteemed guest is a frank and straightforward person. I will go now, but I can’t say for sure if the boss will see you or not.”
Xiao Chen picked up the tea cup on the table and gently took a sip. Smiling as he said, “That’s fine, so long as you report the results to me. Whether it succeeds or not, I will not blame you.”
Not long after the waiter left, the heavy footsteps of Jin Dabao could be heard coming from the second floor. Seeing Xiao Chen’s get-up, he was secretly astonished before he came running over gleefully, “Brother Xiao, why are you dressed up like this? Are you on the run? If you are, you can come and find me. I have my ways. Where do you want to go? Just name it.”
Xiao Chen said nothing; his right hand, which was holding the teacup, suddenly made a move and with a ‘shua’ sound he grabbed the wooden carving in the fatty’s hands back. He placed the wooden carving down, and then he grabbed the teacup that was slowly falling.
Jin Dabao’s eyes narrowed and carefully evaluated Xiao Chen. He was astonished in his heart. He did not expect that Xiao Chen would be so fast when he made his move. He was carelessly caught off guard.
Xiao Chen put the teacup down and said indifferently, “Brother Dabao, you don’t have to worry about the matter of me being on the run. I am only here to talk business. I am a straightforward person. I only have one question for you... Are you willing or not?”
Jin Dabao had a smile on his face again, “Of course! Why not?”
Xiao Chen said, “Then let’s talk about the details. The wooden carving you saw the last time... I will not be carving that again. The carving that I would cooperate with you on is the one you just saw.”
Fatty Jin frowned and said in a manner that seemed like he was somewhat put on the spot, “I say, Brother Xiao, for these two wooden carvings, the difference in price for with and without the additional clothes is not just one or two times.”
“Then we are at an impasse. I have my bottom line. I will not sell the carving of Princess Ying Yue with just her bra on. Goodbye,” Xiao Chen got up, and then proceeded to walk toward the door.
Fatty Jin hurriedly got up and held Xiao Chen back. Smiling, he said, “Brother Xiao, don’t be in such a rush. Did I reject it? I was deliberating on the price. Sit down and talk. Please sit.”
Xiao Chen smiled to himself in his heart; he had anticipated that this fatty would be tempted by this transaction. He had accurately guessed that Jin Dabao would not let him leave just like that. When dealing with such calculative people, he could not take his conscience into account. He had to show off his strong side, or else he would be the one suffering a disadvantage.
Seeing that Xiao Chen sat down once again, Fatty Jin said, “Brother Xiao, how about this? You are a very straightforward person, so I will not beat around the bush. We will follow the plan mentioned previously. You supply the goods, and I’ll handle the sales. After that, we will split the profits 30-70 in my favor.”
Xiao Chen thought for a while, “I do not like the way profit is split. It takes too long for money to come in. Just state a price; how much would you be willing to purchase a wooden carving for?”
Fatty Jin muttered to himself irresolutely before saying, “How about one hundred taels of gold per wooden carving?”
Xiao Chen was astonished. To think that he could sell it for such an expensive price. One hundred taels of gold was equivalent to ten thousand taels of silver. The cost of making the wooden carving was almost negligible. The profit margin was way higher than what Xiao Chen expected.
The silver taels that he currently had on him were obtained in Linlang Pavilion by selling the Fasting Pills. It was a much more complicated process to refine medicine; in comparison, creating wooden carvings was a lot easier.
In the introduction of the Life Bestowal Spell in the Compendium of Cultivation, it had some specific records on making wooden carvings; Xiao Chen’s carving skills came from there.
In this world, where the martial way reigned supreme, there were very few people who would venture into and research auxiliary skills like this. Xiao Chen’s handiwork was unique in this world.
He originally wanted to reject Fatty Jin’s proposal, but after the assassination attempt last night, he felt a sense of urgency in his heart.
The path of cultivation required a large amount of money. Not to mention expensive medicinal pills, good armor, and Spirit Weapons alone would require a cultivator to pay a huge price.
One of the important reasons why the disciples of the huge noble clans cultivated faster than the rest was because they had access to good medicinal pills and quality equipment.
Although Xiao Chen could earn money from refining medicinal pills, he was still unable to refine any high grade ones. Furthermore, the process of refining medicinal pills also required a large influx of money.
Also, Xiao Chen intended to refine more equipment in future. That required a large amount of money as well, so he was actually very much in need of money.
When Fatty Jin saw that Xiao Chen did not say anything, he thought that the price he quoted was too low. He said, “Brother Xiao, are you not satisfied with this price? This is already the best price I can give you. I am not taking advantage of you; this is the highest I can go.”
Xiao Chen recovered his wits and smiled, “No that's not it. I was just a little astonished. How in the world are you selling it for you to be able to purchase it at such a high price?”
“Shua!”
The gold folding fan in the fatty’s hand opened quickly. Xiao Chen knew in his heart that when he did this action, it was time for him to start bragging.
Indeed after the fatty fanned himself vigorously, he smiled cockily, “Brother Xiao, you probably do not know, but this princess has a very strong influence in the Imperial Court and the Imperial Capital. It is not exaggerating to call her a goddess. Not only is her strength at the peak, she has the appearance of a fairy.”
“This fatty has already noticed this long ago. Using this business opportunity, I have found people to write quite a few books on her. It could be said that every male within the Imperial Capital has a copy.”
“Under the influence of these books, as well as some other inspiration, I had already thought of the idea of having wooden carvings long ago. Unfortunately, I could not find a craftsman suitable for the job. Thus, when I saw brother Xiao, I felt that there was an affinity between us. I have been searching for someone like you for a long time.”
Xiao Chen was secretly astonished in his heart, This Fatty is truly a business genius, to think that he could devise such an innovative marketing method.
After that, he suddenly thought of something. He asked in a probing manner, “Brother Dabao, those books of yours… They are not erotic novels right?”
Fatty Jin smiled somewhat awkwardly, “Those… ummm… they can’t really be called erotic novels… I can only say that they are novels that have some romance and fantasy elements to them.”
Xiao Chen felt ashamed in his heart, I knew it. This fatty would definitely not do it in a morally upright manner. He asked somewhat worriedly, “Are you not afraid that the Imperial Court will find out about you doing this?”
Fatty Jin smiled in a vulgar manner, “There is no need to worry about this at all. The officer in charge of investigating this has some dealings with me. We even privately discussed some of the details of the novels. The novels we have are serialized; if he closed us down, he would no longer be able to read them.”
Xiao Chen had to admire him from the bottom of his heart this time. He took out the wooden carvings that he had made previously and handed them over to Fatty Jin, “I had made these in the past. There should be about a hundred of them. Give me a price!”
Fatty Jin said nothing, an excited smile filling his face as he took every wooden carving and carefully inspected them, one by one. He looked very serious as he did this.
On the fourth floor of Liushang Pavilion, Jiang Muheng and Duanmu Qing were seated at a table alone.
Jiang Muheng smiled elegantly, “Miss Duanmu, I have already made a deal with that owner of the Spirit Fox. My servant has already gone to retrieve the goods. He should be sending them to you anytime now.”
Duanmu Qing smiled mildly, “How much did you spend? I will pay you double. I will not let you suffer any disadvantages.”
Seeing the hard to come by smile of Duanmu Qing, the joy on Jiang Muheng’s face deepened, “I did not spend much. Miss Duanmu doesn’t have to bother with that. As long as you are happy.”
Duanmu Qing was mildly startled, “That person from yesterday wanted a Heaven Ranked Spirit Weapon before he was willing to sell it. Young Master Jiang, did you play any underhanded tricks?”
Jiang Muheng panicked in his heart. He said in a serious manner, “Miss Duanmu, although my clan has some power in White Water City, normally I would not bully someone. Furthermore, with Miss Duanmu around, if I did any such things, wouldn’t that be equal to me looking down on the Duanmu Clan?”
Duanmu Qing found this funny in her heart, but she did not say anything. The two of them continued to wait, but after a long time the servant that Jiang Muheng mention did not arrive.
“I think something must have happened. Let’s talk about this another day. I shall be leaving first,” Duanmu Qing finally lost patience and headed down the stairs.
Jiang Muheng scolded the servant ruthlessly in his heart. Throwing out a stack of silver taels banknotes, he chased after her.
Jiang Muheng chased her all the way to the second floor before finally catching up. He hurriedly shouted out in a loud voice, “Miss Duanmu, let me explain.”
Duanmu Qing Stopped walking and said politely, “Young Master Jiang, there is nothing to explain. This is not some important matter, you don't have to worry about it.”
Seeing Duanmu Qing’s expression, Jiang Muheng knew that his plan had backfired. He could not help but to feel anxious.
Just at that moment, Fatty Jin had finished counting all the hundred wooden carvings. He put them aside with a happy expression and took out a stack of gold taels banknotes. He said, “Brother Xiao, please count it.”
Xiao Chen immediately put aside all the banknotes and got up, “There is no need to count, it was good doing business with you. When I have more, I will bring them to you.”
Just as he turned, he coincidentally met Jiang Muheng’s gaze. When Jiang Muheng saw Xiao Chen, dressed in a black cloak, an astonished look appeared on his face.
“Xiao Chen!”
After the astonishment, came boundless rage. Jiang Muheng found it completely unexpected that he would actually run into Xiao Chen here. He flew into a rage born of humiliation as he walked towards Xiao Chen.