The place where Chen Xiao lives is called Tangyan Street. It is located near the street entrance and is very convenient to get in and out.
The clusters of emerald green bamboo in the yard are not only beautiful, but also produce a large amount of fallen leaves.
When this place belonged to the previous owner, he didn't care much about the fallen leaves in the yard, but would occasionally clean them up.
When Chen Xiao first moved in, he didn't realize the problem of cleaning. Fortunately, help came soon and he got up diligently every morning to clean the yard.
The two people sent by Master Chai were a seventeen-year-old boy named Qian Chuan and a girl who had no surname, only a name called Wan Qing.
The two of them were sent here personally by the head of the pawnshop. This head only showed up when dealing with noble families and powerful people, so as soon as he appeared, Qian Chuan and Wan Qing realized that they were going to be sent to the practitioner's home to serve.
Even though I have been receiving this kind of training, I was still extremely nervous when the time came.
Qian Chuan was better, but Wan Qing couldn't help shaking all the way.
They didn't know what kind of temper the master had, and whether he would be easy to get along with. After all, they had heard many stories in the pawnbroker's business of servants being beaten to death by their masters.
People like them are both looking forward to and afraid of serving practitioners. They are looking forward to it because the salary is high, and they are afraid because it is hard to predict whether it will bring good or bad luck.
No matter how dissatisfied ordinary people were with them, they would just sell them off at most. In the eyes of cultivators, the lives of slaves were no different from those of ants. They were too lazy to bother buying and selling them, and would just crush them to death.
Fortunately the host was a very nice young man and not too harsh, he even gave two people a room each.
This made Qian Chuan and Wan Qing breathe a sigh of relief, and they rolled up their sleeves and started working hard.
Qian Chuan was tall and strong. His skin was a little dark, but when he smiled, his white teeth made him very attractive. Wan Qing was a little thin, but not frail. She had a small round face, big eyes, long eyelashes, and always looked timid when she looked at people.
Seeing this, Chen Xiao gave all the errands outside to Qian Chuan, and all the housework to Wan Qing.
Chen Xiao inquired about the surrounding market and learned that servants like them were not paid much, only fifty silver coins per month. Although he thought the salary was a bit low, Chen Xiao did not intend to be independent and would pay whatever other families paid.
The prices in Yingxian Island were higher than those in Hanshan City, but this was only relative to the cultivators. Fifty silver coins were enough to cover the expenses of a family of five for a month, but it was just a drop in the bucket for the cultivators.
Chen Xiao still had a lot of gold and silver on him, which saved him the trouble of exchanging them. In Hanshan City, he could not spend the gold and silver, so he kept them in his purse and in his storage box.
Chen Xiao sighed that there was no trouble with online bank transfers. It was too troublesome and time-consuming to pay on time every month. He didn't have the energy to always remember this, so he directly prepaid Qian Chuan and Wan Qing half a year's wages.
Because the indenture was with Chen Xiao, even if they received their wages in advance, the two of them would not dare to work half-heartedly.
In addition to paying them half a year's wages, in order to make them more motivated, Chen Xiao also promised to give them a bonus at the end of the year if they performed well.
Qian Chuan and Wan Qing were surprised and happy, and went downstairs with tears of gratitude.
Looking at the two of them, Chen Xiao shook his head. If it were in his previous life, when he was in school, he was spoiled by his parents.
Somehow, Chen Xiao suddenly thought of Sanshuan, who was far away in Fan Village and had to herd cattle at a very young age, and Sibao, who knew to collect firewood even though the stove was not high enough. They were both sensible at an early age.
However, although they work hard, they are still under the care of their parents. Qian Chuan and Wan Qing, on the other hand, have to pursue their own future at such a young age, and even have to rely on the preferences of others to decide their life and property.
Chen Xiao sighed and went back to his own business.
He posted the contract information in Zhishitang on Yingxian Island in the same format as he did in Zhishitang in Hanshan City. While waiting for business to come, he took the initiative to make friends with people on the street.
He got to know them one by one as neighbors through several clients here.
I turned around once before I was sure that I was heading in the right direction.
Although most of the people living in the front street are from small sects or groups of independent practitioners, with a complex composition, they are well-informed. Not only do they have a wide range of contacts, but they also have a lot of channels.
Chen Xiao opened up the situation here, and with a few requests from others, he spread the news to other residential areas on Yingxian Island.
With this two-pronged approach, I took on several orders in a row, and was so busy that I had to go out early and come back late every day.
Tangyan Street is usually very quiet, far less lively than the front street. People who live here either come back to rest or practice in seclusion.
Chen Xiao had been walking around for so many days and seldom ran into his neighbors. Even if he met them occasionally, they were very cold and indifferent, without greeting or even nodding.
Chen Xiao couldn't help but smile bitterly. The front street was so lively that it made people feel noisy, but this side was so quiet that there was no sound of people. It was two extremes.
Every household on Tangyan Street has a house number, but very few have door plaques.
At first, Chen Xiao didn’t think about hanging a door plaque. It was only when he saw every household hanging one on the street in front that he thought of hanging one on his own door.
This place is so deserted that if someone comes here, they won't be able to find anyone to ask. It would be much more convenient to hang a door plaque, and you can always find it if you walk around more.
Facts proved that Chen Xiao's decision was a wise one. He asked Qian Chuan to make a door plaque. Within two days of hanging it up, customers came to the door.
"Zhao Fang, why are you here?" Chen Xiao looked at Zhao Fang who was led in by Qian Chuan in surprise, and stood up unconsciously.
Zhao Fang bowed respectfully and said, "Senior Chen, I am here on the orders of my uncle to deliver the newly made Chongxuan Rock Tea to you. Before I left, my uncle told me that I must hand it to you personally." As he spoke, he took out a jade slip from his arms, "There is another jade slip."
Chen Xiao's heart was pounding, and he took the jade slip from Zhao Fang almost anxiously. He immediately used his vital energy to activate it and read the contents inside.
Wan Qing knew that a guest had arrived, so she quickly made some tea and brought it over.
"Master, please have some tea." Wan Qing walked over cautiously and said softly.
Zhao Fang glanced at her and said nothing.
Chen Xiao was so busy reading his uncle's jade slip that he forgot to let him sit down. How could he drink tea while standing if his elders didn't let him sit down?
Wan Qing obviously realized this mistake, and her round face turned pale with fright. The tray and teacup in her hands made a crisp sound due to the vibration. In the quiet hall, it was particularly vivid.
Chen Xiao was so immersed in the jade slip that he didn't realize it at all. Zhao Fang looked at Wan Qing in surprise. He didn't expect that Senior Chen's maid was so timid.
After thinking for a while, he reached out and took the tea. Wan Qing opened her eyes wide and looked at him at a loss. Zhao Fang raised his hand and flipped the teacup, and gently placed it on the coffee table behind him without spilling a drop of water.
Wan Qing felt as if she had been pardoned. She bowed deeply to Zhao Fang with gratitude and retreated.
Chen Xiao didn't care about saving his energy at all. He read it over and over again three times before he put it away.
This jade slip simply has the contents engraved inside. It is not like a martial art that, once activated, will be projected into the consciousness and imprinted in the mind.
Chen Xiao didn't know why Xi Yunting didn't write it with pen and paper, but the jade slips were easier to preserve.
Xi Yunting calmly told Chen Xiao on the jade slip that he had successfully returned to the mountain gate and had picked tea leaves and brewed new tea. The tea was sent to him for one drink and the other to be given to others.
He did not directly tell Chen Xiao that he could use this tea to make friends with the powerful, but Chen Xiao understood what he meant.
Xi Yunting said in the jade slip that he invited Shi Fengdu to come over to taste the new tea and pass the portion to the owner of Yingxian Island on his behalf.
He told Chen Xiao that he would be promoted in two years at the earliest and three years at the latest, and asked Chen Xiao to take good care of herself and not to worry about him.
Xi Yunting's letter was just like him, concise and cold, without any unnecessary words.
Chen Xiao, however, felt Xi Yunting's good intentions and his gentleness and thoughtfulness hidden under the surface from the letter. And at the end, he didn't say it explicitly, but he showed his hope to meet her soon.
The longing that Chen Xiao had suppressed by working so hard was suddenly brought back to life by this jade slip.
It was only a short month since we last met, but it felt like a century.
Chen Xiao never knew that being apart would be so difficult. He thought he was strong, but every night he was almost driven crazy by longing.
Every time this happened, he hated the fact that there was no Internet, phone or other such things in this world, so that even if he wanted to see his face or hear his voice, he couldn't do it.
The things and letters sent by Xi Yunting were like a timely rain, relieving his anxiety. If Chen Xiao hadn't known that there were outsiders around, he would have lost control and burst into tears.
After carefully putting the jade slip away, Chen Xiao raised his head and smiled, "Thank you for taking the trip." Then he realized that Zhao Fang was still standing, and quickly asked him to sit down.
Zhao Fang thanked him, but first took out the tea that Master Xi had asked him to bring. Then he stepped back a few steps and sat on the chair, then naturally picked up the teacup on the tea table and took a sip of water.
Tea boxes containing more than 100 kilograms of tea were piled on the ground like a small mountain. Chen Xiao only knew that Xi Yunting had made new tea, but he didn't know the exact quantity.
Seeing such a small hill in front of him scared Chen Xiao.
"So many?" He stood up, walked over and picked up a small box weighing one or two taels, turned around and asked Zhao Fang, "How many kilograms are there in total?"
Zhao Fang put down his tea, stood up and replied: "Senior, the total is 186 jin and 7 liang."
Chen Xiao exclaimed.
Excluding the time they spent traveling back and forth, they produced such a large batch of tea in just a few days. You can imagine how much effort the eldest brother put in.
A warm feeling surged in Chen Xiao's heart.
He opened the jade lid in his hand and immediately smelled a fresh fragrance.
The first time Xi Yunting gave him this kind of tea, he didn't know how precious it was, nor did he know that it was made by him.
A long time has passed, and he can't remember what the tea smelled like when he first smelled it. He only remembers that it was sweet and smooth in his mouth.
The remaining tea leaves were taken away by Tang Ru and Tong Nuonuo. Chen Xiao was heartbroken, but he couldn't stop them. Now that he received the new tea, he couldn't wait to ask Wan Qing to boil water and prepare a pot to drink.
Chen Xiao put away the pile of tea boxes. In addition to the box he had just opened, he also took out a half-pound box.
He pointed to a box of half a pound of tea and said to Zhao Fang, "This half a pound of tea is to thank you for making the trip. The tea made by your uncle is delicious. You can take it back and try it."
Zhao Fang was very surprised. Master Xi's tea was very rare, and they, the younger generation who were not his direct descendant, had no chance to get it. He didn't expect to receive such a thank-you gift just for running errands.
Zhao Fang hurriedly thanked him and said sensibly, "I will stay here for two more days. I will come to say goodbye to you before I leave. If you have anything you want me to bring to Uncle Xi, please take your time to prepare it."
Chen Xiao laughed and said, "Thank you very much."
Wan Qing boiled some water and brought it over. Since Chen Xiao wanted to do it himself, she also took out a new set of tea set and brought it over.
Chen Xiao told Zhao Fang not to leave in a hurry and to wait until he tasted the new tea with him before leaving.
In his previous life, Chen Xiao's health had been poor, so he would often drink tea with his master while cultivating himself and resting. When drinking tea with the elders, he was the one who would start the fight.
Therefore, although Chen Xiao's movements of making tea cannot be said to be smooth and flowing, they are very smooth and natural.
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