CHAPTER 40: STORIES

"What do you suggest then?" Su Chen twitched his mouth and said, "I don’t have the whole day to play mind games with you."

"We can pay him a visit, shower him with gifts first.

"After that, we can ask him to stop supplying Hun Xiong Kun the rice and supply it to us instead.

"We can offer him double of what he is getting from Hun Xiong Kun now." Wu Tong said and took a mouthful of the wine.

Su Chen stared into the distance, slammed his fist onto the table and said, "All these would have been avoided if that Hun Xiong Kun had sold me that god damn shop."

Wu Tong chuckled and shook his head.

He was amused with Su Chen still behaving like a spoilt brat who must have what he wanted. Unable to take any rejection.

...

"And so, Sun Le went into deep sleep. Something called the nightmare..."

Zhi Yong listened attentively with anticipation to know what would happen to the protagonist.

The background of Sun Le was something he could empathize with.

And as the story unfolded, Zhi Yong feared for Sun Le’s life.

However, just as it got exciting, Lin Xuan Qi stopped.

"Master, next?" Zhi Yong couldn’t help it but must ask if there was more of the story.

Lin Xuan Qi shook his head and said, "I’m tired. I will continue tomorrow."

"Tomorrow..."

Zhi Yong was devastated that he had to wait for a day to know what happens next to Sun Le, the protagonist.

Lin Xuan Qi couldn’t help himself feel a sense of schadenfreude.

He must not be the only one to suffer the pain of waiting for updates.

And he must let Zhi Yong know that the human heart can be evil, like leaving cliffhangers.

Lin Xuan Qi thought.

It worked as Zhi Yong looked like his soul had left his body.

Lin Xuan Qi was bored as they waited for the result of his experiment, so he decided to tell a story he knew from where he came from to pass the time.

"Don’t be sad.

"You have to be patient for some of the good things in life.

"Go help prepare dinner."

Seeing that it was evening time, Lin Xuan Qi knew it was dinner time.

The thought of food brightened up Zhi Yong, and he got out of the lab.

Lin Xuan Qi took a quick glance at the soap still hardening in the cups.

Success would allow him to diversify and not put all the eggs in one basket.

The rice trade was notorious for being in control of corrupted officials during ancient times.

Lin Xuan Qi had to be prepared just in case something like war or famine broke out and the rice trade would be disrupted.

Right now, he had so many mouths to take care of.

Guess being the head of the clan wasn’t a simple job.

...

At the dining hall, Lin Xuan Qi sat down as the servant girls and Zhi Yong placed the dishes.

He noticed that Xue Cong, Yue Jie and Yue Xin seemed to be giving Zhi Yong a side-eye.

"What happened in the kitchen?" Lin Xuan Qi asked.

"It’s nothing..." Xue Cong replied, and she gave Lin Xuan Qi an awkward smile.

"Zhi Yong tried to tell us a story and he stopped halfway." Yue Xin told him the truth.

Lin Xuan Qi nearly spat out the tea from his mouth when he heard Yue Xin.

"Yeah, it’s pretty nasty to do that to someone, leaving cliffhangers." He swallowed the tea and said.

Zhi Yong’s eyes opened wide, and he glanced at Lin Xuan Qi.

Master Lin had taught him that people can be shameless.

And right now he felt the lesson from Master Lin very intimately.

This must be Master Lin giving an example. Zhi Yong can’t help but thought.

A very good example indeed.

"Forget about stories. You want to know what happened at the brothel?" Liu Shi Shi interjected and said.

She was all smiles ever since she came back.

"So, what happened?" Lin Xuan Qi asked.

"Your new poem is famous now." She said and recounted how it went in the brothel.

Lin Xuan Qi ate calmly as he ate the food.

He didn’t think much about the response from his ’new’ poem.

After all, they were from the best of the best.

"That’s it?

"That’s your nonchalant response.

"I guarantee you that it’s a poem that could bring you places."

Liu Shi Shi couldn’t understand why Lin Xuan Qi was so calm.

One of the possible reasons she could think of was that Lin Xuan Qi didn’t realize how everyone valued the poem as one of the top ten poems.

Another possibility was that Lin Xuan Qi had more poems up his sleeves that he hasn’t shared.

"You should come with me to see how popular it was." Liu Shi Shi said.

She leaned towards the first possibility.

"When I’m free." Lin Xuan Qi shrugged.

He had more important things to deal with. He thought silently to himself.

It reminded him of something, and he glanced over at Lee He Song.

"Master Lee, you know where the Sima Family Mansion is?"

Lee He Song swallowed the piece of meat he had and said, "Yes, I do.

"Most people around here know where it is.

"The Sima Family is very prominent, great for you to befriend Sima Long."

Lin Xuan Qi nodded his head and said, "I would like to pay him a visit some time in the future."

"Just let me know when, Master Lin. I shall visit them with you."

He was eager to discuss the marketing for the soap with Sima Long when his experiment is successful.

After what happened to Hun Xiong Kun, he knew that it wouldn’t be feasible for him to sell it alone.

Definitely not with the manpower he had at the moment.

Lin Xuan Qi knew that he needed support from someone much more powerful.

He would have to look into recruiting more people into the mansion soon.

Lin Xuan Qi was in his thoughts when there was someone knocking on the mansion’s huge wooden gate.

"Master Lin." Someone shouted.