Chapter 420 (2): Unchanged

Evening arrived, and Dong Shuijing hung up a sign to signal that his wonton shop was closed for the day. Even so, he wasn't in a hurry to pack up and close the door. After doing business here for a while, he knew that there were always worshippers who would visit the shop when climbing up the mountain and promise to buy a bowl of wonton when they climbed down the mountain afterward. These worshippers might be slightly delayed, so Dong Shuijing would still wait for an hour or so even after he put up the "closed" sign.

However, Dong Shuijing didn't ask the two helpers whom he had hired to wait with him. When the guests eventually arrived, Dong Shuijing would personally enter the kitchen to cook for them. Even if the helpers who had come from impoverished backgrounds wanted to stay behind and help their boss, Dong Shuijing would still earnestly refuse their assistance.

Dong Shuijing's wonton shop became more and more famous, and this caused many wealthy individuals in the newly built Dragon Spring Prefecture to invite him to open a few extra branches in the prefectural city. However, Dong Shuijing politely turned down all of their requests.

Apart from the wonton shop located on the waist of the mountain with a mountain god temple, Dong Shuijing had also bought half a street of residences using the huge sum of money he had earned from selling one of his ancestral residences in the small town. Apart from a single residence to stay in, he rented all of the remaining residences to other people.

Dong Shuijing was also one of the first local residents to pick up treasures for a cheap price. There were many lone elders among his neighbors where his two ancestral residences were located, and these elders who had grown up in the small town were extremely stubborn in nature. They refused to sell their ancestral heirlooms no matter how much money the outsiders offered, saying that they could live in a pile of gold and silver at night. After they died, perhaps these treasures could fill their coffins and accompany them to the next life?

The immortal disciples from the mountains had remained patient and continued to negotiate with the elders who might become a rack of bones in a few years' time. They felt like these elders were impervious to reason, yet they hadn't dared to forcefully snatch the treasures either. Thus, it was inevitable that they left in great disappointment, with their huge sums of immortal currency unable to buy any valuable treasures.

After Dong Shuijing visited these elders, however, they were always willing to sell their treasures for much cheaper than the prices offered by the outsiders. It was unknown whether the elders were doing this out of nostalgia for the young man whom they had watched growing up, or whether Dong Shuijing's silver tongue was truly so persuasive. In the end, the elders were half-selling and half-giving their treasures to Dong Shuijing.

After a few trips to Ox Horn Mountain's Cloth Wrapper Shop, it was another astronomical sum of money into Dong Shuijing's pockets. In combination with some unexpected windfalls he had obtained from diligently exploring the mountains and rivers, Dong Shuijing was able to look for Prefectural Overseer Wu, County Magistrate Yuan, and Kiln Supervision Official Cao — officials who had visited his wonton shop before — and silently buy many more pieces of land. Before one knew it, Dong Shuijing had already become one of the wealthiest individuals in the newly constructed Dragon Spring Prefecture.

In the mountains located in Dragon Spring Prefecture, there were terrifying whispers about this young man being the owner of half of the prefectural city.

Dong Shuijing and his two helpers chatted for a while after closing up shop for the day, and after the helpers left, the shopkeeper who was already a tall young man stood inside the shop by himself and cooked a steaming bowl of wontons. This could be viewed as a reward for himself.

Night arrived, and they were venturing deeper and deeper into autumn. After eating a bowl of wontons and washing up after himself, Dong Shuijing walked outside his shop and looked at the path that worshippers took to climb up the mountain and offer incense. He didn't see any worshippers, so he was just about to close his shop for good.

Even though there was no worshiper descending the mountain, there was unexpectedly a young master in Confucian robes ascending the mountain. Dong Shuijing was familiar with this person, so he smiled and welcomed him inside the shop, cooking him a bowl of wontons and also bringing over a pot of self-made rice wine. From the beginning to the end, the two people purposely conversed using the local dialect of the Dragon Spring Prefecture. Dong Shuijing spoke slowly, afraid that the other person wouldn't be able to understand him otherwise.

His customer was a strange person called Gao Xuan, someone who claimed to be a wanderer who had come to Cloud Drape Mountain's Forest Deer Academy to seek knowledge. He wasn't especially fluent in the official dialect of the Great Li Empire, yet he still insisted on learning the local dialect of the Dragon Spring Prefecture from Dong Shuijing.

After Gao Xuan finished eating his wontons, Dong Shuijing poured two bowls of rice wine for them to enjoy together. If one wanted to make fragrant rice wine, then choosing the correct water and glutinous rice was of utmost importance. There was no shortage of suitable water in the Dragon Spring Prefecture, and Dong Shuijing had asked Kiln Supervision Official Cao for the required glutinous rice. The rice was transported from a farm in the Great Li Empire all the way to the Dragon Spring Prefecture, and Dong Shuijing was able to purchase it for much below market price. As a result, a relatively large wine-making operation appeared in the prefectural city of the Dragon Spring Prefecture.

The rice wine produced in the prefectural city was already being sold to as far as the capital of the Great Li Empire, although it couldn't be said that the business was making a huge sum of money quite yet. Even so, the outlook was very positive, and it was expected to make more and more money as time went on.

The restaurants and wine shops in the capital of the Great Li Empire gradually accepted and approved of the rice wine made in the Dragon Spring Prefecture, and coupled with the existence of the Jewel Small World as well as all kinds of immortal rumors, the rice wine seemingly tasted even more fragrant.

Regarding the sales channels of the rice wine, Dong Shuijing had consulted County Magistrate Yuan. Meanwhile, his strategy of selling high volumes for low margins had received approval from Wu Yuan. Finally, County Magistrate Yuan had also helped Dong Shuijing enter the market of the capital, with Kiln Supervision Official Cao being responsible for the transport of the glutinous rice.

Among Prefectural Overseer Wu, County Magistrate Yuan, and Kiln Supervision Official Cao, Wu Yuan enjoyed the highest ranking and status. Even though the fourth-rank position of prefectural overseer couldn't be regarded as extremely lofty, Wu Yuan was the youngest of all prefectural overseers in the Great Li Empire. At the same time, he was someone whom the imperial court of the Great Immortal wasn't willing to underestimate. After all, Wu Yuan's teacher was none other than Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan.

However, it was a shame that Wu Yuan's reputation actually became worse after he received a promotion and left the capital. This was because County Magistrate Yuan had been severely ignored and marginalized by the large clans before the Dragon Spring County had been promoted to the Dragon Spring Prefecture. The imperial preceptor had placed high hopes in him, yet he had struggled immensely and failed to bring things under control.

Even so, Wu Yuan had an impressive teacher, so everyone else was still incredibly envious of him.

Regardless, Wu Yuan had already become a relatively big joke in the imperial court of the Great Li Empire.

On the other hand, the imperial court of the Great Li Empire was more optimistic about County Magistrate Yuan and Kiln Supervision Official Cao. Not only were the two young talents direct descendants of pillar clans in the empire, but they were also performing exceptionally well in their respective jurisdictions in the Dragon Spring Prefecture.

County Magistrate Yuan was responsible for the construction of some immortal residences and abodes in the mountains in the west, and it was also thanks to him that works pertaining to the mountain of porcelain as well as the scholarly temple and the martial sage temple had been successfully commenced and completed.

The powerful clans residing in the Dragon Spring Prefecture were unwilling to recognize Wu Yuan as the prefectural overseer, yet they were willing to recognize County Magistrate Yuan, a lower-ranking official, as the county magistrate.

As for Kiln Supervision Official Cao, he was, on the surface, responsible for managing the imperial wares crafted by the dragon kilns. In reality, however, he was secretly responsible for monitoring all of the immortal forces in the Dragon Spring Prefecture.

Meanwhile, the Yuan Clan and the Cao Clan, two of the most esteemed clans in the Great Li Empire, had an extremely strained relationship. The heavy cavalry marching south was divided into three armies, and standing behind two of these armies were figures from the Pillar Yuan Clan and the Pillar Cao Clan, respectively.

Despite all this, Dong Shuijing was still able to gain the support of the three people for the sake of an unremarkable small business. Thus, it couldn't be said that he had gotten lucky in achieving this impressive feat.

Truth be told, making and selling rice wine had indeed been Dong Shuijing's idea. However, the details of the plan as well as the interlinked processes had all been proposed to Dong Shuijing by someone else.

Afterward, Dong Shuijing had asked that person why County Magistrate Yuan and Kiln Supervision Official Cao, descendants of powerful clans, didn't turn down this business opportunity with trivial profits. For example, when splitting the profits between the three parties at the end of last year, Dong Shuijing had earned seventy thousand taels of silver while County Magistrate Yuan and Kiln Supervision Official Cao had only earned one hundred and forty thousand taels of silver in total.

This was naturally a huge profit compared to ordinary merchants in the marketplaces, and it was indeed the case that they would gradually earn more and more in the future. However, after learning about the clan businesses of the Yuan Clan and the Cao Clan, Dong Shuijing was genuinely unable to understand why they would entertain such measly profits.

That person had told Dong Shuijing that transactions and businesses in the world were not only categorized as big or small, noble or lowly. They were also categorized as clean or dirty.

Being able to earn huge profits in businesses that risked the death penalty was indeed a reflection of one's abilities. Equally, being able to earn small but continuous profits in clean businesses was also a reflection of one's skills. Moreover, there were many small businesses that had the opportunity to transform into huge money-makers if their potentials were fully realized. These businesses could become staple businesses that consolidated the power and influence of large clans for decades or even centuries.

In the end, that person had retrieved an ordinary copper coin and placed it on the table, pushing it toward Dong Shuijing who was sincerely seeking guidance and saying, "Even the Pure White Continent's Liu Clan, the God of Wealth in the Majestic World, began their journey to immense wealth with a single copper coin. Have a good think about this."

That person had sat there with his sword on his back, and after answering Dong Shuijing's question, he had strode away saying that he needed to visit the capital of the Great Sui Nation. If he were lucky, then he might even be able to meet the founder of Commercialism. The old man looked inexperienced on the surface, yet he had once won the trust of the world by performing a Dao integration mystical ability and summoning a length of heavenly wood. In the end, he had also obtained recognition and approval from the Etiquette Sage.

Dong Shuijing had mulled over the question for a long time, and he had suddenly remembered that the person had eaten two large bowls of wonton and drank one entire pot of rice wine. Yet, he had left after giving Dong Shuijing a single copper coin.

Dong Shuijing was very stingy when it came to doing business, but he didn't feel like he had made a loss that time. Instead, he felt like he had made a profit.

Gao Xuan saw that Dong Shuijing was slightly adrift as he drank wine, so he smiled and asked, "There's something on your mind? You can feel free to tell me about it. I might not be able to help, but I can at least be a good listener to Shopkeeper Dong's complaints and grievances."

Dong Shuijing shook his head and joked, "I was randomly pondering on the future, and I don't have any complaints or grievances to air. I'm completely knackered when I return to my home in the prefectural city every day, and after counting my earnings, I immediately fall asleep when my head hits the pillow. When I open my eyes again, it's already a new day and time to get busy again. I always have plenty of things to do."

"I truly envy you," Gao Xuan sighed and said with emotion.

Dong Shuijing was rendered speechless. However, he didn't think that Gao Xuan was purposely trying to act melancholy. After all, everyone had their own burdens to bear, and this had little to do with whether one was wealthy or poor.

Dong Shuijing didn't reply, and he took a sip of self-made rice wine. All of the pots of wine in the wonton shop had the red label of the Dong Clan Winery torn off, lest people try to start any rumors and cause any trouble. Dong Shuijing didn't want his simple shop, a place to temper his mind, to become chaotic and filled with drama.

Up until today, very few people in the Dragon Spring Prefecture knew about how much wealth Dong Shuijing truly possessed. This was the case even though there were so many immortals and powerful beings gathered in the prefecture.

After paying for his food and wine, Gao Xuan said that he was going to continue climbing the mountain such that he could watch the sunrise from the mountain peak tomorrow. Upon hearing this, Dong Shuijing handed the shop keys to Gao Xuan and said that Gao Xuan could stay the night in the shop if he eventually changed his mind. That way, he could at least have a place to shelter from the elements. However, Gao Xuan turned down Dong Shuijing's offer and continued up the mountain by himself.

Meanwhile, Dong Shuijing descended the mountain, coincidentally coming across Xu Ruo who had most likely just returned from the capital of the Great Sui Nation. Xu Ruo said that he wanted to eat a bowl of wontons to satiate his hunger, after which he would head to the immortal ferry station at Ox Horn Mountain and continue his journey to the capital of the Great Li Empire.

As a result, Dong Shuijing had no option but to climb up the mountain and reopen his wonton shop. He directly cooked two large bowls of wontons for the Mohist cultivator, but he didn't bring out any wine. He couldn't be bothered acting politely with Xu Ruo. Meanwhile, he sat opposite his customer and watched him wolfing the wontons down.

"Guess who the young man climbing up the mountain is," Xu Ruo said in a muffled voice.

Dong Shuijing hadn't given this much thought before, and his relationship with Gao Xuan had been largely free from impurities and exchanges of benefits. Dong Shuijing enjoyed this kind of relationship, and this was the case even though he enjoyed doing business as well. After all, doing business wasn't the be-all and end-all of his life.

In any case, since Xu Ruo asked this question, Dong Shuijing was naturally smart enough to join the dots and come up with an answer. "He's a prince of the Great Sui Nation's Geyang Gao Clan? He's come to the Great Li Empire as a royal hostage?"

Xu Ruo nodded in confirmation.

Dong Shuijing hesitated for a moment before asking, "Can we not make any transactions pertaining to Gao Xuan?"

Xu Ruo smiled and replied, "There's no reason to say no. The reason I'm mentioning this to you is because I hope you can understand one thing."

"Please go ahead, Mr. Xu," Dong Shuijing said with a serious expression.

It was only during times like these that Dong Shuijing was willing to refer to Xu Ruo as Mr. Xu.