Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 37: Mountain Spirit (PART 10)

Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 37: Mountain Spirit (PART 10)

The next day, Liu Zhiyuan arrived with his briefcase to inspect the results, only to find a scene of devastation stretching before him. He and his assistant stood dumbfounded for a long moment.

There had indeed been a thunderstorm last night, but no one had mentioned a tornado passing through! How had such a large area been reduced to this state?

Liu Zhiyuan suddenly felt unsteady on his feet, swaying slightly. His assistant rushed over to support him.

“Quick…quickly contact the boss and request additional repair funds…” Liu Zhiyuan said weakly, his hands trembling slightly.

When Boss Qian heard that the matter had been completely resolved, he could hardly believe it. Having grown accustomed to dealing with cunning old foxes like Old Zhao, he had never expected to encounter someone so efficient and decisive. He immediately settled the final payment and transferred the repair costs as well.

Yun Shan, naturally, would not take responsibility when reporting the situation. Hmm, wind and rain, all the power of nature, what did that have to do with him?

Chen An was the most heartless of all, leaving without a word the moment she woke up. But she had always been this way, coming and going like the wind, so Yun Shan had no expectations.

Those who weren’t in a hurry gathered around the table to eat breakfast at a leisurely pace.

Su Xiaoyu took a sip of porridge, her cheeks bulging as she chewed. After swallowing, she suddenly asked, “Shifu, why do all my senior brothers and sisters have the surname Chen? Why is Ninth Senior Sister called Chen Jiu, but Eldest Senior Sister isn’t called Chen Yi?”

“Shifu’s secular family name is Chen,” Chen Ge explained.

However, he was also curious why none of his junior brothers and sisters after him had proper names, only homophones.

For a moment, everyone looked at Yun Shan, awaiting his answer.

Yun Shan scratched his face. It wasn’t that he lacked any literary talent, which was why from the fifth disciple onward, they were all homophones.

The first four were An, Ning, Huan, and Ke, followed by Wu, Liu, Qi, Ba, and Jiu. Yes, the eighth was called Chen Ba, even more perfunctory than Chen Jiu.

“A name accompanies a person for life. These were all calculated by this master according to their fate. If taken too grand, they cannot be suppressed. Simple and plain, on the contrary, brings peace and smoothness.” Yun Shan said this without blushing or his heart racing.

Su Xiaoyu half understood, making an expression of sudden realization: “Oh—”

After finishing the meal, Yun Shan pretended to be calm but was actually reluctant to part as he bid farewell to his disciples.

“Shifu, please take good care of yourself. Eat your three meals on time, and drink less bubble tea and soda.” Chen Ge instructed him with concern.

Yun Shan stood with his hands behind his back, saying, “Go, go, go. I raised you all, don’t I know how to take care of myself?”

“Then this disciple takes his leave.” Chen Ge gave a proper bow, bid farewell to everyone, and turned to leave.

Chen Ning packed several worn booklets into her bag, saying, “Shifu, Shifu, I’ll return these next time I come back. The ones I borrowed before, I’ve already put back.”

“Don’t wrinkle them.” Yun Shan was a bit worried, but he couldn’t appear too stingy in front of the children. After muttering a few words, he finally said, “Take them, be careful with them.”

Chen Ning responded and left cheerfully.

Originally, Chen Liu was still squatting and playing with Su Xiaoyu. Seeing Chen Ning retreat, she quickly followed: “Senior Sister, wait for me! Shifu, Xiao Xiao Yu, bye bye!”

Most of the people left at once, and Yun Shan Temple became cold and quiet again. Yun Shan looked at his two youngest disciples and could only squeeze out one sentence: “Don’t neglect your studies.”

“Understood.” Chen Jiu took Su Xiaoyu’s hand: “Then we’re off too.”

Yun Shan waved his hand, meaning for them to hurry up and leave.

Su Xiaoyu carried her backpack, letting Chen Jiu lead her. She looked back three times with every step. When she reached the door, she broke free from Chen Jiu’s hand and ran back, hugging Yun Shan’s leg: “Shifu! I’ll come back to see you during New Year!”

Yun Shan was stunned. Before he could return the hug, the little girl had already let go and run off again, leaving the old man with tears streaming down his face, not daring to turn around for a long time.

With everything settled, Chen Jiu finally got to sit on the bus back home and picked up her phone to start a game.

Su Xiaoyu swung her legs, asking, “Senior Sister, why does Shifu insist on living alone on the mountain?”

“Logically speaking, we should all be cultivating in seclusion. Their generation entered the Dao this way. It’s just that we don’t do that anymore now. The times are progressing, after all. Every sect has to go down the mountain to earn a living. The old man is just used to the quiet at his age.” Chen Jiu stared at the screen without looking away.

Su Xiaoyu thought about Yun Shan, then thought about her own grandmother, and sighed.

A month after returning to Qiu City, Chen Jiu heard through the grapevine that a certain feng shui firm’s principal had not shown his face for nearly a month. His subordinates had reported him missing, but there had been no developments. The tree fell and the monkeys scattered; over time, the firm closed down and was transferred to new ownership.

The following month, Yun Shan sent out red envelopes in the group chat, giving Chen Jiu the largest one. The others all depended on their luck.

Chen Jiu replied rather provocatively: The iron rooster has plucked a feather.

Yun Shan sent a row of fist emojis and stopped looking.

The sound of teammates cursing came through her headphones: “ADC, don’t AFK! Are you just feeding? Noob!”

“…” Chen Jiu’s anger flared up instantly. She carried the losing game, killing twelve opponents in a row and securing the MVP. She turned on her mic and said over the heavy static: “Say that again?”

Her teammate fell silent, appearing to be convinced. After leaving, he quite adaptably sent a party invitation.

Chen Jiu laughed contemptuously. However, she had always been broad-minded. As long as they weren’t so bad they were digging with their feet, she would carry them if she could. Doing good deeds in games was also a way to accumulate merit, after all.

But she hadn’t expected that once she showed kindness, this kid would actually shamelessly latch onto her. Every day he logged on, he would call her “jie jie” this and “jie jie” that, asking her to carry him up the ranks. After just a few exchanges, he was ready to reveal his entire family background.

Chen Jiu was speechless, thinking that university students really had no street smarts.

The boy was called Fang Lei, also in Qiu City. His parents were quite well-off and had spent some money to get their unruly son into an undergraduate program. According to the older generation’s thinking, graduating from university was still very necessary.

“My roommate has been really strange lately. Every night he sits up and looks in the mirror, and he smiles at it. It’s pretty creepy. When we ask him during the day, he says he doesn’t remember.” While waiting for matchmaking, Fang Lei casually mentioned recent happenings. As he spoke, he hissed and started scratching his arm.

He did sound quite frightened.

Chen Jiu asked offhandedly, “Has he been anywhere recently? Or met any strange people?”

“Hmm…” Fang Lei thought for a moment. “Nowhere special, I think. But he got a girlfriend. Though that’s not strange, right?”

The sound of a door opening and closing came from the other end. Fang Lei quickly stopped talking and spoke in another direction: “You’re back? Not feeling well? Heat stroke?”

“No.” The person’s voice was a bit soft. “Just a bit sleepy. I’ll sleep for a while.”

“Oh, sure.” Fang Lei then said to Chen Jiu, “Jie jie, I won’t play anymore. I’ll come back later.”

Chen Jiu hmmed. Fang Lei’s game ID left the room, and someone else quickly filled the spot. She directly clicked start.

The afternoon passed, and there was no business at the shop. Chen Jiu stretched, got up and moved around, and from afar saw Su Xiaoyu running over.

Having studied basic talismans diligently for a month, Su Xiaoyu could already draw the most basic Tranquility Talisman. It was several levels below the Soul-Anchoring Talisman, with fewer strokes and a simpler structure, having the effect of calming the spirit and settling the soul.

Chen Jiu put on airs as she checked her homework for the day and nodded: “Not bad, not bad. You draw much better than me.”

Su Xiaoyu, having received praise, had bright sparkling eyes: “Thank you, Senior Sister. I’ll work hard to draw both well and quickly!”

“This kind of basic talisman doesn’t consume much mental energy. It’s suitable to give as small gifts in daily life.” Chen Jiu suggested: “If you’re interested, you can pick a few nice-looking ones and give them to friends you like.”

Su Xiaoyu nodded, leaned over the table and continued writing and drawing. For grandma, mom and dad, Senior Sister, Teacher Xu, Sister Ting… each was sealed in a plastic bag. Then she wiped her sweat.

The old lady next door knocked to deliver fresh vegetables. Chen Jiu winked, and Su Xiaoyu, receiving the hint, gave the old lady one too.

“Stick it under the bed board or inside the pillowcase, and you can sleep peacefully and soundly!” Su Xiaoyu said.

The old lady smiled from ear to ear, carefully putting it away and patting her head: “What a good little girl.”

The elderly slept lightly, so this gift was most appropriate. Even if the little girl’s gift had no real effect, it was the thought that counted, and she was happy to accept it.

As it turned out, who knew how the old lady promoted it to others, but starting the next day, guests began coming one after another specifically to buy these Tranquility Talismans, and they specifically requested the ones like the old lady’s, in children’s handwriting.

Chen Jiu was speechless for a moment. That same day, she discussed pricing with Su Xiaoyu after school: “66 yuan per sheet. For every one sold, we split it fifty-fifty.”

Hearing this, Su Xiaoyu’s pen clattered to the floor. Sixty-six per sheet, fifty-fifty meant thirty-three per sheet. As an elementary school student, she had never seen such easy business or so much money.

She immediately stood up excitedly: “Senior Sister, leave it to me!”

The Tranquility Talismans sold well for several days. Only then did Chen Jiu learn the reason from a middle-aged woman.

“My daughter has been having nightmares every night recently, can’t sleep well. We took her to the doctor, and they said it’s mild anxiety, prescribed some medicine, but after taking it, it was completely useless.” The woman sighed, rubbing her fingers, and said: “I heard the Tranquility Talismans sold here are very effective, so I came to try. Anyway, they’re not expensive.”

Chen Jiu raised an eyebrow, half-jokingly saying, “So many people coming to buy, it seems quite a few people have insomnia.”

The woman’s expression instantly became somewhat mysterious. She lowered her voice and said, “Quite a few students in my daughter’s class are like this. I was wondering if children nowadays have too much exam pressure? Another mother said her child sits up in the middle of the night looking in the mirror, smiling in a creepy way, scaring the whole family half to death. When asked about it the next day, he knows nothing.”