Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

Chapter 96: The Long Holiday

“Also, I’ve received a message from the inspector. He said he has long heard of the Spring Harvest Festival and has advanced his schedule to arrive in Yanjiang County during the festival. You should be prepared and not show any weakness in front of the inspector.”

Previously, the inspector had said he would come to Yanjiang County after the Spring Harvest Festival.

“Yes.”

When Lu Yang left the branch, he encountered Wang He, Bai Zifang, and other stewards coming towards him.

Wang He and the others nodded slightly in greeting. This newly promoted steward, Lu Yang, was a favorite of Helmsman Chu in front of him; they couldn’t afford to offend him.

Wang He and the others had been working in the branch for decades and knew some things. They speculated that Helmsman Chu directly appointed Lu Yang and the other two because of their high evaluation during the induction test, especially Lu Yang, who might have the highest evaluation among them.

Wang He whispered, “The helmsman has always been a person who doesn’t get up early for no benefit. He probably knows that Lu Yang will rise and wants to build a good relationship with him before Lu Yang becomes influential, to facilitate his future promotion.”

They knew that what the helmsman wanted most was to be promoted to a more economically developed area as a helmsman, so he particularly valued the upcoming inspector.

“Maybe he called us here this time related to the inspector.”

“But speaking of which, doesn’t the helmsman still lack a condition for promotion? Has he reached the Nascent Soul stage?”

Promotion within the sect is not only about the faith in the Immortal of Undying but also about cultivation level.

“Who knows? Maybe he has already reached it and just hasn’t told us. He never explains his actions to us, and we don’t know the purpose behind them.”

Helmsman Chu’s style is also the style of the entire demonic sect, filled with distrust. Although Helmsman Chu seems to trust Lu Yang, in reality, he doesn’t. Helmsman Chu has never revealed any information about his relationship with Lu Yang.

Lu Yang knows very little about Helmsman Chu.

…

The Spring Harvest Festival arrived as scheduled, and the barbecue shop’s customer flow reached its peak. Several foreign merchants have noticed the business opportunity of the barbecue shop and proposed to Lu Yang to open branches. Lu Yang would provide the recipes, and they would provide the capital.

Without exception, all were sternly rejected by Lu Yang.

Some cultivators wanted to dine and dash but, seeing the three silk banners hanging on the wall, swallowed this impractical idea and paid honestly.

With the help of the automatic barbecue array, the two hungry ghosts had more time to thread skewers. Thus, even with more customers than usual, the barbecue shop was able to operate smoothly.

“Let’s go to the barbecue shop again… Yes, this one. My aunt told me this barbecue shop is especially delicious. If you come to Yanjiang County, you must try it!”

“Look, now the shop is running a promotion. If you consume here, you can get a voucher to receive a 10% discount at the tofu shop on Front Street.”

“Consumers who spend more than one silver tael can participate in the lucky spin once. The number of attempts can accumulate, unlimited, and prizes are limited, first come first serve.”

“Let’s go and try.”

The two reached a consensus and lined up at the end of the queue, not knowing how long they would have to wait to eat.

At the entrance of the barbecue shop, Meng Jingzhou was busy with the lucky spin, bustling with activity.

The big spin wheel had options like “Play Again”, “Third Prize”, “Second Prize”, “First Prize”, “Grand Prize”.

“Congratulations to this customer for winning the second prize, 40% off this consumption! Let’s congratulate him!” Meng Jingzhou clapped enthusiastically, seeming even happier than the winner.

“First prize, a first prize has appeared, this customer’s entire consumption is free!”

“A grand prize, someone actually got the grand prize!”

The customer couldn’t believe he had won the grand prize and asked cheerfully, “What’s the grand prize?”

Meng Jingzhou, holding the customer’s hand with enthusiasm, said, “Congratulations, you’ve won the opportunity to experience being a waiter at our shop! Normally, people pay to experience the joy of laboring as a waiter here, but you’re lucky, you get to experience it without spending a dime!”

“Considering the smoky and harsh environment in the backyard, our professional staff will bring the skewers to the entrance of the backyard, so you won’t have to go there!” Meng Jingzhou had an expression of thoughtful consideration, as if saying there’s no need to praise us.

Customer: “…Can I exchange it for the first prize?”

“No.”

The customer declined the reward of the grand prize.

Up to this point, Meng Jingzhou hadn’t managed to persuade anyone to enjoy the treatment of the grand prize, but he enjoyed the process of tricking people.

Inside the barbecue shop, Lu Yang, carrying a tray, moved back and forth. He was light on his feet, agile, and his lower body was extremely stable, keeping the tray level and the skewers from shaking. He didn’t bump into any customers, a testament to his skill.

After more than a month of life as a waiter, his stepping skills had greatly improved.

“Ma Gongcao, Chi Zhubu, how’s the food?” Lu Yang greeted two customers with a smile. These two were local officials who often came here for skewers and drinks.

“It’s as delicious as always. Shop Owner Lu, your skills are wasted here. You should open a shop in a bigger county. You’d definitely earn more!”

“Go on, stop talking nonsense. Haven’t you heard that the Shop Owner Lu doesn’t even want to open a branch? It’s clear he opened this shop out of interest, not intending to make money.”

Lu Yang could only offer a polite smile: “Enjoy the Spring Harvest Festival.”

Both were clearly drunk, with flushed cheeks and staggering, Ma Gongcao grumbled: “Speaking of the Spring Harvest Festival makes me angry. It was supposed to be a seven-day holiday, a long holiday. I don’t know whose bright idea it was to shorten the Spring Harvest Festival holiday to three days!”

“What can you do in three days? They even call it a ‘mini long holiday.’ Listen to this term, does it make any sense? Adding a ‘mini’ before ‘long holiday,’ does it still count as a long holiday!”

“I wish the person who came up with this term a ‘mini long life!’”

Chi Zhubu quickly covered Ma Gongcao’s mouth: “You can’t say things like that recklessly. You arrived late, it’s normal not to know, but this was the idea of City Governor Li!”

Ma Gongcao snorted: “So it was him. Not much talent, but plenty of ideas!”

Chi Zhubu, who was more informed, whispered: “Keep it down. Now is not the time to speak ill of City Governor Li. I heard that City Governor Li has found a way and recently captured three vicious demonic cultivators in the county. It’s a great achievement, and he’s about to be promoted. The chief bailiff Fang Qingyun will take his place!”

Ma Gongcao scoffed, showing disdain for City Governor Li, but knowing City Governor Li wouldn’t care about someone like him: “A few days ago, a colleague complained to me, saying City Governor Li issued random orders, making the magistrate office work overtime in the early morning to plant small flags everywhere, with not a single mistake allowed. He even supervised the work himself, pretending to be diligent. He, being in the Golden Core stage, might not need to sleep, but others do. Many magistrate office workers fell asleep while working!”

Lu Yang poured wine for the two: “I’ll go attend to other things.”

“Go ahead, shop owner Lu, don’t mind us.”

On the first night of the Spring Harvest Festival, the four men and two ghosts were exhausted to the point of collapsing.

Before going to sleep, Barbarian Bone remembered: “It seems ghosts don’t need to sleep. Should we arrange work for them at night too?”

(End of the chapter)