Chu Yi believed that if Boss Feng weren’t someone who accumulated merit, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly…
Boss Feng took it as modesty and repeatedly vowed to repay the favor. Whenever Chu Yi needed him, he’d help without hesitation.
Boss Feng rubbed his hands again. “Master, could you sell me a few more Protective Talismans? My wife is still shaken. Everything else is fine, but she won’t relax unless Xiao Bao has one on him.”
Chu Yi pointed to the cluttered table nearby. “Help yourself. The ones with the same pattern as before are Protective Talismans. The ones with triangular gold lines are Evil-Expelling Talismans. The rest are Disease-Removing Talismans. All ten thousand each.”
Boss Feng: “…Okay.”
At first glance, he’d thought the table was piled with scraps—Yellow Talisman Paper, cinnabar, gold powder scattered everywhere. As expected of a master, so casual when drawing talismans?
But hearing the types and uses lit up his eyes. He really needed Disease-Removing Talismans. Xiao Bao always caught colds and fevers in winter—effective ones would save them from calling the family doctor.
As a medicinal herb dealer, Boss Feng had deep pockets. He started by picking Protective and Disease-Removing Talismans. Then he thought, ten thousand each? Why pick and choose—might as well buy them all!
Chu Yi said, “…Boss Feng, you won’t use that many. Buying extras is wasteful.”
He’d been in a bad mood lately and had drawn forty or fifty during meditation sessions. Did Boss Feng really want them all?
Boss Feng looked up. “Do the talismans have an expiration date?”
“Uh, no.” Properly stored, they lasted ten or twenty years no problem.
“Does the Master have other customers lined up?”
“No, I don’t take reservations.” Though Wu He and the masters from Dragon Tiger Mountain kept messaging him, he’d brushed them off lately since he was busy.
Boss Feng grinned. “Then it’s settled. Doesn’t matter who gets them, right, Master?”
True to his merchant roots—Boss Feng dealt in herbs, but a businessman through and through.
Chu Yi was convinced. As Boss Feng said, whoever got them…
Boss Feng, meanwhile, thought of his old friends and business partners. Any extras could be gifted as favors. Forty or fifty weren’t many at all!
He’d arrived empty-handed and left with a big bundle of talisman papers. Xiao Wang waited in the backyard, only realizing over an hour later that his boss had forgotten him.
On the call from Xiao Wang, Boss Feng in the car suddenly remembered—he’d forgotten the backyard herbs!
He pondered. “Since Young Master Chu didn’t mention it, just tend them as usual. No need to fuss.”
“But…” Xiao Wang hesitated.
Boss Feng said, “Xiao Wang, if you do well and satisfy Young Master Chu, I’ll give you three extra months’ salary for New Year.”
Xiao Wang: “Got it, Boss. No problem!”
Boss Feng had considered buying Chu Yi’s herb-planting secret, but Chu Yi had only promised to share stock, not improve the field.
When planning the herbal field, he’d left a spot empty on purpose. Today, he’d seen it planted with a peculiar cluster—purple, neither bamboo nor tree. That must be behind the field’s changes.
He guessed Chu Yi didn’t offer help not out of unwillingness, but inability. After all, drawing talismans earned plenty, no need to compete. A straightforward guy like him had no reason to hide it.
Meanwhile, Old Zheng used a gathering with old friends as an excuse to coax Zheng Danrui to the Yu Family Old Mansion.
By coincidence, Yu Zhensheng was there too. Elder Yu instructed, “Zhensheng, take Xiao Rui out for a stroll. Us old folks talking bores you young ones. The mountain nearby has nice views—go climb it.”
Yu Zhensheng: “…” It was deep autumn—Grandpa wanted him taking Zheng Danrui up the mountain in the cold wind? Was he serious?
But he soon caught Old Master’s threatening glare and quickly yielded. “Got it…”
“Ahem, Xiao Rui, shall we head out for a walk?”
Zheng Danrui glanced at her grandfather, then at Yu Zhensheng, and tugged her lips. “Then please lead the way, Brother Zhensheng.”
Once they left, Mrs. Yu emerged from the house in an elegant apron, carrying a plate of freshly baked mini cakes, beaming excitedly. “Look, just look how perfect they are together!”
Yu Fengqing shook her head helplessly, grabbed a few cakes, and hurried upstairs. She had no interest in the old men’s gathering!
Yu Qingxian stayed, knowing Boss Jin, who came specially, had something to say.
He was right—not just him, the Yu Patriarch and Old Zheng were eager for updates too. With everyone gone, they pressed him.
Boss Jin sipped tea and sighed. “You should’ve seen it—Qiu Zijun looked a decade older. I almost didn’t recognize him! If he showed up like that to my Shushu, she wouldn’t give him the time of day.”
“He told me he felt terrible about Shushu and wanted to see her and their daughter before the court ruling. Kneeling there sobbing… he seemed truly repentant…”
Old Zheng: “You didn’t go soft and agree, did you?”
“As if!” Boss Jin scoffed. “Without Young Master Chu’s Nightmare Talisman, he’d still hate my guts. I’m not falling for it. Let him rot—he’ll never see them again!”
Nightmare Talisman?
Yu Qingxian raised an eyebrow. Chu Yi had no shortage of magic treasures—effective for punishing villains. But with him… since that day, Chu Yi hadn’t reached out. Even payments came via his agent. Was he avoiding him for good?
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