Chapter 34: The Strange State Brought by Sandalwood
Chapter 34: The Strange State Brought by Sandalwood
Lunch was at the most famous Peace Hotel. Wen Sheng treated.
During the meal, Wen Sheng said, “Master, how should we calculate the divination fee? Please name your price.”
Li Zian smiled. “We are all friends, let’s not talk about money.”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone lightly kicked his foot under the table. The person who kicked him even took off her high heels, and the touch of the stockings was very clear. Just from the feeling on his foot, he didn’t need to guess to know who it was.
“That won’t do, Master, please name your price.” Wen Sheng looked very anxious.
“Well… since you insist on giving, just give a little, as a token. That will be fine.” Li Zian said; he was really bad at this kind of thing.
Under the table, the little foot without shoes stretched over again and kicked his calf. Even worse, this time after kicking him, the foot didn’t pull back. Instead, it pressed on his calf, and used the big toe and second toe to pinch his flesh.
That was going too far.
He wasn’t in pain, but a certain spot on his leg felt strangely uncomfortable for no reason.
“Then how about this, giving too much might seem like I’m being distant. Good things come in pairs, so I’ll give two million as a token. Master, is that okay?” Wen Sheng said.
Li Zian almost spat out the red wine he just sipped.
Earlier, when Wen Sheng first asked him to name a price, he was thinking whether to charge the amount Brother Fan had given before, which was two hundred thousand. He never expected that the other person’s “token amount” would be two million!
Before Li Zian could speak, Mu Chuntao cut in, “Our Master dislikes talking about money. This time he only agreed to help out of regard for Brother Fan. I am the Master’s assistant, so matters like this, Mr. Wen, you can discuss them with me.”
Wen Sheng was filled with respect. “Right, money is such a vulgar thing. A lofty person like the Master can’t be like me. I was being vulgar. I’ll punish myself with three drinks.”
He really drank three cups himself.
After the meal, Fan Rui accompanied Wen Sheng to the hotel. Li Zian rode in Mu Chuntao’s car home.
As soon as the car reached the entrance of Gaochen Yipin, Li Zian’s mobile phone received a bank text message. A transfer of two million had been deposited into his account.
“That Mr. Wen really transferred two million to me.” Li Zian looked at the seven-digit balance, hardly believing he suddenly had so much money.
Mu Chuntao said, “This is what you deserve. I actually think that Mr. Wen gave too little.”
Li Zian was surprised. “You think he gave too little? You’re not serious, are you? He gave two million.”
Before leaving the mountain, he thought saving two thousand was very hard, yet she thought even two million was too little.
“Your service is worth more than two million. Consider it making a friend.” Mu Chuntao changed the subject. “Now you’re a man with two million in private savings. But don’t let Yu Meilin find out, or she’ll confiscate your little treasury, and you won’t be able to cry even if you want to.”
Li Zian was used to her jokes. He said, “I’ll split it with you, half and half. Give me your account number, I’ll transfer it to you.”
“You want to give me one million?” Mu Chuntao’s expression was a bit exaggerated.
Li Zian said, “The studio belongs to both of us. Half for you, half for me.”
Mu Chuntao giggled.
“What are you laughing at?”
“You’re giving me so much, one million. Are you trying to keep me?”
Li Zian didn’t know how to respond to that.
Mu Chuntao said with a laugh, “This is money you earned. I’m just tagging along for fun. I don’t want to take your money. If you really feel bad, just give me a monthly salary of forty or fifty thousand. Consider it you buying me cosmetics.”
“How can that be okay?” Li Zian felt it wasn’t right.
“It’s settled then. If you don’t agree, our studio partnership is over.” Mu Chuntao said.
Li Zian gave a wry smile. “Okay, but forty or fifty thousand is too little. At least two hundred thousand.”
“I only want fifty thousand. Yu Meilin will find out sooner or later. If you really give me a monthly salary of two hundred thousand, she’ll definitely think you’re keeping me. Then even if I had mouths all over my body, I couldn’t explain it clearly.”
Li Zian originally wanted to insist, but suddenly remembered he was currently sitting in her Ferrari Sports Car, heading to Shanghai’s top residential complex, Gaochen Yipin. Her house and car were worth over a hundred million. Would she really care about a salary of a few tens of thousands?
“She doesn’t do the studio to make money, yet she’s so enthusiastic about my matters. Could it be she’s interested in me?” Li Zian quietly pondered in his heart.
While thinking this, he glanced at Mu Chuntao out of the corner of his eye, only to find Mu Chuntao was also glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
The scene was quite funny.
Mu Chuntao burst out laughing.
Li Zian could only pretend nothing happened.
The two entered the elevator together. The elevator went up.
The elevator was filled with Mu Chuntao’s scent. It was fragrant.
“How about coming to my place for a bit?” Mu Chuntao broke the silence in the elevator.
Li Zian hesitated. “I better not. Before I left, Grandma said she wanted to drink the soup I make tonight. I need to hurry back and make it for her. Also, the child is clingy with me; I want to go back and spend time with her.”
Mu Chuntao sighed. “Yu Meilin must have saved the Milky Way in her previous life.”
A wry smile appeared at the corner of Li Zian’s mouth. If Yu Meilin saved the Milky Way in her previous life, then he was probably the evil villain who wanted to destroy the Milky Way. Otherwise, why would they meet in this life and become a plastic couple?
“Do you really plan to live like this for the rest of your life?” Mu Chuntao’s voice was soft.
Li Zian didn’t know how to answer. Coincidentally, the elevator door opened again, so he was even more at a loss for words. One elevator served two households. The hallway was short; if you talked a bit loudly, it could be heard inside the house.
Mu Chuntao lowered her voice. “I’ll go back to my room first. I’ll leave the door open for you. If you want to come over, just come.”
Li Zian was startled, and actually nodded.
Why did he nod?
He himself didn’t know.
If he had to name the woman who treated him best in this life, aside from his mother, it was probably Mu Chuntao.
Mu Chuntao entered her door and really did leave it open for him. The door was ajar; a light push would open it.
But Li Zian didn’t dare go over. He entered his own door.
Once inside, Li Zian immediately saw the Old Matriarch Lin Shengnan sitting on the balcony fingering Buddhist beads. Beside her was a small incense burner, with a stick of sandalwood incense burning in it.
“Where did you go?” Lin Shengnan asked.
Li Zian said, “A friend was sick, I went to visit.”
“Male or female?” Lin Shengnan asked again.
“Male.” Li Zian said, feeling very puzzled. What did the Old Matriarch mean by asking him this?
“Oh, go do your own thing. Don’t disturb my chanting.” Lin Shengnan closed her eyes and started murmuring quietly.
Li Zian gave a wry smile. The Old Matriarch was still the same Old Matriarch, clearly concerned about her grandson-in-law, but pretending not to care.
From upstairs came the sound of Li Xiaomei reciting a poem.
Li Zian wanted to go see. He walked towards the staircase.
As he passed through the living room, a wisp of sandalwood smoke drifted from the balcony and entered Li Zian’s nostrils.
Boom!
Without any warning, Li Zian felt something tremble in his mind. An unprecedented feeling washed over every nerve in his body. It felt like a person trapped in the desert finding an oasis, or someone who hadn’t eaten for days tasting delicious roasted meat.
It was the Great Sluggish Cauldron; it had awakened for no reason.
His breathing involuntarily quickened. The Great Sluggish Cauldron released more Zhenqi, making his whole body feel a bit warm.
This situation came suddenly and was so strange. Caught off guard, Li Zian froze for a moment.
Suddenly, some sounds flooded into his ears.
“Good men, good women, those who set their minds on supreme enlightenment, how should they abide…”
Li Zian looked towards the sound. It was the Old Matriarch chanting scriptures.
He was utterly stunned. He and the Old Matriarch were seven or eight meters apart. Just moments ago, he could only hear indistinct murmuring. Now he could even hear clearly which scripture she was chanting. Not only that, he could even hear the Old Matriarch’s breathing, as if she were breathing right by his ear.
There were other sounds too.
The sound of wind blowing outside the window.
The sound of vehicles driving downstairs.
The sound of the clock pendulum swinging.
The sound of the elevator running.
Sounds he couldn’t hear or couldn’t hear clearly before, he now heard with perfect clarity. He could even identify directions by sound and grasp the characteristics of different sounds. For example, the wind stirred by a passing car had different characteristics from the natural wind blowing outside the window. Similarly, the sound of the elevator going up and going down had different characteristics.
“What’s happening to me?” Li Zian felt nervous and didn’t know what to do.
Another wisp of sandalwood smoke drifted over and entered his nostrils.
The Great Sluggish Cauldron, already very active, became even more active now. The feeling of his body heating up also became stronger.
“Zian, what’s wrong?” Lin Shengnan saw Li Zian hadn’t left and asked.
Li Zian’s gaze moved to the incense burner beside the Old Matriarch. He saw that stick of sandalwood incense burning quietly in the incense burner and suddenly found the reason.
Wasn’t the Great Sluggish Cauldron just an incense burner?
If an incense burner doesn’t burn incense, it loses its reason for existing. The true way to activate the Great Sluggish Cauldron was to burn incense!
“I’m talking to you, what’s wrong?” Lin Shengnan slightly frowned.
Li Zian then snapped out of it and replied, “I was just thinking about something. Grandma, could you give me a stick of sandalwood incense?”
“What do you want sandalwood incense for?”
Li Zian smiled and said, “I think the sandalwood incense smells nice.”
“Of course, this sandalwood incense is very expensive. Come get one.” Lin Shengnan said.
Li Zian took a stick of sandalwood incense and returned to his own room.
Without the scent of burning incense, the Great Sluggish Cauldron slowly “cooled down.” His hearing also returned to normal; he could no longer hear those subtle sounds.
Li Zian placed that stick of sandalwood incense under his pillow. He would light it when he slept tonight. He wanted to test the cultivation effect of burning incense while sleeping.