Chapter 79: Exchange at the Tea Stall

“Mr. Wang, then it’s settled. I’ll come to your home again tomorrow at noon.”

The wealthy merchant surnamed Wang also smiled widely. “Thank you for your trouble, Uncle Cheng. Please take this small token as payment for your carriage ride. Don’t refuse.”

Cheng Zhen initially wanted to decline, but seeing it was silver dollar coins, he let out a bitter laugh. “Well, I do have a hopeless apprentice to support at my manor. I’ll gratefully accept then.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to refuse. It’s just the offer was too generous for him to turn down.

Silver dollars, also called “big oceans,” were the hard currency of the era.

Copper coins were a step below, but they still held some value.

The most troublesome were the paper notes—Provisionary Notes. They had purchasing power, but they lost value at an insane speed.

These were a burden left from the last feudal dynasty. Powerful warlords still printed them freely.

A unified government might have saved the economy, but the warring warlords only wanted to grab what they could. Unlike silver dollars or copper coins needing mining and smelting, Provisionary Notes could be printed endlessly with just a template. That’s why the notes kept devaluing.

Still, ordinary folks mainly used Provisionary Notes mixed with copper coins. Silver dollars were high-denomination money most families couldn’t afford.

This strange currency situation made Chen Xiyi feel this era’s warlord battles were both familiar and different from his past life’s. Superficially similar, but fundamentally distinct.

“Uncle Cheng, you’re too polite. Let me see you out…” The merchant named Wang didn’t mind one silver dollar. He naturally rose to escort Cheng Zhen downstairs.

Cheng Zhen seemed about to say something but swallowed his words and followed downstairs.

“Waiter! Package this up.” Seeing the two leave, Chen Xiyi called out loudly.

The waiter promptly boxed the barely touched dishes into a food container.

“Sir, about the packing fee…”

Chen Xiyi casually tossed out a few copper coins. “Is this enough?”

“More than enough!” The waiter swept the coins into his pocket.

Chen Xiyi didn’t know the prices, but this meal had cost nearly fifty coppers—not cheap. Luckily, he’d dug up plenty of money from that fox’s grave.

Carrying the food box, he went downstairs. Using Qi Sensitivity combined with the Book of Changes’ techniques for tracing Qi Mechanisms, he easily tracked Cheng Zhen.

Cheng Zhen sat at a roadside tea stall, two bowls of tea before him, seemingly waiting for Chen Xiyi. He’d guessed Chen Xiyi would find him.

Chen Xiyi unceremoniously sat across from him, plopping the food box on the table.

“You left rather hurriedly just now. Bet you forgot about bringing something back for your apprentice. I hadn’t touched these dishes—if not taken, they’d go to waste. Consider it a small welcoming gift.”

Cheng Zhen slid one bowl of tea toward Chen Xiyi. “Much obliged. Have some tea to wet your throat.”

He didn’t refuse Chen Xiyi’s goodwill, accepting it directly.

Only after Chen Xiyi took a sip did Cheng Zhen speak. “Sir, I suspect you are no ordinary man.”

Cheng Zhen was blunt, skipping pleasantries and getting straight to the point.

“I suppose not. Neither are you, obviously. I’ve just arrived here, new to your land. If I break any unwritten rules, please forgive my ignorance.” Chen Xiyi spoke carefully.

“Rules? What rules exist in times like these? It’s all about surviving, scraping by.” Cheng Zhen couldn’t hide his self-mockery.

He’d pegged Chen Xiyi as a novice scholar, maybe from a cultured family with some spare wealth, definitely not local. Anyone with that scholar’s look around these parts, Cheng Zhen would know.

“But sir, why come here amid this chaos instead of staying safely home?” Cheng Zhen probed.

Chen Xiyi shook his head. “Home is long gone. If it were safe, would I leave my village? Later, I studied the Book of Changes seriously. I gained some insights, met a fellow practitioner, and thought to visit them.

“If I could lodge at your manor for guidance, I’d be deeply grateful.” As he spoke, Chen Xiyi carefully pressed five silver dollars into Cheng Zhen’s palm.

Cheng Zhen was taken aback. Five silver dollars was no small sum for him. His Feng Shui consultation for Mr. Wang likely earned him only two—that was his biggest job this year! The earlier coin was really a deposit; maybe one more at most later. Yet this man paid five upfront, enough to ease his manor’s burdens.

“This… is far too much. For just lodging, this is…” Cheng Zhen was an honest man. Five dollars for a room was excessive.

It was this straightforward, reliable nature that made him the go-to Feng Shui Master hereabouts, consulted by every family for important matters.

“Not at all. If possible, I also wish to borrow your books. Consider the extra payment covering that.” Chen Xiyi wasn’t here just to stay; his real goal was those texts to supplement his knowledge.

Cheng Zhen fell silent. Most of his collection were books on the Book of Changes and divination arts. This visitor clearly practiced the same craft, yet with a better background—why covet his library? Though they contained no secret techniques, what if the man had ill intentions?

But those five dollars would truly help his manor… He wavered. A well-known Feng Shui Master didn’t mean steady work. Ordinary villagers paid little, leaving him tight on funds. Fame didn’t fill the rice pot.

“Never mind. They’re just books. Few care for this path now. Someone showing interest brings Human Qi to my collection. Just don’t mock their simplicity.” Thinking of his lazy apprentice, Cheng Zhen finally let out a helpless sigh. With that boy’s “three days fishing, two days drying nets” work ethic, their school would likely die with him. If this man wanted to study the books… so be it.

“Thank you so much, Master! I hope you won’t refuse me guidance then.” Chen Xiyi smiled.