Chapter 2309 - 1919: Professional Ethics

Chapter 2309: Chapter 1919: Professional Ethics

Song Tan took a deep breath.

First we talk about yours, then his, one at a time!

She looked at Daoist Qingyun: First of all, Daoist Qingyun, could you stop stirring things up.

Then she asked, "Daoist Master, proper temples all keep a fortune cat. We keep a rooster here that starts crowing at the crack of dawn—does that sound appropriate to you?"

"Why wouldn’t it be appropriate? There are plenty of people who want to be the first to offer incense at the Daoist Temple in the morning."

Daoist Qingyun soothed her, "Kind donor, please rest assured, we also have people on duty at night, we’re not afraid of it being noisy. Just look at this rooster—how fine it is!"

Its comb was so red it looked like it might drip blood, its eyes bright and piercing. Standing there with its chest thrust high, its body line was so beautiful!

And that coat of iridescent feathers—never mind the reds, yellows, and greens—even the black was a shimmering, multicolored black, how imposing!

Look at it walking among the flock, with a bunch of little hens trailing behind—it just gives you a completely different feeling.

And isn’t that exactly the case? Boss Chang craned his neck to look as well.

He saw that among the hens there were even a few wobbling Long-tailed Pheasants following along.

These Long-tailed Pheasants looked just like ordinary wild pheasants, not big in size, mottled gray and rather drab, looking quite plain.

He used an AI image-recognition app to check and confirmed they were hens.

But the problem was, why were there a few long-tailed, equally iridescent roosters mixed in the middle?

Rooster following rooster. And you, big rooster, is this proper behavior?

Looking back at Daoist Qingyun, he was obviously wholeheartedly convinced, seeing nothing but perfection in this rooster at the moment.

When the rooster scratched twice at the ground and dug up a little bug, he couldn’t help but praise it for being clever!

Looking again, the big rooster didn’t eat the bug, but instead clucked and called the little hen next to it over to eat.

Benevolent! Kind-hearted! Responsible!

Daoist Qingyun’s gaze practically gleamed with light, and he even promised Song Tan:

"Don’t worry, once it’s at my place, it will definitely not suffer. This is the Spiritual Energy of our Daoist Temple—we’ll surely raise it until its feathers shine with oil."

Listening to this, Boss Chang glanced at this immortal-like Daoist Master again and thought: Is that Spiritual Energy really raised by you? And you’re here bragging.

But to be fair, seeing how majestic this rooster looked, the beautifully landscaped garden behind his newly opened teahouse would be quite a fitting place to keep it, wouldn’t it?

At this moment he looked left and right, hoping to find a second one, but Song Tan sighed:

"Daoist Master, don’t even think about it. Our Da Hong leads the whole flock—without the leader, the team will fall apart."

"And also, land in the Imperial City is worth its weight in gold, and your Daoist Temple is all courtyard stacked inside courtyard..."

She’d gone around inside and almost got lost, and there wasn’t even a patch of soil for the rooster to scratch for bugs or stroll around. How could it compare with here?

Daoist Qingyun opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Indeed, the Daoist Temple had plenty of old trees and scenic spots, but a large open space suitable for chickens to stay in—there really wasn’t any.

He was very unwilling, and after looking again and again, he could only praise, "But just look at this rooster, it really is different!"

Song Tan didn’t respond to this broken-record line.

Once she’d dealt with him, she turned to Boss Chang.

"Boss Chang, if we say my village has good feng shui, then yes, it does—the fruits and vegetables raised on this fine water and soil all taste great."

She lowered her voice: "But if you’re talking about a Dragon Vein—you’ve been in business for so many years, is that something small folks like us could possibly grasp? We really can’t talk nonsense."

She even vowed, using what she’d just learned: "Go online and search—our village hasn’t produced a single famous person in hundreds of years!"

Boss Chang: ...

He did business; of course he knew that good resources never fall to ordinary people.

It was just that this place really felt too different, which made him lose his sense of proportion for a moment.

Now he fell silent, then finally nodded: "I get what you mean, don’t worry, I won’t promote it. But that said," he lowered his voice:

"Dragon Vein or not, you have to save two units in town for me."

Seriously, Old Chang was not short of money.

Song Tan thought it over: "I can sell you two regular apartments at a cheap price. But it’s not appropriate to discount the villas—those are very expensive, they don’t appreciate much, it’s a loss, and you can only buy one."

Listen to her talk!

They were all businesspeople; they understood very well what things were worth what price.

Boss Chang looked at her with an accusing gaze, then showed an expression of understanding:

"One it is, then."

He paused, then asked, "Is Daoist Qingyun living inside that area? Can I pick one right next to his?"

Daoist Qingyun immediately puffed up with pride: "Exactly. This old Daoist shamelessly asked the kind donor to reserve two mu of land for me."

Two mu of land?!

Boss Chang’s gaze instantly changed again.

If this place really had nothing special about it, what would a famous Imperial City Daoist Master want with some remote patch of poor countryside? One casual bit of business for him would earn enough money to lease dozens of mu of land in the sticks for decades.

Song Tan: ...You just can’t reason with you superstitious types!

If she still ended up living in the village then, with no one cultivating and no one stirring up Spiritual Energy, that area would only be slightly better than an ordinary place—how could it be worth that much money?

But... forget it.

If your own desires aren’t that big, once the money reaches a certain number, it’s just numbers. Let them buy whatever they like—she was the one making the money anyway.

They exchanged glances and decisively changed the subject.

Only Daoist Wuwei stared blankly at the shining Jinhe in the distance. After a while, he pinched the growing layer of fat at his belly and suddenly said:

"Master, on the first and fifteenth at our Daoist Temple..."

Daoist Qingyun immediately panicked: "I have to cultivate! These mundane affairs really shouldn’t be entangling me!"

Daoist Wuwei looked at him quietly.

Daoist Qingyun spoke even faster: "Besides, I’ve had times before when I couldn’t get back in time, and the Daoist Temple was still just fine, wasn’t it? It’s such a big temple, they can’t come to me for everything, right? Some donors just want to come burn a stick of incense, pure and simple."

Daoist Wuwei still said nothing.

Daoist Qingyun: "..."

"How about this," Daoist Qingyun showed quite a sense of responsibility too: "You go buy round-trip tickets. We’ll go back the night before, and come back again the next afternoon."

He was sturdy; he wasn’t afraid of the travel.

Daoist Wuwei finally took a deep breath: "Before that, Master, I’ll go talk to Boss Song and tell her from now on each of us, every meal, can only have one bowl of rice."

If they didn’t control it, it really wouldn’t do—Maitreya Buddha was indeed chubby, but nobody ever heard of a successful Daoist cultivator being chubby!

They were cultivators; they also had to have professional ethics.

Daoist Qingyun was in agony too: "But I heard they’re making fried rice with crispy rice, sauerkraut, and mutton fat tonight!"

This kind of hot, comforting carb happiness—only eating one bowl, how is that any different from not eating?

Daoist Wuwei: ...

He too gritted his teeth in pain and made up his mind: "I heard the lady boss of our guesthouse eats a fat-loss salad every day. Master, why don’t we eat that tomorrow as well?"

Daoist Qingyun thought of the slightly plump landlady and fell silent.