Chapter 25: Tea (10)

When Muchen returned from the Thousand Treasure Hall, he found Uncle Haoyu waiting for him at the entrance of the courtyard. He pulled the cart to a halt and climbed down to greet his elder.

"I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"Not at all," Uncle Haoyu replied. "It's just that this matter can't wait."

"Oh?" Muchen asked.

"The elders have finally seen reason," Uncle Haoyu said, revealing a small, satisfied smile. "None will object to my cousin's memorial tablet being placed in the ancestral hall."

Muchen clasped his hands together in gratitude. "That's wonderful news."

While the old man in his memories had disdained the Wang family's wealth, Muchen knew that he had still felt some familial affection. Just the fact that they had visited Uncle Haoyu so often in Muchen's youth was enough evidence of that. While the old man never would have admitted to a desire to have his tablet end up in the family's hall, Muchen was pretty sure he would have appreciated it nonetheless.

"We'll hold the ceremony in three day's time," Uncle Haoyu said, then paused. "I'll have robes prepared for you."

Muchen bowed again. "Thank you."

Muchen wasn't interested in charity or in trying to leech off of the Wang family's wealth, but he wouldn't refuse a gift offered in good faith. Besides, he didn't have the first idea of how to dress up for this kind of thing or where to find somebody who would be able to make the proper clothing. He was grateful for Uncle Haoyu's care.

"What are you being so formal for?" Uncle Haoyu said, before stepping forward to clasp Muchen on the shoulder. "Whether it becomes official or not, I'll always consider you to be family."

Muchen nodded again. Uncle Haoyu, finished saying his piece, made his way back to the main family's courtyard. Muchen felt a bit of tightness in his chest as he watched him go.

After a moment he shook his head, dismissing his sappy thoughts. Uncle Haoyu was a major businessman in the capital. He knew how to get along with high and low alike. There was no need to take everything he said too seriously.

At least it didn't seem like he would be pushing the issue of his and Liling's hypothetical betrothal. That was a load off of Muchen's mind. Though according to Liling her mother had been the driving force behind the idea, so he couldn't completely let down his guard just yet.

Muchen found himself in a maudlin mood as he headed into his courtyard. Rather than beelining to his room in order to squeeze in as much cultivation time as possible, he instead took a seat on a stone bench outside. He could see the outlines of what probably would have been a beautiful garden if it weren't already winter. Even as it was, the bare branches of the trees surrounding him had a stark, melancholy sort of beauty.

Muchen didn't like to dwell on the past. He had enough troubles in the present, not to mention the pitfalls waiting for him in the future. Still, now that he knew he would soon be laying the old man's tablet to rest, he couldn't help but wonder if he would have approved of what Muchen was doing.

It was silly. Muchen had never actually spoken to the man, and only knew him through a secondhand memory. Despite that, he couldn't quite drag his thoughts away from the subject.

His worrying was made doubly foolish by the fact that the old man had always preached the importance of following your heart. In his case, that had led him to break with the Wang family and live the life of an itinerant merchant. True, he had talked plenty about wanting Muchen to carry on his legacy. Looking back on that with objective eyes, though, Muchen didn't think he had literally wanted Muchen to take up his mule cart and carry on along the same trade route until it was his turn to drop dead on the road.

Rather, the important thing was to live life according to his principles. Not to bow his head and do something he knew was wrong just because it was convenient. On that count, Muchen thought he was doing a good job. He wanted to get rich, and he wanted to do it by helping people. Selling them things that they wanted at a price they could afford.

That was a sentiment the old man would have appreciated. And even if settling down in one place and putting down roots wasn't the old man's style, he wouldn't begrudge Muchen the particulars of his business plan.

Would the old man have approved of his dealings with Xinyi? And now, this mess with Heisan? From what Muchen recalled, his attitude had been similar to Uncle Haoyu's: cultivators were a potential source of great wealth and a certain source of great danger, and a wise businessman avoided them when he could.

Maybe Muchen could have done a better job avoiding getting dragged into cultivator's affairs. And pursuing his own path of cultivation might lead him deeper into that world in the future. So far, though, he thought he had been taking carefully calculated risks. Whether the old man would have agreed... well, he would have been a lot more pissed off if Muchen had followed through with the plan to bribe his way into the Cloudy Peaks Sect, that was for sure.

Muchen sighed and stood. He couldn't change what had happened. He couldn't live his life chasing the approval of a dead man. All that he could do was follow his conscience and live the best life he could.

ooOoo

The day of the ceremony dawned bright and clear. Muchen liked to think it was the heavens showing their approval for what they were doing. At the very least, he appreciated that he wouldn't be standing outside in freezing rain.

His ceremonial robes were uncomfortable enough as it was. They hung heavy on his body, and the fabric at the back of his neck itched something fierce. At least the thick cloth kept out the chill.

Uncle Haoyu had gone all out with the ceremony. Branch members of the Wang family who Muchen barely recognized, dozens of them, all stood there in their ceremonial garb. A gray bearded priest accompanied Uncle Haoyu as he moved to stand before the ancestral hall. Muchen wasn't plugged into the capital's social scene, but he could tell just from looking at him that this priest wasn't someone who was easy to invite.

The ceremony was a Wang family affair, so Muchen didn't have an active role to play. He kneeled when everybody else kneeled, stood when everybody else stood, and did his best to watch attentively as the priest recited benediction after benediction.

The ceremony had begun early in the morning. The sun was directly overhead by the time the doors to the ancestral hall were opened with great fanfare. Muchen knelt down together with the crowd one more time as Uncle Haoyu went inside to set the memorial tablet in its final resting place. When he returned, the priest recited one last prayer as the doors were closed, and the ceremony was over.

Muchen stood, but didn't leave immediately. A ceremony like this was a social ritual as much as a religious one. Now that the memorial tablet had been properly interred it was time to do a bit of mingling.

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Again, Muchen's role was fairly straightforward, if a bit more involved than before. He simply had to keep a properly somber expression on his face and accept everybody's condolences with a reasonable amount of poise. He managed to rise to the challenge, even when speaking to the cousins who he knew had more likely celebrated than mourned the old man's death.

All of that conflict was in the past now. Muchen could at least uphold the old man's dignity in this kind of setting, even if the old man himself would have found the whole thing ridiculous.

Finally, the branch members had all finished their obligatory socializing and left, leaving Muchen and Uncle Haoyu alone. The priest gave them some space, moving to give the ancestral hall yet another blessing.

"It took too long," Uncle Haoyu said, "but he's with his family now."

"He never minded a little delay," Muchen said.

"True enough," Uncle Haoyu said, smiling. "Have you given any further thought to your future?"

And here Muchen had thought he was going to let the betrothal lie. He decided it was best to nip the idea in the bud.

"I'm planning to leave the capital after the Long family auction," Muchen said. He couldn't freeload off of the Wang family forever. His deal with Heisan had simply set a convenient deadline for his departure.

"I hope it won't be another three years before we see you again," Uncle Haoyu said.

Muchen smiled. "At the very least, once I settle down in one place it will be easier to maintain regular correspondence."

Muchen intended to throw himself into getting a factory built. Assuming he didn't run into any unexpected obstacles in Li Village, he should be able to have a basic production line going within a year. It was always hard to say for sure what would happen in the future, though, and even if the factory was up and running that didn't necessarily mean that Muchen would be able to hare off and make social calls at will.

He wasn't going to make any promises to Uncle Haoyu that he might not be able to keep. That said, the fact that he would be living in one place would make it much easier to stay in touch compared to the days on the road when they had traveled more or less according to the old man's whim. Besides, who knew? Maybe if he was successful enough it would be the Wang family visiting him.

"You will be finding a place to settle down?" Uncle Haoyu asked.

Muchen nodded. "I certainly intend to."

While he could still make progress and profit right now by living the life of an itinerant merchant and cultivator, at some point he was going to have to accumulate some serious resources in order to achieve his goals. That was why he had his eyes on setting up a factory. If Li Village didn't work out he might need to wander for a time in order to find a suitable location, but by the end of the year Muchen intended to be well on his way toward putting down roots.

"You won't be getting mixed up with cultivators?" Uncle Haoyu asked. "No crazy get rich quick schemes?"

Muchen shook his head. "I love my life too much to risk throwing it away for money."

He felt a little bad about concealing his dealings with Heisan, but in fairness that hadn't been his scheme. He'd been an innocent bystander until gotten dragged into a cultivator's plans. If he intended to turn the trap back on its originator and triumph through violence if he had to, well, it wasn't like Muchen had sought out that particular quest.

Also, in fairness, it was hardly a "get rich quick" scheme. Even if all went according to plan Muchen was only looking at a few hundred taels of silver in profit at best.

"Just because you say there's no risk, there's no risk?" Uncle Haoyu replied, then sighed. "Ah, I remember feeling so young and invincible."

Muchen smiled sheepishly, but didn't say anything. So far, he'd managed to avoid outright lying to the old man, and he wanted to keep that streak intact.

"Remember," Uncle Haoyu said, "to build a mighty business, you have to lay a proper foundation."

"Of course," Muchen said. "Make a product that people will like, be honest when you tell them about it, and sell for a fair price."

After running his tea stand, Muchen was more confident in his read of the Qianzhan Empire's consumer market. Compared to Earth, the Qianzhan Continent was lacking when it came to middle class consumption. That was a relative measure, though. Even if the people here weren't in the position to drop thousands of dollars on new phones and the like, there were still a great deal of people out there who had at least a little bit of extra money on hand and were willing to spend it to make their lives better.

Even better, the people of the Qianzhan Empire were interested in personal care. The products on offer were of middling quality compared to what Muchen would be able to make, and even so it was a big enough business to support several rich trading houses. Once Muchen got his factory running, it was just a matter of time before the silver came rolling in.

Of course, that was all just relatively speaking. It would be some time yet before he'd be able to talk with Uncle Haoyu as a peer.

"I look forward to seeing what you accomplish," Uncle Haoyu said. He gave Muchen one final pat on the shoulder before taking his leave.

Muchen straightened his shoulders and gave the ancestral hall one final look, intent on burning it into his memory. He was going to take his second chance at life and make it into something to be proud of.

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