Check, Please

At first, the entire Wen family had been full of complaints about their old patriarch insisting on making the long journey all the way here to settle down. But by the time they finished a bowl of hot tea, their hearts were entirely seized by the shock of watching Hu Defu pull a huge register out of that tiny little pouch of his.

Before this, all they had ever heard about immortals and the Lingxiao Sect was just hearsay, stories from other people that sounded no more real than the tales spun by street storytellers. They had always thought such things were far out of their reach, practically no different from make-believe.

Nothing could compare to the raw thrill of seeing it all with their own two eyes, and it left them so stirred up they could barely contain themselves.

Once Wen Xiangzhi had slowly sipped down his bowl of hot tea, Hu Defu lifted his head and said there were plenty of suitable houses available. He had already taken the initiative to weed out the overpriced properties—those were reserved for extremely wealthy aristocratic clans, and not a good fit for the Wen family’s situation.

"Right now, Xiushui City’s housing prices are set to match those in the imperial capital," he explained. "I’ve got plenty of properties that are just the right size for you, but since they’re fairly close to the central district… you have to know that the closer you get to the city center, the more expensive the houses get, because almost all the facilities related to immortals are located there." That central district referred to the stretch of land at the foot of the Lingxiao Sect’s mountain, centered around what used to be Xiushui Village—now renamed Xiushui Residential Compound.

He slid the register over on the table, pointing out the housing prices near the central district for Wen Xiangzhi to see.

"Of course, while the central district is closer to the immortals, the rest of the city is plenty nice too. Xiushui City has public carriages that can take you anywhere for just one copper coin per ride, and they’re fast and comfortable too," Hu Defu added.

He did not say it outright, but his words made it clear that if the Wen family did not have abundant savings and did not have a pressing need to live close to the central district, there was no reason for them to spend a fortune buying a house there.

Most of the current residents in the central district are original villagers from Xiushui Village and several neighboring villages, families that moved here in the early years, and the family members of the Qingyun Peak disciples who relocated here with the sect. The rest are all cultivators, many of whom come from other sects.

Wen Xiangzhi knew his family’s circumstances better than anyone. After looking at the housing prices in the central area for a while, he flipped to the page Hu Defu had marked with his fingers. Seeing that the prices there matched the budget he had in mind, he said, "Nephew Hu, would you please show us these few properties?"

"Sure thing! Would you folks like to rest a little longer, or head over right now?" Hu Defu asked.

Wen Xiangzhi gestured to his eldest son, and Wen the Eldest pulled a string of copper coins out of his pouch and set it on the table. "This is for the tea!"

He had assumed the tea stall was a side business run by the brokers to make a little extra money, so he did not even ask the price. The extra copper coins in that string were meant as a friendly gesture to Hu the broker.

Who would have guessed that just as Hu Defu stood up to lead them out to see the houses, he heard the clink of the copper coins, turned to look, and laughed heartily as he picked up the string of coins and tossed it back to Wen the Eldest.

"This tea stall is set up by Xiushui City to offer a place for travelers coming from afar to rest and quench their thirst. We can’t charge for the tea. If the immortals in the City Lord’s Mansion found out, the tea server here would lose his job for sure!"

A tea server who had been hurrying over from the other end of the stall gave Hu Defu a grateful look, and quickly came over to add, "Please take your money back, sir. The tea we serve isn’t anything fancy, it’s just meant to help you folks cool off and get a drink. We don’t take any money for it."

The entire Wen family was utterly bewildered when they heard that.

Wen Xiangzhi asked the tea server curiously, "If you don’t charge for the tea, you’d just be boiling water and pouring tea for people for nothing, wouldn’t you? Tea leaves don’t grow out of nowhere, even if you don’t count the labor of making the tea, how can you not even charge for the tea leaves?"

At that, the tea server puffed out his chest proudly and said, "Let me tell you, sir, the City Lord’s Mansion picked me out of dozens of boys for this job because I’m quick and sharp. They pay me a steady wage every month, I don’t make a living off the tea here. Even the tea leaves for the stall are all paid for by the City Lord’s Mansion."

The City Lord’s Mansion paid the tea server a very decent, stable wage, and working for the City Lord’s Mansion was a prestigious gig. He would never risk losing his proper, well-paying job just to pocket a few loose copper coins from passing travelers.

Hearing that, the Wen family was even more astonished.

They had never expected Xiushui City to be so generous that it would set up a free tea stall right at the city gate to welcome everyone coming into the city.

Earlier, when they saw Hu the broker leading them straight to this tea stall, they had assumed it was a common local trick to make up some excuse to squeeze a little money out of them as a tip. And since there had not been a single other guest in the tea stall when they arrived, they had thought the other new arrivals were too stingy to pay the broker for the "treat" of tea.

What the Wen family did not know was that all the people who had entered the city before them had thought exactly the same thing about the tea stall. They all assumed the brokers were going to make them pay for the tea as a tip, so many of the poorer folks waved off the brokers’ invitation to rest, saying they were not thirsty and just wanted to find a house to settle down as soon as possible. That was why the big tea stall had been so deserted.

The tea server had been so bored he was just about to carry a full pot of tea out to the city gate and pour bowls for everyone one by one, otherwise he had no idea how long it would take him to finish the sack of loose tea leaves the City Lord’s Mansion had sent over.

Probably because the big group of Wens had made the stall so lively, several families coming in after them no longer turned down the brokers’ invitations and came to the tea stall to rest too.

Once they had sorted out the whole situation, the Wen family followed Hu the broker away from the city gate to go look at the houses.

On the way, Hu Defu told them the properties were located in the west part of the city, about sixteen or seventeen li away from where they were. The Wens immediately planned to go sit in their carriage behind them—no one was going to walk more than ten li to get there.

But before they could call their carriage over to catch up, Hu the broker stopped in his tracks. He turned to Wen Xiangzhi and said, "Sir Wen, carriages move pretty slowly inside the city. Why don’t you let your family take the carriage and make their way slowly to the west side, while the rest of us who want to see the houses go ahead first?"

That left Wen Xiangzhi completely confused. What did he mean let the carriage go slowly while they went ahead? Without the carriage, how were they supposed to get there faster? Was Hu Defu planning to run all the way there? Could he run faster than a horse?

Before Hu Defu could explain, a big boxy object about the size of a carriage compartment went "ding-ling-ling" and came speeding down the main road right towards them.

Hu Defu pointed at the big box and said, "Perfect, the public carriage is here. Hurry up and count your family members, get your money out, it’s one copper coin per person." He then pointed to a tall signpost next to him that was as tall as he was. "This is the South City Gate Station. Public carriage stops are set up every two or three li, they’re super convenient."