Chapter 903: Rich customer's whims

Chapter 903: Rich customer’s whims

‘The technique and craftsmanship really are poor, and lack of experience shows openly, the Spiritual Qi circuit is rudimentary and won’t be that effective, not to mention the messy finish… although that could be a result of being discovered forging it during the finishing process and having to complete it in secret’, Wu Long turned his gaze back to the pot he was holding.

‘But…’, his eyes narrowed, ‘…there is ambition and creativity in the forging process’

What Wu Long sought in those he wished to recruit if they were artisans – apart from inner character which applied to anyone he recruited – was true passion and ambition for the Dao they were practicing.

That not only would ensure they would strive to constantly better themselves, reaching for further heights and naturally motivated to produce better results, but was also, conveniently easier for him to entice as he was able to give them a chance at reaching heights they never even dreamed of before.

Thus, the signs of ambition and creativity in the forging process seen within this pot – however poorly it was made – caught his attention.

Wu Long let go of the pot, letting it fall into the rest of the pile, and then took another look around the shop.

“Show me the pots made by your master-craftsmen then”, Wu Long smiled, “Those that are representative of your workshop”

“R-right this wa-…”, the shop attendant who initially greeted Wu Long hastily turned to show the way, but was stopped by the lower-tier manager.

“In here”, the manager moved toward the inner side of the shop, while Wu Long gave a few coins to the shop attendant for his troubles, and followed.

They arrived at the inner hall, where pots were individually displayed.

The managed didn’t know whether Wu Long had the money to purchase anything here, in fact he was doubtful, but felt the need to show this in order to produce maximum effect of his earlier words, as well as to boast.

“Mm, quite good”, Wu Long nodded, speaking sincerely as this wasn’t one of the elite shops just for show. The quality of craftsmanship on display in this inner hall was far above anything they saw on the market.

“Liwei, is there one which catches your attention?”, Wu Long turned to Gong Liwei.

“Haha, I… am not sure since I didn’t know about these before…”, Gong Liwei shyly smiled, causing the lower-tier manager to roll his eyes since these were apparently amateur customers.

“They are almost all equally good, but those on that side are the ones I would recommend for you”, Wu Long spoke with a smile, pointing to one particular row of displayed pots, “I am just wondering which ones you like visually”

This caused the manager to once again re-evaluate these customers.

As they approached the row, Gong Liwei looked at the pots, Nie Xiwang’s lips curling up in a smile as she realized that Wu Long was intently looking at Gong Liwei’s reaction as she looked at each pot.

“That one”, eventually, Gong Liwei pointed at one, which was ‘coincidentally’ the lowest-priced one among the ones in this row.

“We’ll take those two, that one, and that row of smaller ones”, Wu Long pointed out three larger pots and a row of 10 pots of varying sizes from the cabbage-size to the size of a small teapot.

“W-Wu Long…!”, Gong Liwei turned, realizing he picked out the ones she really liked, while Nie Xiwang lightly snickered.

“I liked them as well”, he shrugged with a light smile, knowing this argument would not allow her to protest further.

“C-certainly!”, the manager became more lively, since Wu Long just became a premium customer.

These pots costed a small fortune. The value of each large one was around 20,000 Wei Dynasty gold coins, give or take the small price differences between them. The collection of the small ones in total was roughly equal to another 30,000.

It wasn’t everyday when someone made such a large purchase for nearly 90,000 gold coins, a fortune equal to that of a minor noble from the Emerald Falls City.

Wu Long paid the money, having Gong Liwei collect the pots into her Spatial Ring, and then added, as if reminded, “Ah, that apprentice who made that pot from before, is he still an apprentice at your workshop?”

“If you were to lodge a complaint, I will make sure that is no longer the case”, the lower-tier managed smiled, seemingly understanding Wu Long’s words in his own way.

“Show me the apprentice”, Wu Long said, not bothering to correct him.

“Right this way”, the lower-tier manager chuckled, waving away the shop cashier attendant who came to receive the fee and turning to go in the direction of the workshop.

Wu Long followed him, accompanied by Gong Liwei who was still flustered by such a big spending on her, and Nie Xiwang who had an amused look on her face.

After going through the workshop, they arrived in the area away from the forges, in the back, where staff who maintained the temperatures of the forges were working, and in front of a young man who had a few bruises which looked quite recent.

“Heh! Ri Luhai, you’ve finally landed yourself in big trouble!”, the manager spoke with a grin.

The young man he called Ri Luhai turned an annoyed look to the manager, not that surprised to see him. Although he did widen his eyes at the sight of what looked like customers in the workshop, his gaze becoming slightly apprehensive.

Meanwhile, Wu Long turned to Nie Xiwang, who, after watching the young man for a bit, subtly nodded to him.

“This custo-…”, the lower-tier manager began with a smug grin, but was interrupted by Wu Long.

“Are you the one who made this pot?”, Wu Long raised in his hand the pot he picked up again on the way into the workshop.

Ri Luhai’s eyes became a bit panicked as he saw the pot, but he sighed with a resigned expression next, and then turned to look Wu Long straight in the eyes, nodding, “Yes, that was me”

“Did you try to merge a catalyst into the base material?”, Wu Long’s next question, however, caused a shocked look to appear in the young man’s eyes.

“Y-Yes… I know, I have been told I was wrong…”, he then turned his eyes down.

“Heh! You were not only wrong! You wasted a precious catalyst on a failed experiment!”, the manager chimed in from the side.

“What about it?! I bought it and the materials with my own savings! I just used the forge of the workshop, which was my fault but-…”, Ri Luhai’s gaze and tone became defiant as he shot back at the manager.

“Tsk! Still spewing that bullshit, you little thieving bas-…?!”, the manager’s gaze became vicious, but he was stopped by Wu Long raising his hand, silencing him.

“Your method of doing it was wrong, but not the thought itself. Did you think of doing that on your own?”, Wu Long asked, narrowing his eyes as Nie Xiwang intently watched Ri Luhai with her eyes the whole time they were talking.

“Eh? Ah… yes, but..”, Ri Luhai slightly absentmindedly nodded, and then his eyes became filled with excitement, “D-do you know of a method to merge the Wood Qi catalyst into the base material of the pot?”

The manager, somehow felt this was going in a weird direction, but as he heard that, a smug and mocking expression appeared on his face again, “Hah! Of course not! There you go spewing that fantasy of yours!”

“I do”, however, Wu Long’s next words, caused Ri Luhai who was about to bicker with the manager again to switch all of his attention back to Wu Long, while the manager almost stumbled on the spot.

“E-esteemed cus-…”

Wu Long didn’t let the manager butt in again, continuing, “But why do you seek out that knowledge? As far as I know it is not something that makes one a master craftsman around these places, and you have yet to master even the craftsmanship of this workshop”

“I… just thought it of an experiment… for future…”, Ri Luhai spoke, “And it’s not like I can learn the craft from back here… so I thought it would help me learn… I came here aspiring for the Forging Dao, and was originally supposed to be an apprentice…”

He turned a slightly resentful side gaze to the manager who chuckled, “But you just had to make Uncle Bodai angry by getting close with the Young Lady. Tsk, talk about not knowing your level”

“And what makes you worthy above me?”, Ri Luhai snapped a little.

“Hah! You must’ve gone mad comparing yourself to me!”, the lower-tier manager snapped back, enraged by even the though of this guy seeing them on remotely close levels.

At this time, another, older voice reached them from behind, “What are you doing here, Lin Ganwen? I told you to not needlessly meddle in the workshop! Tsk, even bringing customers in this time… have you gone insane?”

“B-but Uncle Bodai, I was just-…”

“I told you to mind the front shop! You have to work on your reputation to win Grandfather’s favor now and try to look as good as possible! What if Grandfather catches you bossing around here again? Seriously, just after the ruckus you caused this early morning! Even your Lin Family’s influence has it’s limits, and even if I am your Father’s friend, I can only defend you to a certain limit, especially from Grandfather…”, the middle-aged looking man in luxurious clothes, who showed up, seemingly notified of what was happening spoke to the lower-tier manager with a distressed look.

And not leaving room for argument, turned to Wu Long, “Esteemed customers, I apologize for letting you see such an unsightly scene. However this is a restricted area, I would ask you to follow me out. As an apology-…”

His tone became polite and amicable.

But what he seemingly feared before, soon became true, as another, much older voice, dripping with rage, came from deep within the workshop, “Bodai!!! You and your little protege from the Lin Family coming in here to cause trouble again?!?!”

Hehe, this time Wu Long’s in the role of the rich customer ^^

Again, there’s a lot of backstory and events that I am introducing in a short format, since these are side stories hehe ^^

I could, of course skip creating all of thes background stories for the side characters and only focus on the main storyline, but I felt that would not really show the world our MC and his wifeys are living in.

Thank you for reading and your incredible support!!!