Asking About Longevity

Chapter 12 Remuneration

A few people walked around for a while, and Xiaohu suddenly asked: "Where should we go next?"

Mo Hua patted the storage bag on his body and said, "Go to North Street first!"

A few people came to the door of Youyuanzhai on North Street. Mo Hua stepped up the steps in front of the door. When he turned around, he saw three friends standing still. He couldn't help but ask: "Aren't you coming in?"

 The three friends shook their heads together:

 “I feel dizzy when I see the formation...”

"Me too…"

　　"I have nothing to do with the formation in this life, and I won't go in..."

Mo Hua had no choice but to say: "Then you guys wait here, I'll come out in a minute."

 The three friends nodded in unison.

Mo Hua entered the door, and the bell on the door eaves rang. The steward Xun Sheng saw Mo Hua at the door with his head held high and a storage bag slung over his chest. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's you again. Why, your brother has painted all the formations." Finished?"

Mo Hua nodded and said, "Yes."

The steward became more energetic and said, "Oh? It's only been five days. It's quite fast." After saying that, he waved to the ink painting and said, "Bring it to me for a look."

 Mo Hua took out the formation from the storage bag and placed it on the counter tiptoe.

The steward picked up the formation, looked at it, and frowned.

Mo Hua felt a little uneasy, "Is the painting wrong?"

 The steward pondered for a moment and said: "That's right, but this level is not that of a seasoned expert. There are a few pairs that are okay, but these..."

The steward turned over a few copies and took a look at the ink paintings. They were the ones he had drawn at the beginning.

"These ones are quite different. The writing skills are very jerky and intermittent, as if they were pieced together bit by bit. Are you sure your brother is learning the formation from the formation master? This level is a bit different..."

 Humage is a bit embarrassing for ink painting. It is his first time to draw, and he has tried his best to be able to draw like this.

 “Then can this formation be used?”

The steward pointed his finger at the table, looked at it carefully and said:

"Although the writing skills are a bit poor, there is nothing wrong with the formation itself. It can still be used...it's just that the writing skills are a bit poor."

Mo Hua breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good." Then he added: "Maybe it's the first time for my brother to draw this formation, so he's not very familiar with it, so he's a little unfamiliar at first. Don't you see that the later ones are much better?"

The steward looked at the next few formations and nodded slowly, "That's true. The next few formations are indeed better, at least they are quite satisfactory."

“That’s right,” Mo Hua assured, “Don’t worry, my... brother will definitely get better and better at painting in the future!”

The steward was amused by Mo Hua, "I have quite a lot of confidence in your brother. Okay, for your sake, this time the order is done, but next time the formation must be at least as good as the following ones, no. Make sure to use those practice formations to make up the numbers."

Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.

 The steward put away the formation chart, counted a few spiritual stones and placed them on the table.

“Eight successful and two failed, a deposit of two spirit stones will be deducted, and the reward will be six spirit stones.”

"If your brother wants to continue painting, the deposit is still ten. Your brother already has the formation diagram of the open fire formation. I will give him ten more paper and ink materials here."

The steward gave Mo Hua a storage bag filled with paper and ink.

Mo Hua put away the paper and ink materials, picked up six spiritual stones, and couldn't help but feel happy.

 I earned six spiritual stones in five days, which is almost the same as the income of an average monk in the middle and late stages of Qi refining.

Mo Hua's mother Liu Ruhua works as a cook in the dining room and earns only one spirit stone a day. Her father Mo Shan's income from hunting monsters is higher, but not stable. Sometimes he can earn more if he doesn't hunt any valuable monsters. , the income is even lower.

Mo Hua thanked the steward and left Youyuanzhai. The three friends at the door looked at him eagerly.

Mo Hua patted the storage bag and waved his little hand, "Let's go, I'll treat you to some snacks!" Dahu and the three of them all said "wow" with joy, and surrounded Mo Hua to the pastry shop on the street.

There are many pastry makers in Tongxian City. The expensive pastries are made with expensive ingredients, so Mo Hua and the others can't afford it. They found a pastry shop called "Wang's Pastries" on the street, which is also run by ordinary monks in the Qi Refining Period. The shop floor is relatively simple, and although the materials used are not expensive, they are very affordable.

 During New Years and holidays, ordinary monks would often buy them to satisfy their children's cravings.

Wang's pastries are famous for their colorful cakes, which are steamed from a mixture of five different colors of spiritual grains in Xiujie. They are sweet and soft, and a piece of colorful cake only costs two crushed spiritual stones.

The income of casual cultivators at the bottom level is too low. Many monks may earn less than one spiritual stone every day, so they can only chop up the spiritual stones for use. One spirit stone is divided into ten points, and ten broken spirit stones are equal to one spirit stone.

Smashed spirit stones are not recognized by the Taoist court and sect families. They are only circulated among low-level monks, and only poor monks in the Qi refining stage will use this kind of broken spirit stones.

Mo Hua spent two spirit stones and bought ten pieces of colorful cakes. The store bought more pastries from Mo Hua, and he was a child, so he specially gave two more pieces as a gift.

Mo Hua divided two pieces into each person, leaving four pieces to keep for his parents to eat at home.

The four of them in Mo Hua each held a piece of fragrant, sweet and steaming pastry, eating it while walking. Xiaohu was so hot that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear, but he still kept talking:

“This pastry is so delicious. When I earn spiritual stones in the future, I will definitely eat it every day!”

Shuanghu said: "Then you might as well marry a woman who can make pastries as a Taoist companion, so that you can eat them every day."

Xiaohu suddenly realized: "Yes, yes, why didn't I think of that!" Then he became entangled again, "But I already have someone I like, and I can't change my mind..."

Shuanghu’s eyes widened, “Who do you like?”

Xiaohu said: "That little girl selling tofu on the west side of the street, let me tell you what I like first, and you are not allowed to steal it from me!"

Shuanghu made a sound and waved his hands: "Don't worry, she has a bad temper, I won't rob her from you..."

Shuanghu and Xiaohu were chatting, while Dahu was concentrating on eating pastries. He finished both pastries in three strokes, five divided by two, and even licked his fingers after eating.

Mo Hua also gave him the one he didn’t eat.

Dahu smiled sheepishly, but couldn’t help but take the cake and eat it.

Shuanghu suddenly said: "Mo Hua, did you really help that Shaizhai draw the formation?"

Mo Hua nodded.

 Xiaohu opened his mouth wide, "You can actually draw formations for others?"

Shuanghu rolled his eyes at him and said, "Otherwise, where do you think the spiritual stone for eating cakes comes from?"

  Xiaohu was stunned as he held the pastry, "This pastry turned out to be the spiritual stone you used to draw the formation. It's incredible, Mo Hua, you won't really be able to be a first-grade formation master in the future!"

Mo Hua said: "It's too early to say this now. How can a formation master be so simple? We only know about this. Don't tell others. I'll treat you to cakes after I earn more spiritual stones."

When the three of them heard the word pastry, they nodded quickly, and Xiaohu even promised: "If I tell anyone, I won't be able to eat pastry for the rest of my life!"

Mo Hua and the others wandered around the street again, looking at some weird and novel things. After it got late, they went back to their homes.

Mo Hua gave the snack to Liu Ruhua. Liu Ruhua steamed it in the pot and put it in Mo Hua's bowl. Mo Hua firmly disagreed. After some evasion, Mo Hua finally ate two, and Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua tasted one each.

Liu Ruhua's steamed cakes were hot and fragrant. When Mo Hua ate them in his mouth, he felt they were even more delicious than what he had eaten at lunch. He couldn't help but ask, "Mom, can you steam cakes?"

Liu Ruhua smiled and said: "What's so difficult about this? No matter how complicated it is, a dish girl can make it. However, many meals require a stove specially made by a weapon refiner and equipped with a special formation. We don't have the conditions to cook it at home." That’s all.”

 “Are stoves expensive?”

"The stove needs to be forged by a craftsman, which is naturally not cheap, but the more expensive thing is the formation. It is not easy to ask the formation master to draw the formation, not to mention it is such a big item as the stove, so unless you want to open a restaurant, there is no way People will spend a lot of money to buy stoves..."

Mo Hua nodded. It seemed that formations were more widely used in the monastic world than he thought. He didn't know what kind of formations were used on the stove.

 Written down the ink paintings silently, so that you can learn them later when you have time.

 (End of this chapter)