Chapter 51 - 50: The Old-fashioned Daoist

Chapter 51: Chapter 50: The Old-fashioned Daoist

In the morning, Lin Feng was over at the newly established Farmland, inspecting the soil conditions. He planned to get this area sorted out tonight.

The twenty mu of fields were mainly concentrated on the northeastern slope, on abandoned terraces that had been expanded anew.

’The only downside to my hometown is the lack of large, flat plots of land.’

Lin Xian Village was situated on a mountainside, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only a single road leading into the mountains from the east.

Aside from a relatively flat piece of land in front of the village, all the other land consisted of terraces carved out of the mountainside.

This terrain also increased the difficulty of Lin Feng’s development plans. Fortunately, the slope where the village was located was relatively gentle.

The layout of the entire village was actually similar to the terraces; the houses were built in rings ascending the slope, with a main road running through the middle.

All the structures he had built so far were concentrated on the lowest level of the village. Future development would have to proceed up the mountain. There was a valley to the southeast of the village.

Because the terrain was too low, that valley would get washed out by runoff whenever it rained, making it unsuitable for development.

He had heard from his father and Uncle Dazhuang that the southeastern mountain had once been developed for growing tea and fruit trees.

Now, there was no road over there, and it was all obscured by weeds and shrubs. Lin Feng hadn’t gone over to check on the situation yet.

The Medicinal Herb Garden and Orchard he was currently building were mainly on the sunny northern mountain. To the west, he had set up a Livestock Shed for raising animals, separated from the village by a small hill.

’For the next phase, I need to develop the surrounding mountain paths. That will give tourists a place to explore.’

Lin Feng planned to build a circular mountain trail to connect the mountain range closest to the village.

He thought about the Well structure. He had only built one Well in the village, but it wasn’t because he could only build one.

The main reason was that too many Wells might arouse suspicion. He could, however, build another one here on the mountain.

There were some small mountain springs here anyway, so building a Well wouldn’t make anyone suspicious.

This was something only he could do. He would take advantage of the fact that this area wasn’t developed yet to build a Well and solve the Farmland’s water supply problem.

When he returned from the Farmland, he learned a piece of news that left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry: the Medicinal Tea now had scalpers.

"Brother Lin, you have no idea! I just went to ask around. There are people at the foot of the mountain offering 100 yuan a cup to buy the Medicinal Tea."

"If they’re buying it for 100 a cup, can they even resell it?"

Hu Zhiming said, also a bit uncertainly, "I think so. There are a lot of people online who want to buy it but don’t have time to come here."

Lin Feng couldn’t do anything to stop scalpers from targeting the Medicinal Tea. It was just like the saying, "no demand, no market."

The people who bought from scalpers were the source that created this market. As long as the source couldn’t be eliminated, it was hard to get rid of this profession.

Lin Feng thought that would be the end of it, but then Uncle Ma called him, giving him a massive headache.

"Hello, Xiaofeng? What’s going on with that Medicinal Tea you’re selling? A lot of people have shown up in town buying it up at inflated prices. Now a ton of people from town are heading up the mountain to buy the tea."

"What? A lot of people are buying it up in town? Aren’t they reselling it to online buyers?"

"What online buyers? There are just people in town buying up the Medicinal Tea, and quite a few of them. The lowest offer is 100, and some are going as high as 150."

Lin Feng was completely confused. If these people were already in town, why didn’t they just come up the mountain and buy it themselves?

There was no admission fee to enter the village, just a 2-yuan bus fare.

"Wait, Uncle Ma, is it one person buying a lot of it?"

"Yeah, they’re buying in bulk."

"Then I know what’s going on. You don’t need to worry about it, Uncle Ma. If they want to buy it, just let them."

Pharmaceutical companies. Only they would buy up the Medicinal Tea at such high prices in such a short amount of time.

’These people want to buy the Medicinal Tea to reverse-engineer the recipe. Don’t they ever stop and think why I’m limiting the sales in the first place?’

Lin Feng stopped worrying about it. The daily quantity of Medicinal Tea was fixed, and each person was limited to two cups anyway. Even with scalpers, they wouldn’t be able to buy that much.

Just then, Su Qingqing called. "Hello, Boss Lin. The traditional Chinese medicine doctor you wanted has arrived. I’ll bring him over in a little while."

"That’s great! I’ll come down the mountain to meet you."

"No need, I’ll bring him up."

At the county hospital, Su Qingqing looked at Feng Ziling, who was dressed in a full Daoist robe and even had a sword strapped to his back. She was at a loss for words.

"Junior Brother Feng, have you ever considered... changing your image?"

Feng Ziling said with a taut expression, "My master said that a Daoist practitioner must look the part."

"Are you sure you understood what your master meant? The ’look’ doesn’t necessarily have to be about the clothes."

"But my master dresses just like this."

"Your master cultivates in a Daoist Temple on a mountain... you know what, never mind. Forget I said anything."

Looking at his fresh, young face and his stiff, formal way of speaking, she recalled some of the incidents he had caused when he first started at their school.

If persuasion had any effect on him, he would have changed back in school.

"Senior Sister, being on or off the mountain is all the same to me. It’s just a change of environment for my practice."

"Alright, alright. I’ll take you to meet your future boss."

’If Lin Feng really hires him, then Boss Lin can be the one to deal with the headaches.’

The two arrived at Lin Xian Village. Feng Ziling observed his surroundings the whole way and was very satisfied with the environment.

At least it wasn’t in a bustling city, but deep in the mountains, which was very much in line with his way of practice.

His master had said that tempering oneself in the mortal world was also a form of cultivation, but he disliked the hospital environment. This place was much better.

"Boss Lin, I’ve brought the person you asked for."

Lin Feng looked at Feng Ziling. His outfit really screamed "Daoist," especially with the sword on his back. He wondered which Sword Immortal he was trying to emulate.

"Daoist Feng, you can have a look around the village. If you’re satisfied, we can sign the contract then."

"No need to look. I’m very satisfied with the environment here."

"Let me explain first. The daily workload is a bit heavy. You’ll have to start work at eight in the morning and get off at five-thirty in the evening. It might interfere with your cultivation time."

This man was clearly a Daoist with a strong commitment to his practice; otherwise, he wouldn’t be dressed this way.

"No problem. I practice every morning and evening, so it won’t interfere with my work."

"In that case, let’s sign the contract first."

Feng Ziling suddenly asked, "Boss Lin, aren’t you planning to build a Land God Temple here?"

"I am, but I haven’t finalized the plans yet. There are too many issues involved."

Lin Feng only realized when he started planning that he needed to build a large-scale Land God Temple, not just a simple Daoist Temple with a clay statue of the Land God inside.

Feng Ziling’s eyes lit up as he said, "Boss, what do you think about leaving it to me? I’m very knowledgeable about this sort of thing."

"If you’re willing to help, that would be for the best."

"Don’t worry, Boss. Even if I don’t know something, I can call my master and ask." As he spoke, he pulled out his phone.

Seeing him pull a cell phone out of his pocket while dressed in that traditional attire—the scene was truly jarring.

"Let’s go. I’ll take you to see the workplace first. It’s just a temporary location for now. Once the Medicine House is built, you’ll work in there."

Feng Ziling was a little excited. He could personally build a Daoist Temple. Even if it was just a Land God Temple, he wasn’t picky.

When they arrived at the place where the Medicinal Tea was sold, even he, as staid as he was, couldn’t help but be taken aback.

"Why are there so many people?"

"Our Medicinal Tea is very effective, so there are quite a few people buying it. In the future, you’ll be responsible for brewing the tea. After the Medicine House is built, you might also need to prepare some other medicines."

"No problem. Do you need me to go help now?"

"You start work tomorrow. First, I’ll take you to sign the contract, see your living quarters, and check what else you might need."

After signing the contract and seeing his new home, Feng Ziling wandered around Lin Xian Village.

When he learned about the Arrow Tower and the Jade Grapes, he felt he had really come to the right place. In a great mood, he sent a message to his master explaining the situation here.