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Ning Que was shocked as he stared at the deed in his hands. The man in turquoise robes had secretly left him a casinoand felt a strange warmth spread down his chest. He asked, Where is he now?

He wrote in his last letter that he was going to see the sunrise at Tai mountain. Mr. Qi said.

As the warmth and shock receded, Ning Que thought about the sarcastic words Mr. Qi had said. He thought about how he had cheated to win and his ill-gotten gains from his own casino and began to feel his cheeks heating up. As a young man, he could not bear the embarrassment and in order to dispel the awkwardness, he said irritably, Nobody from the Fish-dragonGang told me about this.

Mr. Qi raised an eyebrow and stared at him peevishly, saying, Big brother took us to Lin 47th street to meet you especially before he left. He said then that you can look for me no matter what happens. Its been months and have you looked for me? How can I look for you when you are holding that position now?

It was only then when Ning Que remembered his other identity. Xu Chongshan had never contacted him after throwing that wooden pass at him. He had long forgotten that he was a secret guard of the empire.

While he was hemming and hawing to veil his shame, Mr. Qi thought of something which made his eyebrows rise even more violently. He said, You are a cultivator? I know you are good at killing people, but when did you suddenly attain cultivator status and enter the real state?

It just happened in the last two days. Ive just entered the Initial Awareness stage and am still far away from the real state. Ning Que did not know about the symbolled gold plate within the dice cup in Star-Picking Casino and answered honestly. I wanted to use the opportunity whilst it is still unknown and earn a bit of gold. While I cant do that now, please still keep it a secret.

Mr Qis voice sharpened in annoyance. Youve won over ten thousand taels of silver from Star Picing. How are we going to keep this a secret? Changan might be big, but there arent many people bringing around a little handmaid with a tanned face. Anyone can find out if they put some effort in it.

Ning Que smiled and said gently, Youre now one of the big bosses in Changan. It would just take a word from you to make things good again. Would Star-Picking Casino defy your orders and continue their search for me?

Mr. Qi was unable to say no to his flattery. He scrunched his brows tightly and thought for a moment before saying, It is not difficult to hide it, but whats the point of hiding the identity of a cultivator? Are you hoping that this thing will blow up and end up in court so that you may gain some fame? If this is what you intend to do, Id advise you to drop it. Changan is not the countryside, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of cultivators here. You cannot stand out. Why not come clean to the lecturers at the Academy and gain something more practical instead?

Ning Que thought about the rumors that the Academy might open up the Second floor next year. He also thought about Xia Hou general who was opening the frontiers far away at the moment. After a moment of silence, he replied, Thats because I know that Im too ordinary, why let it be known and create trouble for myself? It would not be too late to let it be known when I am more secure and steady on this path.

You are not of the Fish-dragon Gang. Do what you wish. But since we have met, there are still some other things that we have to settle.

Mr. Qi extended a slender finger and pointed at the deed before him. This is a copy of the transfer agreement that you need to sign. Once you have done so, the gambling den would be yours and I no longer have to waste my energy minding it for you, he said.

Ning Que thought that this wouldnt do. In order for a casino to run successfully, you need someone with certain backing to run it. He was still studying in the Academy, and he could not imagine Sangsang minding ten over tables in dealer robes. His eyes gleamed. He smiled beseechingly at the man and said, Big brother, wont you spare some efforts and continue minding it? I really do not have the ability nor the time to do so.

After an intense discussion, Mr. Qi eventually lost to Ning Ques flattery and shamelessness and agreed to his terms. The casino would belong to Ning Que but the Fish-dragon Gang would manage it. Ning Que did not need to do anything but to receive his dividends every month according to what was stated in their agreement.

After the discussion, Ning que did not order supper nor called for a few girls to play with but instead brought Sangsang away from the west citys newest casino. He walked away hurriedly as if he was running for his life. It was only when they had reached the Lin 47th street did he realise that he had not remembered what his casino was called.

Sangsang retrieved the thick wad of notes from the belt around her waist and laid it within the box flatly. Her eyes wandered around the sparse bedroom and landed on the roof beam and rat hole, thinking of where the safest place to put the money would be. In the end, she adhered to their old ways and lifted the baseboard of the bed and stuck the box beneath.

She turned around to see Ning Que staring blankly in his seat. There was a very complicated and wondrous emotion on his face. He looked as if he had been hit silly by gold raining from the heavens but at the same time, looked as if the gold hitting his head had hurt him so badly that he wanted to cry.

Young Master, youre a little odd today. Sangsang looked at him curiously and asked, You looked really pitiful when we left the casino. It looked like you owed them hundreds of taels.

Can I not look pitiful? Ive embarrassed myself thoroughly today. I have never done anything so stupid in my entire life. Ning Que answered angrily. Thinking of the wad of notes lying beneath his bed, the look of irritation on his face was replaced with one of joy. However, if I can earn this much cash all the time, I wouldnt mind being stupid for the rest of my life, he continued.

After saying this, he wiped the smile off his face before indicating for Sangsang to sit on the stool in front of him with his hand. He said in a very serious manner, I think we need to have a family meeting.

Family meetings were the hardest things hed ever experienced in his past life. His subconscious must have been so traumatised, he continued having family meetings in this life even though there were just the two of them. He had them often no matter whether they were living in the Min Mountain or in the City of Wei.

Sangsang knew that the young master was going to speak nonsense endlessly. Handling it like a pro, she retrieved her needlework bag and changed into a comfortable pair of slippers before sitting down on the stool before him, ready to listen to his lecture respectfully.

Every dormitory in the Academy has wise sayings from famous people hanging at the windows. While I think that the calligraphy is only average, the sayings are pretty good.

Sangsang was concentrated on weaving shoe soles. She did not raise her head when she heard that but only sniffed lightly, indicating that her young master should continue. Ning Que shook his head at her. She had always been like that when they held family meetings despite him telling her off several times. He could do nothing but to ignore her and continue his speech, hoping that his only audience wouldnt run off.

There was a saying that goes like that- Ones environment changes his temperament. Ones upbringing changes his constitution. What does this mean? It tells us that when you have two thousand tales of silver, you cannot be as miserly as when you have twenty tales of silver. You cant eat leftovers

Upon hearing this, Sangsang raised her head and looked at him with a face of dissatisfaction and a mournful expression.

Alright, thrift is a virtue. But you have to think about it. We are not lacking in money now and have over ten thousand tales of silver. The casino will send us our dividends every month. We cannot live like when we were poor anymore, and we shouldnt try as hard and do everything we can to earn money.

Ning Que sighed with regret, In other words, scholars have to do scholarly things. Cultivators have to do what cultivators do. They have to live with self-restraint and sophistication and not think about counting on his skills to earn money. It doesnt look well in the eyes of people. I have decided, I shall not win money through cheating at the casino. Im afraid the instructors at the Academy might die of anger if they found out about it. Ive also decided that I will take down all my writings from the shop tomorrow. As for the business, lets collect writings from poor scholars and sell them for marginal profits.

Sangsang drew the needle from the sole with a tug. She bit the string and it broke with a little ping. She looked at Ning Que with a face full of question. Youre not even going to sell a single one? Young Master, dont you think its a little like having sudden wealth syndrome?

Ning Que was startled by her words and coughed lightly, saying, Your description isnt that apt. Its not called sudden wealth syndrome. Its more like, feeling at ease with a comfortable nest egg We cannot display any sudden wealth syndrome, nor is the comfortable nest egg that comfortable. I guess we should still hang my calligraphy for sale but mark up the prices so that they wont sell for under one thousand pieces of gold.

Sangsang thought that her young masters most expensive piece had only sold for twenty tales of silver and that was the only expensive piece he had sold. They had cooked up a feast to celebrate scamming an idiot then and now hes saying that he wont sell his calligraphy for under a thousand pieces of gold. There might be a lot of stupid wealthy people in Changan, but were there as many idiots for them to scam?

Ning Que saw the strong doubt in the handmaids dark eyes and smiled. He said, Remember, we are now filthy rich. We dont need that kind of income. This is like spending a thousand pieces of gold to buy a horse carcass. Its just to get our name out there.

Sangsang followed his instructions and took down most of his calligraphy works in the Old Brush Pen Shop before buying a large pile of writings from the Scent Workshop. When there are customers who would like to purchase Ning Ques writings, she would dutifully say that the owners writings are extremely precious and they would only sell for one thousand pieces of gold.

However, what happened after that did not exactly go according to Ning Ques imagination. The reputation of the Old Brush Pen Shop did not go up, but business got even worse. They received nothing other than sarcastic comments such as, Did the boss go nuts from being poor?.

Now that the two are stinking rich, they did indeed develop the Sudden Wealth Syndrom. Even Sangsang wasnt as obsessed with the shops income. Ning Que busied himself with studying in the Academy in hopes that he would ascend the second floor to learn more about the different magics.