Chapter 17: What to Do When You're Hungry Again

Expressing just the right amount of joy and heartfelt gratitude, Chen Xiao left with the heavy three hundred silver coins in his pocket. The master did not invite him to stay for a meal; he wasn’t yet worthy of such a privilege. Chen Xiao wasn’t bothered by being looked down upon; the surprise of the reward was more than enough.

Deep down, he was a little excited. After all, this three hundred silver was the largest sum of money he had earned through his own efforts since coming to this world.

Though the reward he had received from Hanwa was also substantial, it was earned at the cost of his life. Most of it had been used to save his life, with a small portion securing his current position. Chen Xiao didn’t feel it truly belonged to him.

The money that Master Zhou had sent as Hanwa’s personal savings was treated as Hanwa’s legacy. He used it to buy a jade pendant, arrange the feng shui layout, and give back to the uncle and aunt who had helped him.

It had been a long time since Chen Xiao had experienced the thrill of unexpectedly receiving a windfall.

In his previous life, he had been a feng shui master, and many influential people lined up to invite him for consultations. Whether it was for tombs or houses, the remuneration was always generous. He had long lost the joy of making money, viewing it as nothing more than numbers sitting in bank accounts or on cards.

In a good mood, he went to the money exchange and exchanged the three hundred silver coins for three gleaming gold coins. Three hundred silver was quite a large amount, cumbersome to carry and not very secure. Gold coins, on the other hand, were easier to store.

After enjoying a fine meal at the best restaurant in the county, Chen Xiao didn’t return to the antique street. He planned to use the remaining time to find a house, so that when his next day off came, he could move in directly.

Chen Xiao was always willing to pay for services to save time and effort, preferring to avoid unnecessary detours. So, he hired a middleman, and within half a day, he had found a satisfactory place to live.

This place was on the east side of the Taxue Xunxian Pavilion, two blocks away from the antique street. It took only a quarter of an hour to walk to work. He chose it partly because most of the residents here were from well-off families, so he wouldn’t have to deal with complicated neighborly relationships.

Another reason was that it was an older neighborhood, close to several major streets in the county, with good security. If anything happened, one could simply call, and the patrol team would arrive quickly.

The third, and most important reason, was that the area on the east side of the antique street had a cluster of food vendors and many tasty options. This allowed him to conveniently grab a meal on his way to and from work, which was ideal for a bachelor who couldn’t cook.

After signing the contract, sealing it with a thumbprint, and paying six months' rent and three months' deposit, he had the property officially registered with the local officials. The small yard, consisting of a main house facing south and a low kitchen beside it, was now temporarily his.

It was also at this moment that Chen Xiao realized that renting a house in the county required reporting it to the local authorities.

The political system in the country of Dai was interesting, operating under a feudal city lord system. The city lord’s family, often descendants of immortal cultivators, would receive the authority to govern a city from the country’s monarch, who issued a royal decree officially “granting” the city to the family.

This country did not have a civil examination system like other places. The highest an official could rise was to the city lord’s office. The position of a civil official in a city lord’s household was even lower than that of a cultivator from the family. In this environment, officials had less power but were still highly diligent, and the management system was quite comprehensive.

The house had some old furniture left by the previous tenant. Chen Xiao took a look and found it too outdated, with creaking sounds. He asked the middleman, who had not yet left, to arrange for people to move it out. The middleman was happy to help, as Chen Xiao said the old furniture could be given to the movers. Who didn’t have a few poor relatives? It was a huge favor.

After some dust and commotion, the house was cleared out. Chen Xiao took a deep breath, then rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He borrowed a basin and cloth from the neighbors, fetched water from a street well, and cleaned the house inside and out.

By the time the place was spotless, night had fallen. Chen Xiao checked the time, locked the door, and had dinner on his way back to the shop.

A few days later, it was his turn to take a break. Early in the morning, he went to a humble shop at the end of the street to look at furniture.

Anyone familiar with the antique street knew that there were a few shops dealing in second-hand furniture. Although this shop sold used or even several-times-passed-on furniture, they were all high-quality pieces. In fact, some of the older furniture had developed a patina and exuded a historical charm, which collectors of old items often found surprising.

Chen Xiao wasn’t interested in collecting antiques; he just needed a complete set of furniture in good condition and of moderate material. He had notified the owner in advance to help him find what he needed. This visit was just to inspect the items.

Since the shop was on the same street, the owner had kept an eye out for him and used his connections to source the furniture Chen Xiao wanted.

It included pieces for a main hall and two side rooms, well-preserved, in good condition. The wood was common in this world, so the price wasn’t steep. The entire set cost only thirty silver coins equivalent to twenty days of Chen Xiao’s wages.

"Take a look, see if you like it," the shopkeeper said, holding a long-stemmed pipe between his teeth as he puffed out a cloud of smoke. "It may just be yellowwood, but the craftsmanship is top-notch."

The "yellowwood" the shopkeeper referred to was actually spruce, a type of tree that thrived in northern regions with significant temperature fluctuations. The Dai Kingdom was rich in timber resources, making yellowwood, commonly used in furniture, remarkably cheap. A spruce log thick enough for an adult to encircle with their arms was worth no more than eight or nine hundred copper coins. As the shopkeeper had rightly pointed out, the value of this furniture lay in its craftsmanship rather than the material itself.

This set of furniture featured exquisite and intricate wood carvings. Upon closer inspection, Chen Xiao discovered that the carvings depicted people, animals, landscapes, and various scenes, all rendered with remarkable detail and lifelike precision. Even in his previous life, such craftsmanship would have been considered an artistic treasure.

With a practiced air, the shopkeeper enthusiastically introduced each piece, explaining the significance of the carvings on the wardrobe, the stories behind the bedframe’s motifs, and the various animals carved onto the matching tables and chairs, each one unique.

Chen Xiao listened intently. These folktales and symbolic animals were not things he had learned from his shopkeeper master. Through them, he gained insight into the cultural landscape of this world.

He also noticed that some of the animals the shopkeeper described were familiar from his previous life; cows, sheep, chickens, horses. However, others were entirely different, like the spotted leopard-tiger beast that had cost Hanwa his life.

The first time Master Zhou had visited him, Chen Xiao had feigned memory loss and inquired about Hanwa’s injuries. He had learned that the caravan had fallen victim to a beast disaster. In this world, some ferocious beasts were extraordinarily dangerous, though most of them lived in remote, uninhabited areas. The ones appearing near human settlements were generally a tier weaker.

Ferocious beasts and wild beasts had distinct habits and behaviors, but they shared one common trait, they were particularly dangerous during their mating season or when raising young. Many of them became easily agitated and violently aggressive during these periods, sometimes rampaging into human territories and slaughtering indiscriminately. Such tragic events were referred to as beast disasters.

As a side note, it had been a beast disaster that forced the entire Chen family to flee their hometown. A ferocious beast, having lost its offspring, had somehow wandered into their region, wreaking havoc on half the county. In the end, an immortal cultivator had intervened and driven it away. However, because the beast had not been killed, the Chen family and other survivors did not dare return, choosing instead to settle in a distant land.

Hanwa had encountered a wild beast in its mating season, one that had failed to secure a mate. Needless to say, it had been in a foul mood, and the caravan had suffered for it.

Satisfied with the furniture, Chen Xiao paid on the spot. The shopkeeper then instructed his assistants to carry the pieces out through the back entrance and deliver them to Chen Xiao’s home. Once the furniture arrived, Chen Xiao personally directed the workers on how to arrange it to his liking.

After tipping the helpers and seeing them off, he rented a horse-drawn cart and went out to purchase additional household essentials. By the time he returned, everything was in place.

This time, Chen Xiao kept his move low-key. He made no announcements and did not host a housewarming gathering. To him, this was merely a temporary lodging, not a real home, so it hardly warranted a celebration.

After a full day of hard work, he finally lay down on his new, soft bed, ready for a good night’s sleep. However, an unexpected wave of hunger suddenly struck him.

Startled, Chen Xiao immediately suspected that the strange condition he had experienced before was returning. Within moments, his hunger grew unbearable.

Left with no choice, he climbed out of bed and retrieved the leftover half of a roasted chicken from his food cabinet.

Even though he hadn’t hosted a banquet that day, he had eaten well, plenty of wine, meat, and poultry. Under normal circumstances, there was no reason he should be this hungry. After filling his stomach, Chen Xiao climbed back into bed, still puzzled by the experience.

The next day, his usual routine returned, three solid meals a day, along with afternoon tea and a late-night snack. After three days of monitoring himself, he confirmed that nothing had changed.

He then decided to conduct an experiment to determine whether his strange appetite was somehow related to the feng shui arrangement he had previously set up.

After the last time he had modified the feng shui layout, there had been a gap of fourteen or fifteen days before his excessive hunger returned. To test the connection, Chen Xiao made plans for a new modification.

That noon, during his lunch break, he hired a carpenter and his apprentices to build a wall at his house.

More precisely, he had them construct a screen wall between his main entrance and the central hall.