I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 125: Chapter 93: Visitors from Home (2)

Yang Wenqing returned to Apartment 305, Building 3, in the Dongning Community and closed the door, shutting out the noise and schemes of the outside world. After resting for a little over ten minutes, he walked to the center of the living room and sat down cross-legged.

He then immersed his consciousness in the Secret Technique for the Third Refinement. After only a few moments of cultivation, his qi and blood grew more vigorous, and his mind felt fully restored.

The next morning, Yang Wenqing headed straight for the Rain Pavilion. He handed over a list of auxiliary materials for the Third Refinement, which he had compiled based on the Nine Refining Secret Skill.

The Shopkeeper took the list and browsed it carefully, his fingers rapidly tapping and swiping across a complex runic disk on the desktop as he calculated. A moment later, he looked up and said softly, ”Vice Group Leader Yang, some of the materials in this batch are either restricted or scarce. Their value fluctuates around one hundred thousand.”

Despite being mentally prepared, Yang Wenqing’s heart sank when he heard the figure. He took the itemized list the Shopkeeper handed him and looked it over.

’Basic materials for the Wood Transformation Array: five and a half pounds of Hundred-Year Green Jade Powder and three cubic meters of Vital Soil, thirty-two thousand. For the Array’s energy core, three wood or Water Attribute spiritual materials at five thousand each, making it fifteen thousand. The core Array artifact, one piece of Warm Yang Jade, was thirty thousand.’

’There was even a note at the bottom: ”If Thousand-Year Agarwood Heart is selected, the price increases by thirty percent.”’

’The most important item, a fifty-year-old ’Crimson Blood Lingzhi,’ cost twenty thousand. It also had a note: ”For every additional ten years of age, the price doubles. The hundred-year-old version, while priced, is not on the market.”’

”And that’s just the price for the standard configuration,” the Elder Cultivator added. ”If you want higher quality, or if your losses during the Array-laying process exceed projections, the costs will increase. Also, we don’t have much ’Crimson Blood Lingzhi’ in stock. You’ll need to pre-order it, and the delivery time is uncertain.”

Yang Wenqing silently took back the list. He hadn’t been a sergeant for long, and while he had some allowances and case bonuses, they were nowhere near enough to cover this sum.

A typical sergeant at the Third Refinement would have years of savings and might be able to scrape the money together. But Yang Wenqing had been promoted too quickly, and his Clan was just an ordinary one from a village.

Fortunately, he was planning to establish a trading company. This was the fundamental reason cultivators fought to climb the ranks.

Seeing the look on Yang Wenqing’s face, the Shopkeeper immediately proposed, ”If you really want them, you can buy these items on credit, provided you pay some interest. Also... you still have your Array from the Second Refinement, don’t you? I reckon that could be traded in for around twenty thousand.”

”Okay. Set up the loan for me. What’s the latest all the goods on this list will be delivered?”

Yang Wenqing didn’t overthink it. For him, this cash shortage was definitely temporary. Once the trading company was up and running, they could leverage their existing connections to trade in bulk commodities and practically make money hand over fist.

”Two months at the latest. A month, if things go quickly,”

the Shopkeeper answered.

...

Leaving the Rain Pavilion, the gloom that had settled over Yang Wenqing’s heart from the pressure of the enormous sum had already dissipated. In its place was a sense of a clear path forward.

The loan came with interest, but the increase in his cultivation speed and the solidification of his foundation offered long-term benefits that money couldn’t measure. With the materials for the Third Refinement guaranteed, he now just needed to advance his cultivation step by step.

Back at the City Defense substation, a senior guard from the General Affairs Department immediately brought him a document to sign. It was the official transfer of the Zhenyuan Mining case file to the Municipal Bureau’s Special Cases Office. From now on, the Qianjiao County substation’s role would be limited to cooperating with the investigation.

Yang Wenqing had no objections. As the head of the preliminary investigation, he had already done everything he was supposed to. It was more appropriate for a higher-level body like the Municipal Bureau to lead the subsequent deep dive and cross-jurisdictional operations.

After he signed his name, the tense, combat-ready atmosphere at the substation gradually gave way to its usual rhythm.

At ten o’clock, Qian You and Zhao Qin, who had taken over the puppet attack case from the previous night, came to report. All they had were witness statements, with no substantive leads.

Yang Wenqing figured the case would most likely go nowhere. He told them to continue their investigation, but he held no real hope for a breakthrough.

Afterward, Yang Wenqing went back to his desk and buried himself in paperwork, reviewing all kinds of documents and signing off on various financial request forms. Just before noon, there was a gentle knock on his office door.

The person who pushed the door open was Liu Qin, followed by an attractive female guard from the front desk. She said respectfully, ”Yang Group Leader, you have visitors in the reception room on the first floor. They say it’s your father and some people from your hometown. We’ve already confirmed their identities are in order.”

’Father’s here?’

A thought struck Yang Wenqing. ’They must have received his earlier letter and come about the trading company and the recommendation slots.’ He immediately set down his pen, smiled, and nodded. ”Got it. I’ll be right down.”

...

「First-Floor Reception Room.」

The room was spacious and bright, carpeted in a dark gray fabric subtly patterned with the City Defense insignia. Several large, comfortable leather sofas and matching coffee tables lined the walls. It was a space specifically for receiving visitors and conducting informal meetings.

Yang Jianmu sat in an armchair near the door. He was wearing his best garment, a dark blue cotton short-shirt, which had been starched a little stiff but was impeccably ironed.

He rested his hands on his knees, fingertips unconsciously rubbing the coarse fabric. His back was held ramrod straight, but it betrayed an unnatural stiffness. His tanned face was etched with a slight frown, and his gaze swept intermittently over the metal emblems hanging on the wall.

On the larger sofa beside him sat the Clan’s Third Elder, Yang Dehou. The old man was over seventy, with sparse, graying hair. His face was etched with wrinkles as deep as ravines, but his eyes were still clear.