《Alluring Smile (Yāoráo De Wéixiào)》Chapter 12 "To Help A School...."
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Meanwhile at Xiao Che's place, Xiao Che was sleeping comfortably on his bed. When suddenly,
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Xiao Che! You're awake? Xiao Che!" Xia Yu shouted as she banged on the room's door.
"Euhhh......." Mumbled the disturbed Xiao Che as he started to wake up from his deep slumber. He rubbed his eyes while "Ignoring" the loud bang on his door.
He walked toward the door and quickly opened the door.
"Alright, I'm awa-"
Buk!Buk!Buk!
"........" Xiao Che was silent.
Buk!Buk!Buk!
"......." Xiao Che was silent, as she saw Xia Yu continued to bang his body as if he was a door
BukBuk!Buk!
" ......." Xiao Che was confused, he looked at Xia Yu who clearly knew she was banging him with a dissatisfied expression. He said
"What are you doing?"
Xia Yu looked up at Xia Che with a flat, ungulty expression.
"Oh, you're awake..."
She quickly turned away from Xiao Che and walked to the stairs done the hall from where his room was.
"Come downstairs quickly, breakfast is done."
Xiao Che was left confused as Xia Yu walked downstairs. He put on his Ravaging Flame Sect uniform and went downstairs, where Xia Lu and Lian'Er were already sitting at the table. Both were about to start eating, but as Xiao Che walked near the table, he could feel a cold aura coming from both of them. Lian'Er and Xia Yu were Staring daggers at each other. The aura that was emitted between these pretty girls was as fierce as one on the battlefield.
He asked them with a worried smile," You two mad at each other?"
"!!!!!!!!"
As the both of them noticed Xiao Che, both of these pretty ladies quickly turned their sharp gaze at Xiao Che.
"!?"
Xiao Che was startled. He was confused by these 2 girls behaviour. He looked at them with a serious look and asked.
"What happened with you two?"
The two girls were silent and just glared at Xiao Che. Xiao Che seeing them couldn't help but think of something. He then asked them with a polite gesture.
"Are you girls, happen to be on period today?" Asked the innocent Xiao Che
SLAM!!!
The girls banged the table at the same time! Xiao Che was shocked and froze in fear. Both of the girls had a displeased angry looks painted vividly on their faces as if they were shouting "It's all your fault!!". Xiao Che who was as dense as a rock looked at them with a concerned face. He noticed that this was not a good place to started the day, he then softly said.
"Sorry, I got to go...."
"YOU STAY HERE!" Shouted both of them, and thus the 3 of them sat together in awkwardness.
While they were eating, Xiao Che noticed that Old Man Tang was not there with them, he asked.
"Where is Old Man Tang?"
"He already went to venture the town, looking for a place to drink wine." Answered Lian'Er while she ate her breakfast.
Xiao Che sighed, "That old man, not in Chang'An, not in E Mei, all he does all day is drinking and being drunk."
"Hmm? what are you going to do today Xiao Che?"
Xiao Che thought for a second, The Heavenly Blessing Sect wouldn't be coming for a couple of days, and to do nothing at Xia Yu's place was boring.
"I think I will go sight-seeing the town today."
"Alright, I'll come with you!"
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"I'll come to...." Said Xia Yu with a flat tone.
"What, you don't need to come" Said Lian'Er
"I have too, we are basically undercover. If you two were to do something stupid, we would be in a lot of problems." Said Xia Yu with a flat tone.
Finally, after much arguing, the three of them ventured into town. They walked into the market section of town, where Xiao Che stopped at the local clothing store.
"Xiao Che, look at this! This one really suited you," said Lian'Er as she showed Xian Che a long yellow robe.
Xiao Che looked at the long robe and thought for a moment. "I'm not too fond of the colour yellow," he said with a smile on his face.
""Eh..." Lian'Er was surprised, she had thought that Xiao Che like this kind of bright colour.
Xia Yu noticed Lian'Er failure and quickly spoke with a smug, "Stupid girl, how can you not know your childhood friend's favourite colour"
Lian'Er only looked at her with contempt. Xia Yu then quickly moved toward Xiao Che and showed him a short green sleeveless robe.
"Here Xiao Che, how about this! I know you like dark green, so I picked this one for you," said Xia Yu with a confident look.
"Emm...no actually, my favourite colour is white." Said, Xiao Che, as he refused Xia Yu suggestion. Xia Yu then looked at the robe and mumbled
"Huh!? But I thought he liked green."
"You are stupid too......" Whispered Lian'Er as she was just walking passed the confused Xia Yu.
The day still hadn't passed Si hour (That is 09:00 AM - 11:00 AM). After they finished sight-seeing the clothing store, they then headed to Hua Ju Inn to see Old Man Tang. Hua Jun Inn was located at the east side of the town, while the market section on the west, and thus, the three of them walked from east to west. They walked past the residence section of the town and the Imperial Bureau section, and as they were about to walk across the town centre, they heard a commotion in front of them.
It seemed that someone was having an argument in front of a small school. A young woman was shouting loudly at a group of middle-aged men. Standing behind her, a group of children looked at the leader of those men with angry looks. Xiao Che, Lian'Er and Xia Yu who were near them accidentally overheard their argument.
"I Don't have time to chit-chat! Pay-Up first!" said the leader. "What! That's nonsense! I've already paid the rent for this month!" the young woman shouted with a distressed face. "Yeah! The teacher already paid the rent a week ago!" said the children. The man just shook off his hand and with a contemptful face replied, "Look, renting is renting, selling is selling!, I'm not renting this compound anymore, I want to sell it!"
"What! how could you suddenly decided to sell this place!" "Fuih! E Mei town is too small, I want to move to Tai Yuan to earn more wealth! Haiiiiih! That is not important! The important thing is that if I don't get my money now, I will mortgage all the items on this school, and the school will be closed!"
The woman was left silent with a clear contempt look. She clencehd her teeth in anger, ready to punch him. Sadly for her thiis man was truly the owner of the building. He had absolute right to the property and was free to do as liked with it. Knowing this left the woman with one response.
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"Cih! How much is the school?"
"You're a wise person! See, I'm looking to settle this quickly, so I give you a discount price, 500 Tael!" Said the man calmly.
"Five! Five Hundred Tael! Ridiculous! I..I wouldn't have that kind of money even if I sold myself!" Shouted the teacher.
"Look, I'm already giving you a discount. This place has good 'Wind and Water' (that is Feng Shui) and its condition is also good. This place should be worth around 700-800 Tael, Miss, I already help you a lot. Whether you can pay it or not, it's not my problem"
The young teacher then turned silent, unable to say anything. Her face, that a few seconds ago looked so fierce, turned pale. She looked down and her eyes started to get teary. The children who once passionately supported their dear teacher lookedA down too.
Lian'Er looked at them with a sad expression, her heart couldn't bear to see someone with a circumstance like that. She felt worried that the school wouldn't operate anymore, and those children would be left uneducated.
Xiao Che looked at Lian'Er's worried expression and smiled, he knew that Lian'Er had a kind heart and couldn't bear to see people suffering. That side of Lian'Er was one of the main things that attracted Xiao Che. Xia Yu, on the other hand, disagreed.
"Oh no, you don't....."
"But......." Said Lian'Er softly
"Nope........."
"But She- "
"No, no, no, no, no! Like I said, don't get into trouble!"
"Xiao Che, we have got to help them, looked at those children, what would happen to them if we don't help them" Said Lian'Er while looking at Xiao Che with puppy-dog eyes.
Xiao Che who noticed Lian'Er plea looked at her and smiled, he then looked at Xia Yu, also with puppy-dog eyes, and said
"Pleaseeee........"
Xia Yu smack her forehead and sighed.
"Look, even if we want to help them, we don't have that much money.... What would you suggest us to do, sell our self?" said Xia Yu with a clear annoyed tone.
"We'll think of something, for now, we have to help them first!" Said the determinate Lian'Er.
As she said that, Lian'Er quickly rushed toward the school. Xiao Che who saw how passionate Lian'Er was, join in a second later, while Xia Yu just lazily walked to the school.
"So how will it be?" Said the restless property owner.
"......" The Young teacher only left silent.
The Property owner, knowing that the negotiation failed, gave a sign to his people. His people quickly walked inside the school to take every object they could find and carry. But that was until Lian'Er quickly shouted from afar...
"Wait!!!!!!" Shouted Lian'Er loudly.
"!?" The Teacher, students and the property owner were surprised hearing Lian'Er's loud noise. They noticed Xiao Che group approaching them; The Teacher looked at them with a confused look.
"Wait! wait! wait! wait!" Said Lian'Er from afar.
The property owner who noticed Lian'Er JiangHu attire, Said
"What are you JiangHu people want? I'm only doing business here, not bullying anyone...."
"I know, and that's why I said wait......." Said Lian'Er
"Huh, you overheard our conversation? Ah! I don't care, the thing is you want to buy this place right?" Said the property owner, looking a bit happy as he said that.
Lian'Er quickly looked at Xiao Che who just arrived by her side, as he walked near them, the students and the young teacher watched the two of them talking. Some of the students then whispered with each other
"Look, the 2 of them there seemed like they want to help us..." Said one of the students
"Yeah, it seems like those big sister and big brother are kind." Said the other student.
All of them were bickering happily, while Xiao Hua, who was a student at that school, recognized Xiao Che.
"Ahhh, that was the big brother from that time!" Said Xiao Hua to herself.
Xiao Che then talked to the property owner.
"Mister, could we pay you in a few days, I'm sure by then we already have the money for you..." Said Xiao Che as he was bargaining with the property owner.
"Sorry, Kid! but I'm going to Tai Yuan tomorrow! If you can't pay it now, I'm afraid I'll have to mortgage this place!" Said the property owner.
Lian'Er and Xiao Che looked at each other in confusion, they clearly didn't have that much money on them. Xiao Che then thought of something. Although they didn't have a large sum of money, they still had a couple hundred Tael. even though it wouldn't be enough, the money could serve as a down payment.
"How about we pay you by the end of the day? Meanwhile, we can give you a couple hundred Tael as down payment, what would you think?" Asked Xiao Che.
The Owner thought for a moment. He was also in a hurry to sell his other property today, and thus, knowing that he wouldn't gain anything if he were to refuse, he accepted Xiao Che offer.
"Alright, I'll wait at my place in the downtown area, I'll come to take the money at the start of Xu hour (That is 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM). Now, pay up!" Said the owner.
The teacher who had been listening to the conversation the whole time started to feel relieved. Xiao Che and Lian'Er also felt relieved that they could persuade the owner to delay the mortgage. The young teacher bowed to them, embarrassed that she had brought them into her problem.
"Umm... thank you so much for helping me," the teacher said while handing her money to Xiao Che and Lian'Er, "Here, I only have 45 Tael with me right now, I hope it's not too small." She then took a closer look at Xiao Che's face and noticed that it was not only kind,but also handsom, causing her to blush. "Thank... you, for helping me– the two of you..."
Xiao Che and Lian'Er just smiled at her. Lian'Er and Xiao Che grabbed some BankPaper from their Void-Room Ring then summed up all the money that they posessed.
"We'll pay you 205 Tael first." Said, Xiao Che, as he handed the money to the property owner. But unfortunately for Xiao Che, the property owner seemed displeased with Xiao Che's down payment.
"What! only 205 Tael? sorry, but the numbers too little, you need to pay more kids." Said, the property owner, as he refused Xiao Che payment.
Xiao Che and Lian'Er were stuck again, this property owner was truly driving a hard bargain. Finally, Xia Yu arrived.
"What happened now?" Xian Yu said with a flat face. Xiao Che explained that they didn't have enough money for the down payment. Xia Yu sighed then looked at the property owner, "How much do you want?"
The property owner, put on a serious face as if he knew that in front of him now was a person that understood how a business worked.
"Because is a really short-term instalment, I want to have at least half of the compound price right now" Said, the property owner.
Xia Yu then looked at Xiao Che's money and sighed again, asking "How much do we have"
Xiao Che handed the BankPaper and coins to her and said
"205 Tael..."
Xia Yu quickly grabbed them all with her left hand and took out a BankNote from her Void-Room Ring.
"Here, with my money, the total should be 345 Tael."
The property owner was surprised, but not as surprised as Xiao Che, Lian'Er, and the students. Xia Yu was, in fact, a rich girl! Lian'Er's eyes widened, Xiao Che gaped, and the teacher tilted her head; Xia Yu to be carrying that much money was a bit surprising for them. Xia Yu then quickly moved her hand telling the property owner to scram. The property owner took the money then left them, but not without a reminder.
"Remember, Xu Hour....."
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Feng Shui: A philosophical system to harmonized one's body with nature. But at the chapter's context, "Good Fengshui" meant "This place could bring you great luck."
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