After leaving Youhao sent us out, the butler told us that we would be having a couple guests within an hour or so. When asked about them, he said one would be the Young Master, Youhao’s son, while the other “guests” would just be a servant and some administrative Clan members to show him to his workstation, as well as provide some of the study material.

We arrive back at my room, where I begin to really start unpacking things and getting things put in place. After about an hour of getting my room somewhat set up, with my little mini office set up in a functional condition but missing all the little knickknacks and random supplies one might need in a home office. Right when I am about to consider opening up one of the formation books I have not yet studied, I hear a knock at the door.

Opening the door, I spot a young man, probably in his early twenties, along with a couple guards behind him. Realizing the obvious parallel between me and him, I question “The Young Master I presume?”, which causes him to chuckle a bit. In response he says “Yes, my name is Zhou Zhonglei, the Young Master of this branch. Although from what I have been told, we will in many ways share that title for a couple months”. I decide to start off on the good foot with this guy, sensing a kindred soul with him, and tell him that as far as I have been advised, the only potential authority I should be assuming over Young Masters in our Clan at this branch would be those within the administration, and even then, I should be taking your advice in consideration.

He gives me a pat on the back, “Cheer up, after a couple of weeks of getting to know the place and becoming comfortable with how things go here, don’t be afraid to make suggestions and bring up your own ideas. Anyone here who truly matters is always willing to listen to criticism and improve upon things” he says in that “dad” tone of voice. I glance back at him, “You like dad jokes, don’t you?”

His eyes open wide for a second before saying “I may not have ascended to immortality yet, but my jokes are still quite heavenly”, setting him off into a chuckling fit, causing one of his guards to immediately groan and facepalm. I say facepalm, but realistically it looked like he repeatedly tried to headbutt his hands an attempt to break his hands. I had a deep suspicion if I looked around enough, I would see some head sized holes in walls, maybe a chipped off table or two. I chuckle a bit when seeing this and reply in kind “I see you may know how to leverage yourself well, but certainly aren’t above pushing some people’s buttons”, causing two hands to rest on my shoulder. I look back and both Qiang and Boalei are resting their hands on my shoulder.

“Don’t encourage him, I am pretty sure he is on the Path on the Dad” they say in unison, causing me to glance back at Zhonglei and ask if that is true. He just glances away, before shifting the conversation back to a more serious note. He goes on to talk about how once the books are dropped off, and I am showed to where my more practical office is, he will be showing me around a larger part of the compound as well as to a few stores I might want to know where to find. He winks at me before pointing to a couple of the formation books, hinting at a good place to find formation manuals.

Right on time, a guy in some stuffy looking robes, along with a couple servants carrying what looking like a larger dimensional trunk. I open the door, so they come in, where the servants set it down next to where my home office set up is, before nodding to me and heading off. The man gives a nod to Zhonglei, muttering “Young Master” before motioning to me. “May I show you to where you will be working, it is not too far of a walk, and I do not wish to delay you and Young Master Zhonglei too long” he says wanting to get the tedious task done with, but clearly knows to do it well.

I follow behind him, where we walk off through a few corridors. When we come upon the super busy section I groan slightly internally, before we head off into one of the first couple rooms, barely even being slowed down. I exhale slightly, where he notices it. “Yea I understand that part of the compound can be aggravating, but the Clan understands that, usually placing the more important and valuable members near the edges, so as not to disturb us too much, and allowing us to more easily oversee those who are not as diligent. From there, he shows me to a corner office area, semi-closed off, as it doesn’t have true walls, but almost like cubicle walls, if they were a few feet higher to prevent them from being easily looked over. Luckily, my office area had a view into the inside of the Zhou compound, which was a veritable flower garden, small park, and food courtyard. He points out a large desk, with plenty of engraved formations all over, one of the walls lined with books and other documents, a couple chairs in case I need to talk to someone in my office, and a few filing cabinets. He hands me a key to the room, as well as tells me there will be people in the coming days to further explain where things are, as well as my specific duties. We walk back to Zhonglei, before the administrator walks off, nodding politely to us as he leaves.

Finally, me and Zhonglei begin our little tour, soon we come across the busy corridors. Before we can begin trudging through, we stop at a section of the wall, where he puts his hand against a cert spot. He motions to me do it as well. He then tells me this is a short-range teleport designed to allow some people quicker passage through these busy sections, and as I now technically am included in that group, he set up the permissions for me to do so. Then we all teleport past and continue with the tour. He shows me where some bathrooms are, a couple lounge areas to relax, the Clan library, which is much bigger than anything I expected, points out the inner courtyard to me again. He goes on to talk about how the courtyard was made to be very family friendly, giving fewer reasons to the Zhou staff to leave the compound when working, as well as provide safe places for the children.

True to his word, he shows me around to a couple places outside the compound. A few food stalls, a snack, a couple of the “dating hotspots” with some very obvious hints at finding a girlfriend, before we move onto some more traditional shops. He first shows me to a general bookstore that sells both serious and casual reading, as well as other book supplies such as paper, writing utensils, and more.

Lastly, we get to the Formations store, that has various primers on formations all the way to very detailed and niche manuals on how to create certain high end, but public formations. He tells me this store will likely contain all the good generic stuff I need, but even at an intermediate level, there are some things a store like this won’t have, either for sale, or not without serious commitments. He warns me something like is good for when you need a personal copy or is currently unavailable in the Clan library. I go along with this, knowing I probably will only be borrowing stuff from the library for a while anyway. We head back to the compound, where we part are ways for now, and I head off to get some food to bring back to my room.