Chapter 55: Surplus Grains

As usual, triple requests! Please vote, recommend, and add to your favorites!

When Guo Qian had been scolded into a daze, Shen Chen finally jumped in to help Yang Tang with his registration. Master Wang was gracious enough not to hold a grudge over Yang Tang’s decision to leave his calligraphy behind and depart, immediately instructing the staff to add his name to the registry.

Thus, after Master Wang led Guo Qian away, even more people gathered around Yang Tang’s piece, taking photos and discussing it. It must be said that aside from their love for feigning sophistication, people are eager to crowd around anything a master appreciates.

“See that? Even Master Wang is full of praise for this!”
“The script is truly unprecedented, breaking new ground!”
“It’s not just the calligraphy—it’s the poem! It’s written about peonies, yet the word ‘peony’ never appears.”
“The poem is good, but it’s too short. The calligraphy is more captivating!”
“...”

After Shen Chen finished registering Yang Tang, seeing the situation looking bright, she immediately called him. On the other end, Yang Tang’s lazy voice came through, “Hello? What now? If you couldn’t register my name, the poem is yours; don’t come asking me for money!”

Shen Chen nearly choked on this, taking a moment to compose herself. “Your registration is done. I just wanted to ask, do you still want the room and board fee?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” Yang Tang perked up instantly.

“Alright—”

“Alright, nothing! You’ve promised me that room and board fee several times but haven’t paid. I think you’d better transfer it. My account is—”

Shen Chen was speechless. She’d planned to use the payment as an excuse to meet Yang Tang again and perhaps chat about the second poem, but Yang Tang gave her no quarter.

“That’s settled. I’ll send you my card number; transfer the room and board fee quickly. I haven’t settled lunch yet!” With that, Yang Tang was about to hang up.

Shen Chen finally snapped out of it and protested, “Hey, hey, don’t hang up! When will you give me the second poem?”

“Don’t worry. Once I see the money, I’ll text it to you. Is that enough?”

Hearing this, Shen Chen’s eyes brightened. “You’ve already thought up the second poem? It’s in your head?”

“What else? If the poem isn’t in my head, where would it be? In my stomach? Hanging up now!”

Soon after, Yang Tang’s phone notified him of a successful deposit of fifteen thousand Huabi. He didn’t fuss, quickly drafted a text message containing two poems, the first marked for the contest:

“Late blooming, all to let others shine,
Planted in noble halls, paired in kind.
Red glows, lingering smoke seems to speak,
Pale blossoms in moonlight, only fragrance one seeks.
Pruned to catch the east wind’s intent,
Subtle and proud as Xi Shi’s adornment.
Rightly crowned as queen among flowers,
Year after year, she claims the spring’s hours.”

Turning, Yang Tang saw Yang Jixue explaining the various famous camellias to his mother and He Jianyi, a scene that warmed him.

“There, that’s the legendary Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea camellia!” Yang Jixue declared, pointing at one of the camellias.

Yang Tang glanced at the flowers, noticing not a single deep purple among the eight, and couldn’t help but shake his head.

“Hey, brat, what are you shaking your head for? Am I wrong?” Yang Jixue’s knowledge of camellias was clearly shallow.

Of course, Yang Tang’s was only marginally deeper, but just enough to correct his father. “Dad, if I say you’re wrong, don’t hit me!”

“Go ahead, say it!”

“The true Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea camellia must have one deep purple and one pale red flower, representing Iron-Crutch Li and He Xiangu. This eight-color camellia lacks the purple, so it can’t be called Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea—at best, it’s Eight Treasures Adorned.”

Yang’s mother and He Jianyi were both taken aback, while Yang Jixue twitched his mouth. “Well done, son. Your knowledge has outstripped your old man’s. If you applied that to your studies, I’d have no worries!”

Yang Tang could only chuckle dryly.

After lunch, Yang Tang suggested, “Mom, Dad, since we won’t be visiting the flower show tomorrow and I have some free time, why not take a trip around Suzhou and Hangzhou?”

Yang’s mother agreed enthusiastically, “Great idea! Let’s tour Taihu Lake, Qiantang River, and those places.” With the empress dowager’s approval, Yang’s father had no reason to object.

As for He Jianyi, she pretty much followed Yang Tang’s lead. “Uncle, Auntie, traveling around Shenhai is certainly fine. Are we driving or taking the train?”

“Driving?” This made Yang Jixue hesitate, since neither he nor his wife could drive.

Yang Tang could drive, but he didn’t have a license in this life, so even borrowing a car wouldn’t be convenient.

That left only He Jianyi as the designated driver. But for a long trip, having a single driver was a risk, so after careful consideration, the four decided the train was safer.

However, when they went online in the afternoon to book hotels in Suzhou and Hangzhou, He Jianyi slipped into Yang Tang’s room, speaking mysteriously. “I called Yuhua. She said she could send more people and cars to sponsor your parents’ tour around Suzhou and Hangzhou, but the condition is that she comes along.”

Yang Tang barely needed to think before refusing. “No way. With her temperament, she’s bound to cause trouble out of town. My parents can’t handle that.”

He Jianyi saw the logic and could only silently mourn for the grounded Fang Yuhua.

The next day, the four took the train to Hangzhou, beginning a series of excursions. After four or five days, they reached Xicheng, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

During this time, Shen Chen sent a congratulatory message: Yang Tang’s two peony poems took first and fifth place at the flower show. Not long after, she transferred another hundred thousand yuan as promised. With financial worries gone, Yang Tang planned to spend more time with his parents touring Suzhou and Hangzhou.

On the sixth morning, Yang Tang remembered that he would enter the third dream that night, making him a bit distracted during the day. At that moment, He Ming from Chenxun Venture Capital called, wanting to meet again to discuss the acquisition of the Power Saver. Due to his preoccupation, Yang Tang was hesitant on the phone, finally agreeing to meet in a few days.

Meanwhile, in Fog City.

Da Jin was a master at seizing turf and fighting underground battles. Assigned by Hua Ge to complete a task in ten days, Da Jin managed it in a week, securing all five hundred shops as ordered.

At the same time, Black Screen was busy, having arranged deals with over a dozen manufacturers, securing a thousand fruit machines from half of them on credit, under the guise of a two-week trial. In one day, every shop under Hua Ge’s control had two fruit machines installed.

“Boss, is this reliable?” Black Screen was a bit anxious.

Hua Ge sat calmly, “We’ll know if it’s reliable when Da Jin’s crew brings in today’s takings.”

“That’s true.”

Just after four in the afternoon, the crew responsible for collecting from the fruit machines returned, each handing over their coins.

Black Screen didn’t bother counting, just weighed the coins—about eighty-two one-yuan coins weighed five hundred grams.

“This bag is ten jin.”
“Nine jin, seven liang.”
“Eleven jin.”

Hua Ge listened to the weights, punching numbers into his calculator, then suddenly exclaimed, “Damn, the average daily intake per pair of machines is eight hundred yuan! We’re rich!”

Black Screen, Da Jin, and the rest of Hua Ge’s trusted lieutenants were equally excited. Previously, they’d be lucky to make three hundred thousand a month, but now, in just one day, they’d made two hundred thousand. Even after deducting bad coins, fifteen thousand a day was guaranteed. Even if they cut it harshly, eight thousand a day meant four days would equal a month of previous earnings.

“Da Jin, Black Screen, get the crew together. Sort all the coins, take three-quarters, split into ten teams, and head to the bank. Try to exchange all of it for cash today. Tell them to ask for twenties and fifties, not hundreds!”

Da Jin asked, “Boss, why not hundreds, only fifties?”

“Shut up! That’s what Yi Ge told us. You don’t know anything!”

The mention of “Yi Ge” silenced Black Screen and Da Jin. After all, the guy had come up with a way to make so much in a single day.

“The remaining quarter of coins, tomorrow the crews in charge of the fruit machines come to me and collect them. Make sure every coin is exchanged for a banknote, let each shop owner swap them daily. From now on, takings must be one quarter banknotes, three quarters coins!”

“Also, let me be clear: if anyone uses the coin exchange to threaten shop owners, or forces them to accept tokens from the game halls at one yuan each, I’ll find out, and it’ll be river-bottom and fish food for you. Understood?”

“Yes, Boss, we understand!”

Night fell in Xicheng, at Taihu Hotel.

After a pricey but not entirely authentic Taihu boat meal, the four returned to their rooms to rest. Yang Tang showered but didn’t go straight to bed, instead browsing world history online until nearly midnight before climbing into bed.

Soon after falling asleep, Yang Tang appeared in the golden haze.

Verifying season.

Season verified; the third dream officially begins!

Due to low dream level, only one skill can be copied after entering the scenario!

As this is an official dream, scenarios can be chosen!

Available scenarios: Standalone MMORPG World of Warcraft 6.0, MMORPG Ragnarok Online, MMORPG Xuanyuan Sword nn!

Wait, Xuanyuan Sword and World of Warcraft again? But this time, Warcraft is labeled as standalone—how absurd! If it’s standalone, doesn’t that mean there are lots of universal and super skills? If those skills could be copied and solidified, wouldn’t that be game-breaking?

Yang Tang’s mind raced, but he failed to notice a crucial point—why do some scenarios keep recurring?

You may deduct 100 dream level merit or sin to specify a scenario!

This instruction left Yang Tang speechless. After all, this was the third dream—specifying a scenario would cost three hundred merit or sin.

...

...