"Hello? All right, yes, I'll let him know. Okay, sorry to trouble you. Thank you, take care."
After a round of polite pleasantries, Ye Chun hung up the phone, sighed helplessly, and glared at Ji Jue. "Something for you again."
"Huh? Who called?"
"The university."
Ye Chun shrugged.
As the Ye family's resident parasite and the workshop's salted fish—Professor Ye's disgrace to the academic world and a dead weight to modern alchemy—she still had to work. Even if her everyday job consisted of lying around at home stuffing her face, she still had to dress the part of a professional and handle business communications whenever she went out in public.
As Ye Xian's assistant, of course.
After all, Tide Sound Workshop had only three people in total. Ye Xian never bothered with trivial matters, so replenishing materials, handling incoming shipments, and communicating with clients regarding orders were all left entirely in Ye Chun's hands.
It hadn't been so bad before. Her aunt's temperament practically guaranteed there wouldn't be many orders, and clients placing major orders were usually easy to talk to and didn't care about petty squabbles.
Ever since Ji Jue joined, however, her workload had multiplied several times over.
To a certain extent, Ye Chun had practically become Ji Jue's assistant and manager. Anyone who couldn't track down Ji Jue would follow the trail straight to her.
Most things were manageable. Association matters were handled between her and the local branch manager, and as for orders... Ji Jue had only just obtained his artisan license, so what orders could he possibly have?
Most of the time, Ye Chun racked her brains trying to collect junk for him. The storehouse's reserves were limited, after all, and actually expecting to sustain Ji Jue on Ye Xian's scraps was completely unrealistic.
Fortunately, Ji Jue wasn't picky. Premium goods worked, and rotten scrap was good enough in a pinch.
It also helped that the recent reconstruction and scavenging in Quancheng had yielded a massive amount of alchemical scrap; otherwise, she probably would have lost her mind by now.
And the caller bothering them every few days lately was Tianmen University.
"They want you to make an appearance," Ye Chun said, grinning. "After all, you're the contemporary genius artisan who breezed through the exam to snatch first place! The university leadership is practically praying for you to show your face and endorse them so they can pull in more funding.
"In another month, there's a commencement speech for this year's graduating class. Any interest in going over there to flex in front of your upperclassmen and underclassmen?"
"We'll see." Ji Jue curled his lip, completely unenthusiastic.
To anyone who had lived in the real world, people acting humble before you only after treating you with contempt was the ordinary course of business. When folks stepped out to scrape a living, they threw shame out the window—who cared about that sort of thing?
Before becoming Professor Ye's student, Ji Jue had run into endless bureaucratic roadblocks just trying to register a license plate for Little Niuma. After becoming her student, he could drive his little three-wheeler anywhere on campus without hindrance. And overnight after becoming an artisan, he had suddenly turned into the hottest commodity in town.
He truly had zero interest in acting as a poster boy for a bunch of old fossils.
"If you have time, you should still go. Who knows, you might even snag some sponsorship while you're at it."
"And then split it forty-sixty with those guys?" Ji Jue sneered. "Too much trouble."
Even if he were truly impoverished to the point of starving, he wouldn't turn to that crowd. Piddling amounts of money wrapped in endless petty entanglements.
See that plant putting in overtime every single day over at the Security Bureau?
As long as he opened his mouth, he could coax the current pillar of the Tong family into emptying his pockets in just three sentences!
"Tsk, youngsters these days." Ye Chun shook her head, adopting an elder's world-weary tone. "Back in our time, where would we have had it so good..."
Ji Jue laughed in exasperation. Others might not know the truth, but how could he not? "The moment you graduated back then, you were directly recommended for graduate school! Aside from churning out fluff papers every day, all you did was lie on the sofa eating chips and drinking cola—and you've been eating like that straight through to today! When have your good days ever stopped?!"
"Bullshit! That's called concealing my claws, biding my time, and recharging my strength!" Ye Chun glared at him. "Keep running your mouth and I'm docking your junk!"
Sheer rebellion! The stud... no, the arti... in any case, the servant had turned on the master!
A mere concubine-born artisan dared to offend a legitimate upperclassman? You're definitely not getting any trash to eat today!
Ji Jue smirked. He grabbed Ye Chun and gave her another earful about his heroic exploits as the chief artisan before dusting off his pants, standing up, and preparing to dive back into the grind with the Shuojian Chapter.
"Let's stop here for today," Ye Xian said, waving a hand. "No need to continue this afternoon. Didn't you just finish moving? Settle all your messy chores first before anything else."
"What about tonight?" Ji Jue asked inquisitively.
"If I have time, I'll come."
"Great, then I'll head back and get ready."
Ji Jue grinned and waved. After giving the helplessly fuming Ye Chun another ruffle on the head, he snatched a can of cola from her, threw his head back in triumphant laughter, and strutted out.
It was still early. He drove Little Niuma over to the farmers' market to stock up on ingredients for dinner before hauling the bags back to his newly settled home.
It wasn't far from Ye Xian's workshop, situated in the same desolate coastal outskirts. Over the past few days, guided by Ji Jue's occasional instructions and fueled by Isis's sweat and toil, the two-story house had taken on a brand-new look.
Even the once-empty yard now boasted a transplanted tree. Thanks to a heavy dose of nutrients, it had taken root completely, giving the place an impressive atmosphere.
How could it not?
Ji Jue had driven Little Niuma all the way to Chen Yubo's courtyard, spent ages picking through the options, and dug this one up himself—it was the healthiest tree there!
Yet the moment he pushed open the front gate, he saw Lu Feng lounging on a reclining chair under the tree, picking at his toes while scrolling through short videos on his phone...
Ji Jue strode over and aimed a kick right at him.
"What are you doing?" Lu Feng dodged with a practiced twist of his waist, making his slouch look even more insolent.
"What are *you* doing?" Ji Jue sneered. "I bet Mother Lu told you to watch the kids."
"Aren't I watching them right now?" Lu Feng replied, cool as ever.
"Where are they, then?!"
"Huh?"
Only then did Lu Feng realize that Lao San and Lao Yao were nowhere to be found!
"Stop looking around. The little bastards climbed onto the roof." Ji Jue sighed, glancing up at the two rascals who were stealthily scrambling along the eaves. "Make sure to give them a thrashing when they fall down."
"True... haven't beaten them in a few days." Lu Feng scratched the stubble on his chin. "Where's the stick at your place?"
"Who keeps a stick around the house just to beat kids?" Ji Jue rolled his eyes. "Improvise."
Pushing the front door open, he saw the living room had been completely transformed in just an afternoon. All the dusty nooks and crannies had been scrubbed clean, and the discounted sofa he had bought was now draped with a slipcover and lined with cushions.
"Second Brother, Second Brother, the living room's all clean!" Lu Ling, who was mopping the floor, broke into a wide smile the moment she saw Ji Jue come in. She hurried over, and Ji Jue expertly gave her hair a vigorous tousle.
"Did you get taller again?"
"Seems like a little bit." Lu Ling squinted happily. "My teacher's been asking about you lately, too. Is your artisan license really that amazing? An upperclassman at school who used to turn up her nose at me has been acting super polite lately!"
"It never hurts to get more certificates, anyway. Study hard, got it?"
Ji Jue smiled and poked his head into the kitchen. "Mother Lu, you've started already? Didn't you say to wait until I got back so we could do it together?"
"Ai, I had nothing to do anyway. Didn't you say a lot of people were coming? The soup takes a long time to simmer." Mother Lu turned around, beaming with pure delight when she saw Ji Jue.
Even the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes curled with laughter.
It was a rare special occasion today for Ji Jue's housewarming, and he had mentioned many friends would be visiting. Before leaving the house, she had put on all her jewelry and dyed her hair ahead of time.
After arriving early today, she had even tidied up the entire upper floor, determined not to let him lose face in front of his friends.
"Mmm, smells great. Chicken soup?" Ji Jue leaned closer.
"That's right. Old Liu's grandmother brought over some fresh hairy peach root today. It makes a wonderful broth. All right, all right, just leave the groceries there and don't make a mess."
Before they could exchange more than a few words, Ji Jue was shooed out.
Lu Ling was already finished cleaning and didn't need a hand, and outside, Lu Feng had already slipped into his practiced routine of beating the children, which didn't require any help either.
After looking around, he found he had nothing left to do.
All he could do was pick up his bag and head down to the basement.
When he pushed the door open, the empty basement gradually shifted, and a train platform materialized.
The lights inside the carriage were steadily on.
Mercury spiders scuttled in and out of the corners, bustling with work. The moment they saw him enter, they froze in place, their blood-red eyes turning back to gaze fixedly at him.
"How are you adjusting to the new environment, Isis?" Ji Jue set down his bag and asked.
"Do you mean being imprisoned in a claustrophobic space, working around the clock without rest, and selling my sweat, blood, and intellect just to satisfy your insatiable desires?" Isis's voice was calm and even. "Yes, I am adapting quite well."
"Hey, what kind of talk is that? Our workshop believes in balancing work and rest!" Ji Jue relied on the thickness of his skin to mount a flawless defense, then pressed on, "How's the progress?"
"Repairs on the train's exterior shell are currently complete. Internal Maintenance Project: Sequence Four is temporarily suspended. Cause: lack of materials."
"Out again?!" Ji Jue gasped in shock.
"What you are maintaining and overhauling is a core asset of Celestial Rail Group—a train equivalent in value to an entire Border Realm—as well as a workshop framework that you are currently utterly incapable of completing. What did you think it was? A model toy for human toddlers on the street?"
Isis stated bluntly, "Taking your pathetic financial condition into account, the provisional repairs on this train and the construction of the workshop will likely take thirty years before preliminary completion can be achieved.
"However, please do not worry. Relying on that face of yours, which is sufficient to cause an estrogen meltdown, alongside your knack for crime and depravity, I believe our future remains bright."
"..."
Ji Jue's eye twitched. "Is this the sixth time you've advised me to sell myself as a host or go rob a bank?"
"The ninth time," Isis corrected. "Furthermore, considering the current trend toward digital currency, the internal reserves of a single bank would likely prove insufficient to sustain such immense consumption. I would more strongly recommend that you consider the Haizhou Gold Reserve Center."
The voice leading him into wickedness was so sweet, earnest, and completely feasible.
Ji Jue could barely resist.
Who could say no to the temptation of striking it rich overnight?
At any rate, Ji Jue, who had just tasted sudden wealth only to fall back into poverty, could hardly resist it.
Still, as an esteemed artisan—and not Nirvana, out to cause massive chaos every day—was he supposed to just throw his normal life away?
"Money..."
Ji Jue sighed. He sat down in a chair, scratched his head, and tugged at his ears as he stared at the hollow carriage and the empty reserve spiritus depot.
A bright future only proved that the present was dark.
Life without money was genuinely miserable, and it was even worse when you were an artisan whom no amount of money could satisfy. Every gift of destiny had its price, but the company's gifts were even more outrageous. Before the train gifted by the President had even hit the tracks, Ji Jue was already on the verge of bankruptcy.
"No need to panic about the money just yet," he said. "A sum should be coming in soon."
Isis replied coldly, "Pardon my bluntness, but it appears you have no incoming revenue in the near future."
"What do you mean?" Ji Jue rolled his eyes. "Just because I don't go looking for work doesn't mean someone won't deliver it straight to my door!"
Starlight flickered, like a condescending sneer looking down on him.
"Are you talking in your sleep?"
"This is reality."
Ji Jue shrugged and waved toward the surveillance feed. On the monitor, out on the street, a figure was pacing back and forth with a suitcase, hesitating.
Instantly, his eyebrows lifted.
"See? Isn't the money already here?"
This month's friendship fee was about to hit the account.
Chapter 310