The Way of Spiritual Journey

Chapter 60, A Moment of Spring Night

The old Taoist priest, left with no other option, took out another silver note and stamped it on, totaling six thousand taels. He thought, "Should this work now?"

"Okay." Li Lang nodded, making the final decision.

Upon hearing Li Lang's affirmative reply, the old Taoist's eyes lit up, and his face lit up with joy.

Only Zhu Huaiyu, standing to the side, curled his lip and said, "Old Taoist priest, you're celebrating too soon."

Sure enough, Li Lang hadn't finished speaking.

"Let me think about it carefully and give you an answer in a month, okay?" Li Lang continued.

At that moment, a loud bang exploded in the old Taoist's head, as if he had been struck by lightning.

The old Taoist priest stared wide-eyed at Li Lang in disbelief. "A month? Are you kidding me? Do I look like someone who can wait a month? Okay, you probably really can't tell."

"No, no, no, a month is too long, I can't wait." The old Taoist shook his head like a rattle-drum, completely unable to agree.

"This will cost extra!" This time, it was Zhu Huaiyu who answered first, then winked at Wolong, as if to say, "Stop showing off, I can do this job too."

Upon receiving that flirtatious glance, Wolong felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but shiver. He then made a disdainful gesture towards Fatty Zhu, silently cursing, "You fat bastard, you're ruthless!"

Upon hearing the words "more money" again, the old Taoist priest's lips trembled. "These are a bunch of shameless money-grubbers!"

The old Taoist priest gritted his teeth, added another two thousand taels, and then stared straight at Li Lang, saying, "If you dare say no again, I'll fight you to the death."

"Okay." Li Lang nodded again. "Come back in three days to pick up the poem, is that alright?"

Li Lang could see that the old Taoist priest's psychological defenses were on the verge of collapse, so he didn't press him too hard and instead showed a kind smile.

The old Taoist priest didn't speak, he just stared intently at Li Lang.

"Still not working? Well, you know, writing poetry isn't something you can just do off the cuff. It requires inspiration, brainstorming, and careful consideration. In short, it's quite troublesome," Li Lang said thoughtfully.

The old Taoist priest seemed not to hear and remained silent. Silence returned to the room.

At this point, even Wolong couldn't stand it anymore. "Eight thousand taels already, and you still can't let this old Taoist priest go?"

After a moment, Wolong mustered his courage, glanced at the old Taoist priest out of the corner of his eye, and tentatively whispered, "This."

"I know, it'll cost more." The old Taoist priest raised his hand, stopping Wolong from speaking. Then, without further ado, he added another two thousand taels. "We've already paid eight thousand taels, what's another two thousand?"

"Haha, that's great!" Li Lang's eyes finally lit up, and he burst into laughter. "Brothers, clear the table, get the writing brush and ink!"

"Alright!" everyone shouted in unison.

After a flurry of activity, the table was tidied up, and the brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were neatly arranged. Li Lang picked up his brush and began to write swiftly.

Spring nights are worth thousands of dollars.

"Great!" This one sentence alone was enough to win a round of applause.

Flowers have a delicate fragrance, and the moon casts a gentle shadow.

Just as Wolong was about to lead the cheers again, Li Lang paused, pen in hand, lost in thought. The crowd immediately fell silent.

After a moment, Li Lang drew a line under the characters for "yin" and then added two characters next to it: "zhengming".

In an instant, it became "fragrant flowers and a bright moon." The artistic conception seemed to be elevated, making it even more fitting for the theme of the moon.

The Peachwood Taoist, watching from the side, nodded repeatedly. "Well done! It seems that composing poetry truly requires some time and thought."

The sounds of singing and dancing from the pavilions and towers were faint, and the courtyard with its swings was shrouded in the deep of night.

What followed was completed in one go, without any further delay.

"Taoist priest, what do you think of this poem, 'A Bright Moon Over a Spring Night'? Is it worth the money for the writing fee?" Li Lang casually mentioned the poem's title, then put down his brush and looked at the old Taoist priest with a smile.

"Worth it! Wonderful! It's totally worth it." The old Taoist priest picked up the poem and read it carefully, praising it repeatedly.

"A moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold, absolutely brilliant! This one line alone is worth ten thousand taels of silver." The more the old Taoist priest savored it, the more he praised it. "And this next line, 'The flowers have a delicate fragrance, the moon is bright,' those two words are so well changed! The artistic conception is instantly elevated, this is truly exceptional value!"

It must be said that this old Taoist priest did know what was good for him; he could tell the difference in cultivation level at a glance.

"Alas, I am ashamed. I have sold the integrity of a scholar for money. I have failed my ancestors!" At this moment, Li Lang sighed deeply, his face desolate, seemingly genuinely ashamed.

"Go, hurry up." Seeing that Li Lang's expression was strange, Wolong knew that the matter was settled and it was time for him to wrap things up.

Meanwhile, the Peachwood Taoist also sensed that Li Lang's remorse seemed genuine, and that delay might lead to unforeseen circumstances. So he quickly put away his poems and left.

"Brother Lang, I always felt that there was something strange about this old Taoist priest. He spent 10,000 taels of silver to buy a poem, and he didn't care about the crowd. This is definitely not about leaving a name for himself after death." Seeing Wolong push the Taoist priest out of the door, Fengchu came up and whispered.

"Hmm, they've invested heavily and aren't afraid of it getting out. It seems they have an urgent need for it." Li Lang nodded, his emotions calming down.

In fact, Li Lang's shame was genuine. It was not for any other reason than that he felt sorry for the ancients because of the two words he had changed.

It's one thing to sell the hard work of the ancients, but to make arbitrary changes is just going too far.

But this shame only lasted three breaths before Li Lang forgave himself. "We're all just trying to make a living; it's not easy for anyone. I believe Grandpa Su can understand a junior like me."

"Forget it, as long as we have the money, we don't need to worry about other people's business." Li Lang looked around at everyone and continued, "This is a good business, right? From now on, we'll follow this standard. Learn a lot from that fat guy, understand?"

"We got it!" Everyone nodded excitedly.

Li Lang's meaning is quite clear: selling poetry is possible, but it's a high-end business. From now on, anyone who wants to enter this field, like Wolong, will have to pay a referral fee of one thousand taels. As for who collects that fee, that depends on their abilities.

Zhu, Shi, and Wang are mostly playboys from wealthy families. They might not normally care about a few hundred or a thousand yuan for a referral fee. But they have a large circle of friends and extensive connections. If they spread the word, whether it's to cultivate an air of refinement or to buy poems to woo women, they'll likely have plenty of admirers. That's all wealth for them.

Okay, let's take it a step further. If you don't like someone, you can still do them a favor. If you do a favor for someone close to Li Lang, wouldn't that be the perfect opportunity to get closer to them?

As for Fengchu and the Four Heroes of Langshan, needless to say, this was a perfect opportunity for the boss to skim profits, and to do so openly and legitimately. What more could one ask for than to serve a boss like that for a lifetime!

"Brother Lang, what are you talking about me about?" At this moment, Wolong's big head poked in from outside the door again, asking in a cheeky manner.

"Sent him away?" Li Lang looked at Wolong and smiled knowingly.

"I personally escorted him to the end of the street, how could I be wrong?" Wolong grinned. "That old bastard owed me nine hundred taels of silver for the referral fee and still didn't want to pay. I was about to recite a poem for him on the spot, and hehe, the old bastard immediately chickened out and obediently handed over the silver."

"Hehe, alright, you've eaten your fill, let's go back to the manor." Li Lang waved his hand and then stood up.