No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 854 Blessings
"The daily wage for a temporary worker is fifty coins... Liu Aliang, you have not received your wages for five days, plus the half-day you worked today, for a total of five and a half days."

At the counter, the freckled girl fiddled with the counting sticks, muttering to herself:
"Well, mother said this morning that you and Sha Ergou worked very hard, so I'll increase your wages by four cents... that's fifty-four cents a day, and for five and a half days, that's... that's... three hundred and ninety-seven cents!"

Miss Yu finished her calculations seriously, threw the counting sticks aside, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brother Liu, wait a moment."

After settling the bill, the young woman was full of youthful energy. She trotted to the treasury at the back to get the money.

Ouyang Rong, who was looking down and distracted, suddenly spoke:
"Two hundred and seventy-five."

"Ah? What did you say?"

Miss Yu stopped in confusion and heard the young man in monk's robes say quickly:
"Give me 277 wen. You miscalculated. Also, Boss Yu said this morning that we'd get a 4 wen increase. How can we calculate the amount from a few days ago... Never mind. I'm taking a day off today, so I'm not that diligent. I'll raise it another 4 wen tomorrow. Just give me 275 wen."

Miss Yu looked confused and looked down at the counting sticks again:

"But I used the counting sticks to calculate 397. How could the counting sticks be wrong? Wait, let me do it again."

Seeing that the girl was not very smart, Ouyang Rong looked a little helpless. In a hurry, he coaxed her:
"It's okay. It's definitely not more than you calculated. Just pay 275 first, and we'll check later. If it's less, we'll talk later."

"oh oh."

Miss Yu tapped her lower lip with her finger, as if she thought what he said made sense. She went to get a small amount of money, counted it, and handed it to Ouyang Rong.

Ouyang Rong took the money and turned to leave. Miss Yu stood on tiptoe to look at his empty hands and couldn't help asking:
"Brother Liu, how come you can calculate so quickly? Do you also use counting rods?"

I can't just say that she is not as good as the elementary school students in my "hometown", so Ouyang Rong said casually:
"Snap your fingers."

Miss Yu stood there in a daze, looking at Ouyang Rong's departing back with some admiration, then lowered her head to look at her outstretched palms, frowned and studied her fingers.

"Hmm, can you snap your fingers so fast..."

Ouyang Rong walked out of Hongchen Inn and headed towards the East Market, the busiest place in the town.

He now understood why Boss Yu had hired a new maid to look after the counter. If his daughter stayed behind the counter for a few more days, the inn would have to pay compensation.

However, ordinary people of this era didn't know any multiplication formulas. For ordinary people, using counting sticks was certainly more authoritative than mental arithmetic.

In Confucianism, "mathematics" is one of the six arts of a gentleman. It is a noble subject and a very rare skill.

Those who are proficient in it are either well-educated scholars or big businessmen like Pei Shisanniang and Wang Caozhi...

Ouyang Rong quickly put such trivial matters behind him.

He wandered around the East Market the entire afternoon, asking people from time to time about Lu's affairs.

The locals in the town are quite xenophobic, especially Ouyang Rong, who has a "broken hair tattoo" and looks like a native, so some residents are unwilling to pay attention to him.

At this time, the wages settled with Miss Yu came in handy, and Ouyang Rong also learned from her to be a good boy, making friends, treating people generously, and drinking tea to ask for advice.

Of course, he didn't ask directly, but asked indirectly about the families in the town...

By the evening, when the two or three hundred coins had been spent, Ouyang Rong stood up and went back, with a thoughtful look on his brow.

There were some gains. First of all, among the nine surnames in the town, there was no surname called Lu.

However, when Ouyang Rong was chatting with an old man in Taoyuan Town, he learned that in the past, there was a wealthy family named Lu in Taoyuan Town, and they were also a family of scholars. However, when the old man was young, this family had moved away with their entire family, and it seemed that they moved back to their ancestral home. It is also said that the ancestors of this Lu family were a large family in the Central Plains, and their family lintels were glorious...

Of course, praising our ancestors is a traditional skill of everyone. Even if it is bragging, outsiders cannot disprove it.

Ouyang Rong vaguely grasped some clues and seemed to be thinking about something.

After walking silently for a while on the closed street, he glanced at the dim sky and decided to go back to the clock tower at the north corner of the town first.

In addition, he also found out about the several hills where the ancestral graves of families of various surnames in Taoyuan Town were located, which were also the places where the big families here liked to bury their children.

Ouyang Rong thought, let’s look around first, there’s no rush anyway.

About an incense stick later, Ouyang Rong returned to the street where the bell tower was located and happened to pass by the Hongchen Inn. Two red lanterns were lit at the door of the inn, still welcoming guests.

When he just came back, Ouyang Rong heard the bell. It was the 180th bell again. It should be Sha Ergou who was helping to ring the bell. Now the bell has stopped. This guy must have gone back to the inn to work.

Ouyang Rong thought about it, turned and walked towards the inn, ready to find Xiasha Ergou and treat him to a meal.

Walking into the lobby, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the "Shancai Girl" Yu Xiaoniang had disappeared next to the counter and was replaced by someone else, the new maid named Song who had come to the inn.

There were many guests in the lobby. Ouyang Rong did not look at them. As he lowered his head and passed by, a voice suddenly came from behind:
"Wait a minute, Liu...Liu Aliang."

Ouyang Rong took two more steps forward before realizing that someone was calling him. The name was made up and he hadn't fully gotten used to it yet.

The voice sounded like the maid named Song behind the counter.

In the noisy lobby, Ouyang Rong turned around, pointed at his own face, and showed a confused expression at the pretty girl.

"Yes, I'm calling you. Please come over here."

Ouyang Rong walked back to the counter with a puzzled look on his face and asked in a muffled voice:

"what's up."

The maid named Song seemed to look him up and down, her voice was bright and sweet like a clear spring:
"Where are you from? Are you from the same hometown as Sha Ergou and the others? Where did you learn arithmetic? Why are you so good at it?"

Ouyang Rong looked at her for a moment and said nothing.

The maid surnamed Song reacted, pointed at herself, and introduced herself:

"My surname is Song, my given name is Zhi'an. I am not from here. My hometown is quite far away. I fled from Sichuan and was abducted here by thieves on the way..." She said in a low voice, "Fortunately, Madam Yu and the village elders redeemed me. Well, I used to study the teacher's lectures outside the window when I was in a private school in my hometown. I can write some words and do some math. Now I mainly help Madam Yu to manage the account books..."

Ouyang Rong nodded slowly: "Miss Song, nice to meet you, I am from Jiangzhou. Is there anything else?"

Song Zhian looked a little embarrassed and said:

"Ms. Yu told me about the afternoon wages. It was my mistake. I was not feeling well at noon, so I asked Ms. Yu to look after the counter temporarily. This was inappropriate. If Ms. Yu knew about it, she would be scolded...

"But your calculation about the wages is absolutely correct. I also told Miss Yu that she made a mistake. If I met someone with bad intentions, it would really be bad. Fortunately, I met someone as upright as you."

Ouyang Rong turned his head and glanced at the backyard, and said casually:

"Small things."

As if she had sensed that he wanted to leave, Song Zhian didn't mind and took out two copper coins and placed them on the counter:

"Take this money. Since you have only worked for half a day, you should be paid for half a day. You can't get less. We are all poor people. We have to make a living and every penny must be accounted for."

Ouyang Rongduo glanced at the pretty young girl who looked surprisingly serious and determined, nodded slightly, and without any pretense, took the two copper coins.

Song Zhian asked again:
"You are like Sha Ergou, your family is also poor. Do you want to make more money? I heard that you are still ringing the bell in the bell tower."

Ouyang Rong naturally nodded.

Song Zhian was somewhat emotional:
"It's not easy for everyone. You only took half a day off. Did you go find a new job? Is the inn not paying enough?"

Ouyang Rong was quiet for a moment and said:
"I guess so, but I won't leave. I will continue to work at the inn."

Song Zhian thought for a moment and said softly:

"Well, let's put it this way. If there are any odd jobs or private tasks, I will help you and Sha Ergou keep an eye out for them..."

"Thank you very much."

Ouyang Rong clasped his fists sincerely, then turned and left.

Song Zhian was busy counting the bills at the counter and didn't even look at the young man in monk's robes. He lowered his eyes and continued to focus on the task at hand.

Ouyang Rong came to the courtyard, looked around, and found Sha Ergou. The boy was sticking his butt out, burning the fire in front of the kitchen stove, and the chef was directing him.

"Brother Liu."

When Sha Ergou saw Ouyang Rong coming and learned that he was inviting him to dinner, he smiled and said, "How can I be so embarrassed..."

"That's it."

Ouyang Rong turned and left.

"Hey, wait, Brother Liu, I'm a little hungry..."

Sha Ergou hurriedly chased out, without even wiping the stains off his face, and followed him happily.

Ouyang Rong kept walking, with a smile on his face, but it quickly disappeared and he walked forward calmly and stiffly.

After walking a few steps, his feet suddenly stopped.

Sha Ergou also noticed that the young man in monk's robes stopped strangely, and asked:

"What's wrong, Brother Liu? Is it...is it because you don't have enough money?"

Ouyang Rong said nothing, stood still, and looked around.

After a while, his brows slowly raised.

New blessings?
Sha Ergou had no idea that at this moment his ears were filled with the familiar sound of bells, but he just waited patiently.

Ouyang Rong patted him on the shoulder.

"It's okay, let's go eat first."

Ouyang Rong put it aside for the time being and went to the roadside beach to treat Sha Ergou to a hearty meal as usual. After the meal, he sent the talkative young man away and quickly returned to the bell tower.

As soon as he closed the door, Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and immersed himself in the Tower of Merit.

The ancient tower stands tall in the clouds, with a pure white mist inside, and only a wooden fish and a solitary bell.

As soon as Ouyang Rong entered, his eyes immediately turned to the ancient bronze bell at the top.

I saw that the body of the bell was emitting purple air and trembling slightly.

There are faint golden threads in the purple air.

Ouyang Rong floated into the air, came to the clock, put his hand on the clock, and felt it silently.

"Do you need two thousand merits? This is considered golden merit, right?"

He murmured.

His eyes turned to the small wooden fish not far below.

The cyan and gold letters above it are shining brightly.

【Merit: 4,867】

This is the merit value that has recently increased thanks to the Xunyang Grottoes.

Right now, the price is skyrocketing by two or three hundred from time to time.

However, Ouyang Rong had been maintaining the bronze mask, and from time to time he had to activate the Kuixing Talisman to open the Peach Blossom Spring Map, which consumed a lot of energy.

Otherwise, the merit would have exceeded five thousand and headed straight for six thousand.

Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment and waved his hand slightly.

The next moment, a turquoise-gold light shot out from the small wooden fish and hit the blessing bell.

"clang--!"

The sound of a huge bell rang through my ears.

The blessings were successfully redeemed.

Ouyang Rong let out a long sigh and checked his remaining merits. He opened his eyes again and his vision returned to the pitch-black bell tower.

Late at night, Ouyang Rong, lying on the couch, slowly opened his eyes.

I began to think about this new blessing again.

"What triggered this... Today, apart from ringing the bell, collecting wages, and going out to explore the Lu family's ancestral tomb, it seems that there is nothing else to do. If there are people I have seen, there are Sha Ergou, Yu Xiaoniang, and Song Maid..."

After going through all the clues in his mind, Ouyang Rong still didn't have much of a clue, so he curled his lips.

But it is always a good thing to have good fortune, so let’s exchange it first.

What if this blessing is that Miss Zhishuang remembered him, or passed by again and brought him back to the gate of Yunmeng Jianze Mountain? Then he would make a profit.

At the moment, he was not sure whether Xue Zhongzhu had forgotten to leave him here, or was simply trying to please Ah Qing and did not want to bring the man into Yunmeng Jianze.

But if nothing unexpected happens, Ah Qing will definitely bring it up, so Ouyang Rong thinks the probability of it being an investigation is higher.

If it weren't for this, and Xue Zhongzhu had simply forgotten about it, Ouyang Rong felt that it wouldn't be a big problem, and it would make it easier for him to sneak into Yunmeng Jianze.

Because with Xue Zhongzhu's straightforward personality and clear distinction between love and hate, if he forgets what he promised, the most likely emotion he will feel the next time he thinks about it is guilt.

Only once he feels guilty can Ouyang Rong get excess compensation.

It's a little trick to win people's hearts.

Ouyang Rong reviewed the situation again and then took a nap.

At dawn, he woke up as usual. While the surroundings were safe, he opened the map of Peach Blossom Spring and first checked the [Craftsman] trapped in the thunder pool.

Immediately, the hand took out a pill box from the painting.

He stroked the box hesitantly.

He never swallowed the golden pill that Li Guoer gave him.

He had originally planned to take it when he comprehended the [Emperor Wen] sword technique, but later on, in order to ensure his safety when infiltrating Yunmeng Sword Lake, Ouyang Rong temporarily put it on hold.

Because if his talent in Qi training is too good, Xue Zhongzhu will notice something is wrong.

Including the last time before he was taken away from Sanhuiyuan, Xue Zhongzhu injected spiritual energy into him and examined his body.

At that time, Ouyang Rong used the magical power of [Emperor Wen] to virtualize the spiritual energy in his body for three breaths and avoid the detection of the Snow Candle.

If the Dantian also became empty, it would be against the ordinary people and would be discovered by Xue Zhongzhu. Therefore, the quality of Dantian's Qi refining could not be hidden and had been detected by Xue Zhongzhu.

At the moment, while staying in Taoyuan Town temporarily, Ouyang Rong began to think about swallowing pills and wanted to use some of his spare time to refine his Qi.

Holding the pill box tightly, Ouyang Rong remained silent for a long time, then put it away again.

Once he swallows the Transcendent Golden Pill, his Qi Refining aptitude will become outstanding.

So it is better to be safe than sorry. If this blessing really allows him to enter Yunmeng Jianze, there may be inspections at that time. His Qi Refining talent may be inconsistent with the last inspection by Xue Zhongzhu, or it may be very different, which may easily arouse suspicion.

After putting away the Peach Blossom Spring map, Ouyang Rong checked his spiritual energy again. He took a deep breath and saw that it was already bright outside the window.

Ouyang Rong got out of bed nimbly and started ringing the bell for the new day.

(End of this chapter)