The room where Master Sun does his private work is rather narrow, and was converted from a utility room with the tacit consent of the carving studio owner.
Perhaps because it was located on the shady side and had no windows for ventilation and sunlight, the space was too cold and Chen Ling couldn't help shivering as soon as he entered.
He frowned and looked around. In addition to the cut stone tablet, there was a huge black travel bag in the corner. Judging from the raised outline on the outside, it should be a human-shaped statue or clay sculpture.
The carving master followed the young man's line of sight and explained with a smile: "That is the finished statue in our carving studio."
Chen Ling nodded, touched the goose bumps on his arm and asked, "Master Sun, don't you think it's too cold in here? It doesn't give people a good feeling."
Master Sun suddenly came closer and lowered his voice: "That's right. It's a bit scary to be here alone at night."
Chen Ling lowered his eyes and looked at the ground, thinking about the location of the carving room. He felt that there was no problem, and because it was facing west, the yang energy inside should be sufficient.
After Master Sun finished speaking, he lifted up a piece of tombstone covered with gauze.
The tombstone is very exquisite, with auspicious cloud patterns carved on the top and smooth edges. The texture of the white marble is white and soft, not the stiff white of ordinary materials.
Master Sun was very confident in his craftsmanship. He took the young man's hand and introduced: "It took me a day and a half to make these auspicious cloud patterns alone. In order to have a good glossiness, I polished the entire stone tablet three times. Take a look. Are you satisfied?"
"Satisfied." Chen Ling smiled stiffly and said reluctantly, "Master Sun, I forgot to ask you before. The person who erected the monument left my name on it."
Master Sun opened his mouth in shock: "Mr. Chen, the person who passed away is your relative?"
Chen Ling waved his hands anxiously: "No, no."
Master Sun: “Friends?”
Chen Ling: “No.”
Master Sun suddenly understood and showed a compassionate expression: "It seems that they are lovers. Mr. Chen, please accept my condolences."
As the conversation continued, Chen Ling felt like he was about to have a heart attack: "It's really not true, don't guess, I have nothing to do with him, anyway, just do what I say."
The one who gave the money was the uncle, and Master Sun said without hesitation: "Don't worry, I will do it properly."
All that needed to be explained had been explained, and it was time for Chen Ling to go back. He followed Master Sun out of the utility room, and as he passed through the narrow corridor, he came towards a man with tied long hair.
The man had a gloomy temperament, a tired look, and a pale complexion. The most striking thing about him was his terribly thin figure.
Chen Ling felt that if a strong wind blew now, this man would definitely be blown backwards.
Master Sun greeted with a smile: "Teacher Ding is here."
The man nodded politely and his eyes fell on Chen Ling: "Who is this?"
"Oh, this is Mr. Chen." Master Sun smiled awkwardly, "You're a little tight at home lately, so I'm taking on some private jobs."
The man surnamed Ding didn't say much. He just said "oh" and walked past sideways, then entered the innermost storage room that Chen Ling had just been to.
After a while, he came out with the huge black bag in his hands.
The black bag was very heavy, causing the man to stagger with every step. Master Sun offered to help but was rejected.
Chen Ling raised his chin towards the figure who had walked to the front: "Is this Mr. Ding also an employee here?"
"He is both an employee and a boss," said Mr. Sun. "Mr. Ding is a very nice person. He is friendly and generous with his salary. Even when business was bad, he never owed us wages."
The door of the carving room was pushed open, and stuffy air swept in.
Chen Ling shaded his eyes with his hands and said to Master Sun beside him, "You can go back."
Master Sun stood on this side of the road without moving. He waited until the young man got in the car and left before turning back. When he turned around, he ran into Teacher Ding standing behind him.
He was startled and patted his chest, which was pounding with his heart: "Teacher Ding, we need to get out."
Teacher Ding glanced at him, hurriedly opened the car door on the side of the road and got in. As soon as he closed the door, Master Sun saw him answer the phone.
When Chen Ling returned to the courtyard, Wu Weiwei was sweeping the floor with a broom. Seeing the boss coming back, he dropped the broom, ran into the house, and brought out a glass of water.
"Brother Chen, drink some water first." His tone was earnest and his whole body was filled with excitement.
Chen Ling drank half a cup in one breath, put the cup down and looked over: "Just tell me what you want to say."
Wu Weiwei chuckled and said, "Brother Chen, I have contacted a business, I wonder if you will take it or not."
Chen Ling thought someone wanted to reserve a cemetery, so he became interested: "Is it a cemetery for ashes or remains? A cemetery for remains is much more expensive."
"No, no." Wu Weiwei interrupted him, "It has something to do with Feng Shui."
Chen Ling immediately lost interest: "I just want to concentrate on running the cemetery now, and don't want to do anything else."
As soon as he finished speaking, a ball of paper flew across the sky.
Zhao Xunchang appeared in front of the window behind the two of them and lectured them fiercely, "No matter what business it is, just do it as long as there is money to be made. Otherwise, how are we going to make up for the hole in Yuhe Mountain?"
The investment in Yuhe Cemetery was not small, but Chen Ling did not let his parents pay for it all. He wanted to sell the cemetery while building it. Who knew that after almost a month of posting the advertisement, he only received two orders. For Zhang Xiaoxia's order, he only charged a small amount of money symbolically because of the other party's financial conditions.
The money he has now is not even enough to pay for the project.
Recognizing his current situation, Chen Ling's enthusiasm for making money has never been higher. He held Wu Weiwei's shoulders and asked him to sit down: "Tell me what's going on first."
"It's not a complicated matter. There's just a carving studio whose business has been slow."
"What carving room?" Chen Ling thought it couldn't be such a coincidence.
"No. 1 Wutong Street, Old Town."
"…" Chen Ling was speechless, "I've just been to this studio."
Wu Weiwei slapped his thigh and said, "That's great, I've already checked it out in advance."
"Business was indeed bad when I first went there." Thinking of what he saw today, Chen Ling frowned and said, "But what I saw today is not quite consistent with your description. There are quite a few people learning painting and clay sculpture."
Wu Weiwei looked mysterious and said, "Just wait and see. Within a week, all the business will be gone."
Seeing is believing, never comment on something that hasn't happened yet, Chen Ling asked: "How did you get this business?"
"Well, there is a group for those of us who don't have any sects and don't have very high skills. We share business information in the group. If we encounter an order that we can't handle after accepting it, we will recommend it to others."
Chen Ling grasped a key point: "So this order is something that no one else can take?"
"I guess so." Wu Weiwei tried his best to sell himself. "Brother Chen, your level is much higher than ours. If they can't do it, you definitely can. Besides, it's just a Feng Shui check, there won't be any danger involved."
Chen Ling remained silent, his eyes cast down to the ground, unknown as to what he was thinking.
What a good deal, why are you still struggling? Wu Weiwei put out the bait: "The client said that if you can solve the problem, the reward will be 600,000 yuan."
Six hundred thousand is enough to buy saplings and turf!
Chen Ling's attitude changed drastically: "Call the customer right away and make an appointment."
Wu Weiwei was elated, even happier than when he himself received the order. Now he didn't have to pretend to be a cool master anymore. He completely let himself go and was about to give his brother Chen a warm hug when he suddenly heard a gentle knock on the courtyard door.
Fearing that it was a new customer, Chen Ling deliberately fiddled with his hair a few times before opening the door, and then lowered his head to straighten his wrinkled shirt.
He smiled, removed the bolt and opened the door, and met a pair of light-colored eyes that he could recognize even if they turned into ashes.
With a smile frozen on his face, he closed the door reflexively, not forgetting to reinsert the bolt.
After doing all this, Chen Ling was still worried, and he used his back to push against the door to reduce the risk of the other party breaking in.
Wu Weiwei came over and asked curiously: "Brother Chen, who is it?"
Chen Ling: "Don't bother with the insurance salesman."
Leaving Wu Weiwei with a confused look on his face, he hurried back to the room, feeling extremely flustered.
He thought about it carefully and soon found the crux of the matter. He was busy looking up gossip at the Jiang family today and forgot to clean the house for the ancestors, let alone burn incense.
Jiang Yu had ignored him before and would only come out occasionally. These past few days, he had been cleaning and burning incense every morning and evening for the sake of his instructions. However, he didn't remember a single thing and the ancestor actually came to his door in person!
Chen Ling regretted it, he regretted it very much, it was because he spoiled her!
He quickly found three incense sticks and prepared to go up the mountain to make up for it, but he didn't expect that Wu Weiwei, who was so careless, actually let the person in directly.
"Brother Chen, this time he's not here to sell insurance. He said he's your friend." Wu Weiwei foolishly led the man to the door of Chen Ling's room.
Chen Ling stood there in a daze, feeling angry and desperate. He looked up with a wary and fierce look at the man who was a head taller than him. When he met those cold eyes, the arrogance in his chest suddenly weakened.
He cursed himself for being useless and said in a weak voice, "Mr. Jiang, if you have something to say, please come in and tell me."
Knowing that Jiang Yu would not harm him, Chen Ling encouraged himself in his heart and decided to seize the opportunity and make things clear to the other party.
Jiang Yu was not dressed so formally today, just a simple shirt and trousers. The sunlight shone through the shirt, outlining some of his muscles, which were looming and made people envious.
Chen Ling turned his eyes away, staring at the white wall to prepare himself mentally, then closed the doors and windows and drew the curtains to block the view of Wu Weiwei who was peeking out the window.
"Mr. Jiang, please sit down. You've come at the right time. Let's have a good chat." He didn't intend to sit down. He had to stand so that he could find some confidence from the height difference between them.
Jiang Yu sat down as he was told, his tall figure squeezed on the narrow stool, his legs slightly apart, one arm casually resting on the edge of the table, his fingertips tapping rhythmically on the table.
Before Chen Ling could speak, the man spoke first. What he said scared Chen Ling: it was his birth date.
Chen Ling's heart tightened, and his momentum weakened again: "What do you want to say?"
Jiang Yu suddenly stood up and lowered his handsome face, with the tip of his nose just a millimeter away from the young man's.
"You went to the Jiang family today."
The breath belonging to another person was close at hand. Chen Ling stepped back, but was surrounded by an arm, blocking his way.
His hair stood on end, and he pretended to be tough: "Yes, I went there. What's wrong?"