Chapter 32: A Shocking Change on New Year's Eve, Part 1

In the afternoon, the Liu Family sent a boatload of miscellaneous goods, and even gifted the boat along with it. Chu Jianli picked a steady, older man from the ten stout fellows and ordered him to set off back to the mountain — now that everything here was properly arranged, they naturally had to send someone back to report in detail, and also bring back another dozen or two people along the way. There was no helping it; the residence was too empty and they lacked manpower.

Originally, Third Lord had also intended to discuss their next move with Daoist Master Cao, but who knew that the True Man, having gone many days without "cultivation," felt his magical power waning and was burning with impatience. Seeing that the tidying up was more or less done, Cao Chuan immediately gave the order to seal off the Back Residence. After that, he strolled a few paces alone through the overgrown garden, laughed aloud, and vanished.

Evening, Green Jade District.

Cao Chuan washed himself clean and sat on the sofa, letting out a long, comfortable breath. This trip to Hangzhou City had gone rather smoothly — he had secured a foothold, found a path to make a fortune just by strolling the streets, and his own enterprise was clearly on the rise right now.

Humming a tune, he walked out of the building in a Western suit, drove straight to Minglai Pavilion. On the way, he dialed Li Douzhan's number. Learning that he was at the shop, Cao Chuan directly told him to get lost — he and a certain mysterious figure needed to unload goods at the shop, and he would notify him to come back once the unloading was done.

Li Douzhan thought nothing of it after hearing this; he locked the door and went out to eat by himself. A short while later, Cao Chuan returned to Minglai Pavilion alone, placed that set of Flower Pear Wood furniture from the ring in the first-floor hall, and then called Li Douzhan to come back.

The moment Li Douzhan stepped inside, his gaze was seized by that set of furniture in the hall. He bent down and began touching and sniffing it all over. Cao Chuan could not stand this disgusting display, so he stood up and patted his shoulder: "You take your time feeling it up. I'm going to eat first."

When he came back after eating, he found a certain someone still circling the furniture in a daze. Cao Chuan tossed the leftovers he had brought back onto the table and plopped himself down onto the clean-lined Flower Pear Wood rose chair: "So, have you managed to appraise anything at all yet?"

Before his words had even faded, he sensed a human shadow flash past him. Before he could react, he was already hoisted onto the sofa nearby.

Li Douzhan, his face a mask of ferocity, roared at him: "Have you gone mad? How dare you just sit on this, and throw junk onto the table?!"

Seeing his friendly ally so inexplicably shocked, Grand Master Cao was momentarily stunned and muttered: "Aren't these things made for people to sit on?"

To prevent Cao Chuan from randomly touching the precious furniture he himself had brought back, the two of them bickered their way up to the second floor. The moment Li Douzhan sat down, he began to lament: "Ah, with the New Year just around the corner, I was originally planning to go home for a visit. You're really something, you know that? You've gone and brought back another huge job for us. From the looks of it, I won't be able to go back this year."

Cao Chuan was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. He tilted his head back and began to recall: his first time crossing over was at the end of December, while the Great Ming Dynasty was on the twentieth day of the second month in the lunar calendar. He remembered specifically looking it up after he came back — that side should be April 5, 1627 in the Gregorian calendar. Which meant, the time on both sides of the ring had a four-month gap.

Who would have thought — he had been running back and forth between two worlds, busy and bustling, and without realizing it, it was already time for the New Year on this side.

Having figured this out, Cao Chuan laughed wryly: "So what do you intend to do?"

"Intend?" Li Douzhan's eyes bulged: "What intentions could I possibly have? I've been slaving away like an ox and a horse for you, so busy I don't even have time for a massage. I was originally thinking of taking advantage of the New Year to go home and show off a bit, and now this — you, old sir, have gone and brought back another large set of Flower Pear Wood. This stuff can't be sold off within three to five days. What are you going to do about it? Anyway, from now on, this house cannot be left unattended for a single moment in twenty-four hours."

Cao Chuan let out a chuckle upon hearing this and said with heartfelt gravity: "Isn't it just missing one chance to run through the routine with an old flame? Brother, remember this — only with money do you have old flames. Without money, who would even know who you are?"

Having said this, he reached out and patted Li Douzhan's thigh: "How about this — I won't go sourcing goods for the next few days. Starting today, the two of us brothers will take turns on twenty-four-hour duty until you get the goods sold. Tonight I'll take the first shift. You go find a place to relax, and come back to take over whenever you wake up tomorrow. Alright?"

Hearing this, Li Douzhan sucked his teeth in frustration, stood up, and walked out: "Tonight's expenses are on you, got it? Your buddy here has abandoned his family for the revolution!"

When he reached downstairs, Li Douzhan shouted again: "Also, no randomly touching this large set!"

Cao Chuan laughed and cursed from the second floor: "Get lost, you! Come back early tomorrow!"

He checked the time — it was already seven in the evening. He stood up and stretched his limbs. Since he was confirmed for the night shift and had nothing to do at the moment, he began to wander around Minglai Pavilion by himself.

He browsed the broken calligraphy and rotten paintings on the first floor, had a cup of tea on the second floor, and went up to the third floor to count the currency and gold bars in the insurance vault, conveniently storing the silver ingots Li Douzhan had newly cast into the ring. After finishing, he found that time was still passing very slowly. Out of boredom, he opened the fridge, took out a can of soda, then turned on the computer — he was preparing to go online and find some flicks to watch.

He scanned a few of the latest Hollywood blockbusters that had just been released and found none of them interesting. It was either American buddies saving the Earth, or American old men helping humanity. Cao Chuan shook his head in resignation and began searching for the latest episode of "The Big Bang Theory."

This was his favorite American TV show, one that had accompanied him from university all the way to Hengdian. Although he had already watched it several times over, whenever he had nothing to do, he still liked to pull it up and watch a bit more.

After he pulled up the episode list and saw that the newest season hadn't been updated yet, he casually clicked on an old episode from a previous season to rewatch.

The content of this episode was about Howard being sent on a mission to the Earth's Space Station. Even while in space, Howard was still harassed by his mother and wife via satellite phone. There were moments of hilarity throughout, and even though he knew perfectly well what the plot would be next, Cao Chuan still watched with great delight.

Without him realizing it, the smile on his face had completely vanished. His fingers rubbed his chin. Although his eyes were still fixed on the computer screen, his pupils seemed to have lost focus, as if he were desperately pondering something.

On the computer screen, Howard was still wearing a spacesuit and clowning around in the space station, but Cao Chuan at this moment tilted his head back, muttering something under his breath. Suddenly, he let out a loud shout, jumped up from his chair, and began pacing wildly around the room like a madman.

Cao Chuan paced back and forth in the room like a trapped beast. The next moment, he lunged fiercely toward the fridge in the corner, yanked open the door, and swept all the drinks and beers inside out onto the floor. Then he tore out the power cord, kicked a stool over to prop the fridge door open, turned around, and ran downstairs.

He descended to the second floor in a few steps. From the leftovers brought back on the table, he picked out half a plate of cured sausage, scraped it into a plastic bag, and carried the bag downstairs. He drove out, his eyes constantly scanning both sides of the road the entire way, until he spotted a dog. He slammed his foot on the brake, got out of the car, and walked over.