Chapter 279: Sorrowful Gate Disciple, the Five Shadow Daoist

On the night the opera troupe's charity performance ended, Chen Guangrui hosted a banquet at Wangjiang Tower, inviting the troupe's leading masters and a host of wealthy merchants and local gentry.

Though called a banquet, it was in truth an official gathering to resolve issues concerning the county's development.

Chen Guangrui was an upright official, yet not rigid or old-fashioned; in the past, these gentry had tried to bribe him for favors, but all had failed.

Today, Magistrate Chen decided that since everyone was gathered, he would simply lay the matter bare and resolve it all at once.

Though Xu Qing was not a local gentryman, he was considered a local tyrant of Linjiang County, monopolizing all funeral business and developing many new industries.

More importantly, Shopkeeper Xu was willing to donate funds and seek welfare for the people of Linjiang County; such a person with awareness and integrity naturally had to be invited as a model!

At this moment, the celebrities of the county and even Jinmen were in the same room; everyone raised their cups, appearing harmonious on the surface, yet the sound of their abacus calculations could be heard by Xu Qing from far away.

However, these matters had little to do with him; he dealt in the business of the dead, and everyone present would be his potential customers in the future, so he had no direct conflict of interest with them.

Living people will eventually enter the earth; the gentry and celebrities present were all respectable folks who cared about face while alive and even more so when dead. Now that the mortuary's ghost-opera business was fully implemented, these people, for the sake of dignity after death, would most likely choose the Xu Funeral Home.

Thus, not a single person present failed to show Xu Qing a favorable countenance; whoever saw him had to respectfully address him as Mr. Xu or Boss Xu.

"Ahem, Shopkeeper Xu might as well say a few words."

When Chen Guangrui spoke of raising funds to expand the county school, preach the sage's words and laws, and establish community schools to educate the people, the banquet hall instantly fell silent.

Everyone stared at their noses, then their hearts; not a single one was willing to be the first to speak up.

Seeing the atmosphere was wrong, Chen Guangrui turned his gaze toward Xu Qing, who was reading Liu Su'e's palm.

Xu Qing had been forcibly dragged over by Chen Guangrui to fill a seat; he was not interested in the official-gentry negotiations or the various discussions taking place.

Hearing Chen Guangrui's question, Xu Qing, who was full of interest in the I Ching and fate, reluctantly put down Boss Liu's hand.

Seeing everyone's gaze turn toward her, Liu Su'e's face flushed slightly, and she quickly withdrew her hand into her sleeve.

"Expanding the county school and community schools is a good thing; preparing disaster relief funds to help refugees build foundations and reconstruct their homes is an even more rare act of kindness. If all of you are willing to contribute money and effort, I believe the Magistrate will surely erect a stele in the county school to commemorate you and set up a merit stele outside the new ward. At that time, your names carved on the stele will surely make you famous throughout Jinmen; if one of the people who received this favor should emerge as an unparalleled talent in the future..."

"... it is not impossible for you, the patrons, to be remembered in history."

Xu Qing chuckled and said, "I am unworthy, but I am willing to contribute a portion of my earnings from recent years to the development of Linjiang."

The mortuary could not compare to true merchants and wealthy gentry, so Xu Qing took a clever approach; he did not specify exactly how much silver he would donate, but instead showed his attitude and stance, giving Chen Guangrui a pretext to act.

As for the rest, it had nothing to do with him.

Chen Guangrui knew that merchants valued profit; the benefits Xu Qing mentioned alone would likely not easily make these pi-xiu open their mouths.

After much haggling, Chen Guangrui used the merchants' transport of goods, restricting their monopoly on resources like tea and salt in exchange for benefits, to half-coerce and half-persuade these merchants into cooperating with the government.

When the banquet dispersed, Xu Qing clasped his hands toward Chen Guangrui and said, "My Xu establishment is best at carving steles and writing texts; let me undertake the future merit stele, my lord, so you can save some effort."

"Then I shall trouble Shopkeeper Xu."

Leaving Wangjiang Tower, Xu Qing took Liu Su'e back to Jingxia Street.

Nowadays, Boss Liu did not live in the Pear Garden Opera House but temporarily resided in the coffin shop, where she could manage the business on a daily basis.

"The few new plays performed these past days, Boss Liu, when you have time, you can teach them to your peers at the Pear Garden Opera House; the wider these plays are spread, the more beneficial it will be for our shop."

Liu Su'e did not quite understand the connection within, but since her benefactor had said so, she would do as told.