Volume 3, Chapter 422 – Chi Muxue’s Task

Chi Xiyan looked at her in surprise. “What kind of problem could possibly be difficult for you?”

The girl in front of her was top tier in both strength and talent. Even her standing within the Chi family could be called unprecedented.

Chi Xiyan found it hard to imagine Chi Jingwen deliberately giving her a problem meant to trouble her.

The twelve year old girl hesitated for a moment before saying, “It’s actually not that difficult of a problem… it’s just that there are some things I’m truly not good at…”

“Anyway…” Chi Muxue grabbed onto Chi Xiyan’s hand. “You’ll help me, right?”

“…” Chi Xiyan furrowed her brow. “You need to tell me what this is about first…”

Chi Muxue held her hand and shook it pitifully. “Xiyan! The only person I can rely on right now is you…”

Chi Xiyan felt a little unable to withstand this. “Fine… I’ll help you…”

***

An hour later.

Chi Muxue and Chi Xiyan disguised themselves and made their way to a tavern on the outskirts of the city.

This was one of the enterprises under the Chi family’s banner.

By now, Chi Xiyan already knew what the problem Chi Muxue had mentioned actually was.

Chi Muxue, the eldest miss of the Chi family, possessed peerless cultivation talent and came from a family at the very top of the merchant class, yet she had absolutely no talent whatsoever in business.

In fact… she could be called a business idiot.

How could the eldest miss of the Chi family possibly be a business idiot?

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Even if she wasn’t skilled at management, she still needed to understand the basics of how things worked.

So, not long ago, Chi Jingwen, hoping to sharpen Chi Muxue’s abilities, had arranged for her to take charge of a small shop and learn to manage it herself.

And that was when Chi Muxue’s nightmare began.

Under her management, the shop, which had once turned a decent profit, took a sharp downturn.

After barely a month of running the place, this ordinary little shop had reached the brink of bankruptcy.

Chi Jingwen had been furious. “If you can’t even manage a shop this small, then don’t even think about taking over the Lingbao Commerce Association in the future!”

Looking at the deserted little shop before her, Chi Xiyan let out a helpless sigh.

Chi Jingwen had forbidden Chi Xiyan from borrowing staff from other merchants, since that would count as cheating.

So the girl had no choice but to come seek help from her.

As for whether Chi Muxue asking Chi Xiyan for help counted as cheating, well…

Chi Jingwen had only forbidden her from calling on professional, experienced shopkeepers for help. As for a twelve year old girl, that clearly wasn’t included in the restriction.

“This is the place… Xiyan…” Chi Muxue pulled Chi Xiyan by the hand and pointed toward the storefront ahead.

At the moment, the two of them were both dressed in plain clothing.

This was also something Chi Jingwen had required. Chi Muxue couldn’t reveal her identity while out here.

The eldest miss of the Chi family, unable to manage even a small tavern, the Chi family couldn’t afford to lose that kind of face.

So, as far as the shop’s staff were concerned, Chi Muxue was simply an ordinary girl who’d taken over the shop through sheer luck.

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The reason such a remote location had been chosen was also so that Chi Muxue wouldn’t easily be recognized here.

“If you ask me, the family head is doing this on purpose to make things hard for me!” The girl tugged at Chi Xiyan’s hand, saying indignantly, “Otherwise… why would he pick a place this desolate for me!”

“…” Chi Xiyan didn’t respond. She glanced around at their surroundings.

Honestly speaking, this location wasn’t actually that bad.

Near the tavern was a settlement of several hundred households.

Directly in front of the tavern ran a road wide enough for carriages, where traveling merchants and farmers frequently passed by.

And along the road they’d taken to get here, there wasn’t a single other tavern within ten li in any direction.

The test Chi Jingwen had given Chi Muxue was already quite lenient.

Chi Xiyan found it difficult to imagine how this girl had managed to run a shop into such a sorry state under these conditions.

Thinking about this, the look she gave Chi Muxue gradually grew more complicated.

Chi Muxue noticed the change in Chi Xiyan’s gaze. Her small face flushed and she said irritably, “Don’t look at me like that!”

“I don’t want this either, okay!”

“What’s wrong with that! Everyone has things they’re not good at!”

The girl puffed out her cheeks angrily, looking just like a pufferfish.

Chi Xiyan smiled. She raised her hand and gently rubbed the girl’s head.

“Alright, alright, it’s fine. I’ll help you.”

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The girl grabbed hold of the hand that was misbehaving, raised her pretty brows, and said with a serious expression, “You absolutely have to help me! Otherwise I won’t have any allowance next month!”

“And if that happens, you’ll be the only one who can support me!”

Chi Xiyan sighed helplessly, poking the girl’s baby fat cheek with a finger. “Now you’re threatening me.”

“I can’t afford to support you right now.”

Chi Xiyan knew that the spirit stones Chi Muxue burned through in her daily cultivation were an astronomical sum for an ordinary person.

She really couldn’t afford to keep this girl fed right now.

“Alright, let’s go in first. Once we see exactly what the situation is, I’ll help you think of something.”

With that, the two of them walked into the tavern together.

Once inside the tavern, the waiter sitting at a table immediately came over to greet them.

“Eldest Miss is back! I thought you were going to abandon us and leave us to fend for ourselves!”

Eldest Miss?

Chi Xiyan glanced at Chi Muxue.

Chi Muxue’s face darkened slightly. “I’m not running off… this shop was given to me by the family head, and I won’t abandon it.”

“Also, don’t call me Eldest Miss. I don’t deserve that title.”

Chi Xiyan understood the situation now.

This waiter clearly had no idea about Chi Muxue’s true identity, and simply took her for an ordinary young lady who happened to share the Chi surname.

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He was being sarcastic right now.

“Oh, my dear Eldest Miss, do you have any idea how much your careless words affect the livelihoods of the more than ten of us working here!”

The waiter laughed. “You can just get up and walk away whenever you please, but we’re the ones left cleaning up the mess you leave behind!”

Chi Muxue frowned. “I’ve always paid your monthly wages on time. I’ve never docked a single coin from any of you.”

“The state this tavern is in now is my responsibility. I won’t shirk that.”

The waiter waved a hand. “Eldest Miss, that all sounds nice, but tell me, have you figured out where the problem actually lies?”

Chi Muxue was at a loss for words. She stammered, “I… I’ll find out where the problem is…”

Chi Xiyan watched this exchange for a while before speaking up. “Alright, that’s enough. Talk alone won’t solve anything.”

She looked at the waiter. “Where’s your shopkeeper? We need to see your shopkeeper.”

Only then did the waiter look toward Chi Xiyan, who stood beside Chi Muxue. “And who might this young lady be?”

Chi Xiyan took out her Chi family identity plate. “I’m Chi Xiyan. I’ve come to take over this shop together with her.”

The waiter got a clear look at Chi Xiyan’s identity plate and said, “So now there’s another Eldest Miss.”

Chi Xiyan frowned. “Stop wasting time here. Go call your shopkeeper out.”

Hearing this, the waiter reluctantly walked into the inner hall.

“Shopkeeper, the Chi family has sent people over again!”