Chapter 4826 — Still Not Enough Premium Goods
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Mm, that's good to hear. You've had a rough stretch—thanks for your hard work." Wei Zhao patted Chai Laoshi on the shoulder in consolation. Now that he had gotten to the bottom of things, he felt much lighter. After all, if Chai Laoshi really had turned traitor, even if he could have purged the house he would not have felt good about it, because it would only have proved that he had misjudged the man in the first place.
"Not at all. I only have what I have today thanks to your care and Vice President Hong's. I wouldn't call it hard work—it's simply what I ought to do." Seeing that Wei Zhao believed him at last, Chai Laoshi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Keep at it. You should have a clear picture by now of what sort of men Elder Hong and I are—we won't treat our own shabbily." Wei Zhao encouraged him gently. A man like Chai Laoshi might be hard-pressed to play a great role, but within the merchant association he truly had his own peculiar strengths, and so long as he could guarantee his loyalty, there was no harm in cultivating him properly.
"Thank you for your great kindness. I will dash my brains out and die in your service!" Chai Laoshi declared at once, showing himself a man who knew how to play the game. He was honest and timid, but he was no fool; at a time like this, if loyalty needed declaring, it had to be declared—otherwise a show of reluctance might very well cost him his future.
Wei Zhao chuckled at the sight, and only then remembered the notice he had seen in the street earlier. "By the way, have you heard of the Morning Star Auction Grand Ceremony?"
"Of course. It's the highest-grade auction gala in Morning Star City, held at irregular intervals. The last one was five years ago, I believe." Chai Laoshi nodded, then asked, "Don't tell me you're interested?"
"That's right, I would like to go and have a look, only I don't know the rules." Wei Zhao nodded.
"Everyone knows the rules—any disciple of Morning Star Academy may attend. And all the major merchant associations here have their allotted quotas. Our Hong Clan Merchant Association, for instance, can recommend our own people or other loose cultivator customers we're acquainted with. If you'd like to attend, why not simply use our quota?" Chai Laoshi suggested at once.
"Good. I'll leave the arrangements to you, then." Wei Zhao smiled. His wish to attend this auction gala was purely a whim, but if any disciple of Morning Star Academy could attend, then perhaps he might just run into Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao!
As the two of them were talking, someone outside the door suddenly called softly, "Steward, the list has been drawn up. Would you like to look it over now?"
Hearing this, Chai Laoshi looked to Wei Zhao for guidance, and Wei Zhao smiled indifferently. "It's fine. Go and attend to whatever you need to do—don't mind me."
Chai Laoshi nodded and called directly toward the door, "Old Cui, come on in. There's no outsider here."
At those words, a middle-aged man with a long beard pushed the door open and entered. Wei Zhao glanced at him and had a vague sense that he looked familiar; after thinking a moment, he finally remembered—wasn't this a man from the Waihu Branch?
Back when he and Hong Zhong had installed Chai Laoshi as steward of the Waihu Branch, they had, in order to keep the situation under control, let Chai Laoshi pick a man himself to serve as the branch's vice steward, and the man Chai Laoshi recommended was this very fellow, by the name of Cui Mingshan.
After coming in, Cui Mingshan looked at Wei Zhao and took a moment to react before hastily cupping his hands in salute. "Cui Mingshan pays his respects to Vice President Lin!"
"Ha, what brings you here too?" Wei Zhao asked with a smile. Though he had not had much dealings with the man, within the Hong Clan Merchant Association Cui Mingshan counted as one of his and Hong Zhong's people.