Chapter 277: Chapter 277 Someone Came Back with Me_1
"Boss Su, I want to ask you something."
Upon stepping outside the tunnel, Old Zhou suddenly grabbed Su Xuan’s arm. "You said the Bodhisattva’s base was jammed by an iron rod and that you were the one who fixed it... you aren’t planning to stiff me on my hardship pay, are you?"
Yes. He was worried Su Xuan wouldn’t give him the one million in hardship pay.
"What do you think?" Su Xuan countered with a smile, looking at Old Zhou.
"Er..." Old Zhou grew flustered.
It seemed like he hadn’t done a single thing from start to finish. Su Xuan had found the stone temple’s entrance, and Su Xuan had fixed the Bodhisattva. As for him? He’d just been along for the ride. Oh, right, he did sell a few hundred yuan worth of talismans.
"Master Zhou," Zhao Yuansi chimed in, "you were just like me. We went in, knelt down, and did nothing. Why don’t you just forget about the money?"
"How about you just give me a bit less?" Old Zhou pleaded, his face looking miserable. "I came all the way to Zhuilong Mountain with you early this morning and couldn’t get any of my own work done. My losses are huge! I even lost a Three-Yuan Three-Harmonies Comprehensive Luopan!"
"Don’t worry, Old Zhou!" Su Xuan said, carrying the iron rod in one hand while patting Old Zhou’s shoulder with the other. "You get credit for effort, even if not for achievement. You’ll definitely get some hardship pay. For now, help us check if everything here is back to normal."
"Okay, okay!"
Old Zhou immediately squinted his old eyes and examined the tunnel, his fingers pinching together as if calculating something. He put on a great show of effort, and after a long while, he finally said to Su Xuan, "It’s all clear. Spotless. A picture of peace and harmony!"
"Take a look at them," Su Xuan said, pointing to a few construction workers resting at the tunnel entrance. "Is that bad luck still on them?"
They had been kneeling in the stone temple for two days and were extremely weak. They collapsed the moment they walked out. The livestreaming couple was no different.
"It’s gone."
Old Zhou busied himself again with a serious look before giving Su Xuan his answer.
"Old Zhao," Su Xuan then turned to Zhao Yuansi, "take Old Zhou to the company and give him one hundred thousand yuan as hardship pay."
"Okay!" Zhao Yuansi nodded.
"Thank you, thank you," Old Zhou hurriedly said to Su Xuan.
But in his heart, he couldn’t help feeling a sense of loss. One million had become one hundred thousand. He was out nine hundred thousand yuan!
"Oh, one more thing," Su Xuan added, raising a hand. "While you’re at it, hire Old Zhou as our company’s... project consultant. From now on, before any construction starts, have Old Zhou take a look first. We can proceed once he confirms there are no problems. Let’s avoid another incident like the one at Zhuilong Mountain."
"Got it."
Zhao Yuansi nodded again, strongly agreeing with Su Xuan’s decision. This way, he’d really feel more at ease during future construction projects.
"Thank you, Boss!" Old Zhou hurriedly thanked Su Xuan again. Now he was truly happy. Su Xuan had just handed him a long-term meal ticket!
"Boss," Zhao Yuansi then asked for Su Xuan’s guidance, "should we have the cultural affairs department take another look inside the tunnel? If they say it’s fine, we can proceed with construction. That temple might be some kind of ancient ruin."
"You handle it. I’m washing my hands of this."
Su Xuan waved his hand, returned to his car, and drove away.
In any case, the iron rod was already in his possession, and there was nothing else of value left in the stone temple. Besides, his iron rod didn’t look like a cultural relic at all; it just looked like an ordinary, somewhat rusty iron staff. If he tried to turn it in, they’d probably throw him out for pulling a prank!
Once home, he took a shower and went straight to bed, sleeping soundly. Resisting that strange sound had drained too much of his energy, leaving him utterly exhausted. On the drive home, he had nearly fallen asleep several times.
While showering, he noticed something else. Perhaps because it was so rusty, the iron rod had given him a small cut on his palm. It wasn’t serious and had only bled a little. He decided he would give the rod a good polish after he woke up.
He didn’t wake up until eight o’clock that evening. He hadn’t woken naturally; instead, he was roused by someone. Steward Liu was back.
"Master, it’s getting late. You should eat dinner." Steward Liu knocked on his door with a smile. "I brought back a lot of mountain goods from my hometown, including some wild game. Hurry to the dining room and try some! The two children won’t touch their chopsticks until you’re there."
"Old Liu, what are you doing back so soon?" Su Xuan asked, his face stern. "You’ve only been gone a couple of days, haven’t you? Why not rest at home? Spend more time with your relatives and friends."
"I don’t have many relatives or friends, so there’s not much to gather for." As Steward Liu spoke to Su Xuan, his head was tilted strangely to one side as if he were hiding from something.
"What happened to your face?" Su Xuan leaned in, studying Steward Liu’s face. "Did someone hit you?"
"No, no, I was just careless and took a tumble on a mountain path," Steward Liu said evasively. "The mountain roads in my hometown are very difficult to walk on."
Su Xuan’s eyes narrowed. "And your front teeth? You knocked them out in the fall, too?"
"Heh heh, yes, I lost them in the same fall," Steward Liu mumbled, unable to look Su Xuan in the eye.
"Old Liu, you have to tell me the truth!" Su Xuan grasped Steward Liu’s shoulders, his face grim. "You’re family to me. If someone bullied you, you have to tell me. I’ll get justice for you. We don’t start trouble, but we aren’t afraid of it, either!"
As a man worth five hundred billion, Su Xuan was full of confidence as he said this.
Hearing this, Steward Liu’s eyes couldn’t help but turn red, and he wiped them. But no matter how much Su Xuan questioned him after that, Steward Liu insisted he had just fallen. In the end, Su Xuan had no choice but to head to the dining room for dinner.
The dinner, as it happened, had been prepared by Wang Xuehan. Ever since she became the owner of the bookstore, she had also taken on the part-time role of chef for Su Xuan’s household, looking after his meals and daily needs like an older sister.
During the meal, Wang Xuehan blushingly reported on the bookstore’s business over the past couple of days. After deducting utilities and other miscellaneous expenses, she had only made a profit of two or three hundred yuan. The bookstore had two floors, so earning so little was hard to justify.
But to her surprise, this drew praise from Su Xuan. "Impressive!"
In Su Xuan’s view, it was incredibly difficult to make money from a bookstore these days. Fewer and fewer people read books, preferring to scroll through short videos on their phones. The fact that Wang Xuehan hadn’t lost money and had even turned a profit of several hundred yuan was actually quite impressive!
Hearing Su Xuan’s praise, Wang Xuehan blushed even deeper.
Tonight’s dinner was indeed lavish. Su Xuan particularly enjoyed the wild pheasant Steward Liu had brought from his hometown. The two siblings also loved it, saying that Steward Liu’s pheasant was even more delicious than the ones from their Pigtou Gully.
CLANG!
CLANG!
Just as dinner was winding down, someone suddenly began pounding on the front gate. The loud banging shook the door panels dramatically.
"That’s for me." Wiping his mouth, Su Xuan started walking toward the front gate.
He guessed it was either Madame Bai’s people or someone from the Five Poisons Sect—meaning Zhao Ling and Wei Haojie. Yesterday, he had told them that if they wanted to cause trouble for him in the future, they should do it openly instead of sneaking around. If it really was them, they were certainly being open about it. They were practically smashing the gate down!
But Steward Liu suddenly grabbed his arm and said apologetically, "Boss, that might be for me. Someone followed me back from my hometown..."