Xia knew that girls were not good for anything, as they were drunk, so she went to the market to look for things to buy. When she arrived at the market, she went to the same stands to ask about where she should go to buy what she needed. They didn't want to tell her, but after buying some more food and the same bad wine as yesterday for double the price, she got a tip from a few craftsmen and asked them to do what she wanted.
Xia wasn't thrilled about paying for information, but the sum from Xin Meng eased her discontent. Eventually, she located everything she needed after an extensive search. After spending considerable time, she stumbled upon an old workshop and ventured inside. The space was cluttered with broken doors and various items. Unable to locate the owner, Xia began exploring the premises until she discovered an old man in the adjacent room.
He looked more like a dead wander instead of the shop owner. His whole body was dirty from wandering through the streets and his clothes were nearly destroyed from years of wearing. At first glance old man looked not very promising.
"Hello. Are you Lin Chengzhi? Han Zhiwei from the market told me that you have made her her shop. I would like to order tables for the tea-house."
The old man didn't respond to Xia even though she tried to be loud, so he could hear her, but he didn't move. Xia was careful about everything in the workshop, and as she got close to him, she touched his hand. In the instant, he jumped off the chair scared nearly getting a heart attack.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house."
Xia was as surprised as the old man, but unlike him, she didn't jump out of the chair.
"Are you Lin Chengzhi?"
"Who the hell wants to know!"
"Ohh. My name is Xia. I am here to order tables into our tea-house," said Xia and moved things around, so she could sit and don't scare the old man. The old man finally calmed down after he found out who Xia was and snored.
"I don't work anymore, so get lost."
Xia had no intention of getting away and stud up. After she went into the workshop, she saw, that the place looked very messy and abandoned, but that was not true. Unlike the rest of the merchants or workmen, the old man looked like he was clearly short of money.
Xia pulled out of her storage space a pouch with the coins and dropped it on the table. The sound of money suddenly woke up from his denial and his sunken eyes started shining like a lantern. His lazy appearance changes in the blink of an eye.
"How much do you want?"
"We need at least fifteen tea tables."
"Five hundred coins," said the old man, and was right next to the poach with the coins. Before Xia was able to say something to oppose him or say something against it, he took the money. Xia grabbed his hands and they started to pull the poach. The old man was surprised by Xia who took the poach back and fell on the floor. His legs didn't work too well, so he had no way to count Xia.
"I will give you two hundred coins, not more."
"Deal, but I will not gonna give you five hundred coins. I will give you two hundred. Others will do it for a hundred at maximum, so you will have double."
"That's too low. I will have no profit from the job. I will do it for three hundred coins."
Xia felt great that the old man lowered the price on his own and only wanted three hundred. Unlike his first price, it was more than two hundred coins less, so Xia felt that she had a pretty good deal.
"Three hundred. You will make us fifteen tea tables. I hope they will be done fast."
"Yes. Yes. Give me the money right now and come back after a few days, because I will not gonna bring the tables to your tea-house."
Upon striking a deal, Xia realized the impracticality of moving everything to the workshop on her own. She left the workshop, determined to find a solution to the transportation challenge. Reflecting on Mei Lin's ability to get what she wanted, Xia contemplated the different approaches she could take to achieve her goals.
'How is that possible that she can do whatever she wants even if she looks same age as me? Is it because she is a cultivator? I need to become a cultivator because if now, no one will try her like nothing.'
As Xia returned to the tea house, she found it deserted once more. Mei Lin was on the second floor, and Xin Meng was cultivating in their room. Discovering the girls in the kitchen, indulging in another round of drinks, Xia approached them, aiming to persuade them to wake up Xin Meng from his cultivation state and enlist her help in dealing with the furniture. She managed to wake up Yu Lan who joined Xia in the kitchen and attentively listened to what she had accomplished.
"Lin Chengzhi agreed to make us fifteen tea tables as soon as possible, but we need to bring them back on our own. We also need to get rid of all old furniture here, so we will have more place here."
As Xia was preparing for the rise, Yu Lan got an idea. "What if we collect the furniture here and let it be repaired? We will give the older one on the second floor and the new one here."
"We will bring all at least better pieces of the furniture to the old man so he can restore them."
"Good, let's go collect them together and we will prepare them until Xin Ming ends his cultivation collect them into the storage bag."
Both of them went back into the tea-house and collected all the tables, which were in better shape, and through the rest out of the tea-house. It took them quite a long time to do it and they left the tea-house to go to the officials in the main hall in the yellow zone to enroll Xia in a school to learn how to read and write.