Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 44 A Seed

That night, after Jiang Ning finished his body refining, he took a stroll around the factory in the village.

To his disappointment, the place was deserted.

After his repeated interventions, the young man Yan Bo gave up his nefarious activities and dismantled the entire factory.

This made Jiang Ning's life a little less fun.

He stood on the dam, looking at the village that only had a few scattered lights.

"Too weak."

This was just a whimsy of his, something he did on the fly, and from beginning to end, no one noticed and he solved his opponent very easily.

This kind of execution, even if he had entered society in his previous life, would have been extremely difficult.

Jiang Ning glanced at his phone, as it was only eight o'clock in the evening.

"I'll sell two gold bars first to replenish my balance, otherwise, I won't have the money to buy the 'Soul Suppressing Fragrance' from the medicine merchant."

Originally, Jiang Ning planned to go to Qiao City to find an unpopulated area to sell the gold bars, but then he thought it was too much trouble.

This wouldn't completely eliminate the risk either; it was better to go to the pawnshop he used last time. His colleague from his previous life had vouched for the owner's character. Plus, it was close by; as long as he planted a Spiritual Sense Imprint, everything would be within a controllable range.

Moreover, Jiang Ning couldn't wait to speed up his cultivation progress. If he wanted to nurture Spirit Grass, he must rent a place rich in spiritual energy, with mountains and water—a treasure land.

He had already picked out the location for this treasure land; adjacent to Qingyu Lake, Hu Qi Mountain had both mountains and water, clear air, and a tranquil environment with a villa district built halfway up the mountain.

It was a famous residence area for the wealthy of Yuzhou City, and pedestrians at the foot of the mountain often saw all kinds of luxury cars coming and going.

Ordinary people would consider themselves winners in life if they could live in the Tiger Nest Mountain Villa District.

After graduating, Jiang Ning had dreamed of buying a villa on Hu Qi Mountain, but after working for several years, he couldn't even afford the down payment.

Even now, he couldn't afford a villa there without several million yuan, and selling all the gold bars he dug out from Xue Yuantong's house wouldn't be enough.

But Jiang Ning not only wanted to buy a villa; he wanted the best standalone villa, and then lease a piece of forest land, set up a Spiritual Energy Array, and cultivate Spirit Grass. These things were not easy to accomplish without a certain status locally.

He was preparing to refine some Spiritual Medicine, promote them in the current world, sell them to gain money and status, and then secure the villa and land lease rights on Hu Qi Mountain.

Given Jiang Ning's age and his current identity, it wasn't very convenient for him to take action directly, and moreover, such matters were too cumbersome and would greatly slow down his cultivation speed.

Similar to the elders in a Cultivation Sect, those busy with mundane tasks were often cultivators without hope of breakthroughs, while the elders with high cultivation levels would often spend years in secluded cultivation, only emerging to resolve major sect issues.

Jiang Ning preferred to manipulate from behind the scenes to enjoy greater benefits.

In this period, he had tentatively chosen two people to be his public spokespeople, his so-called "white gloves."

However, both were still in the probationary period, and one of them was the Boss Lady of the pawnshop, Shao Shuangshuang.

First, let her fall into the trap, then use it to control her, making her work for him.

Jiang Ning already had an initial plan—what else in the world could forge a stronger bond than controlling life?

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

With that thought, Jiang Ning no longer hesitated. He deployed the Concealing Qi Technique and headed towards the city center.

A dozen minutes later.

It wasn't even eight-thirty yet, and the pawnshop was still open.

Shao Shuangshuang sat in her chair, her fair fingers tapping on the keyboard, controlling her on-screen character to move and attack.

The pawnshop operated until ten o'clock every night before closing for the day.

Usually, there were not many customers, but that's how the industry worked—open for business once, and it could feed them for ten days to half a month.

Thanks to the connections left by her elders, she could earn an average of a hundred thousand or more a year. After all, the shop belonged to her family and didn't require paying rent.

A hundred thousand seemed like a lot in Yuzhou City, but it wasn't enough to get rich.

Furthermore, working in a pawnshop was boring and dull, only serving to sap one's ambition.

There was no choice; her brother was unwilling to take over the shop, so it fell to her. Otherwise, it would be a pity to see the connections her family had maintained over the years fall apart.

Shao Shuangshuang had initially stayed in Linzhou City for several years, where she was a medical student and worked as a nurse. It was exhausting and tough, with rotating shifts and frequent night shifts, on top of dealing with complaints from patients and their families.

Later, after turning twenty-five and feeling unable to endure it anymore, and with her family elders in poor health, she decided to return to her hometown of Yuzhou and take over the pawnshop.

Since then, she had lived a comfortable life, but such a life had a predictable end. Now at twenty-seven, and soon turning thirty, her future probably involved marrying a man and living a life dedicated to her husband and children.

Shao Shuangshuang felt a bit bewildered and scared. Although she was already twenty-seven and could stand on her own, she still felt like a child at heart.

She, too, had thought about giving up her current life to make a name for herself in a big city. She was not content to stay in a small place, but with no special skills, it was not so easy to blend in elsewhere. It was likely she wouldn't do as well as she was now.

Shao Shuangshuang would occasionally meet up with her old friends. One was a medical student who later got a job at the health bureau—a leisurely job with a comfortable life. When Shao Shuangshuang shared her thoughts, her friend didn't quite agree, believing it best to live a peaceful life.

Shao Shuangshuang's mind wandered as her fingers kept tapping on the keyboard, and just then, the glass door opened.

She looked up to see a tall and slender youth walking in. Shao Shuangshuang recognized the young man—he was Jiang Ning.

Not long ago, Shao Shuangshuang had made some money from him, a few thousand yuan.

Jiang Ning sat on the wooden chair, his palms gently flipping to reveal two golden bars.

Shao Shuangshuang's eyes changed as she sized up Jiang Ning, looking for anything suspicious about him.

"These have been passed down from my ancestors. Are you buying?" Jiang Ning's attitude was calm.

Shao Shuangshuang looked at Jiang Ning, then at the gold bars. She was a bit worried that these bars might be stolen by Jiang Ning, or taken from his home. If she accepted such stolen goods, it would be a huge hassle.

After thinking for a few seconds, Shao Shuangshuang still decided to take them.

Firstly, she could turn these into more than two months of income through her channels. Secondly, she was in the pawnshop business, which tested one's quick judgment. It wasn't just about appraising objects but also about reading people.

Only then could she gauge the other person's confidence and buy at the lowest price.

She had seen people who stole jewelry for pawn before, their gazes furtive, jittery at the slightest disturbance, like ticking time bombs, ready to explode at a touch, showing a lack of confidence.

When faced with such customers, Shao Shuangshuang would generally refuse the transaction; her family had some standing in Yuzhou City, but they couldn't afford such troubles.

Jiang Ning was different. Despite his youth, his demeanor was remarkably calm, showing not a trace of fear.

As the saying goes, "you can see the old from the young." Many young children, based on their current behavior—if not met with significant misfortune—often indicate their future achievements.

And in Shao Shuangshuang's eyes, if Jiang Ning continued his course, he was bound for no small success.

Just like last time, Shao Shuangshuang took out a complete set of tools and began her assessment—weighing, measuring, determining purity, checking for other impurities, and so on.

After a series of tests, there was no problem with the gold bars.

"The international gold price hasn't changed much; it's still 310 yuan per gram. Because of purity and other factors, we'll stick with last time's price of 270. How does that sound?" Shao Shuangshuang asked.

Jiang Ning nodded, "No problem."

He didn't haggle over the small difference in price. After all, he would need Shao Shuangshuang's services in the future; what harm could there be in letting her benefit a bit?

"The two gold bars together weigh 620 grams, which is 167,400 yuan in total. I'll round it up for you, 168,000 yuan."

"Cash or bank transfer?" She looked at Jiang Ning.

"Cash," Jiang Ning stated.

"Wow, that's a hefty amount!" Shao Shuangshuang laughed, her eyes phoenix-shaped but slightly larger than average, with a tiny mole under the right one, which added a special charm when she smiled.

Her under-eye area was slightly darkened, not detracting from her beauty but adding a touch of authenticity, clearly indicating her frequent late nights.

"Just give me a moment."

Shao Shuangshuang excused herself and walked to the back of the room, unlocking a door.

She slid open a cabinet to reveal a silver-white safe. After entering the code, the safe opened, revealing bundles of cash inside.

Many customers who came to pawn asked for cash payments, so Shao Shuangshuang usually kept some on hand.

She grabbed a black Adidas backpack, took a large amount of cash, stuffed it into the bag, and then carried the bag back out.

In Jiang Ning's presence, Shao Shuangshuang ran the cash through the counting machine to confirm the amount was correct.

She handed the Adidas backpack to Jiang Ning: "Pleasure doing business."

Jiang Ning slung the backpack over one shoulder, pushed open the glass door, and just before leaving, he suddenly turned around and said,

"Don't eat too much black sesame; it's not very good for your health. If you're losing hair, you should sleep more and relax."

With those words, Jiang Ning left promptly.

He had just planted a seed and was waiting for it to germinate.