"Explain yourself!" Zhao Fan was angry, insulting him was one thing but insulting his father was completely different.

"Your father was a laborer for many years, the Golden Lettuce that this city produces is the main source of income for many low-income families who can labor when it's in season."

"You want to recruit the laborers?"

"Why not? If it is hard for them to find work then we will be doing them a favor and profiting at the same time."

"It is true, my father does know a lot of people who struggle to find work and the season has just ended so the time is ripe!"

"Did you already plan all of this out before? It seems like you weren't lying about having everything covered already" Zhao Fan felt a little scared but happy at the same time. So far, Hei Long seemed to have everything in his grasp. If he really wanted, would it be hard for him to eliminate Zhao Fan’s soul? However, they formed a partnership and Hei Long did not seem like a lowly type of person so if Hei Long was indeed some sort of mastermind, then Zhao Fan would only profit.

"Haha, do you think I was just slacking during the years I was observing you? I considered plenty of scenarios but there are tons of new variables that change everything. I didn't think starting a business would be profitable right away, but everything suddenly fell into place as soon as I awakened."

"Okay, I'll do what I can"

Zhao Fan hurried back to his run down house and when he walked in, found his father sitting at the table reading a newspaper.

"Oh Fan'er! Sit, tell me, have you heard of this joint competition?"

"Yes father, it is pretty important news, of course I know."

"Listen, I was talking to Old Man Ning yesterday and he told me that his son couldn't see his father go hungry without work so he ventured out in the forest and hasn't come back since. Old Man Ning is sick with worry, if he really loses his only relative how could he continue living?" Zhao Yang’s expression drooped and he looked really sad as he talked about his old friend.

His eyes lost luster for a second but he quickly recovered and smiled, "Fan'er you shouldn't stress too much about the Joint Competition, as long as you can enroll in a sect or the army I will be more than satisfied!"

Zhao Fan's fists tightened and his resolve wavered. He grew to love the feeling of getting stronger every day but at the same time, Zhao Fan felt that he had a responsibility to his father. Every time he risked his life he felt guilt gnawing at his heart.

"Once Hei Long's plan works, I can just cultivate safely using the money the business makes. There will be no need for me to risk my life anymore. I'll keep hunting with the team right now since it's not dangerous, but I think I won't go solo like Hei Long suggested" Zhao Fan formulated a short-term plan for his next actions. He owed everything to his father, if Zhao Fan suddenly died in the wild, just like Old Man Ning, his father would lose all reason to live.

Zhao Fan reassured his father with more empty promises before he finally moved on to what he intended to ask originally.

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"Father, I have recently had some success and have started a business. I'm looking for some workers and I think Old Man Ning and others without jobs right now would be great candidates"

__________

"Zhao Yang, why have you gathered us here?" A middle-aged burly man standing amidst a group of about twenty other laborers spoke out. In front of the group stood Zhao Fan's father, Zhao Yang, and Zhao Fan himself. After some explaining and convincing, Zhao Fan managed to have his father gather all his friends and people he knew in the laborer's circle which was not a small number.

"Everyone, this is my son Zhao Fan as most of you already know. He is here because he has recently started a business and is looking for workers"

"Zhao Fan? Your son who you always talk about? I am sorry if I'm being blunt, but he is only a low level Qi Gathering cultivator right, even if you are trying to help us out what can he do?"

"Yeah, Zhao Yang, we respect you but we are all very desperate for work right now, even a missed second might cause us to miss an opportunity!" The crowd generally shared the same opinion that Zhao Fan could not possibly employ all of them. After all, low level qi gathering cultivators were just as desperate for spirit stones as laborers, they needed spirit stones to advance their rank but at the same time they needed them to buy food and a shelter over their heads.

Zhao Yang looked at his son and saw that his gaze didn't waver. It seemed that he was really confident in his idea so Zhao Yang could only leave the talking to him.

"I hope everyone can be silent for a moment and listen to my proposition."

Everyone went silent, at least since they were all here, they might as well spend the extra moment to listen to Zhao Fan's offer. If it was terrible, they might leave directly but if it was decent, they would profit greatly.

"2 spirit stones per month" Zhao Fan lightly uttered. Nobody spoke for a few seconds, everyone seemingly processing what he said over and over.

"Brother Fan, I have known your father for years. Can you give me a spot?" The moment the first sentence was uttered, everybody moved into action.

"Brother Fan-" The moment Zhao Fan declared the wage, everyone quickly flocked to him and disharmonious songs about his greatness were sung by everyone. Since the wage was much higher than the usual rate of laborers, the group assumed that there were only a limited number of spots.

"Don't worry everyone, I have enough jobs for everyone and then some." Hearing Zhao Fan, the group no longer feared losing their opportunity and calmed down to listen to his further instructions. If before they treated him with slight disdain due to their seniority, now they were extremely respectful.

"I am aware that some of you might not be able to last the month before getting paid so I will pay a spirit stone to everyone as a sign-on bonus. Then, we can sign a yearly contract and I will show you where you will work"

Everyone looked at Zhao Fan with glowing, disbelieving eyes. It was true that after the harvest season of the Golden Lettuce was over, a lot of laborers couldn't secure jobs and their condition slowly deteriorated. Zhao Fan himself did not think much of it. After all, it was natural that he would help out the friends of his father and it didn't cost him much. Hei Long also didn't object because if the laborers were healthy and well-fed, then their productivity would reach the max.

"The only issue now is that we only brought one contract, how can we draw up more than twenty in a short amount of time?" Zhao Fan pondered in his mind.

"Don't worry about it" Hei Long took over and told the group to wait for a few moments. He then went around the corner and took out twenty sheets of paper. He set them on the ground as well as a bottle of ink.

Hei Long's arms extended and his fingers pointed at the bottle. The cork unscrewed by itself and a line of ink flew out in a precise and controlled manner. The stack of papers quickly separated and the sphere of ink floating in the air branched into three different lines which formed words on three different papers at once.

"Wow, the power can be used this way?" Zhao Fan's face lit up in astonishment.

"Of course, power is not destructive by itself, it's the will of the bearer that defines its nature. For instance, if you want to kill with this power, all you have to do is lift a finger. If you want to carve a beautiful sculpture you can do so with a flick as well" Veins bulged on Hei Long's forehead as he talked, writing on three papers at once and explaining the process to Zhao Fan was extremely taxing on his soul. If it wasn't already stronger than a mortal by many times, he would not be able to pull off such a feat.

Writing using this method was hundreds of times faster than writing manually. In just under two minutes, the whole stack of twenty papers were fully completed contracts identical to the one Hei Long made by hand originally.

"Here are the contracts, everyone please form a line and sign them." Zhao Fan came back and told everyone. A line was quickly formed by the eager laborers who signed the contracts after quickly glancing through them. Zhao Fan gave each of them a spirit stone and then proceeded to lead them to the warehouse.

"This is where you will work, your task is to clear all of the weeds around this warehouse and then clean the inside of the warehouse as well as get rid of any garbage. I will assign Zhao Yang to be the manager with a budget of a few spirit stones in order to buy the necessary tools. Everyone please get to work!" Zhao Fan smiled and looked at his father who was staring at him wide eyed.

"Father, I know you are already looking for work even though I can provide for your retirement. It's better you do an easy job like this and help me out than resorting to hard labor again" Zhao Fan didn't even give his father the chance to argue. He handed him a small bag of spirit stones and left.