Chapter 20: Tea (5)

Chapter 20: Tea (5)

Once again, Muchen would have to put off his tea sales for another day. That left him with some free time in his schedule.

He could have just arrived early to the Thousand Treasure Hall. Master Huang would certainly be happy enough to take the extra silver. Muchen didn't think that an extra hour or two digging through dusty tomes was a good way to dissipate the stifled feeling in his chest, though.

Instead, he made a stop at the Orchid Blossom Emporium. As expected of the premier source for makeup and personal care in the capital, the storefront was lavishly decorated. Muchen gave the gilt inlay on the signboard only a passing glance as he made his way inside. He was on a mission to scout out his competition.

A quick glance around the surprisingly spacious interior confirmed what he had expected. One woman had covered herself completely with a veil and was being attended to by a whole gaggle of personal attendants as well as a store clerk. Several other aristocratic ladies were browsing the shelves together with their personal maids. Muchen was the only customer who was by himself. And also, of course, the only man.

"Greetings," a store clerk said, showing admirable professionalism, "are you looking to buy a gift?"

Muchen nodded. "Something pleasant to smell, but only lightly scented."

The Qianzhan Empire had long since grasped the basics of making soap. If he had to choose what feature of the world of his rebirth he was most grateful for, it would be a close contest between the fact that he had a shot at superpowers and the fact that the Qianzhan Continent was blessed with reasonable sanitary standards.

That wasn't to say that the Qianzhan Empire had access to the whole array of products that Muchen remembered browsing past back on Earth when he'd visit the store to purchase scented candles to serve as holiday gifts. He couldn't help but note the lack as the attendant took him on a tour of the shop's offerings.

The most popular perfume choices were variations on a heavy, musky scent, made by processing various animal parts. There were a few plant based soaps that would be fairly gentle on the skin, and even fancy soaps that had been formed around flower petals and the like, but nothing that had been properly infused with a floral aroma. No essential oils on display.

Other than soap and perfume, the other prominent personal care product was a sort of shower gel made with a base of ground soy bean powder combined with various dried flower petals and the like. That would compete with a few of the product formulas in Muchen's head, but that still left several options where he would enjoy, if not a monopoly, at least a first mover status. That was assuming his products would sell, but Muchen felt better having surveyed the competition. Obviously people in the Qianzhan Continent did like to smell nice, and their needs were only barely being met by the current market.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

The makeup situation was also pretty dire. Muchen wasn't an expert in the field, but even he could tell that the products on offer at the Orchid Blossom Emporium paled in comparison to a decently stocked modern cosmetics cabinet. Sadly, he had no idea how any of the modern products had been formulated.

It was a pity, but he wasn't too bothered by it. For one thing, he still had half an eye on designing products that appealed to cultivators. At every step along the cultivation process little things like a person's complexion and skin quality were improved along with everything else about the physical body. Makeup was, accordingly, largely a mortal concern.

That also meant there would be less demand for anything like a modern deoderant to cancel out unpleasant smells as you moved up in cultivation realms, but the appeal of adding pleasant scents would still be there. Although for all Muchen knew cultivators used mind-bending substances brewed up from spiritual elixirs to supply a personal aroma, at least there was a chance that a quality mortal perfume could establish a niche appeal among cultivators.

He purchased a scented sachet at the somewhat outrageous price of 100 wen in order to thank the sales attendant for her patience before making his way back to Huichen and his cart. He might have been blocked from doing any business today, but at least the future looked bright.

His welcome at the Thousand Treasures Hall was becoming something of a matter of routine. He was welcomed inside and found his own way to Master Huang's office. He was able to muster up the concentration to plow through two hours worth of research, which was enough time to finish off the first of Master Huang's reference tomes and find one more candidate, this one a flying sword with a turtle shell hilt that protected its wielder from the wind.

Muchen wasn't excited about the prospect of taking on somebody who could wield a flying sword, but that was a concern for the future. As he made his way home, he felt like he had put in an honest day's work.

He was only slightly dismayed to find that his cultivation progress put the lie to that self-assessment. Not only did he not feel the comforting boost that came along with carrying out his dao, it even felt like the spiritual energy was moving more sluggishly than it had the day before.

Perhaps he was still carrying along some of the frustration of dealing with that obnoxious clerk at the government hall. He knew that he needed to put that aside in order to reach the optimum mental state for cultivation, but he was only human. He had not yet reached a point where his emotions could be flicked on or off like a light switch.

Muchen did his best not to dwell on the problem and to continue conducting his meditation properly. Even if he wasn't operating at peak efficiency, he was at least making some progress. Cultivation was a matter of accumulating the results of effort over time. No matter how frustrating.

ooOoo

The next day, he approached the government office with some trepidation. He had loaded up his samovar once more. He figured he might as well be prepared for the best case scenario, and after such a frustrating cultivation session he wasn't going to miss any chance to follow his dao.

Unfortunately, his fears proved more accurate than his hopes. When he approached the clerk, instead of simply providing him with his permit, the clerk gave him an apologetic smile.

"My supervisor has taken a personal interest in your permit application," the clerk said. "Satisfying his requirements will take more time than usual."

"That is to say," Muchen said, "what I've paid to expedite the process is insufficient?"

"Right," Liling said, snapping her fingers. "I wanted to tell you, I have no intention of marrying you."

Muchen nodded. "Of course."

Liling pouted. "That's it? I thought you'd be more disappointed, after you made a special trip to the Orchid Blossom Emporium and everything."

"That was market research," Muchen said. "I think of you like a little sister."

"Well, good," Liling said.

Muchen cleared his throat before the awkward silence could drag on for too long. "When did you become such a proper young lady at mealtime?"

"My parents insisted," Liling said.

Muchen raised an eyebrow. "Your father has indulged you for as long as I can remember."

"He has his limits," Liling said, before frowning. "Father wouldn't let me take on any actual management responsibility until I met mother's standards for deportment."

Muchen nodded. For a spirited and independent minded young woman to be forced into following proper etiquette must have been quite the challenge. At least Liling was getting something in exchange. If she'd been born into a different family she could easily have been forced into a marriage by the time she reached her current age.

"Management?" he asked.

Liling nodded. "Father let me handle the affairs of one of our silk processing workshops. I had increased productivity by over ten percent before this mess with the Long family."

"Do you know what happened to them?" Muchen asked.

"Cultivator nonsense," Liling said, before giving Muchen a searching look. "You aren't getting mixed up in that kind of thing, are you?"

"I certainly hope not," Muchen said. So far, Xinyi's presence had mostly exposed him to theoretical danger. He intended to keep that streak going for as long as possible.

"You aren't joining a sect, you don't intend to woo me and take over the Wang family business," Liling said, "so what are you planning to do, exactly?"

"Make money," Muchen said. He grinned at her, receiving a flat look in return. Well, he couldn't expect her to be impressed before she had seen his plans in action. "Was there anything else?"

Liling counted on her fingers as she worked through a checklist in her mind. "Well, I did want to let you down gently in case you fell in love with my beautiful appearance."

"Don't worry," Muchen said, "I know you too well to fall for that."

She ignored him as she moved on to the next finger. "We also need to show some closeness to keep my mother happy."

"Will that solve the real problem?" Muchen asked. If her parents were set on finding a decent marriage prospect for their daughter, they'd start ramping up the pressure sooner or later.

"I have my own plans," Liling said.

Muchen took a moment to think things over. He didn't share Liling's confidence in her ability to outscheme her parents. On the other hand, if she failed, it wouldn't really be his problem as long as he didn't cross the line into outright lying to Uncle Haoyu. The only real cost would be spending time together with Liling.

It wouldn't be that much of a hardship. Liling was pleasant enough company. She at least seemed to have grown out of ambushing him with balls of mud. Besides, it wasn't like he would have to work too hard to find time in his schedule, considering the troubles he was having.

Actually, now that he thought about it, perhaps they could kill two birds with one stone. "Your father mentioned that you might show me around the capital. There's one particular spot I'd like to visit together."