Chapter 15: New Job - 15
The examiner continued asking questions after the first man was removed. After he lost, the questions seemed to get harder. Of course, Zhou Fan still had no problem getting through.
It wasn't too much longer until the next person lost. It was the middle-aged lady.
With three people remaining, the tension was high.
Finally, the middle-aged man lost.
"Who was the 4th emperor of the truth empire?"
"Bing Yonshun?"
"Incorrect. Please take your leave."
With his loss, only Zhou Fan and one of the old men were left.
"Congratulations. You two have passed. Please tell us your names"
The old man went first, "My name is metor emphilios."
'Sounds like royalty', Zhou Fan thought to himself.
"My name is Zhou Fan."
"It is a pleasure to meet you two. Please follow me, and I will lead you two to the registration."
Both Zhou Fan and the old man immediately got up and followed her downstairs.
While walking, the lady started talking to Zhou Fan.
"It's not very often that someone your age gets hired here. How old are you?"
"17," said Zhou Fan.
Zhou Fan had chosen 17 because once his foundation finishes molding, he estimated he would look 18.
"Really? You look quite young"
"I didn't have time to fix my hair this morning," Zhou Fan said, lying through his teeth.
Zhou Fans hair was 2 inches long. He didn't even have the ability to fix up his hair.
Speaking of Zhou Fans hair, something weird had been going on. As his body was rapidly growing older, his hair showed signs of turning grey. Initially, Zhou Fan thought that it was a side effect of his rapid aging.
However, when he realized that his hair wasn't growing longer, Zhou Fan decided that it was unlikely. Instead, Zhou Fan came to the conclusion that it was a result of cultivation.
He came to such a conclusion after noticing that his hair was the same shade of grey as Qi itself. Perhaps cultivation isn't free from side effects?
In the midst of his thoughts, Zhou Fan and the other two reached the first floor. Zhou Fan decided to think about cultivation later.
They quickly reached the front desk. The lady pulled out a key and inserted it into the door next to it.
Stepping inside, Zhou Fan saw a big room. The walls were white, and there were a few other people sitting in chairs around a circular table.
The lady who led them to the room turned around and started talking to Zhou Fan and the old man, "Come over here and sign this contract. After signing it, you will receive an advance pay of 10 silver and a silver library card that will grant you access to the 5th - 10th floors."
After hearing that he would be able to get a silver card as a signing bonus, Zhou Fan was excited. A silver card cost 1 gold. Even if Zhou Fan saved up every silver he earned at this job, it would take more than half a year to obtain a gold coin.
"You should have saw on the sign that you will be paid 3 silver a week. What the sign didn't say was that based on your contributions to the library, you can gain even more."
"How do you contribute to the library?"the old man asked.
"You can contribute by either writing books or outstanding performance."
Zhou Fan was glad to hear that. Even though 3 silver a week was more than enough to live off of, he would prefer to be richer. Zhou Fan was also interested in writing a book. Although he had no idea what he would write, he could figure that out another day.
After reading through the contract and making sure he wasn't being scammed, Zhou Fan signed it.
"All right. Both of you will start next week. Although there is no dress code, please wear something nice."
Hearing that, Zhou Fan decided to head to the clothing store and buy something nice with his 10 silver. He didn't plan to spend it all ,however. Zhou Fan also needed to move out of the inn. Although it was fairly clean and came with breakfast, Zhou Fan preferred privacy.
There wasn't much of that when you could hear through the thin walls.
Zhou Fan left the library and made his way to the inn. Zhou Fan hadn't brought much to the city besides his sword and horse. Remembering the horse, Zhou Fan decided to sell it. He had no plans to venture out of the city for a while, and even if he did, he was much faster than the horse.
After asking the patrons of the inn, Zhou Fan found someone willing to buy it for 50 copper. A reasonable price.
Zhou Fan chose to keep the sword. It was quite good at wide range attacks after all. After eating dinner at the inn, Zhou Fan started walking to the Lang Yang clothing shop in order to buy some work clothes.
When he walked in, he saw the same lady he saw last time.
"Hello, how can I help you?" the shopping attendant asked.
"Hello, I would like to buy some nice looking work clothes. Something around 5 silver."
"Okay, please follow me"
Zhou Fan and the attendant soon came to a good-looking section of the shop.
"These are all fine noble clothes. Their prices range from 3 silver to 1 gold."
Zhou Fan scanned the clothes and quickly found some nice looking blue clothes. 2 of them would cost 6 silver. Although above his initial limit, Zhou Fan decided that it was worth it.
The buying process was quick and easy. It wasn't long before he was back at the inn.
After putting his clothes up, Zhou Fan headed out to look for a house for sale. Although he didn't come across any, he did stumble upon a real estate agency. When he walked in, he noticed five other people were there, forming a line. At the front was a lady behind a desk.
Zhou Fan walked to the back of the line and waited his turn.
Chapter 16: A Courtyard - 16
It wasn't long before Zhou Fan made it to the front of the line.
"Hello, my name is Fui Rong, how can i help you?" The lady said.
"Hello Ms.Fui, I'd like to rent a house." Since Zhou Fan didn't have much money, he decided to rent a house instead of buying one.
"What is your monthly budget?" Fui Rong said while pulling out a 3 inch notebook.
"Are there any nice houses under 10 silver a month?"
"There are plenty of houses for that price. Do you have any preferences?"
"Are there any courtyards for that amount?" Zhou Fan wanted a courtyard because it would not only be more private, but it would also have a walled yard.
Hearing Zhou Fans question, Fui Rong had a troubled look on her face. "There aren't any courtyards for that price, sir. In fact, there are very few courtyards in the entire city."
Although Zhou Fan knew that courtyards weren't very popular in the wishan kingdom, he was quite surprised to hear that there were very few in the entire city.
"Can I ask why?"
"Of course. Two years ago, the crown prince of the boundless empire declared that courtyards were old and unfit for an advancing empire. Ever since then, many courtyards were demolished and manors rebuilt on them."
Zhou Fan was awed that the words of the crown prince were so influential. Of course, his influence was limited to the boundless empire. In other empires, courtyards were still very popular. Especially in the number 1 empire, the empire of mortaniel.
There, courtyards were seen as the sign of a scholar. In fact, every other empire still used courtyards. The crown princes statement had no reasoning behind it and could be considered the cries of a child for attention.
"Actually, there is one courtyard for sale." Fui Rong suddenly said. "However, it has been abandoned for the last 30 years. A rumor has spread around that all the previous owners have been murdered in the house."
Zhou Fan was shocked hearing Fui Rongs words. "How much is it?"
"Are you interested? Actually, I wouldn't recommend it. Many people have investigated the rumors and it has turned out to be true. All the previous owners were killed in their sleep."
Hearing this, Zhou Fan was even more shocked. What are the odds that every single owner died in the house.
Even so, Zhou Fan was confident that no single thing in this world could harm him. Although it would be a different story if an entire army were to besiege him, it was very unlikely that it would ever happen.
"I'm still interested. How much is the house?" Zhou Fan asked.
"Well, there isn't a price on it since no one has dared to buy it. I can ask my manager, however."
"Please do."
After that, Fui Rong walked into the back of the shop for a while. When she came out, a fat middle aged man was following.
"Hello sir, I am the manager of this store. I heard you're interested in renting the abandoned courtyard?"
"Indeed. Do you have a price for me?"
"I think that 3 silver a month will do due to its current circumstances. However, we'll need 3 months down payment."
Pulling out 9 silver, Zhou Fan handed it to the manager. 9 silver was basically the rest of Zhou Fans money. It seemed that he would have to use the rest of his time at the inn to eat.
The manager went to the back and grabbed a key before handing it to Zhou Fan.
"Keep in mind, you will likely die in the courtyard. Are you sure you wish to rent it?"
Thanking the manager for his last attempt at persuading him, Zhou Fan grabbed the key and walked to the courtyard. Before he had left, he had asked the manager the location of the courtyard. It was on the edge of the city and was 5 miles away from the library that stood in the center of the city.
To other people, that was more than an hour of walking. To Zhou Fan however, it was a minute jog. If he ran, he could make it in 30 seconds. That's 1 mile in 6 seconds!
The only concerns that Zhou Fan had were that he could run into other people, or even buildings. Although his perception and reaction time are just as incredible as his speed, he wasn't absolutely confident in stopping before he hit someone.
If he were to run into someone at full speed, they wouldn't even know how they died. If he were to run into a building at his full speed, the building might instantly collapse. Even if it was made of steel. In fact, even if he ran into a 5 foot tall cube of pure steel, he was confident that the cube would receive more damage than him.
Zhou Fan soon made it to the courtyard. Looking from afar, he could see that the red paint on the walls was peeling away. The double door made from wood looked soggy and old. Zhou Fan ,however, had expected this much after hearing how long it had been abandoned.
Putting the key into the lock and turning, Zhou Fan opened the old doors. When he looked inside, he saw that the grass was taller than him. Luckily, he had brought his sword with him. Pulling the sword out , Zhou Fan bended his knees and added a miniscule amount of Qi to his blade. He then swiped out with his sword and a gray crescent appeared.
Quickly, the grass was cut to 2 inches tall. Zhou Fan had ,however, underestimated how much power that little amount of Qi held. After cutting the grass, the Qi continued until it hit some slightly higher dirt. The dirt exploded and the Qi dissipated.
Now that the grass had been cut, Zhou Fan could see the house part of the courtyard. The house section took up half of the courtyard while the yard took up the other half. Although neither the yard nor the house could be called large, Zhou Fan felt that it was enough for him.
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121 Power
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