Chapter 397: Opening a Shop
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
After military training, university education officially started.
Fang Yuan's life in Xijing University was very happening.
The faculties which Fang Yuan were in were not surprised at his arrival. They were at most curious about his age, but that was all.
Fang Yuan had long heard stories about encountering beautiful girls as well as people from wealthy families. However, he had seen none of these and was a little disappointed.
"To think about it... those of them here are the smartest in their cities and would compete with each other in their academics. Why would they think of other distractions... As for any events that they would organise, they would surely not look for me... I am too young..."
Fang Yuan felt a little depressed. With that, he paid attention during his lecture and took down notes... he would look for his class during their self-revision time.
Professor He was indeed influential enough to get a special classroom for the gifted class so that he could provide supplementary lessons for those who were weaker in their foundation.
Because Fang Yuan had been verified of his knowledge of the Senior High School syllabus, Fang Yuan was one of the rare ones who was not required to attend the supplementary lessons. As soon as he entered the classroom, he rolled his eyes.
'Hmph... this is how a class should look like... otherwise, it would be too boring...'
"Hey! Lin Xing!"
Fang Yuan went about his own business and sat across Lin Xing. Looking at a piece of electronic gadget he was fiddling about in his hands, Fang Yuan quipped. "Do you find the history and geography they teach in Senior High School hard? Do you need my help?"
As soon as Fang Yuan mentioned this, Lin Xing's face became black.
Although he was capable in many aspects, he was the perfect example of someone with high IQ but low EQ. Therefore, he had difficulties in handling humanities subjects, not to mention pure literature.
"Haha..."
Seeing Lin Xing in this state, Fang Yuan's mood was lifted.
Looking at Professor He lecturing in front, Fang Yuan felt a little pity for him.
Sigh... gifted children, to put in bluntly, were problem kids. It was hard on him to be able to put all these problem kids together and have everything under control.
"Professor He!"
"Fang Yuan! What's the matter?"
He Tianming had a few more strands of white hair. However, as he looked towards Fang Yuan, he forced a smile out.
Compared to the other gifted children who were troublemakers, Fang Yuan gave him the least problems.
"I feel that the content I am learning now is still too general. I hope that I can enter more faculties... The best would be for me to enter the laboratory to start experimentations straight away!"
Fang Yuan laid out his request.
"Pfftt!"
He Tianming was drinking a cup of tea but almost spat it out. "The content taught in the university is too general? Are you looking at directly becoming a professor?"
"If that is possible..."
Fang Yuan nodded his head.
"... I cannot promise you anything now. It is unlikely that you will be allowed to observe other professor's experiments in the laboratories. However, I can allow you to join more faculties. I can even get you a special identity card which will allow you to borrow books and resources from the library. You will be unrestricted by the borrowing limit and the duration of borrow as well!"
After much thought, He Tianming replied Fang Yuan.
"This is great, thank you, teacher!"
Fang Yuan knew for himself that he still did not have the rights to become a laboratory assistant and that his deal was already rather good. With that, he took a bow.
"This child..."
As soon as he left, He Tianming stared at his cup of tea before wiping his fogged-up glasses with a handkerchief.
Among all the gifted children, Fang Yuan was the smartest and the one which he had to worry about the least.
Additionally, there were many physical tests as soon as all of them entered the university, but there were no special findings.
This was a normal accelerated development of his brain, which could be commonly seen in many scientists alike.
However, this student gave He Tianming a feeling of mystery...
...
After settling all of these, Fang Yuan was not interested in revising the Senior High School syllabus with these children and left the room.
The clear breeze brought a chilly vibe. There was a thin layer of fog and as the sun rose, there was a feeling of serenity.
At the lakeside of the university campus, there were many people training their physical fitness and taking a stroll. Majority of them were young students, but there were a few white-haired professors or even residents who lived nearby.
A few old men and women were practising martial arts in their white robes. They slowly lunged their swords in the air and were one with the movement of the sword, forming a beautiful scene like a painting.
'Unfortunately... how long can days like this last?'
Fang Yuan clenched his fist.
He could finally feel that his cultivation was accelerating.
"After a few hundred years of scarcity, are the spiritual droplets finally becoming increasingly concentrated?"
As he thought to himself, Fang Yuan found an empty spot and started to execute his Guiding Skill.
With the memories of the Five Beasts Fist from Chen Bo and the Green Capsule Scripture Additional Recording, Fang Yuan felt enlightened. His became more and more familiar with his Guiding Skill, and there was the occasional spreading of crane's wings and the posture of a lion.
'I might be able to alter this Guiding Skill and name it Five Beasts Guiding Skill... By practising it, I will be able to lengthen my lifespan and it is better than any other physical exercise...'
Fang Yuan focused on his dantian. As he completed the executing of his Guiding Skill, he realised that an old professor was staring at him for a long time.
"Student... your Guiding Skill is interesting!"
Seeing that Fang Yuan had glanced over, the old professor chuckled. "Could this be a set of martial arts passed down by your family?"
"Haha... Professor Tian, this is only a normal Guiding Skill which I have learnt from the history books. Now, I am only casually executing it..."
"Oh? You know me?"
Professor Tian was around 60 years old and his head was filled with white hair. His seemed energetic and lively. Now that he examined Fang Yuan, he felt that Fang Yuan was vaguely familiar.
"Mmm, I have attended some of your lectures on Traditional Chinese Medicine and have learnt a lot from you!"
Fang Yuan smiled.
"Oh, I see"!
Professor Tian nodded his head. "Nowadays, there are only a handful of students who are still interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Are you from He Tianming's gifted class? Although his intentions are good, how could he ever think of letting a group of kids study in a university? Sigh... This is a little too extreme..."
The study of Traditional Chinese Medicine tended to follow the natural flow of things. Therefore, Professor Tian was against what He Tianming had done.
However, Professor Tian had a different impression of Fang Yuan and felt as though they understood each other after the exchanges. "Fang Yuan, does your family specialise in Traditional Chinese Medicine?"
"Hehe... I am from Mountain Ocean City Orphanage. I've learnt all these from reading books and practising it myself!"
Fang Yuan rubbed his nose.
"Oh, I see... I'm sorry... It's a pity. Considering your abilities, you can be a researcher. However, on the path of Traditional Chinese Medicine, you would face difficulties for the first ten years, and is extremely hard to hone your skills..."
The study of Traditional Chinese Medicine was one which relied heavily on experience. Experienced doctors would always be more skilled than the inexperienced ones and there was no two way about it.
Professor Tian took a few steps forward and gave a look of pity. "It's a pity... I currently do not have any research topics in my hands. Otherwise, I would surely ask you to be my assistant."
In this age, it was already the norm for lecturers to conduct researches and hire assistants, paying them the salary of assistants.
Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan thought to himself, smiled and remained silent.
Seeing how humble Fang Yuan was, Professor Tian's eyes glistened. They spoke for a while more before parting ways. He had decided for himself that he would invest all he could in this child.
"I should leave!"
Fang Yuan walked around the perimeter of the lake. Unintentionally, he bumped into a teary-eyed Chen Bo.
Ever since Fang Yuan had advised him, Chen Bo's martial arts took a huge leap forward. In a few days time, he would surely be able to achieve a breakthrough in the Strength Opening Realm.
Of course, as a young man, he could not swallow his pride. Coupled with the fact that his family's secret martial arts were possibly leaked, Chen Bo was certain that the person who assaulted him was in the compound of the university and therefore, he remained here to look out for the person.
Even if Fang Yuan were to walk under his nose, this teary-eyed Chen Bo would not be able to tell that it was him. Chen Bo was only letting his efforts go to waste.
...
"Junior, this pavilion shall be yours in the future..."
In Sambhogakaya Monastery, Sun Jian and Fang Yuan walked into a shop and there was a hint of envy in Sun Jian's voice. "Now that Chinese Country is being developed and that the economy is booming, even if we just collect rent from this shop, we will be able to earn a lot..."
"It's a waste to just collect rent. How about we open a shop to try things out!"
Fang Yuan caressed the glass cabinets and smiled. "To speak the truth... Never would I have thought that that Suet Jade would be so valuable..."
Other than the Aquilaria Maitreya, Fang Yuan had sold all of the treasures he obtained from the ceramic dolls.
The silver coins and gold ingots were normal and Fang Yuan used them to tip waiters in restaurants. As for the Suet Jade, it was a crystal clear jade piece which fetched a high price since it was considered an antique.
In good times, the value of antiques would go up while in troubled times, people would prefer the stability of the value of gold. At this point in time, the price of antique skyrocketed and even though Fang Yuan had sold it in exchange for this shop, he still felt that there was more value to it.
Ultimately, it was just a simple trade and he would do whatever he wished.
After all, he still had an extremely valuable Aquilaria Maitreya with him.
"Open a shop? An antique shop? There's a lot that we don't know about!"
Sun Jian felt that he no longer understood this junior of his.
"I've attended a few lectures on antiques and believe that my taste is good... Furthermore, we have the most valuable treasure of all, right?"
In any antique shops, there had to be at least one or two real antiques to attract people. To Fang Yuan, the Aquilaria Maitreya seemed like a suitable antique.
Furthermore, he felt that on this wooden-carved figurine, there was a mysterious spiritual aura. He could possibly use it as a bait to bait something bigger.
"Senior, I would like to hire one or two people to look after the shop. Do you have any idea how I can go about doing it?"
Thinking about it, Fang Yuan laughed.
"Oh, why not look of university students? In the city, there are still quite a number of students who would work part-time while studying to support themselves."
Sun Jian replied.
"Mmm, I will pay them 30 dollars per month, and they can rest on the weekends. On weekdays, they are only required to come for half a day... I will only need two people!"
Fang Yuan waved his hands like a rich boss.
"Hehe... Such a good deal! Even I feel tempted to help you. Don't worry, I will surely find you two honest helpers."
Sun Jian nodded his head. Even the salary of a highly-skilled manufacturing job could not compare to this. Therefore, he promptly accepted the job of looking for helpers for he could also benefit from it.