Follow the Leader

It was the day after Fang Shi had offered the trio a job, and now he was sitting behind the counter like normal. They had requested time to think about the offer, so he offered them a room on his floor to rest. He paid for their dinner and a bath, before they slept in an extra room on Fang Shi's floor using futons he had the clothing store custom make. After preparing everything, he finally learned their names, the older boy was called Wen Quan while the older and younger girls were Yu Xian and Xue Yao respectively.

Fang Shi had just finished settling the bill with a customer when he noticed the three emerge from the stairs.

They walked over to him, and Wen Quan slightly bowed, "Good morning, Owner Fang. We thank you for your hospitality."

"I didn't do much, so your humility is water on me", Fang Shi replied, "I'm only wondering if you thought about my offer."

"We are giving this matter our undivided attention, I assure you", Wen Quan responded.

"Well, while I have no issues with extending my hand, just know I can only hold it out for so long", Fang Shi firmly stated, "Use the rest of the day to walk around to make up your mind, at that time take it or get out. If you try to stall for more time, I'll consider it as you rejecting my offer."

Xue Yao, the youngest, retorted, "You were the one that caused this, don't you think you're asking in the wrong manner?"

"I think you're mistaken", Fang Shi remarked, "My offer of paid work and protection was because I freed you without your consent. But I am a merchant, and not a charity, so once the debt is paid, I feel no obligation to continue to support you for nothing."

Yu Xian grabbed the younger girl and the older boy, "We will take this time to look around as you suggest, and even if the others can't make up their mind, I'll give you my own answer."

With that she pulled them both away, and left out the back door. Fang Shi continued to serve customers for the rest of the day, occasionally watching cultivators who imbibed too much get escorted to a carriage. As he finished his shift, he moved out of the way to let the puppet take over but saw the three waiting for him at the stairs.

"This isn't the proper place for business, let's head upstairs", Fang Shi suggested to them.

They nodded, and they made a quick stop at the restaurant before heading to the top floor.

All four of them sat at the the table in Fang Shi's room as puppets arrived with their dinner order. The dishes were placed, and then he encouraged them to eat.

"Your presence here means you have decided?", Fang Shi questioned them.

Wen Quan was able to speak, but Xue Yao went first, "I would like to accept your offer, Owner Fang."

"I appreciate your decisiveness, Miss Xue", Fang Shi laughed, "I think I should give a greater explanation of what to expect before you agree though."

Fang Shi pulled a scroll from a nearby drawer, and placed it on the table.

"This is a contract that will list all rules, expectations, rewards, and penalties for working here at Heaven and Earth Pavilion", Fang Shi explained, "Please read over everything first before you agree to work here."

The three sat there as Fang Shi could see a wave of melancholy come over them.

"Ah, I see", he embarrassedly realized, "As you were previously slaves, no one taught you to read."

"Yes, I didn't realize I would need to know that to work here", Wen Xuan bitterly remarked, "Now that I think about it, it makes sense though."

"No matter", Fang Shi dismissed their concerns, "I'll make an adjustment to the deal."

He burned the scrolls in his hands using a technique he had been practicing since receiving fire roots, took a fresh scroll out, and began writing. Once he finished, he began reading the contents to the three of them.

After he was done, Yu Xian couldn't help but ask, "Owner Fang are you sure this is correct? Even top servants of powerful families don't have terms this good."

"If you don't believe me then I'll invite you to leave now", Fang Shi stated with a serious face, "I believe there will be a problem if the employees can't believe the boss."

The older girl winced at his response, "No, no, you're right, I'm sorry."

Fang Shi placed six scrolls on the table in front of the three, "Sign both scrolls, and take one for yourself. As promised, I will not place any marks or curses on you, but you do need to carry a copy of the contract on you to gain the protection of this shop. Just remember that once you travel further than 5 kms away, I will not be able to protect you, only avenge you."

The three took a moment to make a small cut on their finger, and drop a small bead of blood on the contract.

"Here is your copy, and a storage ring", Fang Shi handed over three rings and three contracts while storing the other three contracts in his own ring.

An achievement chime played in his mind, but Fang Shi ignored it for now.

"Just to let you know, I already have plans to build a house for myself, and now that you work here I will also build a dormitory for you", Fang Shi informed them, "With my master's help, it shouldn't take long."

"Thank you", Wen Xuan said with a bow.

The other two bowed as well, but Fang Shi stopped all three.

"We are eating right now", he said, "Tomorrow is the first day so be ready to start at dawn. We have many things to get done so be ready. I still have something's to deal with after this, but you are free to do what you wish. Just remember the penalty for being late."

Fang Shi finished his meal before bathing, and then sat in his study to go over the daily report. He had been observing the restaurant since the addition of the new shops, and as expected, the numbers showed a positive improvement. Then he switched to the achievements panel:

[New! I'm not even supposed to be here today!]

He quickly opened it:

[ I'm not even supposed to be here today

Hire a human employee (completed)

Reward: a Dormitory]

'Whew, I had a hunch', he thought to himself as he accepted the rewards, 'I'm glad it was a dormitory though.'

He brought up the map of his land, and set up to buildings to design. The first would be his house, and unfortunately, since it wasn't a reward, he would have to pay. The second was the dormitory.

For his house, he didn't make anything too big as he decided to go for function over form. It consisted of a living room, kitchen, bedroom, study, pod room, bath, dining room, and a storage room. Then he turned his attention to the employee dorm. For the individual rooms, he set aside a living space and bedroom while making the kitchen, living room, and pod room communal. He made male and female bathing areas and rooms for five employees. Finally, he planted various trees and plants in a way to create privacy in between his house, the dorm, and the shops before heading to sleep.

Fang Shi woke up and followed the normal routine for the most part. Today would be the last day on top of the main store, so after getting ready he went outside to look around. The sight of the pond with bamboo gave him a serene feeling like normal but he turned northward. He looked at the farms of his neighbors, and smiled as he saw green houses showing up on more farms. The trio exited the room they were staying in, and had breakfast before they all went to the first floor.

"Now, the first step will be to decide what positions you wish to take", Fang Shi explained, "Once that's completed, we can move on to uniforms, cultivation, and training. Do you already have somewhere in mind to work or would you like to look around first?"

Xue Yao blurted out, "I want to work in the Tea shop."

"Sure, what about you two?", Fang Shi replied.

"I would like to work in the alchemy shop", Yu Xian admitted.

"I would like to work in artifact refinement", Wen Xuan said.

"Excellent, please follow me", Fang Shi ordered them as he walked out the back door. The three were curious as Fang Shi walked to a new walkway that previously wasn't there.

"This path is only for people associated with the pavilion, others cannot see it", Fang Shi instructed them, "To the left is my home, but the dorm is to the right. Let's go now."

Fang Shi led them to the right, and the three were shocked as they saw their dorm for the first time. When they entered, a male and two female puppets were standing near the door.

"There are only five rooms for now, pick one and the puppets will follow you to take measurements", Fang Shi told them.

They bowed, and walked towards the rooms with the puppets following. An hour later, the three of them had not only been fitted for uniforms, but also toured the dorm. Considering the conditions of their last home, they felt like they have ascended.

"It will take time and training before I can comfortably allow you to fill the positions you requested", Fang Shi informed them, "You will using the artifacts in this room to prepare you for your job. Take these jade slips, enter the artifact, and follow the instructions. This will be what you will doing during your normal work hours until you're ready."

Fang Shi took the time to explain the artifacts to the three, and they all entered afterwards so he walked back to the store. For some reason he didn't want to sit at the main store, so instead he went to the pod cafe. Using a door only met to be used by employees, Fang Shi appeared behind the counter of the pod cafe.

"Welcome Master Fang", the puppets working bowed as he sat down in a chair behind the counter.

"Please, just continue with work", he quickly dismissed them.

In front of him was a light screen that displayed the recordings of the customers that granted permission for others to view. He placed a mask on, and que'd up the first recording. Something had been bothering for awhile, and it was how slow it was taking for the 99% of customers to finish all the hunts in the great forest. At first, he had wondered if his virtual hunting program was radically different from when cultivators would hunt spiritual beast in the real world. Now that he was going through the hunts, he could pinpoint what was happening.

During the first week of receiving the system, it has already expressed the importance of cultivating, body, energy, and mind equally. While his efforts had made a few customers realize the truth as well, the majority of them still were stuck in the old ways. He watched recordings, one after another, and grew frustrated as he watched.

'System?', he mentally contacted it.

'Reply: Yes, host', it answered.

'Is there a way to provide an entertaining experience that will open our guests eyes to the potential they illogically dismiss', Fang Shi inquired.

'Answer: Does the host plan on using another format of entertainment from his previous life to accomplish this?', the system asked.

'That was the idea, but I'm afraid you would reject it claiming that creating films was not in my purview', Fang Shi accused the system.

'Reply: The host is correct in his assessment that the creation of films is not something a merchant would pursue', the system agreed, 'The sale of 'films' would fall under your jurisdiction, and the investment into this project would be tolerated.'

The chime indicating that the system issued a task filled his ears, so he opened the task panel.

[ New! Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks!

Old habits die hard, and your efforts to spread the truth of cultivation is hindered by this mind set. Create a new method that will influence at least 500 customers to be more open minded about the benefits of cultivating equally.

Reward: a Theater mode will be permanently added to the cultivation artifact.]