Immortality Starts With Generosity

Chen Haoran eased himself into the warm bath and felt all the aches and pains of the day wash away with the rose-scented water. Chen Haoran would give it to his predecessor, he certainly knew how to take care of himself. The bathroom was quite literally a bath room in that it was dedicated to a circular pool that by itself was bigger than any bathroom he used back on Earth. Covered in cyan glazed tiles and heated by some kind of heat-emitting crystal buried beneath it all he needed now was a proper spa and he’d be set. The servants had laid out an assortment of soaps, oils, and soft towels before they left. Originally there had been maids who would wait on him while he bathed and washed his body for him. He had put a stop to that right quick to save himself from any embarrassing moments and to spare the maids of the clear discomfort they felt.

All the servants here deserved a raise.

They hadn’t stayed in the mountains after getting Lan Fen’s stash. Thankfully the journey out was much easier than the one in, Lan Fen finally using her radar-like sensing for the greater good rather than throwing him into pig hell. Unfortunately, they had to leave the Tree Sitting Pythons corpse behind. He would have liked to give Lan Fen the corpse as well, but its sheer size made hiding it impossible, and the fewer people who knew what they were doing in the wilderness, the better.

Better for Lan Fen that is.

Even as he luxuriated in a bath a gnawing worry snaked its way from his head to his chest. Lan Fen was his ally. Recent actions had only cemented that relationship, but his biggest reliance would always be his Gifting power and Lan Fen was putting that in jeopardy. Not intentionally of course but outside of giving her an initial boost and a safe space Lan Fen didn’t need that much from him once she got back on her feet. Normally it would be something he’d celebrate but seeing how his power required him to be a sugar daddy he was only left in a bind.

His Gifting power would work best with someone who would accept everything Chen Haoran gave them or someone who desperately needed everything they could get and Lan Fen was neither. She was proud and wouldn’t accept gifts so easily, her noble upbringing meant she would look down her nose at anything ordinary, and her competence was quickly making his support irrelevant.

Chen Haoran sighed. If he was already having issues now then once Lan Fen recovered her cultivation he really would have nothing to offer. He considered revealing his Gifting power to her, it wasn’t an idle thought. Lan Fen had seen enough at this point that she knew he had something and probably had some ideas as to what. If he told her then he wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not she’d accept his gifts. Would they still be gifts at that point though?

As far as Chen Haoran could tell the Gifting power triggered when he took something he owned and gave it to Lan Fen so that she owned it. If she was only taking the gifts so that he could get a better reward through the power would she really think she owned what he gave her? Would the power? Did what she think even matter? Benefactor’s Everlasting Hundred Blessings Charitable Prosperity was a pain in the ass to parse out the meaning of at first but he felt he had a good idea of it after actually using the power. The word ‘Charitable’ was the issue, he sure as hell knew he wasn’t being charitable with his gifts, but would Lan Fen knowing that be a problem? If instead of being gifts from him to her they became transactions between them would that cause a problem with the power?

Lan Fen was his only channel to acquire rewards and ever since he connected to her he hadn’t been able to remove her or add another. If anything happened to affect that he was screwed, he couldn’t risk the golden goose just because the eggs were getting harder to get. Lan Fen refusing the gifts he gave her was still better than potentially losing the Gifting power by trying to cheese its functions.

Cheesing its rewards on the other hand.

Chen Haoran stood up, fully pruned from the water, and reached for a towel.

He had another job for Manager Lin.

———————

Manager Lin had seen better days. His clothes were crumpled and his cap askew. Dark bags hung heavy under his eyes and exhaustion weighed on his shoulders. Even the goatee he was proud of was frayed. All the running around Chen Haoran had him doing to purchase cultivation supplements and his obsessive suspicion of Lan Fen keeping him up at night had left Manager Lin worse for wear.

Chen Haoran by contrast was freshly cleansed and quite literally smelling like roses. He practically had a skip in his step as he walked to the treasury.

“How goes the purchasing?” he said. Cultivation supplements were one of the few things he could offer Lan Fen after all. That they were still delayed was unacceptable.

“My deepest apologies Young Master,” Manager Lin tiredly said. “I really cannot acquire any more than I have though. The Lan family has bought up the rest of the available supply. Lan Yao has also inquired why we have purchased so much.”

“Do you know why they bought so much?” The Lan family was full of cultivators so it wasn’t surprising on the face of it that they buy a large number of cultivation supplements. What was interesting was that they bought so much at one time. Especially when they already had their own channels to acquire resources. Was it in response to Manager Lin’s actions?

“No, Young Master. I have not heard anything out of the ordinary regarding the Lan family.”

Something secret then. Lan Fen would definitely know about it.

“Regardless,” Chen Haoran said as they approached the treasury door and he pulled out the key. “I have a different job for you now.”

Manager Lin sucked in a harsh breath when Chen Haoran opened the door and revealed a golden room. Sturdy and finely lacquered chests were haphazardly stacked and strewn about treasury with gold taels spilling out of them. Some of the antique furniture inside had even been crushed under the weight of the chests when Chen Haoran had carelessly dumped them earlier.

“There are 150 thousand gold taels here. I want them all converted into silver by tomorrow,” Chen Haoran said.

“Tomorrow!”

For all Chen Haoran’s wealth, he was poor in things that would interest Lan Fen. He had no high-level monster cores, no artifacts, barely any medicines and martial techniques. What he did have was money, and what she had were expenses. While it might change in the future right now she couldn’t refuse a bunch of money dropping into her lap.

“Oh and give everyone in the manor a raise while you’re at it.”

——————

Lan Fen raised a sharp eyebrow as a team of invigorated servants brought chests full of silver taels into the guestroom that had been turned into her storage. Manager Lin was ostensibly supervising but was dead on his feet as he swayed and stared at nothing with glazed eyes. Chen Haoran could see the question in Lan Fen’s eyes when she looked at him.

“It’s for your revenge,” he said. That it would also pad his bank account, he kept to himself.

“How much silver is this?”

“1.5 million taels.” He thanked whoever was responsible for monetary policy that the exchange rate around here was ten silver taels to one gold.

“That’s quite a lot,” Lan Fen hummed to herself.

“Is it too big?” He hadn’t cashed in all the gold to avoid drawing attention but he might as well have if this was still too much.

“It’s not a number beyond the other families. It may be suspicious to anyone who has an idea of your finances, however.”

And anyone who paid enough attention to his finances like that were already watching him anyway.

Received Hundred-Fold: 150 million Gold Taels

Chen Haoran felt power course through him. The legendary fuck you money ascended him to a higher realm where he looked down on the poor ants around him.

Lan Fen’s elbow bumped him out of his fantasy as she took her leave. Chen Haoran still felt euphoric but they had a place to be after all and he followed after her.

He had an auction to clear out after all.