14 Purple Haze Grass
After classes, he asked Du Ze to rent a warehouse in the outer city and gave him 2 thousand spirit coins.
Nie Li himself went to the market and sold one of the interspatial rings for fifty thousand and bought some necessary materials for crafting. Then he went to the Ice Phoenix restaurant to meet with his clansmen.
The waiter led him into a private cabin Nie Wen booked for their meeting. A dozen people were waiting for him inside. They were loudly talking, and some of them were arguing with each other.
"Good day to everyone. Thank you for coming here," he said loudly to attract their attention."
"Hey, Nie Li," called out to him Nie Ruogang, clan Grand elder Nie Wei's grandson, "Nie Wen here says you are offering 500 spirit coins for a simple job." He said.
"We will talk about it in a moment" he replied and then turned to Nie Wen and asked, "Brother Wen how's your day? Is this all of them?"
"Yes, I have talked to all our clansmen in the Apprentice classes. They are the ones who came," he answered.
"Okay. Let's begin then. Sit down, everyone." Nie Li said sitting down at the head of the table.
Everyone sat down. Some of them were reluctant to take orders from him, but seeing that Nie Wen obeying his orders without a word stayed their tongue.
"I explained the terms of employment to brother Nie Wen yesterday, I will repeat it for you." Nie Li began, "You will get 500 spirit coins a month for a test period of one month. Then if you pass the test period, you will get 1000 spirit coins a month. And if you do a good job, you'll additionally be rewarded with excellent cultivation resources"
"How do we know that you have money to pay us?" asked Nie Ruogang. It looks like Nie Ruogang decided to be the belligerent one. It was not surprising considering he with his cousins bullied Nie Li a lot in the clan.
"That's a good question. Your first salaries will be in the hands of brother Nie Wen" Nie Li said and a number of spirit cards appeared on the table. Nie Li moved them towards surprised Nie Wen.
His clansmen looked at his interspatial ring and the money on the table. Even if Nie Wen never had a reputation for lying, they still had had some doubts. How someone their age could have enough money to pay them so much. Now seeing that Nie Li without hesitation taking out more than 5 thousand spirit coins like it was a pocket change to him they have become even more curious.
"Where did you get so much money?" Nie Ruogang spoke again.
"Where I got them, they are no longer there," he would have been more polite it was someone else questioning. But it was Nie Ruogang, cousin of Nie Xiaofeng and Nie Xiaori. Even though Nie Li decided to forgive his past grudges, it doesn't mean he is going to forget. "The only thing I'm going to say now is that I got them in a legal way. You'll learn more if you decide to work for me. If not, you can leave, no one is forcing you to stay."
Some of his clansmen frowned. Nie Wen was among them. It looks like he didn't expect him to be this brusque. But Nie Li decided to be direct with them from the beginning. They are going to become his pillar of support in the clan in the future, so their loyalty will be important. And he must also make it clear who's the boss here. He was younger than most here. In the future when his cultivation will soar, the age factor won't matter much. But right now he must establish a clear chain of command to avoid problems.
"Now see here, I will not be spoken like that," shouted Nie Ruogang, "Let me teach you a lesson about respecting your elders. You upstarts easily forget your place." He stood up and began advancing towards Nie Li. Grand elders branch was always too arrogant for their own good.
Nie Li stood up as well and said, "Well, go ahead". He wasn't worried. 2 star Bronze rank fighter wasn't a threat to him. Beating up his childhood tormentor may even be therapeutic. But his wishes weren't going to come true.
"Stop." Nie Wen quickly put himself between them. "We're here to talk about the job, not fight. If you want to fight, you can do it later."
Damn, thought Nie Li. He wanted to be direct to show them who's the boss. But now if he insists on fighting he will look petty.
"I'm not the one who wanted to teach someone a lesson" Nie Li shrugged and sat down.
"Hmph," Nie Ruogang wasn't also willing to antagonize Nie Wen. "Okay. We're leaving" he said to his two friends.
They stood up to follow him and then one of them hesitantly said, "Brother Ruogang, you know that I need the money. I want to hear the offer".
The second one who was leaving reluctantly also joined him, "Yes brother Ruogang. I'm in need of money as well."
It looks like Nie Ruogang's followers weren't as loyal as he thought. Nie Ruogang looked humiliated.
"We will see if any of you get paid!" said Nie Ruogang angrily and strode out of the cabin. Everyone was silent for a moment.
"So is everyone else staying?" Nie Li broke the silence. When everyone nodded yes, he continued "Jobs will be easy, like buy some things, sell some things or transport other things. I won't ask you to do dangerous stuff. And jobs would most likely be sporadical, so you won't be busy everyday"
"We need something more specific than that," said Nie Wen taking the role of leader. It suited Nie Li as well. He didn't have time to deal with them one by one.
"I understand your motive. Your first job will be buying a large amount of Purple Haze Grass." Said Nie Li.
"Purple Haze Grass?" repeated his clansmen puzzled, "Why?"
"I have a need for them" Nie Li answered.
"How much of the grass do you need?" Nie Wen asked.
"As much, as I can buy" succinctly answered Nie Li. "So do you agree?" he asked the rest of his clansmen. Nie Li knew that all of them were wondering why would Nie Li need that useless grass. Some of them may decide to keep some Purple Haze grass for themselves just in case, but he had plans for that. And if they can get even through that, Nie Li would just applaud them. Smart followers are more valuable than just loyal ones.
Even though they had some questions about his motives, they still agreed to work for him. Nie Li was offering too much money for them to refuse.
"Okay," said Nie Li when he got their consent "Here, take this interspatial ring. There's 25 thousand inside for initial expenses. Later you'll get more" he held it towards Nie Wen.
Stunned, Nie Wen took the ring and after some pause checked the money inside. Then nodded confirming that the amount was right.
"Keep the grass you buy inside the ring for now. Tomorrow I'll give you the address of the warehouse where you'll deliver them," stated Nie Li and then as if remembering something continued, "By the way, you can use up to 5 percent of the money as an incentive for them. The more they bring the more they get. But it's up to you, how to organize that. I will not nose into your methods."
Even though he told the last part to Nie Wen everyone heard that so they were looking at Nie Wen with greed, Even though 5 percent of the 25 thousand was only 1250 spirit coins it was still a big money for them. Nie Li felt like a rich young master. Only two weeks ago he would have never imagined himself giving away that much money. But incentives were very useful. This way they work harder, and he will get resources faster.
"Okay guys, I have some other matters to attend to, so I will leave you to your discussion," Ni Li said and stood up. They said their farewells, and he left the cabin. They were more respectful this time. Truly, money does some miraculous things sometimes.
