Chapter 35: Feng Shui Takes Flight

Obtaining a 0-ring spiritual beast, the Golden Belly Ink Carp, was truly an unexpected joy for Duke.

Although spiritual beasts, especially 0-ring quasi-spiritual beasts like this one, were not outrageously expensive, it was still a small windfall that could supplement his living expenses.

He had three sources of income currently.

One was the fixed income from Little Sam's card repair shop. After deducting material costs, wages, and the card repairers' commissions, he could net around 50 silver dragons a month.

Another was the service fee from his procurement services. Now that the scale had expanded, he had even hired a burly fellow named Harper, in addition to Leven. He could earn about 120 silver dragons a month on average.

Lastly, there was the income from salvaging cards at the scrapyard. After repair and refurbishment, they were sold as second-hand cards. With Xiaoyi's assistance, he could earn about 80 silver dragons a month.

Adding and subtracting, his total monthly income was around two gold dragons.

Of course.

After the end of the year, Old Sam's business tax would expire, and he would have to pay taxes himself. He also needed to prepare one or two gold dragons a year to cover fees for the town's relevant institutions.

"Let's go home!"

Seeing that it was getting late, Duke picked up the water bucket and headed home.

Back on the familiar Second Vertical Street, he immediately encountered acquaintances who greeted him: "Hey, Boss Duke, off fishing again?"

"Yes."

"Boss Duke, you really have a good hobby. How was your catch?"

Duke smiled in response, "Believe it or not, I actually struck lucky this time. I caught an injured Golden Belly Ink Carp. Come take a look, Boss Yarahan."

He handed over the bucket.

Apart from a few small miscellaneous fish, there was the Golden Belly Ink Carp with half of its tail missing. It was no longer bleeding, and its breath was steady. Clearly, as a quasi-spiritual beast, its constitution allowed it to withstand the gunshot wound.

"Wow!" Boss Yarahan exclaimed in amazement. "It's really a Golden Belly Ink Carp. Your luck... tsk tsk!"

After inspecting the fish.

Duke continued, "By the way, Boss Yarahan, I'm planning to order a few sets of summer uniforms. When you have the time, can you come over to measure our shop assistants' sizes?"

Boss Yarahan was the owner of a nearby tailor shop. Upon hearing this, he immediately smiled, "Sure, I'm free at the moment. I'll come over with a measuring tape later."

"See you later."

"Sure, take your time."

Back at Little Sam's card repair shop, Aunt Abby had already prepared dinner. Except for the three card repairers who had gone home after work, the other staff members were having their meals in the courtyard.

Currently, apart from the card repairers and Duke himself, Little Sam's card repair shop had a total of nine employees.

Before Duke transmigrated, even his soybean oil processing plant, which he owned himself, had only about this many workers.

However, the annual income of Little Sam's card repair shop, at twenty gold dragons, was equivalent to 200,000 yuan, which was not as high as the income from the processing plant. During the good years, Duke earned three to four million yuan a year from the soybean oil processing plant. In average years, he could still make a guaranteed three to four hundred thousand yuan.

If it weren't for the fact that he was making money, he wouldn't bring himself to become a premium member of the Falcon Shooting Club, and go for target practice whenever he had time.

"Boss, I'll get you some rice." Aunt Abby stood up.

"Don't worry, I'll be busy for a while. Just save me some." Duke waved his hand.

After saying that, he carried the water bucket and went to the warehouse in the backyard.

"Chirp, chirp!"

As soon as he entered the bedroom, a chubby squirrel jumped over. It was none other than the two-month-old Long-Haired Mongoose cub, Xiao Dou.

Xiao Dou was very timid. If Duke didn't take it out, it would hide above the bedroom ceiling.

It remained calm and quiet, making almost no sound.

"Xiao Dou, are you hungry? There are some fish scraps in the bucket. Do you want to eat?" Duke scooped out a piece of fish meat from the bucket and handed it to Xiao Dou.

Xiao Dou sniffed it and then held the fish meat with both paws, nibbling at it.

Now it could eat meat.

Duke then moved the newly bought fish tank over—he had planned to raise some fish for a while. After filling the tank with water, he placed the Golden Belly Ink Carp from the bucket into the tank.

He hadn't eaten the fish or sold it.

He chose to keep the Golden Belly Ink Carp for now. It was a kind of romance for an old man like him—after all, his soul wasn't young, and he was at the age where he liked raising fish and plants.

The Golden Belly Ink Carp wasn't accustomed to the tank and was gasping for air in a corner.

There was no oxygen pump.

Duke was a bit worried about whether the Golden Belly Ink Carp could adapt, but considering that it hadn't had any issues in the bucket, it seemed that as a 0-ring quasi-spiritual beast, its adaptability was quite strong.

The fish tank should be able to support it.

"Xiao Dou, watch over it. It will be your companion from now on." Duke said as he moved a pot of small grass from the desk to the edge of the fish tank. "Matching spiritual fish with spiritual grass, this Feng Shui is about to take off!"

The small grass was the Earth Orchid he had brought home earlier.

After tending to these matters, Duke left a few more fish scraps for Xiao Dou before heading to the courtyard for dinner.

The shop assistant Sally had finished eating. Seeing Duke approaching, she chatted, "Today, a few mercenary card repairers came to the shop again. I could tell from their accents that they aren't from around here."

"Did you ask them where they're from and why they're here?"

"I did ask, but they didn't say. They only mentioned that they came here for exploration, looking for some rare resources. But I feel like they're not here for exploration. I heard one of them saying something about renting a house... Boss, you know, if they're here for exploration, they'd leave in a few days. There's no need for them to rent a house; they could just stay in a hotel."

Duke nodded.

Deliveryman Dutlan chimed in, "When I was making deliveries, I saw quite a few new faces loitering on the streets too."

Aunt Abby, looking concerned, added, "I hope they're not really going to start an expansion war. Oh my, who knows how many people will die this time!"

"It's got nothing to do with us." Apprentice Diett seemed indifferent.

"How could it have nothing to do with us?" Sally said, "If they really start an expansion war, Little Sam's card repair shop will definitely be busier. Many people will come to have their cards repaired."

After a pause, Sally continued, "Boss, I'm a bit worried."

"Worried about what?"

"I'm worried that Bast Card Repair Shop won't go out of business. Although not many people are getting their cards repaired there now, if they survive through the expansion war, they might revive."

"Indeed, that's a possibility." Deliveryman Steve agreed.

Duke furrowed his brows. If an expansion war was initiated and Bast Card Repair Shop managed to revive during that time, it would undoubtedly be a troublesome matter for him.

Back then, Bast Card Repair Shop' betrayal almost caused significant harm to Little Sam's card repair shop.

Currently, Bast Card Repair Shop was incredibly unpopular, but after all, Bast was still a card repairer and had accumulated a certain amount of assets over the years. They might be able to hold on.

He must have heard the news of the expansion war and wanted to persist.

"You guys don't need to worry about this. Whether or not an expansion war starts, Bast Card Repair Shop will eventually go out of business. Besides, even if Bast Card Repair Shop manages to survive during the expansion war, so what? No card repair shop on Second Vertical Street can compete with our Little Sam's Card Repair Shop!"

"Absolutely, you're right!" Dutlan nodded.

Others also agreed, believing in Duke's words.

After everyone finished their dinner, Aunt Abby washed the dishes, and Sally closed the shop's door before leaving.

In the spacious Little Sam's Card Repair Shop, only Duke remained. However, he didn't follow his usual routine of returning to his room to practice the "Universal Blood Refining Technique" or read books to expand his database.