Chapter 91: Long Vacation

"Also, I received a message from the Inspector. He said he had long heard of the Spring Festival and was impressed, so he moved up his itinerary. He will now arrive in Yanjiang County during the festival. You need to be prepared and make sure not to show any fear in front of him."

Previously, the Inspector had stated he would come to Yanjiang County after the Spring Festival.

"Understood."

As Lu Yang left the branch, he encountered stewards Wang He, Bai Zifang, and others walking towards him. Wang He and the others nodded slightly in greeting. Lu Yang, the newly promoted steward, was a favorite of Branch Master Chu and not someone to offend.

Wang He and the others had worked at the branch for decades and knew a few things. They speculated that Branch Master Chu directly appointed the three, including Lu Yang, because they had received high evaluations during the sect's entry trials, especially Lu Yang, who was likely the highest-rated among them.

Wang He whispered, "The Branch Master has always been someone who doesn't act without personal gain. It's highly likely he knows Lu Yang will rise and wants to establish a good relationship before Lu Yang becomes powerful, to facilitate his own future promotion."

They knew the Branch Master's greatest desire was to be promoted to a branch master in a more economically developed region, which was why he placed particular importance on the arrival of this Inspector.

"Perhaps his summoning us this time is also related to the Inspector."

"But then again, isn't the Branch Master still lacking a condition for promotion? Has he reached the Nascent Soul stage?"

Promotion within the sect wasn't solely based on faith in the Immortal; cultivation level was also crucial.

"Who knows? Maybe he reached it a long time ago and just didn't tell us. He never explains his actions to us, so we don't know the purpose behind what he does."

Branch Master Chu's style mirrored that of the entire Demonic Sect, filled with distrust. Though he seemed to trust Lu Yang, he actually didn't; he had never revealed any personal information to Lu Yang. Lu Yang knew very little about Branch Master Chu.

The Spring Festival arrived as scheduled, and the barbecue restaurant's customer traffic reached its peak. Many merchants from out of town had already noticed the business opportunity and proposed opening branches, with Lu Yang providing the recipe and them providing the funds. Without exception, Lu Yang unceremoniously chased them all away.

Some cultivators also considered dining and dashing, but upon seeing the three brocade banners hanging on the wall, they swallowed their unrealistic idea and dutifully paid. With the help of the automatic grilling formation, the two 'chang gui' (ghostly minions) had more time to skewer ingredients. This way, even with more customers than usual, the barbecue restaurant could manage.

"Let's go to that barbecue place again... Yes, this is the one! My aunt told me this barbecue place is especially delicious, and if I came to Yanjiang County, I absolutely had to try it!"

"Look, they're having a promotion now: spend money here and get a voucher for a 10% discount at the tofu shop on Qianmen Street."

"Spend one tael of silver or more to get one spin on the lucky wheel. Spins can accumulate with no upper limit. Prizes are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis."

"Come on, let's go try it."

The two agreed and joined the end of the line, unsure how long they would have to wait to eat.

At the entrance of the barbecue restaurant, Meng Jingzhou was enthusiastically managing the lucky wheel. The wheel displayed "Try Again," "Third Prize," "Second Prize," "First Prize," and "Grand Prize."

"Congratulations to this customer for winning Second Prize! You get 40% off your current order! Let's congratulate him!" Meng Jingzhou clapped enthusiastically, looking happier than the winner himself.

"First Prize! First Prize has appeared! This customer's entire bill is on us!"

"The Grand Prize! Someone actually won the Grand Prize!"

The customer, surprised to have won the Grand Prize, asked cheerfully, "What is the Grand Prize?"

Meng Jingzhou clasped the customer's hand and said enthusiastically, "Congratulations! You've won an opportunity to experience being a waiter! Others pay to experience the joy of labor as a waiter here, but you're lucky—you get to experience what it's like to be a waiter without paying a cent!"

"Considering the smoky and extremely poor environment in the back kitchen, our professional staff will bring the skewers to the back entrance, so you won't have to go into the backyard!" Meng Jingzhou said, with an expression that conveyed: "We've considered everything thoughtfully, no need to praise us."

Customer: "...Can I exchange it for First Prize?"

"No."

The customer declined the Grand Prize. To date, Meng Jingzhou hadn't managed to trick anyone into accepting the Grand Prize, but he thoroughly enjoyed the process of trying to fool people.

Inside the barbecue restaurant, Lu Yang moved briskly back and forth, carrying a tray. His steps were light, his movements agile, and his lower body exceptionally stable. The tray remained level, the skewers didn't wobble, and he never bumped into customers—it was as if not a single leaf could cling to him. After more than a month of working as a waiter, his footwork had significantly improved.

"How are you enjoying your meal, Aide Ma and Clerk Chi?" Lu Yang greeted the two customers with a smile. These two were county officials who frequently came here for skewers and drinks.

"Still as delicious as ever, Shopkeeper Lu! If you ask me, your skills are wasted here. You should open a shop in a larger county; you'd definitely earn more than you do now!"

"Go on, don't talk nonsense. Haven't you heard that Shopkeeper Lu doesn't even want to open branches? It's clear he runs this shop for pleasure, not for profit."

Lu Yang could only offer a wry smile. "I hope you both enjoy the Spring Festival."

The two were clearly drunk, their faces flushed. Aide Ma grumbled, "Talking about the Spring Festival just makes me angry! Originally, the Spring Festival holiday was seven days, a long break. Who knows who came up with the terrible idea of shortening the Spring Festival holiday to three days!"

"What can you do in three days? And they even call it a 'small long holiday'—does that even make sense? Adding 'small' before 'long holiday,' does it still count as a long holiday?"

"I wish whoever came up with that term a 'small long life'!"

Clerk Chi quickly covered Aide Ma's mouth. "You can't just say things like that! It's normal for you not to know since you arrived late, but that was Magistrate Li's idea!"

Aide Ma scoffed, "So it was him! Not much capability, but plenty of ideas!"

Clerk Chi, who was better informed, lowered his voice. "Keep it down! You can't speak ill of Magistrate Li now. I heard he found a way to catch three more vicious demonic cultivators in the county, which is a great achievement. He's about to be promoted, and Chief Constable Fang Qingyun will take his place!"

Aide Ma pursed his lips, dismissing Magistrate Li. After all, Magistrate Li wouldn't care about a small figure like him. "Just a few days ago, a colleague complained to me that Magistrate Li was giving out arbitrary orders, making constables work overtime in the early morning, demanding they plant small flags all over the place overnight without a single mistake. He even personally supervised, just for show! He's at the Golden Core stage and doesn't need sleep, but others do! Many constables fell asleep right there while working!"

Lu Yang poured them more wine. "I'll go attend to other matters now."

"Go on, go on. Shopkeeper Lu, don't worry about us."

On the evening of the first day of the Spring Festival, the four people and two ghosts were utterly exhausted. Before going to sleep, Man Gu suddenly remembered, "Ghosts don't need to sleep, do they? Should we assign them work at night too?"