The young man's tone was calm, as if he were simply stating something perfectly ordinary.
Even the well-traveled Li Yuan couldn't help but be deeply shocked by this. His lips twitched, and his heart skipped a beat. After taking several deep breaths, he finally stood up. As if having made a firm decision, he placed his right hand over his chest and gave a respectful bow.
“As you wish.”
It was too much! The man was offering far too much to possibly refuse!
Seeing this, a rare, slight curve appeared at the corner of the young man's mouth, clearly satisfied with Li Yuan's attitude.
“Mhm... Go brew some tea. Feel free to use any of the tea leaves on the shelf behind you.”
“Understood.”
Having received his employer's order, Li Yuan immediately entered his professional mode.
The storage shelves behind him, which occupied almost an entire wall, were filled with exquisite crystal jars. Each jar was labeled—without exception, they were all different varieties of tea. He recognized most of them, but there were also types he had never seen or heard of. While marveling at his employer's extravagance, he selected a commonly used black tea.
Beside him was a magic stove for boiling water. This thing wasn't cheap, and the cost of using it was ridiculously high.
By burning low-concentration magic crystals, it could produce a pale blue, high-temperature flame. Boiling a single pot of water required at least three to four magic crystals, and each crystal cost two gold coins. This price was unbearable not only for commoners but even for many nobles... The only advantage was that magic crystals left no impurities after burning and had no smell, making them an absolutely clean energy source.
When Li Yuan had been forced to buy one to open his shop, his heart had ached for several seconds. Although the device was useless to him, he had gritted his teeth and bought one just so his shop wouldn't look too strange.
But now, there was no need to worry about the cost. While turning the heat to its maximum, his palm slowly brushed over the kettle, secretly replacing the well water inside with water from the spiritual spring in his small world.
There was no other reason than the fact that spiritual spring water simply made the tea taste better. This was also the “unreplicable” secret he had mentioned earlier.
Although spiritual spring water was one of the rarest treasures in the world of Kyushu, its true functions were to enhance comprehension, calm the mind, accelerate cultivation, improve the physical constitution, and even reshape spiritual roots or activate special physiques—it wasn't meant for brewing tea.
But to Li Yuan, these benefits were practically useless. Furthermore, since a spiritual spring source had appeared in his small world, he had an inexhaustible supply. It had already gathered into a vast ocean within his small world... and it was still expanding. Sometimes he truly worried if his small world would one day turn into a water world due to the excessive spiritual spring water.
Consequently, aside from brewing tea, he occasionally used the spiritual spring water for a hot bath. That was the extent of its use in Li Yuan's hands.
The kettle boiled, and after steeping the leaves for a moment, a pot of hot tea was ready. Brewing tea with spiritual spring water was indeed convenient and resulted in an exceptional flavor.
Returning to Lanqiu's side, he respectfully offered a teacup. After taking a small sip, the young man's slightly furrowed brow smoothed out, and he nodded.
“Not bad. Your tea-making skills are as excellent as ever.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
With that, his employer began to savor the tea cup after cup, not stopping until the pot was empty. Then came a period of silence. Lanqiu gazed out the window lost in thought, his brow unconsciously knitting together again.
After a long time, a heavy sigh sounded. Lanqiu set down his teacup and turned back to look at Li Yuan, who was standing behind him.
“Are you capable of handling the duties of an attendant? As a teahouse owner, you should know what an attendant does, right?”
“An attendant?”
Li Yuan looked at Lanqiu suspiciously, wondering what this generous benefactor was planning.
However, he actually had experience as an attendant, and for a significant amount of time—because cultivation was truly expensive. When he had first stepped onto the path of cultivation and barely reached the Foundation Establishment stage through talent and hard work, he had been forced to work for several great families as a low-level lackey due to a lack of funds.
Since his strength wasn't high back then, he was mostly taken along to run errands and do chores. Thinking back now, weren't those days essentially spent as an attendant? He didn't hide it and replied, “I do.”
“From now on, you will be my personal attendant.”
His tone was flat, leaving no room for negotiation. This gave Li Yuan some pause.
“But—”
“Double the salary.”
“Certainly. You're the boss.”
Was this the magic of gold coins? It could make a Mahayana stage cultivator like him change his words in an instant... He had truly learned the power of the saying “money can make even the devil do your bidding” today.
With the pay settled and his agreement given, all that was left was to dutifully follow his benefactor. It wasn't for a long time anyway, and once he had the money, it would be just enough to renovate his teahouse.
After becoming Lanqiu's personal attendant, Li Yuan's planned culinary tour came to an abrupt end.
It wasn't particularly regrettable, as this employer was so incredibly generous that it was impossible to refuse. Moreover, to be honest, the job was much easier than he had expected.
Lanqiu's daily routine wasn't complicated. Aside from occasionally attending private gatherings among nobles, he spent most of his time reading in this luxury hotel suite or staring blankly out the window. Li Yuan's duties were nothing more than brewing and serving tea, or going to the restaurant downstairs to pick up meals as instructed. That was all.
As for the title of “personal attendant,” it seemed more like a passing remark from his employer. Lanqiu didn't require him to be by his side at all times, nor did he set any rules for him. He didn't even correct the basic form of address—Li Yuan continued to address him formally, and he maintained his aloof demeanor.
This suited Li Yuan perfectly, as it saved him from many unnecessary troubles.
As the days passed, Li Yuan gained a preliminary understanding of his benefactor. Lanqiu de Cecil was the only son of the Cecil family—one of the only two ducal houses in the kingdom. He was also a fourth-year student at the Royal Martial Arts Academy and already a Rank 3 mage at the age of nineteen. His talent and strength were among the top of his peers.
Of course, this information didn't come from Lanqiu himself; Li Yuan had pieced it together from the conversations of other guests he overheard while picking up meals in the restaurant.
He didn't particularly care about his employer's status. Whether he was a young master of a ducal house or the child of a common merchant, as long as he paid on time, he was a good employer.
The only thing that concerned him slightly was that Lanqiu seemed to have something on his mind.
Over these few days, the young master would often stand by the window for half an hour at a time, a faint irritation hidden beneath his cold expression. Sometimes he would stop halfway through a cup of tea, frowning as if remembering something, and only continue after a long while.
However, Li Yuan didn't pry. An employer's private matters were not for an attendant to investigate.
Rate on N.U.
