Unfortunately, it was still the New Year season, and with the Lantern Festival yet to arrive, the private school hadn't resumed classes. Otherwise, Lin Xiao could have gone to Yigao's school to observe how scholars of this era conducted their lessons.
When Lin Xiao arrived at the affairs hall, he found Liu Yunan tapping his head with a pen, frowning as he stared intently at the ledger in front of him.
Seeing this, Lin Xiao cleared his throat softly and asked, "Are you stuck on something?"
Hearing Lin Xiao's voice, Liu Yunan looked up, and seeing who it was, he brightened up. "Xiao'er, you're here! Come take a look at this."
He turned the ledger around and slid it over to Lin Xiao.
"Since our last delivery to Duobao Pavilion, our sect's spiritual fields have produced another batch of spirit plants. The Morus plants have grown the most, and the spirit silkworms have multiplied rapidly. Now, we have a much larger stock of spirit silk than before.
And that Ice Stone Grass you brought back last time—we thought that planting it near the cold pool would only yield a small harvest, but it's grown surprisingly fast. We've already harvested several batches, and now it's all stored in the warehouse. I've been wondering whether we should add it to our trade with Duobao Pavilion, but I wasn't sure if you needed it for something, so I was planning to ask you later."
Lin Xiao glanced at the densely filled ledger on the desk and replied to Liu Yunan, "We don't have much use for that right now. If it grows that fast, we might as well sell it. Just keep a portion in our warehouse for emergencies. The same goes for other materials—if we don't need them and have a surplus, go ahead and sell them regularly."
With that, Lin Xiao pushed the ledger back toward Liu Yunan. The dense writing made his head spin.
Liu Yunan nodded and took the ledger back, immediately making notes and updates.
Lin Xiao sat quietly by his side, waiting for him to finish his work. He casually observed the surroundings of the affairs hall.
Since the hall was built, Lin Xiao had only been here occasionally to find Yunan. He hadn't spent much time here. Now, he noticed that the place had truly taken on the look of a proper office.
Behind Liu Yunan was a large bookshelf that covered an entire wall—clearly the handiwork of Grandpa Lin. The shelves were neatly labeled with various categories: personnel records, salary distribution logs, material usage records, material income records, external trade records, and so on.
Each category had a few filled ledgers, with the rest being empty ones prepared for future use.
Seeing this, Lin Xiao couldn't help but feel a wave of gratitude in his heart. Having Yunan around had saved him from so many responsibilities.
After a while, Liu Yunan finished what he was working on, and Lin Xiao finally spoke up, "Yunan, I'm thinking of expanding our sect's infrastructure soon."
Without hesitation, Liu Yunan nodded, "Alright, Xiao'er, tell me what you have in mind. I'll draft up a plan tonight."
Seeing how he accepted the task so readily, without even questioning or considering the workload, Lin Xiao smiled and said, "There's no rush. I was just thinking that since we'll probably start recruiting new disciples this year, we'll need to expand some of our facilities. Otherwise, it might feel cramped when more people join.
There's no need to push yourself. You can make a plan when you have some free time. After all, we decide when to recruit, so there's no deadline."
Knowing that Lin Xiao was concerned about him overworking, Liu Yunan smiled and reassured him, "Don't worry, Xiao'er. I find these tasks quite enjoyable. When I was younger, I couldn't do much to help around the house, so I never really did anything important. But now, doing this work for the sect, seeing it grow and develop every day, it makes me genuinely happy."
Seeing Liu Yunan's enthusiasm, Lin Xiao understood. It was the fulfillment that came from transitioning from feeling useless to being needed and productive. It was the satisfaction and sense of achievement from contributing meaningfully.
Lin Xiao chuckled, "I know you're happy, but this is just the beginning. As our sect grows, there will only be more and more work. You should consider finding some assistants to lighten your load, or you might end up needing to learn some kind of cloning technique."
After chatting a bit more, Lin Xiao decided not to disturb him further and left the affairs hall.
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Qin Jianghe's mother hurrying up the mountain path. Seeing her, Lin Xiao asked, "Aunt Qin, what's the rush?"
Qin's mother stopped when she saw Lin Xiao and sighed, "Xiao'er, have you seen Jianghe?"
Lin Xiao replied, "I haven't, but he should be in the cultivation room."
Given that Qin Jianghe often stayed away for long periods, he spent most of his time in the cultivation room whenever he returned to the sect, making the most of the dense spiritual energy there.
Upon hearing this, Qin's mother thanked Lin Xiao and quickly headed toward the cultivation room.
Watching her leave, Lin Xiao decided not to follow. Instead, he wandered over to Senior Liao's residence to chat with him.
As for Qin's mother, when she reached the cultivation room, she indeed found her son meditating inside.
Not wanting to disturb him, she sat quietly by his side, deciding to wait until he finished his cultivation.
It wasn't until evening that Qin Jianghe emerged from his meditative state and opened his eyes, only to find his mother sitting beside him.
Qin's mother had been keeping an eye on his condition and immediately stopped cultivating when she noticed he was done. She turned to him and said, "Son, I heard something today. It seems Niu Xiaoxue from the Niu family has returned from the immortal sect."
Hearing this, Qin Jianghe asked, "So she's back. What does that have to do with us? We've already called off the engagement, and our family has no further ties to theirs. Why should we care about them?"
Liu Yunan had already informed him about the situation with the Sunyang Sect, along with the news that the sect had split after the change in leadership. So, hearing that Niu Xiaoxue had returned, he wasn't surprised.
Qin's mother sighed and continued, "I know, but I've heard that after Niu Xiaoxue came back, she told her family about a new sect in our area. The Niu family mentioned our sect to her, and now, she wants to join our sect."