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Chapter 203 – Selection Day
🕑 Added 2025-02-23 17:21:41 +0000 UTCZou Tian had no desire to look at houses. He really had no desire to go with Wan Ai to look at houses. All such an activity would do was bring up very uncomfortable subjects.
If she wanted a place with a single bedroom, did that mean she wanted to live by herself or that they should escalate their relationship? Did she want marriage? Were they ready for marriage? Was he?
He felt like he was too young for such a decision, and that opinion was supported by people generally waiting until they were older in Sixth Flawless Flowing City. In contrast, marriage at his age was common in the village.
On the other hand, what did it say if she didn’t want to continue to live in the same house as him? Was their relationship not as secure as he assumed?
If she wanted a house with two bedrooms, it would perhaps signal that they should continue building on the relationship they had until maybe one day progressing it to another form. The problem was that an unrelated man and woman living together and not being married would invite rumors.
At the moment, men and women were thrown together wherever a spare house could be found in the village, so it wasn’t much remarked upon. With the plethora of choices available at the sect grounds, however, every choice would be scrutinized.
Older villagers especially would look at the two of them in a very unfavorable manner. It would represent a loss of face both for themselves and, because of their high rank, for the Rising Tide Sect.
There seemed to be no choice that could be made regarding housing that didn’t lead to difficult outcomes. He wished he could delay the decision. Actually, he wished he and Wan Ai could simply remain in the village until they might be ready to advance their relationship.
But Master had ordered that they each had to choose a house that day. So he and Wan Ai walked through what Master called a “neighborhood” and looked at the possibilities.
There were three basic types of dwelling available—small structures clearly designed for a single person, houses with one to five bedrooms, and what Master referred to as “apartments” in tall buildings.
He and Wan Ai pretty much had their pick. After all, there were so many places available that it was unlikely they’d just happen to choose one selected by another council member.
Feeling like an absolute coward, he let her take the lead as they looked over the options.
She led him inside one of the houses. It had a central hall, kitchen with attached dining area, an office, a cultivation room, and three bedrooms. Like all of the dwellings, there was no furniture.
“This one looks nice,” she said.
“It does,” he said in his most noncommittal tone.
She turned away from him. “I could move into one of the bedrooms, and I’m sure Bai Xinyi would like to take another.”
The choice surprised Zou Tian. Wan Ai wasn’t one to enjoy the company of others, not even her primary assistant in the Alchemy Pavilion. He really thought she’d either want to live completely alone or for it to just be the two of them.
“Bai Xinyi is a fine choice,” he said. “She’d definitely welcome the opportunity to continue living in the same house as you.”
His statement was absolutely the truth. Bai Xinyi had been personally assigned to be Wan Ai’s assistant by the sect leader himself. The girl dedicated herself to that task as fervently as any of Master’s disciples did to their own.
The statement also contained not a hint about what he thought about the subject. Until he understood more about Wan Ai’s desires in choosing the house, he strove for absolute neutrality in both tone and subject.
“I think,” Wan Ai said, “that, if three single people were to choose to continue living together in a house just as they had while in the village, it would occasion little comment, even if one of those people were a man and the other two women.”
Oh. Oh!
That solution wasn’t perfect. Some older villagers would still look at them askance. But overall, their decision to move in together was much more defensible. It wouldn’t result in a severe loss of face.
There would be no hurry to rush any decision on marriage. Their relationship would have the time and space necessary to grow and prosper.
Zou Tian took her hand. “This house is amazing. You did well in picking it out.”
Master had created a method of giving “streets” unique designations and having each building be denoted by a separate designation not shared by any other on that street. When asked about the method he used, he went on a mini rant about how it would have been better to use numbers for the houses, but due to some numbers being considered more auspicious than others, he’d had to come up with a different idea, using words no one had ever heard.
Either way, the practice of giving each building a distinctive identifier was sure to be useful in a number of ways, starting with the claiming process. Zou Tian took note of the street name and the other word that referred to his preferred house’s location, and they left for the Administrative Pavilion to submit their choice.
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All the sect’s most important people were tasked with choosing a dwelling that day, and once they did, they had to come to Sun Hua for assignment. If she could just make it to nightfall, the next day would be much easier as her status as the sect leader’s assistant put her above, or at least level with, all the other sect members.
Until then, though, she had to talk face to face with each of the most important members of the sect. Senior Sister. Senior Brother. Expert Blacksmith Xun Wu. The new guard captain.
All were intimidating in their own right, but the real thing that worried her was a conflict arising. What if she had to tell one of them that their choice of house was already taken by someone higher on the priority list? What if they grew angry at her, seeing the refusal as her fault?
She was tempted to assign Xu Gang the task, but as awful as the prospect of facing the ire of the sect’s most powerful members was, the thought of having their housing selection mishandled was even worse. And Sun Hua absolutely could not trust Xu Gang with such an important undertaking.
The other assistant was sent off to do important paperwork, paperwork that Sun Hua was sure would have to be redone.
So it was with much trepidation that Sun Hua waited. Her shared office was on the second floor of the four-story building, but she decided to set up on the first floor’s Central Hall in order for it to be more convenient for her sect brothers and sisters. It wasn’t like there was any furniture in the building yet anyway, so one space was as good as any other.
The first ones to arrive were Wan Ai and Zou Tian, and Sun Hua quickly rose from her cultivation mat as soon as they entered.
She cupped her hands. “Senior Sister. Senior Brother. How may assistant help you?”
Wan Ai was third on the priority list, behind only the twins, and Zou Tian was sixth. Considering their rank, the two would likely get their first choice of dwelling, but that outcome wasn’t assured. Sun Hua hoped that uncertainty would not cause an issue.
Zou Tian stepped forward confidently, holding Wan Ai’s hand. “We would like house gamma on Crooked Mountain Stream Lane. Bai Xinyi will be residing with us.”
Sun Hua froze. Two unmarried women were requesting to live with an unmarried man. Mother would be scandalized when she found out, and she would find out. She would also be very displeased that Sun Hua did nothing to prevent the situation from occurring.
For her part, she didn’t care about the issue one way or the other. If anything, she was happy that Wan Ai had found someone who cared about her. Their eventual children should be talented, which was good for the sect.
There was no way Sun Hua could speak against them, anyway. Both were senior to her in the sect.
In an attempt to cover her awkward pause, she looked over the scroll the sect leader had provided as she mentally reviewed her instructions from him. He’d just said to assign houses based on the priority list. No restrictions had been given to prevent people from living together, and considering that the two were already housing together in the village, the sect leader likely approved of the situation.
With no prohibition from him and dealing with two sect members who outranked her, she felt justified in telling her mother that there was nothing she could have done.
“Of course, Senior Sister and Senior Brother. With the two of you making a request for the same dwelling, the rank of the higher of you on the priority list prevails. Wan Ai is ranked third. Since the two ranked higher than her have not yet submitted a choice, I cannot assign that house to you yet.”
Zou Tian mulled her words for a moment before turning to Wan Ai. “Do we have to have that particular house or would any with the same general arrangement work?”
Wan Ai whispered something to him, but it was said so lightly that Sun Hua’s ears couldn’t pick out the words.
“Any similar house would be fine,” Zou Tian said.
Luckily, the scroll the sect leader provided also had drawings showing the location of each dwelling along with listing its relevant characteristics. He was nothing if not organized.
“Very well, Senior Sister and Senior Brother,” Sun Hua said. “Assistant will display the map, and you can choose two more houses. You will be guaranteed to get one of the three.”
When they left, she let out a relieved sigh. Despite her initial reservations, they had been no trouble at all.
The next people to walk in were Senior Sister Yang Xiu and Senior Brother Yang Ru, followed by Kang Lin.
If there was anyone in the sect that Sun Hua looked up to as a hero, it was Senior Sister. She was so strong and assertive. No one other than the sect leader told her what to do! And she was also powerful and brave. If not for Ye Zan, she would have died attempting to prevent the Golden Core cultivator who attacked the village from hurting anyone else.
Sun Hua cupped her hands. “Senior Sister. Senior Brother. How may Assistant help you?”
“I want house epsilon on Peaceful Sea Boulevard,” Yang Xiu said.
“Of course, Senior Sister. And you, Senior Brother?”
He grunted.
Yang Xiu rolled her eyes. “He means that he also wants house epsilon on Peaceful Sea Boulevard.”
Sun Hua froze again. The siblings were both listed as number one on the list, and as they were at the same cultivation realm, age was the determining factor in deciding who got priority. But they were twins, the same age!
For a situation such as that one, the sect leader had simply said to “figure it out.”
That advice was absolutely no help for her when dealing with two of the literal strongest people in the sect. It was a disaster. A complete disaster.
“Senior Sister, Senior Brother, assistant apologizes profusely. I cannot decide which of you gets the house.”
The two looked at each other and started laughing. Kang Lin joined in. Sun Hua didn’t understand what was so funny.
“Junior Sister,” Yang Xiu said, “the look of panic on your face! We’re not fighting over who gets the house. We’ve decided to live together.”
Oh. Even as Sun Hua let out a relieved breath, she felt her face burn. To have embarrassed herself so in front of her hero!
She recovered the best she could. Since they were at the top of the list, she immediately assigned the house to them, and crossing them off allowed her to assign Wan Ai and Zou Tian their first choice as well.
By the time the trio left, two dwellings were allotted, and five sect members’ living situation was resolved. And it had only almost caused Sun Hua’s heart to explode twice in getting there.
She could only hope that the process got easier from there.
Comments
aloony
bro, you are the CEO of productivity)
Will Iam
Thanks for the chapter
