Chapter 74

Yuming smiled broadly, no longer worried, clapping his hands in delight, feeling a perfect match, "Sir, rest assured. If anyone asks how your teaching is, I will certainly praise your profound knowledge and the great benefit I've gained from your lessons. What do you think?"

Mr. Ming, wrapped in a blanket, hummed in agreement, "We need to at least put on a show. You should at least write a few pages, right? Just copy something down on a few sheets of paper."

"Alright, I'll do as you say, Sir." Yuming readily agreed.

However, he wasn't one to be taken lightly. This Mr. Ming could earn money while sleeping, and he couldn't just sit idly by. He wasn't the type to give up easily. His eyes twinkled as he tried again, "Sir, I heard you also teach another family's child?"

Mr. Ming hummed, as if about to fall asleep, and mumbled, "It's different from you. That family has a young boy who is learning step by step."

Yuming wasn't asking about that, "Sir, that family must be wealthy, right?"

He thought that someone who could be friends with Mr. Zhong and afford to hire this man must also be wealthy.

Mr. Ming hummed again, "They are a wealthy family..." Suddenly, he felt something was off, opened his eyes wide, and immediately became alert, turning to stare at Yuming, "Why are you asking this?"

His gaze seemed to suspect that Yuming was planning a robbery.

Yuming quickly waved his hands, "Sir, don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand. I'll show you something good first." He then ran off.

What the hell? Mr. Ming's drowsiness was gone, and he slowly sat up, yawning repeatedly. He had indeed indulged last night.

A moment later, Yuming returned, carrying a complete set of tea ware, which he placed in front of the low bed. He sat opposite and pointed to a metal can, "This is something good."

Mr. Ming crossed one leg over the other, resting his chin on his knee, and waited with interest.

Yuming unscrewed the can's lid, pulled out a small, head-heavy, body-light insect with a thin thread, which was a fire cricket.

The fire cricket, used to being handled, moved its six legs with sharp spines once and then hung motionless like a hanged man.

"..." Mr. Ming blinked several times, thinking he might have been too indulged last night and was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes, but it was indeed an insect, at most a strange beetle.

He had thought the metal can was a tea can, expecting some high-quality tea to satisfy his taste, but it turned out to be an insect.

He couldn't help but click his tongue, "Walking dogs, fighting roosters, raising insects—these hobbies of the rich don't suit me. You play with it yourself." He was about to lie down and continue sleeping.

Yuming quickly called out, "Sir, you misunderstood. Wait, I'll show you something amazing."

"Okay." Mr. Ming then waited patiently.

Yuming immediately added some water to a small teapot and then submerged the insect in the water.

Mr. Ming's eyes widened. Putting an insect in a teapot seemed a bit disgusting.

However, something strange soon happened. The teapot seemed to emit a red glow, and steam began to rise.

What was going on? Mr. Ming immediately sat up, leaning over to look into the teapot. He saw the insect in the water glowing red, and the water in the teapot quickly began to boil, making a bubbling sound.

Yuming lifted and lowered the insect with the thread, "Don't worry about the insect being dirty. First, rinse it with boiling water."

After rinsing, the insect was lifted out, struggled a bit, and then calmed down, the red glow gradually fading.

The water in the teapot was poured out, rinsed with clean water, and then poured out again. Yuming then added more water to the teapot, this time filling it more. He then submerged the insect at the bottom of the teapot.

After entering the water, the insect remained motionless at the bottom, and the red glow began to appear.

"Will it drown?" Mr. Ming asked.

"It won't. This little guy can't be burned by fire or drowned by water," Yuming assured him, not lying. It couldn't be drowned even in molten lava, let alone water.

He had been playing with the fire cricket for over two months, soaking it in water every day. It had been trained to know what to do as soon as it entered the water. Otherwise, Yuming would poke its belly with a chopstick.

Over time, even a fool could form a habit.

Every time, the fire cricket knew it had to boil the water, so it cooperated without a sound.

Soon, the water in the teapot was boiling, and Mr. Ming marveled at the sight.

Yuming lifted the insect with the thread and put it back in the can, then threw some tea leaves into the boiling water.

The tea was ready. Yuming poured a cup for the teacher first, gesturing for him to try, and then poured a cup for himself. Seeing the teacher hesitate and hesitate to taste it, he laughed and drank a few sips himself, saying, "Sir, don't worry. It's not poisonous, it's clean, and there won't be any problems."

This confidence came from his experiments on many people. First, the insect, then Xu Fei, and later, he had the insect occasionally serve tea to other candidates. On this journey, at least dozens of candidates had drunk the tea for a month, and seeing no issues, he felt confident enough to drink it himself for the final confirmation.

The esteemed Linglong Sect Master was indeed determined to earn some money.

Mr. Ming was also curious. Seeing Yuming drink it, he picked up the teacup and slowly sipped, but then shook his head, "I thought it would have a special taste, but it's just the taste of tea."

This was a denial of his two months of experiments! Yuming widened his eyes and reminded him, "Sir, it's right that there's no other taste. Who would dare to drink if it had a taste?"

Mr. Ming thought about it and realized it made sense. The tea was good, so he picked up the cup and sipped again.

Yuming put down his teacup, rubbed his hands, and pointed to the metal can, "Sir, do you know what this is?"

Mr. Ming, sipping his tea, hummed, "I'd like to hear more."

Yuming: "This is called a fire cricket. Have you heard of the Dark Cliff in the Dark Corner? This is something even the Dark Cliff sends missions to find. It usually lives deep underground, in the molten lava..." He gave a detailed introduction.

Mr. Ming listened patiently.

He had been in the capital for a long time and often visited wealthy families. In a world where demons and humans coexisted, what strange things hadn't he seen? He had broadened his horizons in many ways, so a bug that could boil water didn't surprise him much.

At least he had more experience than Yuming, a country bumpkin.

After listening, he put down his teacup, a bit confused about what Yuming was getting at, and asked, "What are you trying to say?"

Yuming, pleased, said, "Don't you think this is a rare and valuable item, Sir?"

Mr. Ming hummed, "Then what?"

Yuming quickly refilled his tea, "The other family you teach might be interested in this. You could ask them if they want to buy it. Or, if you know other wealthy families, you could ask them too. I'm sincerely selling it."

Mr. Ming's eyes twitched and asked, "How much are you selling it for?"

Yuming made a gesture with his hands, forming a 'ten.'

Mr. Ming sighed, "Ten taels of silver is not worth bothering others. Forget it, I'll take it."

Yuming's face fell, "Sir, you're joking. A fire cricket from the Dark Cliff can't be worth just ten taels. I mean ten thousand taels!"

"How much?" Mr. Ming asked in surprise.

Yuming firmly stated, "Ten thousand taels!"

Mr. Ming immediately reached out, lifted the insect with the thread from the can, and examined it in a circle. It didn't look like anything special. After a serious look, he put it back and asked, "What's the use of buying this?"

Yuming: "It can boil water for tea! It's much faster than a charcoal stove, taking only five counts to boil a pot."

Mr. Ming blinked, raised his hand to touch his beard, and remained silent, waiting for more.

Yuming cleared his throat, feeling the value was a bit thin, and added, "It can also boil more water. When traveling, it can help boil water for tea and even for bathing."

Mr. Ming: "Is that all?"

Yuming laughed awkwardly, "It can also start fires and set things on fire."

Mr. Ming was puzzled, "Anything else?"

Yuming, embarrassed, said, "Sir, it's just one insect. Don't be too hard on it. Having these abilities is already quite impressive and rare. It's a rare and valuable item!"

"Rare and valuable?" Mr. Ming glanced at him, his eyes almost saying, "Do you think I'm stupid?" He sipped his tea, "Do wealthy families lack ways to boil water for tea? How inconvenient can it be for them to travel, needing to rely on an insect?"

Yuming quickly said, "It's because of your reputation, Sir. Some families might buy it for your sake. I won't let you help for nothing. If it sells, I'll give you twenty percent. How about that?"

"One insect for ten thousand taels, you really dare to ask. Fine, I don't deserve it. You'd better find someone else to sell it to." Mr. Ming said, pulling the blanket over himself and lying down.

Yuming immediately moved to his side, squatting at the end of the low bed, and held up five fingers, "Five thousand, how about that, Sir?"

Cut in half? Mr. Ming opened his eyes, glanced at him, and then closed them, completely ignoring him...

By evening, Mr. Ming woke up and left, declining the Zhong family's invitation to a banquet.

That night, a large bone was delivered, and Yuming let the fire cricket eat its fill.

Taking advantage of the darkness, he several times carried the fire cricket, now as big as an egg, to the small pond in the yard, submerged it in the water, and let it release a few bubbles before lifting it back. He did this several times until the fire cricket was full.

The next morning, when the butler, Li, made his routine rounds in the East Courtyard, he stopped by the small pond, squatted down, and muttered, "Why is the water black?"

Yuming spent such a boring life for half a month before a slight ripple appeared.

At the gate of the Zhong family, a young boy hesitantly approached. It was none other than Chong'er.

Chong'er paced back and forth at the gate, looking hesitant to approach.

Eventually, the gatekeeper noticed something was off and came out to shout, "What are you doing, lurking around?"