Chapter 1438 - 723: Not a Good Person
He looked unwilling and gritted his teeth, saying, "This rain wasn’t called by me, Lin Beichen. It was clearly me who called for it, only it came down an hour late." He insisted that he was the one who called for the rain, and no one could prove otherwise.
The old charlatan definitely didn’t want Lin Beichen to win the competition and become his apprentice.
Lin Beichen was utterly helpless, never expecting the old charlatan to say something like this. The moment the rain stopped, he thought he had won, but the old charlatan played tricks.
Rain-calling is supposed to take effect immediately; there’s no such thing as a delay. But in the small town, only the two of them knew Daoist Skills, and others found the old charlatan’s words plausible.
Of course, there were sensible people who knew that the rain was definitely called by Lin Beichen, not the old charlatan.
Unable to prove who called for the rain, the competition ended in a tie. To determine a winner, they had to add another round temporarily: a rain-departing contest.
The old charlatan went first. Rain-departing can’t be delayed; it usually takes effect immediately on the spot.
The old charlatan put on another vigorous performance, no different from when he was calling the rain earlier. But not only did the rain not stop, it fell even heavier.
The old charlatan remained unruffled and continued the rain-departing. Contrary to his intent, the raindrops became as large as coins, pelting the people.
Everyone was soaked, and the water quickly rose to knee level. If this continued, the town would be flooded.
Previously in drought, now on the brink of a flood, the small town couldn’t withstand such torment. People shouted for the old charlatan to stop.
But the old charlatan believed he could stop the rain, so he ignored them. With no other option, people turned to Lin Beichen to stop the rain.
"Lin Beichen, please stop the rain. We all know the rain just now was yours; the old charlatan wants to take your credit for himself."
Since everyone was asking him to stop the rain, he might as well do it. Lin Beichen took out a Yellow Talisman, wrote the Rain-Departing Curse, and the sky’s rain gradually ceased.
He hadn’t wanted to step in earlier because the old charlatan hadn’t finished casting his spell. If he acted first, people would think the old charlatan had stopped the rain, leaving him no credit.
Now everyone was asking him to stop it, and when he did, the old charlatan couldn’t steal the credit.
The townspeople all felt Lin Beichen won the competition. As agreed, the old charlatan had to take Lin Beichen as his master.
Lin Beichen was so young, and the old charlatan was already half in the grave. Now having to take Lin Beichen as his master was quite embarrassing for him.
Though he wasn’t happy with Lin Beichen, he had to admit Lin Beichen was indeed impressive.
"Master, please accept a bow from your disciple." The old charlatan pretended to bow but was about to kneel.
Lin Beichen quickly helped him up, saying a token gesture was enough, and from now on, they’d be on the same side, so no need to kneel.
"Although I’ve taken you as my master, I have a request. If you don’t agree, don’t blame this old man for going back on his word."
"Go ahead, what’s the request?" As long as it wasn’t excessive, Lin Beichen would agree.
"Let me continue setting up a stall for fortune-telling."
Lin Beichen knew the old charlatan’s words could be unpleasant, but he couldn’t deny him because of that. The old charlatan was kind-hearted, just wanted to earn money to support those few stray children to go to school.
The request wasn’t excessive, so Lin Beichen agreed without thinking.
He took apprentices but not slaves, wouldn’t limit their freedom. They could do whatever they wanted as long as it didn’t harm society.
If an apprentice harmed society, he would personally deal with him, even if it meant sacrificing family for broader justice.
"To celebrate you becoming my apprentice, I’ll treat you to dinner tonight."
The old charlatan hesitated; he still had a few stray children at home waiting for him to come back and buy food. If he went to dinner with Lin Beichen, what about the children?
Would they have to go hungry tonight?...
He followed Lin Beichen to the restaurant, uncertain how much they would eat and whether there’d be leftovers for him to take home for the children.
Lin Beichen naturally saw the old charlatan’s hesitation and worry.
"You can bring the kids along to eat." Lin Beichen said.
The old charlatan’s eyes lit up immediately, "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Lin Beichen laughed.
This was great, the old charlatan thought, so he didn’t have to worry about meals today. He had been competing with Lin Beichen at the market street since early morning, hadn’t set up his stall, and had no income for the day, making meals a problem.
Lin Beichen not only treated them to dinner but more importantly wanted to help the old charlatan untie his mental knot.
Lin Beichen saw that the old charlatan’s worry was for those children; all his requests were about making more money so the children could go to school.
Lin Beichen arranged two tables, one for himself and the old charlatan, and one for the children.
He ordered lots of dishes, telling them if it wasn’t enough, they should say, and he would order more until they were full.
"Why not have the kids sit with us? It’s too wasteful of your money like this." The old charlatan said with heartache, knowing money wasn’t easy to come by.
"It’s not wasteful; as long as they get full, I’m willing to pay no matter how much they eat," Lin Beichen said. "The kids might feel uncomfortable around us, and we couldn’t chat freely either. It’s better to let them have their own table, so they can eat to their heart’s content, and we can have a frank conversation."
After hearing Lin Beichen’s explanation, the old charlatan said no more.
Looking at the table full of food, the old charlatan couldn’t help but swallow; he hadn’t eaten such a lavish meal in a long time.
Ever since he’d begun supporting those stray children in their schooling, he’d given all his money to them and hadn’t been to such a restaurant himself.