Is It Reasonable for Me to Start a Sect at 12?

Lin Dahan slapped his forehead. "Look at me! I got so carried away. Let's go, let's go, or we won't get a good spot."

Every month when they went to the market, the family would bring the wooden buckets, baskets, and sieves made by Lin Laoyezi, Lin Xiao's eldest cousin Lin Lei, and Lin Yun. They would sell these items, and the money earned would be divided between the two families after Lin Laoyezi took his share.

The cart that Lin Dahan and Lin Dayou were pushing was filled with these items, along with two jars of pickles made by Aunt Qin and Lin Laotai.

On the way, Lin Xiao explained the purpose of his trip to the town and expressed his desire to have Lin Dahan assist him with the demonstration.

Lin Dahan was surprised. "Xiao, can you really clean teeth?"

Lin Xiao grinned and showed off his bright white teeth. Lin Dayou, who was pushing the cart ahead, turned around and also flashed a set of similarly white teeth.

Lin Dahan thought to himself, You two don't need to flash your teeth at me together.

Seeing this, Aunt Qin was delighted and clapped her hands. "Oh, Xiao! Auntie will be your assistant for this!"

Lin Xiao laughed. "That's great! That way, after I'm done with Uncle, I won't have to worry about not having someone to demonstrate on."

The four of them walked along the bumpy path, bathed in the morning light, heading toward Cuifeng Town.

Cuifeng Town, not being a military hub or a prosperous place, had low walls and a rather simple, unimpressive city gate. The last time Lin Xiao had visited the town was when he was six years old. After seeing how dull and gray it was, he had lost interest in returning.

The town had only a few thousand residents, and the standard of living wasn't much better than that of the villagers. Even though Lin Xiao had thought about making money using some modern methods, it wasn't feasible here. The best he could do was earn a hard living, but at the time, he was too young and didn't have the strength or labor to make it work. Plus, Lin Yun and Lin Dayou were busy with work on the farm and couldn't entertain his impractical ideas. So, up until now, he hadn't had a single copper coin to his name.

But now, for the sake of the sect, he had no choice but to perform and earn a living.

An hour later, the four of them arrived at Cuifeng Town. Although it was still early spring, after walking for an hour, they were all lightly sweating.

Fortunately, there weren't many people at the town gate. Only twenty or thirty people were in line to enter, so it didn't take long for them to get in.

On market days, there was no entrance fee, but on regular days, if there were officers on duty at the gate, an entry fee had to be paid. This was another reason why villagers didn't come to town often.

Cuifeng Town had a dedicated area for the monthly market, where villagers would set up their stalls. The positions were marked with stones, one space per household, and were first-come, first-served. Anyone causing trouble would be thrown out. However, the villagers, generally fearful of officials, rarely caused trouble. Even when arguments broke out, a mere mention of "the officer is coming" would scatter everyone, each person pretending that nothing had happened, looking as harmless as possible.

Once at the market grounds, Lin Dahan quickly found a good spot, and Lin Dayou pushed the cart over. Lin Xiao helped unload the items from the cart and set them up, while Aunt Qin went off to buy daily necessities like salt and cooking oil for both families.

It was still only around seven or eight in the morning, so there weren't many people at the market yet. Lin Xiao decided to wait a bit before starting his teeth-cleaning demonstration until the crowd grew larger.

He looked around but didn't see any sign of Qin Jianghe. After wandering around the market for a while—it wasn't very big, so it only took him about fifteen minutes—he still hadn't seen Qin Jianghe or his mother, Qin Sishen, who was Aunt Qin's cousin.

So, Lin Xiao returned to his family's stall, found a corner against the wall, and squatted down, tucking his hands into his sleeves. Since he had some time, he figured he'd watch how his father and uncle usually sold their goods and maybe pick up some tips.

But what he saw left him speechless. After arranging the items, Lin Dahan and Lin Dayou did the same as him: squatted down by the stall, hands in their sleeves, and didn't move.

They didn't call out to potential customers passing by, nor did they try to sell their products. Only when someone occasionally asked about the price did they respond, and if the person haggled, they would just shake their heads. If the customer found the price too high and started to leave, they didn't say a word.

It wasn't until about half an hour later, when the crowd at the market started to grow, that they managed to sell two baskets.

Lin Xiao thought to himself, No wonder business is slow—they're just sitting there, waiting for customers to come to them!

If Lin Dahan and Lin Dayou knew what Lin Xiao was thinking, they would probably scoff and say, Your grandfather is even worse at business! When people haggle, he just quotes a number, and if they don't like it, he'll just chase them away!

Because of this, when Lin Laoyezi used to sell things himself, he could hardly sell anything. It wasn't until Lin Laotai stepped in and insisted that Lin Dahan and Lin Dayou take over that business improved, even if only slightly.

Unable to bear it any longer, Lin Xiao glanced at the sky. It was getting late, and he estimated that this was the peak time for foot traffic. So, he patted his pants and stood up.

He walked over and asked Lin Dayou about the prices of the items. In fact, the prices set by Lin Laoyezi weren't expensive. A large bamboo basket was twenty-five copper coins, a sieve was twenty copper coins, and a wooden bucket was eighty copper coins. Given the high quality of the items, which were very durable, these prices were actually quite reasonable. The problem was their lack of salesmanship.

Lin Xiao then said to Lin Dahan and Lin Dayou, "Dad, Uncle, I'm going to start my business now."

The two men, shy by nature, just nodded.

For some reason, Lin Xiao noticed that ever since they entered the town, both of them seemed to have become more withdrawn. In the village, they were such straightforward and confident farmers.

Lin Xiao took a small stool and placed it next to their stall, ready to start his demonstration.