In the next half month, Xu Qing's schedule was extremely regular.
Every day, as soon as the rooster crowed at dawn, he would rush to the market ahead of the elders to select the freshest eggs and the warmest pig blood and duck blood.
After wandering around the market, he would return to his shop, and besides chatting idly with the neighbors, he would occasionally exchange business information. After all, businesses on this street had long formed an invisible industry chain; whenever one shop received business, the others could benefit.
The most noticeable ones were Old Master Hu's coffin shop at the street corner, and Xu Qing's funeral shop at the other end.
One was responsible for making coffins, and the other for preparing the corpse for burial. As long as one of them had business, the incense and candle shop or paper mache shop would all get a piece of the action!
At night, Xu Qing would go to the backyard to use the techniques from the Corpse Nourishing Technique, swallowing Moonlight Yin Qi and refining Zombie Yin Essence. Although the progress was slow, he could clearly feel his body evolving bit by bit towards becoming an Iron Armored Wandering Corpse.
During this period, Old Master Hu also delivered two raw coffins made from untreated wood to the shop.
Xu Qing planned to use one to store the corpses that had been properly handled, and the other as a bed for processing bodies.
Currently, his business was still in its initial stage. His reputation had yet to be established, and the promotion was also insufficient. Aside from having cooperation with the Government Office, business elsewhere was difficult to open up.
In recent days, while maintaining his cultivation, Xu Qing gradually adapted to the pace of life in Linhe District.
His neighbor Wu Yaohua was a very social person. During this time, he introduced him to a job involving feng shui and relocating graves. However, the grave was old, and the corpse inside the coffin was soaked and rotten from rainwater seeping into the soil.
Xu Qing even tried to summon and bless the dried bones but didn't see even a shadow of a soul.
He guessed the owner of the bones must have either returned to the Underworld or reincarnated!
Nonetheless, he earned some silver from the job, so it wasn't a waste of effort.
In addition, Xu Qing heard some news about old acquaintances.
For instance, Su Hongxiu, who had left the Liu Mansion, managed to become the top visitor attraction in the red-light district by pretending to be a widow, becoming temporarily the most famous person in Linhe District.
This just proves that in these times, even cats and dogs can climb onto tables for a few bites of warm food.
Xu Qing wasn't interested in playing the role of a widow, but he was quite intrigued by the flirting products in the upscale brothels.
Of course, some impure-minded people might think these flirting products are similar to Burmese bells, goat eye rings, hanging jade rings, or pepperwood pieces.
Xu Qing wasn't such a low-minded person!
He was actually interested in the Fusheng Fragrance from Youlan Pavilion and the top-grade laurel wax provided by Cuiyun Building.
The former, the Fusheng Fragrance, was extremely similar to the Spirit Incense that zombies consumed, as both contained Earth Soul Grass as an ingredient and were interchangeable products.
Xu Qing even suspected there could be practitioners of a profession similar to the Underworld hidden in Youlan Pavilion, perhaps not even humans.
The latter, the laurel wax, was made from laurel fruit oil procured through special channels in Luojing, and Xu Qing could smell the enticing wax fragrance just by passing by Cuiyun Building!
This red-light district was simply a paradise for zombies to refresh themselves and relax.
Even better than dancing on a grave!
...
End of January.
That day, Xu Qing sat in his shop awaiting business as usual.
By midday, two well-dressed individuals suddenly entered his otherwise quiet shop.
These two wore round-necked black wide-sleeved shirts, cinched with broad red silk belts at the waist, with brass Tooth Cards hanging at their sides.
The Government Office constables usually wore narrow-sleeved shirts; only the clerical staff wore wide sleeves. Looking at the Tooth Cards, it explicitly said 'Taxation Envoy'.
"Are you aiming for an official position, shopkeeper?"
The leading tax collector couldn't help but tease when he saw Xu Qing sitting on a coffin upon entering the shop.
Little did he know, there was a preserved corpse inside the coffin under Xu Qing's seat!
"I'm not sitting on the coffin; I'm holding it down." Xu Qing smiled, stood up, and greeted, "What can I help you with? We offer burial and interment services, relocation of corpses and graves, and..."
Before he finished, the other tax collector furrowed his brows and said, "We're not here for those services. Let me ask you, did you pay your taxes last year?"
"Last year? Taxes?" Xu Qing pondered, "My shop just opened, where would I have last year's taxes to pay?"
"Don't try to play dumb with me. I've already looked into it before coming here; you opened this shop last December. Naturally, you need to cover last year's taxes!"
"Based on the share, each business owner has to pay annually, so you need to pay an additional two and a half taels of silver, or two stones of rice as the tax."
Saying that, the tax collector pointed to the shop's door, reminding Xu Qing, "Prepare immediately. If you have rice, the carriage is right outside. If you don't, then pay the two and a half taels of silver instead."
Xu Qing was immediately displeased upon hearing this.
Ever since ancient times, commercial taxes such as rent tax, taxation, and even the mountain and marsh taxes, fell within the scope of commercial taxation.
Xu Qing understood this was the rule, and he had no objections to the Capital Taxation Bureau coming to collect taxes.
As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. If the Capital Taxation Bureau came to collect this year's taxes, he wouldn't say a single word about it.
But the key point here was that these two tax collectors were not here to collect this year's taxes but last year's taxes...
"Sir, as you mentioned earlier, my shop only started operating last December, which is about a month and a half. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to ask me for the full year's tax for last year?"
"You can choose not to pay if you feel it's inappropriate, but if your shop gets sealed later, don't regret it!"
Just as the tax collector finished speaking, the constable outside the shop began to move as if to enter.
Seeing this, Xu Qing paused, then suddenly smiled, "I was just joking with you two. I am a respectable citizen of the Dayong Dynasty; I wouldn't avoid taxes!"
"But I remember the tax was just one stone of rice; why is it two stones this time?"
The leading tax collector's expression softened a bit and he explained, "Many refugees have fled here. The governor of Baisha County has ordered each household in Linhe District to contribute half a stone of rice for disaster relief."
"What about the other half stone?"
"What other half stone? Do you think transporting grain doesn't have losses?"
Xu Qing instantly understood.
When tax collectors came to collect taxes at the door, they would immediately tell you why the extra amount was needed. At fixed times and places where a large crowd paid taxes, there would be inspectors who would compensate for the so-called losses.
Exhaling deeply, Xu Qing didn't say more, reaching into his money bag to take out two and a half taels of silver.
Two taels were Qingfu coins, and the half-tael was ordinary small silver.
The Qingfu coins were to cover last year's taxes, and the half-tael was for the refugees who fled here.
Watching the tax collectors leave, Xu Qing stood at the shop's door, silent for a long time.
At that moment, Wu Yaohua walked over with a sigh, patted his shoulder, and said, "Don't mind too much. We can make back the money, but this world is just heartless!"
Xu Qing shook his head and said, "I'm not upset. As long as the half-tael silver for disaster relief reaches the refugees and lets them have a warm meal to get through this cold month, it's worth it."
Wu Yaohua nodded, his brows relaxed, "That's true. You are still young. If you study diligently like my son, you don't need to be too successful, just pass the Scholar exam. Then you won't need to pay taxes, and you wouldn't need to bow to officials. It's respectable too..."
A Scholar, huh?
Xu Qing felt stirred inside; he could probably achieve that!