This Cultivator Just Wants to Collect Everything

“Cousin, please come with me to the Lantern Festival, won’t you?” “No. You need to learn to be independent, little cousin.” “Brother Wang, I hear Kyoto’s top courtesan, Li Xiang’er, is coming to Jiangnan this time to attend the annual Wangjing Poetry Gathering. Why don’t we go together?” “No. Brother Xie can go by himself.” “Mian’er, what do you think of the daughter of the Meng family in Kyoto? Would you like to…” “No. Thanks, Father, but let’s not reach above our station.” Wang Mian, a Confucian scholar and illegitimate son of the Wang family of Jiangnan, had grown withdrawn ever since an accident left him nearly drowned. He had barely set foot outside his home for almost half a year. Rumors soon spread throughout the Wang family estate: some said a water ghost had possessed him and he could no longer face the light of day, while others claimed he had stumbled upon a great opportunity and was practicing behind closed doors. At last, one day, he stepped out of the Wang estate and couldn’t help muttering to himself: “Good grief, it took me almost half a year just to collect everything in the Wang estate?”