Dragon Hermit

After hanging up, Xia Yan pondered for a moment and dialed another number that was answered by a man after two rings, “Hello, who is this?”

“Uncle Li, it’s me, Xia Yan… Ah, yeah. I’m doing well in Chengdu… I haven’t found a girlfriend yet… Could you request my master to come onto the call?”

After that, he heard Uncle Li shout loudly from within the convenience store, “Han Yidao, it’s a call from your disciple! Come get it!”

“Little Yan, what is it?” His master’s elderly and calm voice reached his ears.

“It’s the Mid-Autumn Festival tomorrow, so I’m calling to greet you in advance. Happy holiday!” Xia Yan answered.

“I live alone anyways, so there’s nothing much to feel happy about!” His master replied nonchalantly but Xia Yan could sense the happiness in his tone.

“Isn’t Grandma Feng living next-door? Spend the festival together with her,” Xia Yan chuckled.

“Stop with the nonsense now and get to the point!” Han Yidao couldn’t bear it anymore and brought out his gravitas as his master.

“I made some money recently. I hope you can help me make the proper arrangements to deal with the problems of the village once you receive it in your account,” Xia Yan requested.

“How much is it? Will it be enough?” Han Yidao questioned.

“A few million, it should be more than enough,” Xia Yan answered.

“All right. This old man shall move his old bones then. You have done well by earning such a sum so fast. Did you earn it through carving?” Han Yidao was only slightly surprised by the amount since he had seen all aspects of life when he was young. Hence, a few million were far from enough to make him lose his bearings.

“Uhm… I earned some from carving and some from doing other work,” Xia Yan gave a vague answer.

“Being able to earn money isn’t a bad thing, but the world is a dangerous place, so you must act with prudence,” Han Yidao wasn’t worried about how Xia Yan had earned a few million in just one month and cautioned him in his usual calm tone.

“I know. Don’t worry, Master. Your disciple makes sure to never get the short end of the stick!” Xia Yan affirmed.

“That’s good then.”

“All right, Master. Remember to buy mooncakes for yourself, I’m hanging up now!” Xia Yan stated.

“Hold on. Don’t you hang up the call, rascal!” The typically calm Han Yidao raised his voice suddenly.

“Is there anything else, Master?” Xia Yan asked.

“Did you look for Fang Xiangdong? Did you like his daughter?” Han Yidao questioned.

“I’m visiting Uncle Fang’s house for lunch tomorrow,” Xia Yan answered.

“I asked whether you like his daughter!” Han Yidao pressed for an answer.

“Master, actually… we don’t suit each other!” Xia Yan answered bitterly as he feared his master would force him to fulfill this childhood engagement.

“Leave it then, it just means that the Fang family isn’t fortunate enough!” The old man stated in a loud voice.

“Master, Uncle Fang is the mayor of Chengdu now. I’m the one who isn’t fortunate enough!” Xia Yan reminded him.

“So, what if he is the mayor? This old man even… had drinks with those people back in the days, and you say we are unworthy to associate with a mere mayor? What a joke!” Han Yidao stated disdainfully.

“Indeed!” Xia Yan followed up obsequiously.

“Since you don’t like this daughter, go visit the Antique Collectibles Store tomorrow afternoon. My younger apprentice brother has two granddaughters, so you can choose whichever one you prefer, but forget it if you don’t like either!” Han Yidao continued.

[Master, that’s quite the thing you are suggesting. Do you believe your disciple is a crown prince choosing concubines? The other party also needs to like me first.]

Such were his thoughts, but he could only give a perfunctory reply to the old man right now, “Yes, Master.”

“I’m hanging up the call if there’s nothing else. I heard that long-distance calls are pretty expensive,” the old man then hung up the call.

A wry expression appeared on Xia Yan’s face when the call ended. [Why do people like to act as matchmakers when they become old? I’m just 18 years old now!]

[However, since Master has requested it, I might as well visit the Antique Collectibles Store and the Fang Residence tomorrow to have lunch. I’ve already seen Fang Le’er and seriously have no interest in a lady boss-type college girl like her.]

“I wonder how my martial uncle’s granddaughters look. It would be good if they were someone like Qi Ziyu, An Xiaoru, or Liu Xue’er… Hold on. Why am I comparing it with them? Do I actually like them? This couldn’t be possible now. I’m not a virgin boy who likes a woman just after a few meetings…]

While he was letting his imagination run wild, Xia Yan saw Qin Jian place a walnut in the gap between the door and close it to crack it.

“Would a walnut cracked by a door still be able to increase your IQ?” Xia Yan questioned subconsciously.

Qin Jian stared at Xia Yan’s back as he descended down the stairs with a blank gaze for a few moments and then cursed him before throwing the walnut into the garbage bin, “I’ll just get a nutcracker when I have time later on!”

Xia Yan was planning to head for the Hearthcreek Apartments after descending down the stairs, but his phone began ringing. He saw Xiaoyu’s picture when he took it out.

“Hello, Xiaoyu.”

“Cousin, do you have any plans for the holidays?” Xiaoyu inquired from the other end of the call.

“I’m planning to visit some relatives tomorrow and have no plans after that,” Xia Yan answered frankly.

“All right. Let’s go out to have fun later on!” Xiaoyu stated excitedly.

“Fine, let’s do that!” Xia Yan naturally wouldn’t refuse an invitation from a pretty woman. Moreover, it wasn’t a personal invitation but rather an invitation from H504, so Xia Yan was planning to mention the matter of helping his roommates look for girlfriends to Anna and An Xiaoru.

After talking with Xiaoyu for a while, Xia Yan hung up the call in a happy mood, however, his phone rang once again a few moments later. This time, it was a call from Liu Xue’er, and this made Xia Yan’s heart skip a few beats.

“Xia Yan, are you returning home during the holidays?” Liu Xue’er inquired.

“I’m not, Sister Xue’er,” Xia Yan answered.

“It’s my birthday the day after tomorrow. Will you attend my birthday party?” Liu Xue’er requested.

“Sure, I will!” Xia Yan answered. Although he didn’t want to get involved in the matters of the Liu family too much, he had a good opinion of Liu Xue’er, so he obviously had no qualms in attending her birthday party.

However, he turned gloomy soon after. [It looks like I’ll have to spend quite a bit during these holidays! I can’t go empty-handed for my first visit to my martial uncle and also need to bring a gift for my first visit to the Fang Residence.]

[I probably won’t spend much while hanging out with the girls from H504 since we are all students, but I’ll have to choose a presentable gift for Liu Xue’er’s birthday.]

[It seems like the ¥10,000 I have left won’t last long. Maybe I should earn some money again.]

☠☠☠

Donned in a full-body white martial arts uniform, Zhang Shufen was currently seated on a yoga mat in the living room of the flat with her eyes closed in meditation. She would have portrayed the elegance of a person practicing Daoism if it weren’t for the facial mask applied on her face ruining the image.

Xia Yan sliced the watermelon he bought into two pieces and stored them inside the fridge after wrapping them in plastic. He then went inside his room to tidy it up simply and returned back to take a seat on the sofa and observed Zhang Shufen. He was quite interested in the so-called Dao magic that Zhang Shufen was cultivating and although he didn’t know whether she was speaking the truth, he didn’t dare to reject such nonsensical things like before.

Zhang Shufen exhaled a long breath a few moments later and shook her head helplessly, “Your gaze is influencing my mood. How do you want me to cultivate like this?!”

“This proves that you haven’t reached the realm of complete devotion!” Xia Yan stated.

“This lady will lose out if I were to reach the realm of complete devotion. Where were your eyes looking by the way?” Zhang Shufen chided him.

“Haha. These clothes look quite pretty. Which brand are they?” Xia Yan’s face blushed hard as he was mostly checking out the curves of her body just now. Since she had revealed it, he changed the subject immediately to escape from the embarrassment.

“It’s just a street-side product worth ¥30!” Zhang Shufen shot him a look of contempt and continued, “If you dare to let your gaze wander again, this lady shall dig your eyes out!”