Dragon Hermit

“Ah?” Zhang Shufen and Le Wenqing suddenly came to a realization and their faces heated up, displaying a shade of red. Le Wenqing remarked, “What’s the rush? It’s still too early!”

[You girls obviously forgot about it!] Xia Yan looked at them with eyes of gloom and injustice, till the point they became apologetic. Zhang Shufen gave in, “Fine. Let’s go. We are getting a gift for a girl, right?”

“Yeah.” Xia Yan nodded and added, “For two.”

“What? Two?” Le Wenqing looked at him in surprise.

“They are for my martial uncle’s granddaughters,” Xia Yan explained.

“How old are they?” Zhang Shufen asked.

“A little older than I am,” Xia Yan said as he recalled his Master talking about it.

“Well, they do say that older women do know how to take care of men more, quite a good plan you got.” Zhang Shufen commented, and Le Wenqing nodded in agreement.

“It’s just a normal visit!” Xia Yan did not bother to explain, and asked, “What do you think is a good gift?”

“An ordinary visit?” Le Wenqing asked with a smirk, “If you are just going for an ‘ordinary visit’, why would you need to choose your gift so carefully? It would be fine to just settle it with a fruit basket or some tea.”

“Exactly!” Zhang Shufen agreed. “Xia Yan, don’t insult our IQ. A marriage interview is a marriage interview. There is nothing to be ashamed about.”

Xia Yan was left speechless. After all, he too agreed that his behaviour was strange. [What Le Wenqing said makes sense, why do I need to be so careful? Is it because Master said to ‘pick one’? Although I objected to Master’s intentions, I still acted in such a manner. It must be my subconscious mind at play here…]

“Let’s stop talking about that first. How much do you plan to spend?” Zhang Shufen asked again.

Xia Yan’s budget for the gifts for the two girls was ¥1000. After all, he was still a student. The gifts couldn’t be too expensive as that would give the impression that he was trying to show off his thick wallet. Besides, he really does not have that much money left.

Hence, this ¥1000 was for the gifts for his martial uncle’s two granddaughters. As for his martial uncle, Xia Yan planned to engrave something for him personally. [I believe that will make martial uncle the happiest.]

In fact, Xia Yan could have just given a gift to only his martial uncle who was his elder. However, he still decided to deliver two gifts to his martial uncle’s granddaughters in case they were pretty good!

“It must be cheap but something of good quality. That is not something that we can find easily! What about this, why don’t we go to Antique Street to buy some cheap antiques?” Zhang Shufen suggested.

“Antiques aren’t cheap, right?” Xia Yan said.

“Old coins aren’t that expensive. And, if you can manage to get a windfall, wouldn’t that be amazing!?” Zhang Shufen said eagerly.

“Forget it, my elder runs a business that deals with antiques. If I were to mistakenly buy a fake antique, I would lose all my face!” Xia Yan shook his head to reject the proposal.

“If you want, you could always prepare flowers for the girls. That’s not a bad choice too,” Zhang Shufen suggested.

“Can you stop talking nonsense?” Xia Yan was left speechless. [You want me to give flowers on the first meeting? Do you realize how bad that idea is?]

“Ah, Shufen, don’t mislead Xia Yan. Buying antiques with a budget of ¥1000, are you kidding me?” Le Wenqing criticized Zhang Shufen harshly.

“What do you have in mind then?” Zhang Shufen retorted indignantly.

“Alright. Let me ask you two. Which is better, gifting a pen that’s worth ¥10 or a pencil that’s worth ¥10?” Le Wenqing asked.

“Of course, it is the ¥10 pencil!” Xia Yan and Zhang Shufen answered simultaneously.

“That’s good then!” Le Wenqing pointed, “Let’s trash this sloppy idea of buying an antique and look for that pencil!”

While Xia Yan and the two girls were walking around the street, in the Liu Residence’s study, the family head Old Man Liu, and Liu Shan sat opposite each other with solemn and irate expressions.

“Are you done investigating?” Old Man Liu asked as he fiddled with the Soul Ataraxia Stone hanging on his chest. Though his tone sounded plain, there was deep anger laced within his words.

“Yes.” Liu Shan nodded and replied resentfully, “The Xie family did it!”

“Xie Changlin, that damn old fogey, he dares to plot against me!?” Old Man Liu lost his cool and raised his voice while exuding a fierce imposing aura. After all, he was a man from the battlefield, a soldier down to his very bones.

“Is there any evidence?” Old Man Liu asked.

“None…” Liu Shan shook his head.

“That’s fine! No evidence is needed!” Old Man Liu grunted angrily, and continued, “Since Xie family acted first, our Liu family shall just return it tenfold!”

“What should we do?” Liu Shan asked with a trace of helplessness, “The Xie family did it behind the scenes, and our Liu family cannot suppress them from the front. If we confront them on the business and political front rashly, I am afraid that both sides will suffer and someone else will take advantage of the situation!”

“Can you invite any powerful people? A geomancer, for example…” Old Man Liu’s expression soon became complicated. He had never believed in such superstitious things but now, regardless of his own beliefs, he can no longer say that they were a lie.

“Father, you’ve never resorted to such methods before…” Liu Shan hesitated to continue as he felt a change had occurred within his father.

“We could also bury mines, snipe, and assassinate on the battlefield. What is not necessary before does not mean it remains unnecessary now. Besides, the Xie family were the first to act!” Old Man Liu said indifferently.

“It would be great if Xia Yan is willing to help us,” Liu Shan nodded and said.

“He is a very smart kid who does not wish to get caught up into these kinds of politics!” Old Man Liu shook his head and sighed, “He is the most unique kid I have ever seen!”

At this moment, Liu Shan’s mobile phone on the table vibrated. He picked it up and glanced at it, then said lightly with a slight smile, “It’s Little Quan.”

“Little Quan has associated with Xia Yan a few times; he has done a good job so far.” Old Man Liu nodded and said, “Answer the phone.”

Liu Shan answered the phone and asked kindly, “Little Quan, is there something… What!? Is what you are saying true? Are you sure? Okay, you have done well… Don’t tell this to anyone else…”

“What did Little Quan say?” Old Man Liu could feel the excitement in Liu Shan’s voice, so he waited for him to finish his call to satiate his curiosity.

“It’s a matter related to Xia Yan’s father!” Liu Shan could not help laughing. “Even if we don’t ask, Xia Yan will surely act against the Xie family, and it will definitely cost them.”

“What’s happened?” Old Man Liu asked with his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Xia Yan’s father used to work in the Grandwest Panorama’s construction site, a project of the Xie family. However…” Liu Shan explained the situation that Dong Quan had discovered.

“You said that the accident was planned?”

“¥100K compensation? That is certainly something the Xie family would do!”

A sneer gradually appeared on Old Man Liu’s face, as if mocking Xie family’s greed and stupidity.

“Little Quan said that Xia Yan once questioned whether Grandwest Panorama was our project. When Little Quan said no, he responded in such a way…”

“‘It’s all good as long as it isn’t the Liu Group,” Liu Shan enunciated.

“He really said that?” Old Man Liu was stunned for a moment and then he too chuckled joyously.

Liu Shan also smiled as although Xia Yan may have spoken those words casually, since he understood the relationship between Xia Yan and the Xie Group, these words meant so much more.