Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “This… it’s a bit hard to say.” (Followed by an awkward emoji.)
Hard to say? What could be so hard to say?
Suddenly, Lin Hai’s eyes widened in shock.
Oh no, is he about to ask me to… you know…?
Lin Hai: “Let me make this clear upfront—my sexual orientation is perfectly normal.”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “What are you talking about, Great Immortal? What’s sexual orientation?”
Pfft! He doesn’t even know what that is?
Well, that’s good. If he doesn’t know, then his condition probably isn’t about that.
Lin Hai: “Sexual orientation is a deep topic. I usually discuss it with Chang’e, the Nine-Heaven Mystic Lady, and the Seven Fairies. You wouldn’t understand. Just tell me your condition.”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Well, then… I’ll say it.” (Followed by a sweating emoji.)
Lin Hai: “Go ahead, speak boldly.”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Um… Great Immortal, could you… maybe… give me a carrot too?” (Followed by a teary-eyed emoji.)
Pfft!
“Hahaha, you’ve got to be kidding me! I was so nervous, and all he wants is a carrot? Does he think he’s a rabbit too?”
Worried that Lin Hai might be upset, Golden Flower Medicine Boy quickly sent another message.
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Great Immortal, I know carrots are celestial treasures, comparable to thePeaches of Immortality. They’re incredibly valuable. If a whole carrot is too much, maybe just half? Please?”
Hahahaha, this is too funny! The Jade Rabbit must have been bragging to this Medicine Boy.
Lin Hai: “What do you take me for? Giving you half a carrot would be an insult to my status. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a whole one!”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Thank you, Great Immortal! Thank you!”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy was practically weeping with gratitude.
Lin Hai: “Don’t thank me yet. If you fail, no carrot for you. What’s your success rate?”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Ten percent.”
Pfft!
Ten percent?! That’s basically relying on dumb luck!
Lin Hai: “Are you messing with me?”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Great Immortal, what do you mean? Mortals are fragile. Their bodies can’t handle celestial pills. Refining something for mortals requires extremely precise control of the medicinal power. Ten percent is already quite high.”
High my foot!
Lin Hai: “Is there any other way? Something with a higher success rate?”
Lin Hai, feeling dejected, asked one last time, clinging to a sliver of hope.
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Yes!”
Oh? A glimmer of hope!
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “If you can provide a Soul-Returning Pill, I can break it down and dilute its potency to make it suitable for mortals. This would significantly increase the success rate. However, Soul-Returning Pills are quite expensive.”
Haha, that’s perfect!
Expensive? No problem. I’ve got one ready to go.
What a twist of fate!
Lin Hai: “What’s the success rate then?”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Fifty percent.”
Lin Hai “Deal!” Lin Hai slapped his thigh. A fifty percent chance was worth the gamble.
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “To break down the Soul-Returning Pill, you’ll need Millennium Ice Marrow. You can buy it from the Dragon King of the East Sea. The going rate is 600 Merit Points.”
Lin Hai: “…”
Lin Hai: “Do you know Mo Liqing?”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Great Immortal, you jest. I’m just a Medicine Boy. How would I have the chance to meet someone like theHeavenly King of Growth?”
Damn it. If you don’t know him, why does it feel like you’re in cahoots? I just earned 600 Merit Points, and now I’m left with nothing.
Lin Hai: “Hold on.” Lin Hai opened the Heavenly Trade Group and directly @’ed the Dragon King of the East Sea.
Lin Hai “@Dragon King of the East Sea, I’d like to buy a Millennium Ice Marrow.”
Dragon King of the East Sea: “600 Merit Points.”
Lin Hai: “Deal!”
Ding!
A friend request from the Dragon King of the East Sea popped up.
Accept!
As soon as the request was accepted, the Dragon King sent over the Ice Marrow.
You have transferred 600 Merit Points to the Dragon King of the East Sea.
After completing the transaction, Lin Hai sent both the Soul-Returning Pill and the Millennium Ice Marrow to Golden Flower Medicine Boy.
And just like that, he was back to square one, with nothing left.
Lin Hai let out a bitter laugh.
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Great Immortal, don’t worry. It’ll take at least half a month, maybe a month, but I’ll have results.”
Lin Hai: “When you succeed, I’ll give you the carrot.”
Golden Flower Medicine Boy: “Thank you, Great Immortal!”
Lin Hai exhaled deeply. Whether this would work or not now rested entirely on Golden Flower Medicine Boy.
Seeing that his roommates hadn’t returned, Lin Hai took out the painting he had picked up at Wangu Antiques.
The painting depicted an ancient courtyard filled with exotic flowers and plants. In the center stood a graceful young woman in a pavilion, her beautiful face tinged with an indescribable sadness.
Lin Hai stared intently at the girl’s eyes in the painting and silently activated his Heavenly Eye.
Instantly, a faint blue glow emanated from his eyes, though it was invisible to ordinary people.
Strange. Back at Wangu Antiques, I could’ve sworn I saw this girl blink. Why isn’t she moving now?
After staring for a full five minutes, Lin Hai still saw nothing unusual.
Was I just imagining things?
After another five or six minutes, Lin Hai felt his head grow heavy.
It seems the Heavenly Eye has a time limit too.
Shaking his head, Lin Hai put the painting away. He’d have to study it more later.
The Next Morning
“Everyone here? Time to hand out red envelopes.” Taishang Laojun appeared in the group chat right on time.
Lin Hai had been waiting with his WeChat open for a while now.
He was broke, and his only hope was snagging some red envelopes from Laojun.
Even if the items he got were useless, he could always sell them.
Ding!
A large red envelope appeared on the screen.
Tap!
Your hand was too slow. The red envelopes has already been claimed!
What?! No way!
Lin Hai’s eyes widened in disbelief. This was the first time he had missed a red envelopes in this group.
Clicking to check, he saw that all 20 red envelopes Laojun had sent were claimed in just 0.9 seconds.
Looks like these immortals have been waiting with their phones ready too.
Lin Hai felt a wave of frustration. As a mere mortal, he couldn’t compete with these immortals’ speed. If they kept this up, he’d never get a chance.
After watching the group chat for a while, his phone suddenly rang.
“Where has the time gone? Before I could even feel young, I’ve grown old…”
This was the ringtone he had set specifically for his parents. Lin Hai quickly answered.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Lin Hai’s heart tightened.
His parents rarely called him except on weekends.
“Haizi, can you take some time off and come home? It’s almost college entrance exams, and Yunyun refuses to go to school. You two have always been close. Come back and talk some sense into her.”
Song Qin’s voice was filled with sadness.
“Did Auntie Li go over again?” Lin Hai’s voice turned cold.
“Ah.” Song Qin sighed. Though she didn’t say it, Lin Hai already understood.
“Mom, I’ll be back tomorrow.”
After hanging up, Lin Hai made up his mind.
Tomorrow, he wouldn’t just go home—he’d make sure his parents, who had worked hard in the village for half their lives, would finally get the respect they deserved.
And he’d wipe the smug looks off certain people’s faces.
Thinking for a moment, Lin Hai sent a message to Liu Xinyue.
“Xinyue, are you free?”
“Yeah, I have an art appreciation class this morning, but I don’t feel like going.”
“Come downstairs. Let’s go out.”
Hualin New World
Hualin New World was the most upscale shopping mall in Jiangnan City. Only the wealthy and privileged shopped here. The luxurious decor was enough to intimidate ordinary people from even stepping inside.
“Lin Hai, why did you bring me here?” Liu Xinyue asked as soon as they entered, feeling the weight of several judgmental stares.
“To buy clothes,” Lin Hai said, exhaling deeply. Even though he had a million yuan in his pocket, this was his first time in such a high-end place, and he couldn’t help feeling a bit out of place.
“But the clothes here are so expensive,” Liu Xinyue frowned.
“Don’t worry. We’re rich now!” Lin Hai flashed his card in front of her.
“Stop showing off!” Liu Xinyue playfully punched his arm, her lips curling into a smile as she felt a warm glow in her heart.
“Xinyue, can you help me pick out something suitable for someone in their fifties?” Lin Hai led her to the high-end clothing section.
“For older people?”
“Yeah, for my parents. I’m no good at picking clothes. You help me choose.”
“Okay.” Liu Xinyue felt a slight pang of disappointment but quickly pushed it aside, scanning the racks of clothing.
“That floral print over there looks nice. It should suit your mom,” Liu Xinyue said, reaching out to touch the fabric.
“That one’s 19,800 yuan!” A sharp voice interrupted.
Lin Hai turned to see a young woman in a white blouse and black pants, her face heavily made up. She was filing her nails and shooting them a disdainful look.
Liu Xinyue’s hand froze mid-air, then slowly retracted.
Lin Hai frowned. Why is it that everywhere I go, there’s someone looking down on me?
“Xinyue, go ahead and take it down,” Lin Hai said, ignoring the saleswoman.
“Okay.” Liu Xinyue reached out again.
“I told you, it’s 19,800 yuan. If you’re not buying, don’t touch it.”
The saleswoman walked over, giving Lin Hai and Liu Xinyue a once-over before disdainfully patting the dress as if Liu Xinyue’s touch had already dirtied it.