The patter of drizzle fell on the eaves, crisp like piano music.
Han Qiwu, filled with the excitent of returning ho, jumped out of bed quickly. While brushing his teeth, he looked back over yesterday’s logs.
Everything else seed fine, except for the rewards from the historical earnings—sohow they had skyrocketed to one million gold.
"Stingy system," Han Qiwu muttered, curling his lips. After sending a quick "Good morning" ssage to Mr. Tang on his phone, he swiftly made himself a jianbing guozi (savory pancake roll) and wolfed it down.
Just as he finished eating, a reply from Tang Qingying popped up: "Good morning! Finally, vacation has started. I can go back ho to eat all the yummy food my mom makes!"
"It’s raining today, drive carefully on the road. I’m packing my things now and will catch the bus ho later."
After replying to her ssage, Han Qiwu hurriedly grabbed his axe and dashed into the Miniaturized Forest of Ten Thousand Trees to chop down all the trees generated today.
He collected 76 pieces of wood in total.
While chopping trees, he rembered that today also happened to be the day Monkey Wine reached maturation.
Ti to bring so ho for Dad to try.
He walked over to the jar containing the Monkey Wine-in-progress, reached out, and picked it up.
[Monkey Wine] ×2.
"Two jars? Is it because there were enough raw materials?" Han Qiwu was pleasantly surprised.
The brewed Monkey Wine had a faint reddish hue—it looked crystal clear, as if it had been filtered inside the jar.
Thinking it might impress his dad, Han Qiwu decided not to uncork the bottle just yet.
He would wait to open it when he got ho.
But first, he had to check its attributes.
[Monkey Wine (Silver-Star Quality☆☆)]
[Special Effect - Warrior Talent: Accelerates improvent in physical fitness upon consumption]
[Special Effect - Rejuvenation: Slows down aging upon consumption]
[Note: This rare Monkey Wine—don’t overdo it, okay?]
"It even slows aging? Then I really have to let Mom and Dad have so," Han Qiwu said with a grin as he packed it away. He then went outside to ensure all the animals had enough feed.
All right, everything at ho was just about settled.
Ti to ride—wait, no—ti to catch the bus ho.
Before leaving, Han Qiwu once again gave Little Lai, Little Dian, Little Prince, and Little Shui a round of instructions before locking the door and heading toward Water Buffalo Town.
There was a shuttle at the town that went to the city, and from there, he could take a coach bus straight ho.
Three hours later, standing in front of the residential area across the street, Han Qiwu cleverly ducked into a corner shop to buy a bottle of water and so large plastic bags. Using the pretense of going to the restroom, he loaded the items from his storage compartnt into the bags and walked toward the neighborhood gates.
During Tomb-Sweeping Festival, the entrance to the residential area was always bustling with people coming and going. Growing up here, Han Qiwu knew plenty of the local aunties. As soon as he got to the gate, he beca the center of their attention.
"Xiao Han is back! So capable, bringing so many things with him!"
"Oh my, Xiao Han’s gotten even more handso. Still single, right? I’ve got a niece about your age—she’s a wonderful girl, virtuous and beautiful. How about you two et up?"
"Wow, look at all this seafood! Xiao Han, you’ve been doing well, haven’t you?"
"Nonsense, he’s still in graduate school! Must be scholarship money."
Han Qiwu was montarily at a loss for words. Smiling, he replied, "Good afternoon, aunties. My mom’s waiting for upstairs, so I’ll head up first."
With that, he quickened his pace and dashed upstairs in the blink of an eye.
"Mom, I’m ho," Han Qiwu said, giving the door a gentle kick.
Inside, Mrs. Han, who had already spotted him returning through the balcony window, walked over unhurriedly and spoke through the door, "You ca back alone?"
"Yep. Dad wasn’t playing chess at the entrance either, just ," Han Qiwu replied.
"Well then, leave the stuff at the door. Your dad dropped a piece sowhere on the chessboard. He said he won’t co back until he finds it," Mrs. Han said, peeking through the peephole.
Han Qiwu: "?????"
Mom, can you not see how much stuff I’m carrying?
Even though it’s not heavy at all for , you shouldn’t know that.
Don’t you have any sympathy for your son?
Wait.
What did Mom just say?
Dad was playing chess, and he lost a piece on the board?
Oh.
Now he understood.
Mom wasn’t being subtle at all—this was her way of pressuring him to find a girlfriend.
"I have one, I have one! I’ve got a girlfriend now. Open the door!" Han Qiwu exclaid hastily, feeling equal parts amused and exasperated.
Good thing he’d confessed to Mr. Tang a few days ago; otherwise, he really wouldn’t have been able to get inside today.
Too difficult.
As soon as Mrs. Han heard this, she excitedly yanked the door open and imdiately reached out to take the things from his hands. "Really? My eldest son, you’re incredible! Sneaking around and getting yourself a girlfriend? Whose daughter is she? A classmate of yours?"
"Stop, stop, stop! Are you interrogating ? Can’t your son rest a bit after coming all this way? Son, don’t bother with her—I’ll help you carry this," Mr. Han said, stepping out from the kitchen to rescue him.
"No need, no need. They’re heavy; I can handle it myself," Han Qiwu quickly changed his shoes and placed all the items on the dining table.
"Wow, not bad—brought back a lot this ti. These fruits are nice, and the seafood looks fresh too. Kid, where’d you get the money for all this?" Mr. Han asked curiously, subtly redirecting the conversation.
He still thought Han Qiwu was just making up the girlfriend story to get through the door.
Mrs. Han, however, was keenly aware. She walked over and pressed on, "Son, don’t lie to your mom. Do you really have soone or not?"
Smiling, Han Qiwu slowly wandered into the bathroom to wash his hands. While drying them, he replied, "Mom, I really do this ti. We only just started dating, though, so it’s not the right ti to bring her over yet. Besides, who brings soone ho on a day like today?"
He neatly blocked all of Mrs. Han’s follow-up questions, preventing her from brewing any new sches.
"Ah, that’s fantastic!" Mrs. Han finally believed him, slamming the door shut in delight.
It was only then that Han Qiwu realized the door had never been closed properly earlier.
Mr. Han, still slightly incredulous, mouthed silently to him: "Really? How’d you et? Is she reliable?"
Slumping onto the sofa for a sip of water, Han Qiwu answered helplessly, "Let rest a bit first, okay? It was a three-hour trip back."
"Fine, fine, fine. You rest—I’ll wash the fruit," Mrs. Han said, much calr now as she started cleaning the strawberries, mulberries, and peaches he had brought ho.
Mr. Han couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew his son well.
When he’s quiet, he’s quiet—but when he acts, it’s remarkable!
There was no doubt about it.
He also grabbed the crabs and mantis shrimp Han Qiwu had brought and headed to the kitchen to start washing them.
In the kitchen, as the couple bumped into each other, Mrs. Han smugly said, "See? My pressure worked. It’s only been a little over a month, and he’s found a girlfriend, hasn’t he?"
"That’s because our son’s exceptional. What does your pressure have to do with it? By the way, did you secretly give Xiao Han money? This seafood’s already ticulously cleaned, ready to go straight into the pot," Mr. Han asked curiously.
Mrs. Han was puzzled too. "No, I was going to ask you the sa thing. These fruits are exceptional as well—the strawberries are even bigger and redder than the ones I saw at the imported fruit market last ti. They can’t have been cheap."
"Could he have grown them himself?" Mr. Han speculated.
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