Chapter 012: The Little Girl and the Strange Old Man (Fifth Update)

Xin Lang and Fatty Gu entered his dorm room, leaving Meng Chuchu alone outside the door. Once the door was closed, Fatty Gu leered and asked Xin Lang, “Boss, why do you always give Miss Meng lollipops?”

Seeing Xin Lang remain silent, Fatty Gu suddenly had a flash of inspiration and exclaimed, “I get it! Boss, you’re training her—so that when you finally win her over, she’ll use her tongue to give you special services! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! You’re truly wise!”

Fatty Gu hugged Xin Lang’s leg and shouted, “Boss, you’re my idol, my role model in wooing girls. I’m following you for life!”

“Get lost!” Xin Lang lifted his leg and sent Fatty Gu flying, cursing, “You’re disgusting, fatty! I’m not as vile as you!”

No matter how Xin Lang explained, Fatty Gu was convinced that Xin Lang was the type of perverted uncle who liked pretty little girls.

Since explanations were futile, Xin Lang gave up and handed him a hundred bottles of Imperial Dew, saying, “Fatty, don’t come back to bother me until you’ve sold all the medicine!”

Xin Lang shoved the hundred bottles of Imperial Dew into Fatty Gu’s arms and kicked him out of the dorm.

Outside, Fatty Gu protested, “Boss, I haven’t finished my daily training yet! Let me back in to finish my training, then I’ll go sell the medicine, okay?”

“Go to Spring Delight House. I think it’s more fitting for you to do your training in bed there.” Xin Lang had no intention of letting Fatty Gu back in.

At that moment, Meng Chuchu from next door heard the commotion and came out, asking, “Gu, what kind of training are you doing? Can I take a look?”

“Uh…” Fatty Gu scratched his head and replied, “Boss’s training isn’t really suitable for kids! If you want to see it, you’ll have to ask Boss Xin.”

Fatty Gu was well aware of his own limitations. A beautiful girl like Meng Chuchu would never be interested in him. And now that Xin Lang had started ‘training’ Meng Chuchu with lollipops, Fatty Gu didn’t dare set his sights on her, so he quickly made up an excuse and slipped away.

“What kind of medicine is Gu carrying? It seems so mysterious! I have to find out,” Meng Chuchu thought to herself.

She stood at Xin Lang’s door, wanting to knock, but after glancing at the lollipop in her hand, she abandoned the idea and returned to her own room.

After chasing Fatty Gu away, Xin Lang resumed his daily training with the upgrade device.

Two hours later, he finally heard the device’s notification: “Daily task completed. Experience reward: 1 point!”

Upon hearing the sound, Xin Lang struggled onto his bed and fell asleep from exhaustion.

The next morning, Fatty Gu arrived at Xin Lang’s dorm right on time. He handed over a money pouch and said, “Boss, here are thirty gold coins. Ten are the principal for the potion materials, and the remaining twenty are the profit from selling a hundred bottles of Imperial Dew. Heh, I kept my share already!”

Xin Lang took the pouch and weighed it. Thirty gold coins were a considerable sum, but compared to ten thousand gold coins, it was still far from enough.

He handed the pouch back to Fatty Gu and said, “Buy me materials for two hundred more bottles of Imperial Dew, and also get some white peony, white atractylodes, white poria, and white calamus. If possible, buy a root of polygonum multiflorum—the older, the better.”

Fatty Gu looked at Xin Lang’s list and said, “The peony and atractylodes are easy, but aged polygonum multiflorum will be hard to find. With what I have left, I can probably only afford a hundred-year-old root.”

Xin Lang frowned. He knew more about medicinal herbs than Fatty Gu, and aged polygonum multiflorum was expensive—several hundred gold coins wouldn’t be enough.

“Then get a hundred-year-old one,” Xin Lang said.

Soon, Fatty Gu returned with the herbs Xin Lang needed, except for the polygonum multiflorum. He wanted to save Xin Lang some money, so he compared prices, shopped around, and delayed his purchase.

After Fatty Gu left, Xin Lang busied himself with concocting potions. By noon, Fatty Gu had spent twenty-eight gold coins and finally bought a root of polygonum multiflorum, about two hundred years old.

Xin Lang stored the root in the upgrade device’s backpack. He was quite satisfied with Fatty Gu’s performance today. “Now I have two hundred bottles of Imperial Dew. Keep them with you. It may take some time to sell them all, but that’s alright—sell as many as you can.”

Xin Lang then produced a new medicine, also a bottled solution. “This one is called Lotus Whitening Dew, effective for whitening and beautifying the skin.”

He handed Fatty Gu a hundred bottles of Lotus Whitening Dew, patted him seriously on the shoulder, and said, “I believe in your abilities. You’ll get a great price for this medicine.”

Praised by Xin Lang, Fatty Gu was as excited as if he’d taken an aphrodisiac. He declared resolutely, “Boss, leave it to me. I guarantee I’ll complete the task successfully!”

Xin Lang spoke solemnly, “Fatty, I have a goal: to earn ten thousand gold coins in one month! It’s nearly impossible, but now I see that with you by my side, it might actually be achievable.”

“Boss!” Fatty Gu was moved to tears, hugging Xin Lang’s leg. “Boss, rest assured. I’ll do everything I can—even selling my own blood, if need be—to help you achieve that goal!”

Fatty Gu, so thoroughly convinced by Xin Lang, skipped lunch and rushed off to work for him.

Xin Lang might not be as skilled at business as Fatty Gu, but he knew how to use people. With Fatty Gu’s help, maybe he really could earn ten thousand gold coins in a month.

Having finished his daily task alone and seeing that Fatty Gu hadn’t returned yet, Xin Lang headed to the academy’s library.

He left his dorm and waited at the door for a while, muttering, “What’s going on? Did I go too hard yesterday and Qian Baidu is too injured to come today? If he doesn’t show up, how am I supposed to get experience for the upgrade device?”

After waiting a bit longer, Qian Baidu still didn’t appear, but Meng Chuchu did.

“Xin…”

Meng Chuchu ran happily up to Xin Lang, but before she could finish her sentence, a lollipop blocked her way.

“Here, go play by yourself.” Xin Lang tossed her the lollipop and turned toward the library.

Meng Chuchu cradled the lollipop, eyes glistening as she watched Xin Lang disappear down the path.

PS: Fifth chapter posted! No need for lengthy explanations—brothers, you all understand!