Chapter 31

Outside the room, the three were busy scheming, making their plans with a clatter, but inside, Huo Wen’an didn’t take them seriously at all.

Clowns, why bother?

Ye Mingluo, feeling at home, went to the kitchen and brought back a plate, placing the steamed buns neatly on the little tea table in the lounge.

Ye Mingluo handed a steamed bun to Huo Wen’an and said, "These buns taste pretty good, and the meat is fresh. I watched them make it."

Whether it was fresh or not, Huo Wen’an could tell with just one taste.

He slowly sipped the soup inside, hearing Ye Mingluo mutter, "Xu Zeqing, that name sounds familiar."

Ye Mingluo’s mind, constantly engaged in medical research, only has room for precious knowledge and important people. Everything else is discarded like junk information.

So, although Xu Zeqing’s name sounded familiar, he couldn’t quite recall it immediately.

Huo Wen’an said, "He is Xu Xingguang’s father."

Ye Mingluo had only met Xu Xingguang once, but Xu Xingguang’s striking appearance left a deep impression. Even a month later, he still remembered Xu Xingguang vividly.

"So he’s the father of that ill-fated lover of yours, no wonder it sounds familiar." Ye Mingluo couldn’t forget the phrase "ill-fated lover" so quickly.

Huo Wen’an slightly frowned at these words but didn’t correct Ye Mingluo’s inappropriate phrasing.

Ye Mingluo began to analyze to himself, "Xu Xingguang is the daughter of Xu Zeqing and his ex-wife, who is the lady of the house next door. So, you might have even met Xu Xingguang during her childhood!"

Ye Mingluo quickly sought confirmation from Huo Wen’an, "Have you guys met?"

Huo Wen’an pondered for a couple of seconds before saying, "Yes."

"Oh my, so it’s childhood sweethearts!" Ye Mingluo clicked his tongue and, with a teasing smile, said to Huo Wen’an, "Childhood sweethearts then, ill-fated lovers now, your fate isn’t shallow. What do you think, considering keeping her by your side?"

Ye Mingluo was just joking when he said this.

Huo Wen’an, strict with himself, was acutely aware that his days were numbered, and wouldn’t touch or think about what he shouldn’t.

Even if Xu Xingguang were a naturally born star, Huo Wen’an wouldn’t reach out to pluck it.

Even in death, Huo Wen’an would remain a lone bachelor.

Sure enough, upon hearing Ye Mingluo’s words, Huo Wen’an shook his head decisively. "What childhood sweethearts, she’s much younger than me. In my eyes, she’s just a little kid."

When Huo Wen’an first met Xu Xingguang, she really was just a little girl, running around in a cotton sundress, playing wildly with the kids from the old street.

She could shoot birds with a slingshot, roll up her pants to work in the fields, and at night, she’d take a flashlight to catch eels in the rice paddies.

A little monkey full of beans.

Even though Huo Wen’an’s words seemed dismissive of Xu Xingguang, those who knew him understood that his expression when mentioning Xu Xingguang was noticeably joyful.

It seemed he had fond memories of Xu Xingguang’s childhood.

Ye Mingluo curiously asked, "What did Xu Xingguang look like as a child? Was she pretty, like a little elf?"

Thinking for a moment, Huo Wen’an couldn’t help but smile slightly, "She was dark-skinned and tomboyish. The kids on the old street called her ’Little Black Bean.’ She spent the entire summer under the sun, so her skin wasn’t anywhere near fair."

Ye Mingluo couldn’t picture that scene.

The Xu Xingguang he knew was a stunning beauty, like starlight, capable of adorning the entire universe. "I guess there’s truth in the saying that women change drastically as they grow up."

Just as they were chatting, Huo Wen’an’s phone suddenly buzzed.

Ye Mingluo quickly glanced at the phone screen and saw a WeChat message sent to Huo Wen’an by an unfamiliar avatar.

It was a vast, dark night sky, with a single golden star shining in it.

"Who is it?" Ye Mingluo’s curiosity almost leaped out of his chest.

Huo Wen’an had just set up this WeChat account a month ago, and except for Ye Mingluo and a few close friends, there was no one else.

Ye Mingluo didn’t recognize the avatar, suggesting it was a new friend Huo Wen’an had added.

Yet, since Huo Wen’an returned to the old street supposedly to await his death, not leaving his house, when did he add this new friend?

Without explaining, Huo Wen’an unlocked his phone with a fingerprint and opened his chat with Xu Xingguang.

Xu Xingguang said: [Boss Huo, a few packages will arrive in the evening. Could you please help me pick them up? I’ll come by to get them tomorrow.]

Huo Wen’an: [Sure.]

Ye Mingluo looked at Huo Wen’an, carefully replying to the message from this new friend, with a sense that something was up.

After replying, Huo Wen’an put the phone down and asked Ye Mingluo, "What brings you here today?"

"To see if you dropped dead." With that, Ye Mingluo scrutinized Huo Wen’an’s face.

He noticed that not only did Huo Wen’an’s complexion seemed rosier, but even the heaviness in his eyes appeared lighter. Ye Mingluo suspiciously asked, "Did something happen around you lately?"

"I took on a job yesterday." Besides that, nothing new.

"Well, well." Ye Mingluo laughed, "You finally got your first opening job. Not bad."

Ye Mingluo didn’t press Huo Wen’an for details about his work.

He got up, walked over to the stove, bent down, and lifted the lid off the medicine pot. Seeing there was little left, he advised, "I’m planning to tweak your prescription. The side effects of this one are too strong, and your body is about to become immune to it. Continuing like this won’t help much."

Ye Mingluo couldn’t help but sigh, "If only I could get hold of some Ice Crystal Grass."

With Ice Crystal Grass, he could temporarily suppress Huo Wen’an’s agitated blood, alleviating his suffering.

Upon hearing this, Huo Wen’an couldn’t help but think of Xu Xingguang.

How did she know about Ice Crystal Grass?

Dingdong!

Suddenly, a sound came from Ye Mingluo’s phone in his pants pocket.

A robotic female voice clearly stated: [Dear customer, the Medicinal Material Pavilion has updated. Some of the herbs you wanted are now available, hurry and bid!]

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingluo immediately pulled out his phone and walked over to sit on the recliner.

As the Ghost Hand Divine Doctor, Ye Mingluo had access to secrets unknown to most and interacted at levels only top-tier doctors reached.

The alert came from a herbal selling site called ’Medicinal Material Pavilion’ he was registered with.

The developer of the Medicinal Material Pavilion app is the Lanzhong Auction House.

Lanzhong Auction House is a comprehensive online auction house that tries to collect and auction a variety of items, including jewelry, artifacts, weapons, and herbs.

Anyone with valuables can put their items up for anonymous auction online, provided they pass the identification and verification by Lanzhong Auction House’s official team.

Sellers never need to show up, as the auction house staff will arrange everything for them.

Online auctions offer convenience to many mysterious individuals who wish to remain anonymous.

Lanzhong Auction House’s unique operational style has won the admiration and support of numerous mysterious figures, gradually making it the most mysterious and authoritative auction house worldwide.

Lanzhong Auction House operates on a membership point system, categorizing buyers and sellers into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.

The more treasures a seller auctions off, the higher their accumulated points and thus their level at Lanzhong Auction House.

Consequently, they enjoy greater privileges and better benefits.

Whenever a treasure is successfully auctioned, Lanzhong Auction House deducts 20% to 10% of the final sale price as a commission, based on the seller’s membership level.

Ye Mingluo is both an advanced buyer and an intermediate seller at the Medicinal Material Pavilion.

As an advanced buyer, he only needs to highlight the herbs he wants to purchase on his personal homepage. When they are listed, the Medicinal Material Pavilion system will promptly notify him to log in and bid.

No matter what herbs are listed today, they are all genuinely needed by Ye Mingluo.

Ye Mingluo immediately opened his personal homepage and was surprised to see five or six lights on the usually gray and dusty collection shelf suddenly light up!

Every lit-up herb was a rare and premium-grade herb!

The first item to light up was indeed the Ice Crystal Grass!

"Ice Crystal Grass!" Ye Mingluo suddenly grabbed Huo Wen’an’s arm, unable to contain his excitement.

Huo Wen’an’s arm turned bruised from his grasp, yet he seemed unaffected by the pain, immediately leaning towards Ye Mingluo’s phone screen.

Seeing that the Ice Crystal Grass genuinely lit up, Huo Wen’an decisively said, "Get it!"