Chapter 7

Hastily rushing, Lei Huanxi finally caught the last bus back to Zhunan.

Throughout the journey, his mind was elsewhere, worried that Xiaopang might not hold on.

With a heavy heart, he arrived in Zhunan, jumped off the bus, and sprinted towards Xiantao Village.

"Xuanxi."

At that moment, a voice called out to him.

"Grandpa Dong." Lei Huanxi stopped in his tracks.

This was the only path from the town to Xiantao Village. In front of a row of bungalows, an elderly man in his seventies, wearing old but clean clothes, sat at the door, sipping tea contentedly.

His name was Dong Shanbei. He was distantly related to Lei Huanxi. In his youth, he was said to be a prominent figure, having traveled extensively and seen the world. Later, as he aged, he returned to Zhunan, like a leaf returning to its roots.

He never married and had no children. When Lei Huanxi was young, his grandfather would always bring him to town during the New Year or market days, and they would always visit Dong Shanbei. Lei Huanxi would kowtow to him during the New Year and receive a red envelope.

"Grandpa Dong, I have an urgent matter. I'll come to see you tomorrow." Lei Huanxi was worried about Xiaopang and couldn't afford to waste any time.

"Ah, I'm old and useless," Dong Shanbei sighed. "After living in the big city, you came back but didn't even come to see me. My old brother passed away, and no one told me, so I couldn't see him off. Forget it, forget it, go about your business."

His tone was filled with loneliness.

Lei Huanxi's heart softened, remembering all the kindness and affection Grandpa Dong had shown him when he was young. Would it be okay to delay a bit more?

He approached Dong Shanbei. "Grandpa Dong, I'm sorry. I should have notified you about my grandfather's passing, but I was worried about your health..."

"Xuanxi, I know you're not an ungrateful child. Sit, sit. Do you want some candy? Ah, you're not a child anymore, you're all grown up." Dong Shanbei rambled on.

He was an old man with no children, and seeing Lei Huanxi made him incredibly happy. "Xuanxi, I saw you selling peaches today. Goodness, those peaches were huge. No one in Xiantao Village can grow peaches like that. I didn't expect your old brother to have such skills."

He was convinced that those peaches were grown by Lei Huanxi's grandfather, as Lei Huanxi, a young man, couldn't have such skills.

Once he started talking, he couldn't stop. Lei Huanxi was worried about Xiaopang but didn't dare to interrupt him.

After rambling for a long time, Dong Shanbei finally asked, "Where were you so late?"

"I went to Yundong and bought a piece of jade. I needed it urgently."

"Jade? Let me see it." Dong Shanbei perked up. "When I was young, I apprenticed under a master. Do you know who my master was? Xu Yiyu, a renowned expert in jade. I can tell if a piece of jade is genuine just by looking at it."

Lei Huanxi also wanted to know if the jade was real, so he took it out when Dong Shanbei said this.

Dong Shanbei took it and looked at it for a moment. "How much did you pay for it?"

"The asking price was 5000, but I haggled it down to 2000."

"2000?" Dong Shanbei laughed. "This thing, I wouldn't take it even if you gave it to me for 100..."

What? Lei Huanxi was stunned. He thought he had gotten a good deal, but it turned out he had been cheated.

"The jade is real, but it's made from scraps. You can't say the seller sold you fake goods... Hmm?"

Dong Shanbei examined the jade from all angles, his face suddenly showing surprise. "Follow me inside."

Lei Huanxi, who was already upset about being cheated, was puzzled by Dong Shanbei's actions and followed him into the house.

Dong Shanbei took out a set of tools and examined the jade under a lamp for over ten minutes. Then, he placed the jade on the table and took out a small, delicate hammer, carefully tapping around the jade.

Lei Huanxi had no idea what he was doing and didn't dare to ask, so he patiently watched.

After a while, something surprising happened:

A crack appeared around the jade. Dong Shanbei put down the hammer and gently rubbed the jade between his palms. Soon, several small pieces of jade fell onto the table.

Dong Shanbei then spread his palms, revealing that the outer layer of the jade had been rubbed off, and a completely different piece of jade appeared before Lei Huanxi.

The jade Lei Huanxi had bought was originally green, but after the outer layer was removed, the inside was a peach-pink color.

"What, what's going on?" Lei Huanxi, who knew nothing about jade, was dumbfounded.

"Hehe, this is an old trick," Dong Shanbei laughed. "In the early Republic of China, some wealthy young men, imitating jade gambling, had craftsmen wrap inferior jade around valuable jade and then sell it for 100 silver dollars each. If you got real jade, you made a profit. If you got fake jade, tough luck. The piece you have is from that era."

Lei Huanxi saw a glimmer of hope. If it was 100 silver dollars, he had paid 2000 yuan: "Grandpa Dong, what about mine?"

"Consider yourself lucky, hehe. The shop owner who sold you this jade made a mistake," Dong Shanbei chuckled. "This is called peach blossom jade. The deeper the color, the better. The deeper the peach-pink, the more valuable it is. The lighter, the less valuable. Your piece, while not priceless, can still fetch two or three thousand yuan."

Lei Huanxi smiled.

The shop owner who sold him the fake jade, if he knew the truth, would probably slap himself for selling a piece worth two or three thousand yuan for just 2000 yuan.

It seemed that since he had Xiaopang, his luck had turned.

Dong Shanbei returned the jade to Lei Huanxi. "Take good care of it. Don't waste it. Don't sell it unless you really need the money. As the saying goes, gold has a price, but jade is priceless..."

"I understand, Grandpa Dong." Lei Huanxi checked the time and realized he couldn't stay any longer. "I have an urgent matter at home. I have to go."

"Wait." Dong Shanbei called him back, then took out a small wooden box from under the bed. After rummaging through it, he pulled out a small paper packet. "I have some ginseng seeds. They're no use to me, so take them. They're just ordinary ginseng seeds. I wanted to plant them myself, but I'm too old and lack the energy."

Planting ginseng is not an easy task. Ginseng grows best in a forest environment and grows very slowly. It takes ten months for the seeds to sprout, and it takes three to five decades for the roots to grow to the size of an egg. After processing, the weight is even less.

Lei Huanxi put the seeds in his pocket. "Thank you, Grandpa Dong. I'll come to see you next time."

"Be careful on your way back." Dong Shanbei warned, but Lei Huanxi was already gone.

...

He rushed back home, so fast that he surprised himself.

When he saw Xiaopang, the situation was dire. Xiaopang was lying in the water basin, barely alive, without the strength to lift his head.

He quickly took Xiaopang out and placed him on the peach blossom jade.

As soon as they made contact, something miraculous happened.

Lei Huanxi's eyesight had improved greatly, and he could see changes that ordinary people couldn't.

A faint, almost imperceptible green light swirled around the jade, then quickly concentrated around Xiaopang's body and entered it.

Xiaopang sensed it and immediately perked up, wriggling and greedily absorbing the jade's essence.

As the jade's essence entered Xiaopang, his spirit improved, and the absorption rate increased. Eventually, he was bouncing around on the jade.

Was this a dragon? Who had ever seen such a small, lazy, and gluttonous dragon?

Lei Huanxi was increasingly skeptical about whether this creature was a dragon.

Finally, the last bit of the jade's essence entered Xiaopang's body, and the little guy was fully revitalized.

However, the peach blossom jade, which was originally a deep peach-pink, had turned into the lightest, least valuable peach-pink, as Dong Shanbei had said.

Lei Huanxi felt a pang of pain. In just over a minute, two or three thousand yuan had been "eaten" by Xiaopang.

Xiaopang had helped him earn ten thousand yuan, but now he had given it all back, with interest.

Xiaopang's appearance had also changed. Originally, he was only a finger's length and as thick as a chopstick. After absorbing the jade's essence, he had grown and become plump and chubby, transforming from a silkworm into a...

Fat silkworm...

Xiaopang jumped onto Lei Huanxi's face and extended a tiny tongue, licking his face as if to thank him for saving his life.

"Hey, hey, are you a dragon or a dog?" Lei Huanxi's face tingled from the licking.

But Xiaopang's affection made Lei Huanxi feel less alone.

This was his only companion.

Xiaopang suddenly stopped, turned around, and his small eyes fell on the large bowl of cold braised pork. Then, drool started to flow from his mouth.

This was a dragon that drooled when it was hungry!

"I warn you, I haven't had dinner either." Lei Huanxi suddenly realized what was about to happen.

Xiaopang climbed onto Lei Huanxi's nose, and his sesame-sized eyes seemed to grow larger, staring coldly at Lei Huanxi.

Lei Huanxi stared back at Xiaopang, his face stern.

A cold wind blew in, and the atmosphere became tense.

Xiaopang suddenly bit Lei Huanxi's nose.

It didn't hurt, not at all, but Lei Huanxi suddenly couldn't move.

He watched helplessly as Xiaopang leaped from his nose to the bowl of braised pork, turned back to look at him triumphantly, and then watched as the bowl of braised pork rapidly diminished.

But he couldn't move at all.

That night, a cry of despair echoed through Lei Huanxi's house:

"You fat, smelly, long, horned worm, how can you be so unfair!"