21 Better Gifts than your Birthday
A/N: So if you guys aren't aware, Webnovel has been 'shadowbanning' comments recently. This means that any comment that contains profanities in any form, will be automatically deleted.
Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
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Xia Hongyi looked to be in deep thought. One of his arms sat across his chest, propping up the other that was methodically stroking his short beard.
All of a sudden, it was as if the previous stern aura ceased to exist and what replaced it was a naturally calm and gentle demeanor.
He cracked a smile and said. "Okay, good good good. Yue'er likes you and all I want is for my family to be happy. If you can indeed get Xiao Che to agree then great. If not, we can always find another way."
Both Shane and Qingyue were completely taken aback by the change in attitude and it must have shown on their faces because Xia Hongyi immediately teased them, with a smirk and a wave of his hand.
"What!? Who says I can't act like a stern father judging his would-be son-in-law?
Little Long, you must already know, but Yu'er is terrible at any form of deception… That and she basically talked about you every day, non-stop, for the last month. I would have to be an idiot not to know something was going on."
Shane looked to his left, just in time to see Qingyue, who was red all the way up to the tips of her ears; burying her face in her hands and letting out a small devastated whine.
Xia Hongyi however was merciless and continued on with mirth evident in his voice. "You better have some good stuff for me after this, brat. Yue'er has been talking you up as well and I must say it will have to be something very good to impress me."
"Father!" She half screamed.
"Hehehe. Relax, Yue'er. I'm only joking with him. Aiya, not even married and already siding with her husband." He sent a helpless smile towards her before turning to Shane.
Shane adopted a thinking pose for a moment. "Well, I did bring gifts for the first meeting but that should probably wait until after I have explained the product and what uses it has.
Uncle Xia, it would be for the best if you called your son over as well as he will benefit from this too."
As soon as Shane finished talking, Xia Hongyi rang a small silver bell that came from ...somewhere, and a servant rushed over.
After exchanging a few words, the servant disappeared towards another area of the house and returned only 10 minutes later.
During these 10 minutes, Xia Hongyi felt like crying but he had no tears. Little did he expect, Shane and Qingyue would so shamelessly flirt with each other the entire time.
Qingyue had immediately rested her head back against Shane's chest while his fingers brushed through her hair. Then a platter of freshly cut fruits and a pot of spirit tea appeared in front of them on the table.
Shane would then feed her the fruits from time to time and if he wasn't doing that, he would be sharing his tea with her, from the same cup no less! At one point, she even started to act spoiled and requested different fruits to be fed with!
Poor Hongyi wanted to pull out his hair but couldn't even bring himself to say anything as Qingyue had a rare look of bliss on her face the entire time.
Shane really did pamper her these past 10 minutes but when he felt the warmth against his chest, smelt the scent of Winter Honeysuckle on her hair, and saw Qingyue smiling brightly while acting spoiled, all he thought was. 'Heh. Worth It!'
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"Oh thank God! Finally, he's here!" Shane and QIngyue were brought out of their own little world by Hongyi's exclamation.
"Tsk" Qingyue clicked her tongue as the plate of fruits vanished and he wiped her mouth with a napkin before propping her up in her chair again.
Shane couldn't help but chuckle at her pout and as he looked towards the house, he saw an absolute giant of a man briskly walking in their direction, one could even faintly feel the ground tremble with each step taken.
Reading about him was one thing but seeing him in the flesh was a different beast altogether.
Xia Yuanba was over two meters tall and had muscles on top of muscles, his muscles even had a dark tan color to them that would make bodybuilders back on earth jealous.
Shane was over 1.9m and pretty ripped himself but this guy took the cake. 'He's gotta weigh like 200kg, and it's all muscle!'
"Awhahaha, Father, Big Sis!" He greeted them happily and loudly from quite a distance away.
When the giant reached the table, Qingyue waved a hand towards him and said, "This is my little brother Yuanba"
Shane raised an eyebrow and looked at Qingyue, then at Yuanba, then at Hongyi, then back to Qingyue, then back to Yuanba, and then finally he looked thoughtfully at Qingyue again. After several seconds he grinned and said "En you have the same nose."
Xia Hongyi burst out laughing and Qingyue giggled behind her hand like some sort of noble lady. Yuanba just scratched his head and looked a little lost but not for long as Shane swiftly got up from his chair and approached him with an outstretched hand.
"Hi Yuanba. I'm Shan Long but you can call me Shane." Yunanba looked a little confused still but accepted the hand as Shane dragged him into a half hug and patted his shoulder while secretly inspecting his veins. 'Holy Shit! They are like 3 times wider than normal veins. How interesting.'
"Damn son! You're solid as a rock! What do they even feed you!?" Shane said while squeezing his shoulder.
Yuanba chuckled bashfully and rubbed the back of his head again before moving to sit next to his father at the table. Shane didn't sit down but instead, he pulled out a large standing incense burner and lots of small sandalwood boxes from his storage before placing them onto the table.
He took a deep breath and started to spin his story.
*Ahem* "The last few months, I have been in the Scarlet Dragon Mountain Range exploring and fighting profound beasts for training.
Around 300km into the area, I discovered a weak profound plant that I have never heard of before.
After some trial and error, I finally found the use for this plant. When burnt, it releases a mist-like smoke that, when inhaled, can help to relax a cultivator's mind.
For low-level cultivators, inhaling the smoke can even loosen the boundary between realms and even allow them to break through directly. I call it profound tobacco!"
Shane opened his arms wide at the last words and a 'herb box' with 10, standard, 1.5m tall profound tobacco plants appeared behind him
Xia Hongyi, who had the sharp mind of a merchant, was the first to catch onto this and he quickly asked. "Do you have more than what you have shown here?"
Shane waved his hand and the planter disappeared. "But of course. I have over 400 separate fully grown plants and another 200 juveniles still. Only half of them have been transferred to a wooden 'herb box' as of now, however.
Unfortunately, the effects of standard profound tobacco vapor on a person's cultivation will stop after they reach the peak of Elementary Profound Realm. I will name this strain alpha so that it is easier to refer to."
Letting his words sink in for a moment, Shane waved his hand again, as another 'herb box' appeared behind him, drawing everyone's eyes. These tobacco plants looked slightly taller but also more vibrant than the ones before, they even had larger leaves.
"The last couple of months, I have been developing a way to enhance the profound tobacco, with varying degrees of success. The 'herb box' behind me contains 10 fully grown profound tobacco plants that can help to increase the cultivation of anyone in the Nascent Realm and below.
The effect of the calming of the mind is also multiplied by a fold compared to the alpha strain."
Xia Hongyi stood up in a hurry and asked. "Little Long, how long do they take to grow and how much do you need to burn for it to become effective?"
Shane casually plucked a couple of large leaves from one of the plants before The 'herb box' disappeared again "Hmmm. If you were to grow them normally I would expect the cycle to take a maximum of 4 months from seed to fully grown for the alpha strain. As for the others, I have no idea as I used a special method to grow them quickly in these last 9 days."
Xia Hongyi picked up on Shane's tell and licked his suddenly dry lips. In a somewhat shaky voice, he asked. "O-other s-strains? J-just how many o-other strains do you have L-little Long?"
Shane grinned. "As expected of a merchant, you are very sharp. I have both the beta strain which you have just seen and a gamma strain which as of now, is my absolute masterpiece!."
With a far more dramatic wave, 2 large square pots with each housing a monstrous 2.5m tall tobacco tree appeared on either side of Shane, and instantly the surrounding air felt as if it were being purified.
Qingyue, who had a thin smile at Shane's theatrics until now, suddenly had her beautiful big eyes wide open as she faintly muttered. "How is this possible? Just being next to it is slightly increasing my cultivation."
"Well my dear Qingyue, not everyone is as much of a heaven-defying genius as you are but yes you had guessed it right." She blushed up a storm while Shane left a slight pause for added build-up.
"The mist-like smoke made from burning this plant can enhance the cultivation of anyone at True Profound or below and yes they do also contain hundreds of flowers each...
Although I am unsure of how long they would take to grow completely from seed to tree, we at least have hope that the plant is still fertile and can be cultivated separately in the future."
His eyes gained a look of excitement as he continued. "Of course, the biggest benefit of all of these plants is that even at the Spirit Profound Peak, Xiao Lie had felt the relaxing benefit of calming the mind and that was just from an alpha strain leaf.
That means that even cultivators of a higher realm will be interested in purchasing this product even if it is only for recreation."
Allowing those words to settle in for a moment, Shane then turned to Xia Hongyi with a knowing look and the man said. "What a heaven-defying thing. Little Long, what part do you want my side to play in all of this? What exactly do you want from me?"
"Apart from your daughter" Shane mumbled, causing the little miss next to him to do her best to pinch all the skin on his waist off.
He then raised his fingers one by one, counting points, not forgetting to flash her a teasing grin as he included Qingyue as one of them. "What I want is your expertise, your network of contacts, your advice, and your time! For this, I am willing to offer you 50%!
50% of the overall profits for you to manage everything!"
Xia Hongyi went to speak but Shane held up a hand to stop him. He moved to the edge of the table, pulled out a pestle & mortar, and sat down as the two leaves he recently plucked hovered in front of him and dried out within seconds.
He shredded the leaves and took out some of his favorite forest peaches before preparing them as well. Seemingly focused on the task at hand, he spoke again after only a few seconds, surprising everyone.
"I am many things. A cultivator, a fighter, an explorer, and a researcher but I am neither a merchant nor a businessman. Yet still, I am fully aware of just how valuable the thing that I hold in my hand is. If the plants can be repeatedly cultivated without my help, the potential for profit is... immeasurable.
However, to be frank with you, I just don't care. All I wish for is to live an unfettered life while making the ones I love happy. If you really must put a reason to it, then take it as a dowry."
'Profound Bullshitting or Profound Acting skill is surely gonna appear at some point. How can I tell my father-in-law the truth that I'm just too lazy to do it myself and would rather be hugging his daughter's soft body. Isn't that courting death?''
Despite the thoughts in his head, Shane did say the last part firmly and seriously while also gazing lovingly at Qingyue. He wasn't joking, after all, She was his. The girl herself had some small tears in the corner of her eyes and gazed lovingly back. Yuanba was confused, wasn't Xiao Che going to be his brother-in-law? Who the hell was this guy!?
"I'm sure I don't need to say how dangerous for you this could become if you don't have the right support. For this reason, I will currently only be cultivating the alpha and a small number of beta plants for selling.
The gamma strain will only be for family and friends we can trust until we either have our own hired experts or the backing of a much larger force to protect both yourself and the plants.
I did hear that the Black Moon Merchant Guild is trustworthy but they wouldn't pay us any mind unless we knew someone who had status with them." Shane knew that Hongyi had a connection to that old man, Zi Ji, somehow and wanted to nudge him in the right direction.
The Pestle & Mortar was now finally full of the completed peach tobacco pulp and Shane put it aside before explaining.
"That is how easy it is to mix up a fruit pulp ready for burning. I decided to call it Spirit Incense as tobacco pulp just sounds awful... Don't you think Spirit Incense sounds very mysterious?
I guess that the drying process for the leaves and fruit would usually take much longer unless performed by a cultivator but you get the idea..."
"...Shane... most cultivators cannot casually control profound energy to perform external actions like that." Qingyue interjected with a bitter smile and a shake of her head.
He laughed awkwardly and scratched his nose. "Welp. In that case, I guess drying them in the sun would normally take a few days..." 'No wonder I found it really difficult to control profound energy externally when my cultivation was lower.'
"Why do you mix it with the fruit?" Hongyi asked.
Shane grabbed his chin and said. "Hmmm. Well, apart from increasing the time taken for the mixture to burn and therefore increasing the time spent absorbing the benefits, due to the moisture in the fruit, it also fills a room or courtyard with the misty smoke more easily.
The tobacco leaves on their own also tend to burn extremely quickly and most cultivators cannot absorb profound energy at that speed, so it would be wasted.
Using fruit in the mix also means that less of the tobacco leaves are used, effectively saving costs and maximizing profits." After those last words were spoken, both Shane and Hongyi shared a wicked grin.
As if he just remembered something incredibly important, Shane's gestures became more pronounced. "Oh, and wouldn't it be boring if all it did was increase your cultivation yet it smelt like burnt grass? With fruit added, it smells amazing!" Sadly nobody shared his enthusiasm and instead looked at him like he was some sort of strange animal, even Yuanba...
"*Cough* Aaaaanywaay, I brought gifts!" Shane coughed awkwardly and changed the subject as a pile of things appeared around him.
"There are 3 small, portable incense/oil burners here and 3 boxes of flavored Spirit Incense for each of you...
Uncle Xia, you have peach, lemon, and ginger from the alpha strain. Yuanba, you have peach, orange, and apple from the beta strain.
Last but not least for my little Qingyue, you have peach, strawberry, and blackberry from the gamma strain."
Now each of the boxes should have enough pulp for ten, 2 hour-long burns." Everyone was looking at him a little weirdly, and he knew why.
He coughed in embarrassment and then continued as if nothing happened "*Cough* I like the forest peaches the most."
Shane then handed them each a bag of small, pre-cut heartwood blocks with shining eyes. "Use this in the bottom of the incense burner rather than coal and it will smell much better"
After handing out all the needed items he turned to Yuanba and fished out a small jade case. "These are pills suitable for the Elementary Profound Realm. Along with the tobacco, you should be able to progress for 1 or 2 small realms."
Yuanba was a little taken aback. How come he was getting gifts? Never one to question things too much, he just accepted the box with a smile in the end. "Thank you, Shane!"
Next was Xia Hongyi. Shane withdrew a few of the expensive wine bottles he had brought earlier along with the case of cigars and 200kg of the Sandalwood Heartwood.
"Uncle Xia, you are not a cultivator so I decided to gift you some of the finest heartwood I have along with some good wine and these 'cigars'. These 'cigars' are made from the beta strain of plants and are to be ignited at one end and inhaled directly. You can offer them to potential partners or friends or keep them for yourself."
Xia Hongyi was stunned speechless at the pile of things he had received, just the heartwood alone was a priceless treasure! "Little Long, this is too muc-"
He looked up mid-sentence to see Shane was already approaching Qingyue. His gaze had turned immeasurably soft and he raised a hand to brush his fingers across her cheek. It was unknown when, but a large bouquet of beautiful white Asian Lilies had appeared in his other hand.
She leaned into his touch with eyes squinted in happiness. Today was like a dream to her. Not only was Shane a strong cultivator with magical means, but he was also very resourceful and had treated her family so well. "Qingyue, everything I have is already yours"
Her eyebrows arched even more as a dazzling smile adorned her beautiful face and she hummed at his words although a small seed of disappointment did start to invade her heart.
Shane paused for a few moments before pinching her nose a little while a playful grin slowly spread across his face. "Still, I did specially prepare you a few little things."
He then took out the Chinese Hanfu dress and the white pearl hairpins he brought in Cyan Forest Town. Qingyue's hands shot out at an unbelievable speed and grabbed onto the dress with stars in her eyes "...beautiful"
Shane smiled wryly as Qingyue ignored him completely and inspected the dress all over like it was some priceless treasure. 'Women love beautiful clothes no matter the world eh. Thank goddess they don't have those big malls over here!'
He scratched his nose and looked around, his eyes scanning the other occupants for any possible help, only to see Xia Hongyi shoot him a knowing look with a shit-eating grin attached.
*Ahem* Shane cleared his throat awkwardly to bring Qingyue out of her daydream and she shot him an annoyed look, only to realize where she was and become flustered. "Qingyue, the dress is very nice but I have some better things to show you."
He then pulled out the three jade boxes containing the pills he made especially for her. "These pills are suitable for cultivators in the late True Profound Realm but in this case, they are refined especially for you. All together they should help you to advance at least 3 small realms without affecting your foundations in any way."
Everyone's eyes went wide. "Such a heaven-defying pill!" "Wow, big brother Long is amazing!" Shane chuckled, it seemed as if the peanut gallery was out in full force today.
Qingyue got up from her chair, eyes beginning to water, and buried herself into Shane's chest. "Thank you." She whispered.
He wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear. "I know what you want the most is strength and I will always do my best to help you with whatever you need. After all, that is what a family does." "En"
Unfortunately, those words didn't help turn off the waterworks and his shirt quickly became wet with tears. Hongyi and Yuanba pretended to be very interested in their new gifts, the floor, the garden, and even the table until a few minutes later when she shyly removed her head from Shane's chest and returned to her seat.
He punched his palm for emphasis and said. "Okay, gifts out of the way. I want to hammer out a few details before you test the pulp I just mixed not long ago."
Shane then explained to Hongyi how he wanted to first open up a teahouse in Floating Cloud filled with private rooms for burning the Spirit Incense. He showed all of the flavors he had previously mixed with the addition of raspberry and mint.
Shane thought that having a building with two levels and some of Hongyi's trusted staff to work there would be fine for now. Hongyi agreed that there was no need to start too ambitious.
The ground floor would have many small rooms and the top floor would have a workshop area as well as a storeroom and a few VIP rooms for the customers who wanted the much more expensive beta strain tobacco.
Shane left all the details of staff and pricing to Hongyi and also reassured the man that he would personally be there most of the time. They then decided that the opening would be in two months. This would give Shane enough time to sort the issues of the engagement and to prepare a large stock of tobacco pulp.
Shane's voice turned serious towards the end and he said grimly. "Uncle Xia. Only our most trusted people can be in charge of something this important.
I will leave all of the details to you but I have the mind to train Xiao Che and Lingxi until the middle stages of Nascent Profound in these two months.
Neither of them are really suited for the tough life of a cultivator but they both have the talent to become strong enough to act as deterrents. After that, they can manage the teahouse for us and I will give them 10% of the profits of the teahouse in Floating Cloud along with regular cultivation resources."
Xia Hongyi agreed with him and they shook hands ending the business for today.
Shane transferred the recently made pulp into the large standing incense burner and took some blocks of heartwood from his storage, but before lighting it he said.
"Uncle Xia, Yuanba. This will burn for around two hours and you will both be so relaxed that you will enter a meditative state while inhaling it for the first time.
I am going to help Qingyue absorb the pills and burn a stronger one with her as both of our cultivations are too high to gain any benefits from the beta strain.
Dusty!"
*Whoosh* *Splash* Dusty erupted from within the pool in all her glory and everyone froze for a second until she was enveloped in a flash of green light and appeared on Shane's arm while chirping and licking him.
"W-w-what was that!?" Yuanba shouted, half terrified and half excited.
Shane scratched her little horns and said. "This is the cutest little dragon snake in the whole world, Dusty. She will watch over you two during the next couple of hours."
Qingyue's heart felt extremely warm once again hearing his words and unable to contain her emotions, she grabbed his hand and held it tight.
Shane casually brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it, causing her to swoon and Hongyi to roll his eyes.
He then lit the heartwood and made sure it was burning properly before Qingyue grabbed his hand again and started dragging him towards the manor. Leaving him barely a second to store away her gifts.
He knew that she had been very patient these last few weeks and now she wanted answers but he first needed to think hard about how much to tell her. 'I will just go with the flow and based on how extreme her reactions are, I will tell her more.'
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A/N: I will be busy for most of tomorrow helping my friend with things for his wedding. Uggggh I know, but a promise made while intoxicated, is still a promise. That means that I probably won't be able to post a chapter.
I will make it up to you guys with my first attempt at a lemon on the day after, however.
