Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 85: Having a Daughter Feifei (Four Updates to Celebrate Alliance Leader Ziyan)

By noon, the dark clouds gradually faded, and the sky became thin; paradoxically, it even began to rain lightly.

It was at this time that Lang Zhen regained consciousness. He joyfully declared, “The effect is indeed remarkable. I plan to rest a bit and take another Meridian Opening Pill tonight.”

Feng Jun was not particularly surprised by this. “There’s no need to rush, it’s best to be cautious. If need be, just take an extra one or two Meridian Opening Pills.”

Upon hearing this, the Deng Family Brothers exchanged glances once more: were they really talking about the Meridian Opening Pills?

Although Deng Yifu was the deputy head of the escort service, the Meridian Opening Pills were still a rare sight for the Deng Family.

In their hearts, they knew Feng Jun was no ordinary person, but his casual tone when talking about having enough Meridian Opening Pills still shocked them.

Lang Zhen, on the other hand, was well aware of the situation. He chuckled, “With an old injury, it’s better to be persistent and strive for further improvement.”

As they were speaking, Feng Jun emitted a sound of curiosity and picked up the telescope to look through it.

Lang Zhen had mostly become immune to the rare things around him, but the Deng brothers, feeling it inappropriate to casually touch the owner’s belongings, were unaware of the magic of the telescope.

After observing for a while, Feng Jun murmured softly, “Over there… is that someone?”

The rain was light, but the distance was too great, making the telescope less effective.

The other three also stood up and looked in the same direction. After a while, Deng Lao Da hesitantly spoke up, “So small… could it be a wild animal?”

His eyesight was quite good, but all he could see was a small, brownish moving dot.

The dot gradually expanded, and they could clearly see that it was indeed a person approaching.

It was the figure of a small child, who only as they came closer did the four men realize was a boy of perhaps seven or eight years old.

The child was clad in a straw raincoat, and his hair was wet from the rain, making it hard to distinguish at first glance whether he was a boy or girl.

On his back was a large basket, nearly half his size and seemingly quite heavy.

From a far distance from the thatched hut, the child saw the four men looking at him. He hesitated briefly, then wiped the rainwater off his face and continued to approach, stopping in front of the hut. Raising his hand in greeting, he spoke with a trembling voice, “Greetings to the gentlemen here.” “Compared to you, we certainly are adults,” Lang Zhen uncharacteristically joked, “What’s a little fellow like you doing out in this rain instead of staying home?”

The child had not expected the four adults to be so approachable. He hesitated before mustering the courage to ask, “May I inquire if the gentlemen are collecting stones?”

“We are collecting stones, not eating people, look how scared you are,” Lang Zhen replied with a laugh, then glanced at Feng Jun, “Seeing him, I can’t help but think of the youngest child at home. Even the Divine Doctor would find it amusing.”

Feng Jun smiled, finding it all very natural. It was a universal feeling— watching such a small child trudging through the rain, who wouldn’t feel compassionate?

In the child’s eyes, Lang Zhen had the most ferocious appearance among the four, but seeing him speak kindly, the child’s courage grew, “I have an excellent family heirloom stone that I wish to sell to you.”

Lang Zhen laughed upon hearing this, “Good or not, it’s not for you to declare. We need to have a look for ourselves… Come, take shelter under the eaves for a while.”

The child went under the eaves and squatted down; the basket touched the ground. Then with an agile twist, he stepped away from the basket.

Some green grass covered the basket; removing it, he revealed a square block of white jade.

“Oh?” Feng Jun exclaimed softly upon seeing it. If his eyes were not deceiving him, this was a polished piece of Mutton Fat White Jade, approximately twelve to thirteen centimeters square and nearly thirty centimeters long, resembling a pillow of jade.

He took out a magnifying glass, and after a casual glance, knew his guess was very close to the mark. Notably, the quality of this piece of Mutton Fat White Jade seemed even better than the last one.

After looking it over, Lang Zhen picked up the stone to weigh it, then nodded to Feng Jun, “This stone… the quality is quite decent.”

In this realm, there was virtually no speculation in jade stones, and naturally, no assessment standards either. However, without a doubt, fine items were fine items, and Lang Zhen’s open comment in front of the child meant that the jade’s quality would fetch a high price even in the shops of Xiyin City.

In fact, his praise would have been even higher if not for considering that Feng Jun was the one collecting the jade.

Of course, Feng Jun wasn’t concerned about these details. Looking at the child, he spoke with a smile, “Family heirloom stones are not something you’re qualified to sell. Where are your parents?”

The child’s expression immediately darkened, “My parents have already passed away; only my brother and I are left.”

It turned out that their house was in a nearby village. Their grandfather had died early, an uncle had also passed away, and their father died two years ago. Their mother went insane and drowned in the river the previous year.

It was a tragic tale, but aside from a brief loss of composure at the beginning, the child’s emotions gradually became calm as he narrated.

After listening for a while, Lang Zhen made a soft exclamation, “Oh, so you’re a girl?”

“A family heirloom can also be sold by a girl,” the girl wiped the rain off her face again and spoke calmly, “My little brother is only three years old. I pawned the last piece of land we had to treat his illness a while ago, and if we don’t redeem the land soon, we’ll starve to death.”

Upon hearing this, the four grown men exchanged glances, and finally, it was Deng Lao Er who spoke up, “How much do you plan to sell this stone for?”

“Five silver dollars,” the girl replied through gritted teeth, as if to bolster her own courage, “When I was trying to treat my mother’s insanity, someone offered three silver dollars for it, but I didn’t sell.”

Lang Zhen nodded upon hearing this, “That’s not expensive.”

Feng Jun gave him a look, laughing and crying, “Old Lang, it’s easy for you to call the shots.”

“Five silver dollars, of course, is not expensive,” Lang Zhen answered confidently, “How much did you pay for those two Stone Balls…?”

Deng Lao Er was getting a bit impatient, “If the Divine Doctor thinks it’s expensive, I don’t mind buying it; we can deduct the money from my salary.” His words clearly carried a sense of irritation, probably because he felt that Feng Jun was a bit uncharitable.

Feeling a bit upset by these words, Feng Jun thought for a moment and then decided not to take it to heart, laughing it off, “Then I’ll give you ten silver dollars, is that alright?”

“Ten silver dollars?” The little girl was hugely startled, her mind had been set on getting exactly five silver dollars, how could she have expected him to double the price?

After a moment’s thought, she slowly shookher head, “No need, five silver dollars will do. I need three and a half to pay off debt, the rest will be enough for us to spend.”

Lang Zhen was taken aback as well, looking cautiously at Feng Jun, “Divine Doctor, I’mnot saying that you offered too little, but there’s no need to double it… is there?”

He did feel somewhat sorry for the child and wanted to speak up for her, but if he caused the Divine Doctor to be dissatisfied with him, it wouldn’t be worth it —after all, the Meridian Opening Pills he had been using for the past two days were provided by Feng Jun.

“What do you know?” Feng Junbai gave him a disdainful look, “A lot of money for a good horse, understand?”

“So that’s how it is,” Deng Lao Er exclaimed excitedly, “No one comes to sell stones, so you start by buying one at a high price?”

“Hmm,” Feng Jun nodded, he wasn’t against doing good deeds, but the explosive amount of information on Earth showed that blindly doing good deeds often led to many drawbacks.

It was better to look for a somewhat plausible reason and use it as an excuse to do good, as this would be more acceptable to everyone.

This logic might seem a bit scoundrelly, but in practice, such behavior effectively reduced a lot of trouble.

Hearing this, the little girl spoke timidly, “The village chief said that we’re not allowed to sell stones to you. I sneaked out during the rain.”

“Damn it,” Deng Lao Er erupted in anger upon hearing this, “That bastard, does he really think the people of Xiyin can be bullied so easily? Forcing such a little girl to sneak out in the rain?”

“It’s okay, I’m used to it,” the little girl, touched by his defense, hastened to argue back, “I’ve been looking after my mother and little brother like this for over two years… If it wasn’t for their pressing me to repay the debt, I wouldn’t have braved the rain to come out.”

At this, Deng Lao Da spoke up, which was rare, “Then take the ten silver dollars, just keep it.”

“No need,” the girl declined promptly, shaking her head, “Five silver dollars is already quite a lot. I can earn enough to support my little brother.”

Deng Lao Er’s eyes widened, about to say something, but Lang Zhen intervened, “Alright, just five silver dollars. Giving her any more would be harming her and her brother’s lives.”

Upon hearing this, the Deng Family Brothers fell silent. Although they hadn’t experienced much, they understood the saying that wealth can corrupt—two young lives truly couldn’t protect five silver dollars.

I had really overlooked that point, Feng Jun gave Lang Zhen a slight nod, “Alright then, five silver dollars it is. Little girl, can you cook?”

The girl nodded proudly and replied, “Yes, I cook for my brother and myself, and I can also wash clothes.”

“Good, we’ll hire you to cook here,” Feng Jun said with a smile, “In exchange, we’ll provide you and your brother’s meals and give you both two sets of clothes… What do you think?”

“Yes, please!” The little girl jumped for joy, “Don’t worry, sir, I… I don’t eat much.”

Feng Jun smiled faintly, having seen his share of little emperors on Earth Realm, this sensible child was truly a first for him, “Here, this is five silver dollars. Go and pay off the debt… and you can come to cook at noon.”

This girl named Feifei quickly repaid the money, and the news of Feng Jun and his party’s generosity spread instantly throughout the vicinity.

When the old village chief heard the news, he ran to Feifei’s house and berated her, hopping mad.

However, Feifei was used to this and stood her ground firmly, “I didn’t listen to the village’s instructions, but if I miss them, what about our land? Can the village help me repay the debt?”

The village chief wished he could beat the girl, but truth be told, he dared to slap the young men of the village but couldn’t bring himself to lay a hand on Feifei—it would be untenable if word got out.

If Feifei’s parents were still around, he would have struck her already, but now, he truly couldn’t.

(Fourth update, celebrating the alliance lord Zi Yan Lan Tian.)