Dragon Hermit

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The Land Rover drove out of the urban district, and after half-an-hour, it reached a villa district. The guards saw the license plate and opened the gates immediately.

“The life of the wealthy! Tsk!” Xia Yan couldn’t help but click his tongue and sigh as he glanced at the rows of villas with gardens and swimming pools. He didn’t want to feel jealous, but it was inevitable for him to feel jealous as everyone wished to live in such a place.

“The cheapest villa here costs ¥50M. Kid, why don’t you calculate how many Soul Ataraxia Stones you would have to sell to buy one?” After hearing Xia Yan sigh, Wen Yipin laughed proudly while driving the car.

“That would be a huge number, yes” Xia Yan chuckled and acted as if he hadn’t noticed the contempt in Wen Yipin’s voice. “Do you also live here?” He asked.

“Well…” Wen Yipin was at a loss of words now. His father had embezzled a lot of money and could afford it, but he didn’t dare to do so. It wasn’t suitable for a corrupt official to act high profile.

“Oh, so you don’t live here then.” Xia Yan stated in a flat tone as if he were stating a fact, but Wen Yipin’s face flushed up immediately. He felt like he had lost too much face as Liu Xue’er was sitting in the car too. If he had merely felt some dislike for Xia Yan until now, it had already turned into hate now. He had decided to teach a lesson to this bumpkin later.

Soon after, Wen Yiping’s car stopped at a villa’s gates. The webcam at the top of the gate turned around, and the gate opened automatically.

The three of them alighted down the car and entered inside the villa. After going inside, Xia Yan discovered that this villa was more prominent than it looked from outside. It had a neatly trimmed lawn, and also had all kinds of outdoor décor like a pool, a rock garden, and a fountain. Overall, it formed a beautiful scenery.

“The miss has returned!” A forty-year-old housekeeper came out to welcome them.

“Auntie Wu, are my father and grandfather at home?” Liu Xue’er asked her.

“Master is present at home. There’s a visitor today, so the master is accompanying them for a chat. As for Mister Liu, he went to the company.”

“A visitor? Who is it?” Liu Xue’er asked and turned around, “Come in, Xia Yan. You need not remove your shoes.”

“Mmm.” Xia Yan entered inside confidently. He looked around and felt shocked at the extravagant drawing-room as it was too luxurious. He guessed that just the interior décor of this enormous drawing-room would cost over ¥10M.

However, although he felt shocked, it didn’t make him feel uneasy. He walked over towards the sofa.

“Xia Yan, Wen Yipin, why don’t you sit down while I go talk to my grandfather.” Liu Xue’er told them and went upstairs while the housekeeper quickly brought tea and snacks for them.

“Kid, why don’t you take a seat? What are you doing by walking here and there?” Xia Yan hadn’t sat down and instead slowly strolled inside the drawing-room. He stopped in front of the calligraphy paintings and articles from time to time and looked at them carefully. Since they were placed here, they weren’t counterfeit articles. He saw a lot of calligraphy paintings from historical personages here and also noticed a few delftwares and Jadeite items. Each one of them was of considerable value.

“I’m just taking a casual look.” Xia Yan replied without turning his head back.

“Be careful, kid. You won’t be able to compensate for it if you break one accidentally.”

“Hehe.” Xia Yan chuckled and ignored this guy who basked in the sense of superiority for no reason. He couldn’t understand why Wen Yipin felt superiority when this house wasn’t even his.

“Hey, kid. If you’re a scammer, there’s still time for you to escape. If you get exposed later, you’ll have to live in a cell. I’ll personally deliver you there then.” Wei Yiping sneered.

“Thanks for the concern!”

“Humph! Let’s see how long you can keep up the act! Unlike Xue’er, don’t think you can deceive me!” Wen Yipin hated Xia Yan’s carefree attitude and ranted in a fit of rage.

At the time, the sounds of footsteps came from the stairs. Xia Yan turned his head and saw Liu Xue’er pull a white-haired old man down by the arm. A middle-aged man with elegant looks accompanied him. It was the so-called visitor the housekeeper had mentioned.

Wen Yipin’s eyes lit up after seeing Liu Xue’er’s grandfather and the middle-aged man. He welcomed them with a smile on his face, “Grandpa Liu, Uncle Fang!”

“Yipin, so you’re also here.” Elder Liu nodded at him and spoke a few simple words. On the other hand, the middle-aged man just nodded slightly as a response.

“Grandpa, this is the person I mentioned to you, Xia Yan!” Liu Xue’er helped her grandfather to the sofa and introduced Xia Yan to him.

“Nice to meet you, Elder Liu.” Xia Yan stated. He always held respect for the elderly.

“Little boy, you’re still a student, right?” Although Elder Liu looked like a common old man, he had an unseen aura on him. It was apparent he was someone used to bossing people around.

“I’m a student.”

“You should be reading books then. Why have you become a scammer?” Elder Liu berated in a stern voice.

“Grandpa!” Liu Xue’er pouted in dissatisfaction. Wen Yipin looked with a sense of Schadenfreude as well. As for the middle-aged man, he sat quietly on the sofa and didn’t utter a word.

Xia Yan felt stunned. He didn’t expect the first thing this old fellow said would be that he was a scammer. He was someone who would compromise but not fall prey to coercion. Since the other party wasn’t polite to him, he also wouldn’t especially fawn on them. He leaned back and blew at the end of the teacup before taking a sip slowly, not at all in a hurry to reply.

Elder Liu felt stunned after watching his actions, anger taking over his face. At the same time, the middle-aged man revealed a tiny smile and looked at Xia Yan with interest.

“Kid, Grandpa Liu asked you something!” Wen Yipin reminded him. Even he felt a little admiration at Xia Yan’s poise as it was his first time seeing a scammer with such good mental strength.

“Elder called me a scammer, but what evidence do you have?” Xia Yan sipped another two mouthfuls of tea and laid down the cup before asking calmly.

“Evidence?” Elder Liu threw one of the Soul Ataraxia Stone onto the tea table, “A piece of stone that’s worth ¥50 at most, yet you dare to sell it at ¥5000. What else are you if not a scammer?”

“Hehe!” Xia Yan chuckled and then pointed towards the exquisite jade artifact in Elder Liu’s hands, “Can Elder Liu tell me how much this thing is worth?”

“Let me tell you.” Wen Yipin fought over the opportunity, “This is a top-quality imperial green jadeite Grandpa Liu got from stone gambling last time. He requested the best jade craftsman of Su City, Master Hu Yihe, to sculpt it into a jadeite tiger and values at least over ¥100M!”

[Over ¥100M?] Xia Yan also felt stunned in his heart. He knew it was something good but didn’t expect it was that expensive. Only, he remained calm on the surface and looked at Elder Liu, “Then let me ask you this, Elder Liu. How much of its worth do you think is due to Mister Hu Yihe’s craftsmanship?”

“The jadeite was valued at ¥50M. Mister Hu Yihe increased its value by at least another ¥50M by creating a work of art with it.” Wen Yiping interjected once again. He looked at Liu Xue’er as he spoke, hoping to win her admiration.

“That’s good then.” Xia Yan snapped his fingers, “Mister Hu Yihe’s craftsmanship is worth ¥50M while my craftsmanship is only worth ¥5000. I still think it’s too less.”

“You think you can compare with Mister Hu?” Wen Yipin scoffed.

“Hehe!” Xia Yan ignored him and swept his gaze past Elder Liu and Liu Xue’er, “Looks like I’ve come here to get insulted today. Since that’s the case…”

He took out the ¥10,000 and placed it on top of the tea-table, then said to Liu Xue’er, “Have your money back. I’ll have to trouble you to return the Soul Ataraxia Stones to me. This deal is off.”

“That’s…” Liu Xue’er hesitated. She didn’t care about the ¥10,000, and this wasn’t an issue with money. She didn’t think her grandfather would call Xia Yan a scammer and wasn’t expecting Wen Yipin to fan the flames from aside. This made her feel embarrassed.

“Xue’er, return it to him!” Elder Liu ordered in a deep voice. He wasn’t expecting Xia Yan to show such a harsh response. No one had spoken such words to him in a long time.

“Grandpa…” Liu Xue’er felt this wasn’t good and that her grandfather had acted a bit too excessive.

“Return it!” Elder Liu glared at her.

“Xia Yan, I’m sorry!” Liu Xue’er looked at him and discovered scorn on his face. She didn’t dare to look at him in the eyes and placed the other Soul Ataraxia Stone on the table.

Xia Yan took back the two Soul Ataraxia Stones and got up, “All right, we’re even then. Goodbye.”

“Kid, you think you can just leave after getting exposed?” Wen Yipin shouted at him.

“Oh, what do you want to do then?” Xia Yan stopped and asked him in an icy voice.

“I want to call the police to arrest you!”

“That’s enough, Yipin. It’s not like we’ve lost anything. Let him go.” Elder Liu waved his hand.

“Humph! Looks like you have good luck, kid. Don’t run into me again!” Since Elder Liu had spoken, Wen Yipin had to comply.

“Let me give Elder Liu a word of advice before leaving.” Xia Yan laughed suddenly. He then pointed towards the southeast corner of the drawing-room, “It’s best if you don’t go to that corner again or else it won’t end with a simple nightmare. I’ve said my piece now, and it’s up to you whether to believe it… Oh, right! If you want to buy the Soul Ataraxia Stone next time, the price won’t be the same as today’s!”

Saying so, he left the villa with large strides and didn’t even look back.

“Young people these days are becoming more and more unreasonable!” Elder Liu shook his head and sighed. He didn’t take Xia Yan’s words seriously.

“Elder Liu, I should be going now too.” The middle-aged man that had kept silent till now got up and said goodbye to Elder Liu.

“Little Fang, I’ve made you witness a spectacle.”

“Your words are too heavy, Elder Liu. Looking at the young man’s nonchalant attitude, this matter might not be that simple.” The middle-aged man smiled.

“He’s just a scammer.” Elder Liu brushed the matter off. The middle-aged man also didn’t say anything about it and glanced at the southeast corner before taking his leave.

After coming out of the villa district, Xia Yan discovered that there was no public transport station here. There were also no cabs. He felt dumbstruck. The nearest bus stop was at least a dozen kilometers away from his location, and he would get worn out if he walked till there.

Xia Yan choked up in tears as he had wasted his time today, got labeled as a scammer by people, and had to walk so far now. He had lost out too much, so he decided he would first look at the calendar before going out next time!

Helpless, he began his journey on foot. Luckily, it was already dusk now, and the sun was about to set, or else he would’ve become a dry husk.

After walking a few hundred meters, he heard a car arrive from behind. He walked to the curb without turning his head back as he didn’t plan to hitch a ride. He also didn’t believe that these wealthy people would let a stranger ride in their car.

“Honk-Honk!” After a few blares, Xia Yan turned back and discovered a black sedan cruising behind him at a slow-moving speed. The window of the backseat was open, and he could see the dignified middle-aged man from the Liu family’s villa inside the car.

“Young man, how about I give you a ride?” The middle-aged man asked with a smile on his face.