I Have a Penglai Immortal Island

She extended her hotel stay for a few more days. During the day, she leisurely searched for the rare medicinal herbs needed for the Tianga Vajra Scripture's medicinal bath. Although finding them wasn't difficult, their quality varied greatly, and she had to pick the best from the pharmacies.

At night, she tried her hand at alchemy using the Panlong Cauldron. To her surprise, the spiritual tool was indeed very useful. The cauldron, which she often referred to as a "rice cooker," was highly automated. Despite her limited cooking skills, she hadn't failed once in making medicine.

Since decoctions were inconvenient, Zhao Zhao transformed the medicinal formula into pills. Each portion produced three egg-sized pills, and she made three portions for Da Linzi.

Yaoguang had high praise for her pills, saying, "One of these could choke a child to death."

"Does the size really matter if you dissolve it in water?" Zhao Zhao retorted.

"You could just wrap each portion separately instead of making these unprofessional black balls. You've tarnished the Panlong Cauldron's reputation!"

Well, maybe he had a point.

Yaoguang continued, "You added spiritual spring water, so one portion is enough. Why did you make three?"

"Da Qi is a good kid. He makes a good companion for Da Linzi. When Da Linzi succeeds, I'll probably have to do this again."

That's just like you.

However, before they could meet up with the Yaoguang, Qin Qing called.

Qin Qing had learned about her whereabouts from Qin Yunmei and suggested that since they were both in Chonghai, they should meet.

Honestly, she was quite annoyed. Even though she declined, the other party pretended not to understand. Since she had some free time, Zhao Zhao decided to see for herself what Qin Qing wanted.

At the agreed teahouse, Qin Qing wasn't alone. When she opened the private room door, there were two people inside.

Qin Qing, who looked much older than ten years ago, and a young man in his thirties.

Seeing her enter with Yaoguang, both of them were stunned. The young man was the first to react, standing up. His movement prompted Qin Qing to snap out of it as well.

Yaoguang, perched on her shoulder, sneered: "These two seem inexperienced."

Qin Qing regained her composure and greeted warmly, "Is that you, Zhao Zhao? If you didn't look a bit like me when I was younger, I wouldn't have recognized you! You’ve become so beautiful over the years! Please, have a seat!"

Zhao Zhao had to give her credit in many ways, including her shamelessness.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This is your sister's cousin, Liu Cheng. He works at the Chonghai City Government. I happened to need his help today."

Liu Cheng extended his hand, "Hello! Miss Xiong."

Zhao Zhao didn't know what Qin Qing was up to. She could already imagine the awkwardness of the meeting, and now she had brought an outsider?

The way this man looked at her was highly annoying!

Zhao Zhao nodded at him indifferently, didn't shake his hand, and sat down directly.

The large parrot couldn't stand it and directly said to Liu Cheng, "What are you staring at? Keep it up, and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

"Yaoguang, I love you!!" Zhao Zhao telepathically professed her love to Yaoguang.

Yaoguang criticized, "You’re too dignified when you should be shameless. Why save face for someone like him?"

Liu Cheng adjusted his glasses and sat down, pretending nothing happened. "Miss Xiong, your parrot knows quite a few words."

Yaoguang remarked, "Just look at his shamelessness."

Qin Qing wasn't far behind, "Zhao Zhao, is this parrot yours? You should teach it properly. It’s fine with us, but such impoliteness wouldn't be acceptable with others."

How is this a family matter?

Zhao Zhao wanted to get straight to the point, "Did you call me here today to discuss my parrot's vocabulary? My parrot is very smart and knows when to say what. It never offends anyone, so you don’t have to worry, Ms. Qin."

Qin Qing, in her dramatic fashion, responded, "You! ...Zhao Zhao, do you still resent me? Who calls their own mother Ms. Qin? I had no choice back then. We'll have plenty of time to get to know each other better. You'll eventually understand that everything I did was for your own good."

Yaoguang, with a curious tone, asked, "Are you from the entertainment industry? Have you ever won a Best Actress award?"

Zhao Zhao said, "Sorry, my parrot watches too many TV dramas. I have social anxiety and dread chatting and dining with people. If you ever need to find me, just let my Second Aunt know. Otherwise, you and your nephew can go about your business. I have things to do, so I’ll be leaving."

Zhao Zhao began to suspect that this man’s gaze was not innocent, and coupled with Qin Qing’s proud mention of him working in the city government, it was certainly not just to show off. Knowing Qin Qing’s vanity, bringing her husband’s nephew along was likely an attempt to set her up with him. How laughable!

Qin Qing quickly said, "You just got here, why leave so soon? I’ve finished my business with Liu Cheng..."

At that moment, Liu Cheng stood up and said, "Aunt, I have a meeting to attend soon. I'll be leaving first, you two continue."

"Oh my, you civil servants are so busy, having meetings even on weekends. I was hoping you could drive Zhao Zhao home."

"Next time, next time. I don't have time today."

"Drive safely!"

The two quickly went through their routine, and soon only the Best Actress, the socially anxious person, and the TV drama enthusiast parrot remained in the room.

After a moment of silence, the Best Actress regained her composure and began again, "Zhao Zhao, I know you resent me. Back then, I left you behind because I was too tired and couldn't hold on. Your grandmother was sick, the family was struggling, and when your father left, it completely crushed me. Zhao Zhao, I never forgot you, believe me! Your grandfather didn't like me, so I couldn’t visit you. But now we have plenty of time. We could even live together and slowly build our relationship. I’ll make it up to you!"

Live together?

Qin Yunmei must have told her about the one billion fortune. What kind of lies did she feed her sister?

Zhao Zhao couldn’t take it anymore. The thought of living together was especially laughable.

When she was young, around five years old, she didn't understand much. Seeing other kids with their moms, she would ask her grandfather for her mom every day. Her grandfather, feeling sorry for her, secretly went to Liujiaji to ask Qin Qing to visit her granddaughter. Whatever they discussed, Zhao Zhao never knew, but she never saw Qin Qing, and her aunt, who returned for a visit, scolded her.

She forgot the exact words, but she remembered the general idea: she should be sensible and not make her grandfather sad, and not humiliate him by asking for someone ungrateful. She was told that many children didn’t have parents, but she had a grandfather who loved her dearly, and she was already very fortunate. This memory stuck with her throughout her childhood. She didn't understand how foolish she was until she grew older.

Hearing these words from Qin Qing now was laughable. Some people never change. Zhao Zhao lost interest in watching her performance and stood up, saying, "I meant what I said earlier. For any major issues, contact Qin Yunmei to inform me. What do I mean by major issues? For instance, if both your daughters are not around and you need someone to sign off on pulling out your oxygen tube."

"You!!"

Before the Best Actress could muster another emotional performance, Zhao Zhao opened the door and left.

She felt great!

Refreshed!

Once outside the teahouse, Yaoguang asked, "Did your biological mother set her sights on our money?"

"What else? She's always been driven by profit. Her current husband is also quite shrewd. She didn't contact me for the three years after my grandfather passed away, and didn't reach out in the first three months after I returned to the island. But after we bought the Yaoguang and Poseidon, and started building a mansion with a budget exceeding ten million, she suddenly missed me three times a week? Changshan is so small, she must have found out everything."

"Then why did she bring that creepy nephew along? Wouldn’t it have been easier to appeal to your emotions alone?"

"She kept mentioning his government job, boasting about his civil servant status, and his scrutinizing gaze... Maybe she wanted to set us up? If it worked out, it would keep the wealth within the family. Who’s idea it was, I can't say for sure."

Yaoguang was furious, "That creepy guy? That ugly thing dares? He isn’t even fit to clean up after Gun Gun! No way, I’m going to gouge his eyes out!"

As he was about to turn around, Zhao Zhao quickly grabbed his wings, coaxing, "No need, no need! Don’t dirty your claws with that ugly thing! What's there to be angry about? Let him dream on! If he causes trouble again, we’ll deal with it then. This time, let it go since he didn’t explicitly say anything."

Yaoguang was still angry. After a while, he angrily concluded, "Even if Qiao Jinnian fell face-first to the ground, he'd still be a million times better looking than him!"

Zhao Zhao: ...

Do you like him or not?

 

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