Chapter 34.3: The Cost of Fortune

So it turned out—he didn’t have to struggle so hard after all.

Li Zhuiyuan found an empty box, placed the money and gold bars from the drawer into it, then walked back to the girl and sat down again. He said seriously, “Ah Li, thank you. Seeing what you brought me really made me happy. But I can’t accept it.”

Ah Li paused her carving and looked up at him.

There was confusion in her eyes. She didn’t understand. That morning, she had seen him smiling while looking at the money in his hand. So why wouldn’t he take it now when she gave it to him?

Besides, every time Li Sanjiang gave him pocket money, he accepted it and looked genuinely happy.

Her family had plenty of things like that.

“Ah Li, gifts should match the occasion. Next time you want to give me something, ask me first, okay? If it’s appropriate, I’ll accept it. Can you do that?”

Ah Li showed a look of contemplation, then nodded.

Li Zhuiyuan was stunned. She had nodded, and this time not just the faint, barely noticeable nod she used to do—it was a real nod.

“Ah Li, did you really understand?”

She nodded again.

“What if you didn’t understand? How would you show it?”

Ah Li shook her head, the same way any normal person would.

A smile broke across Li Zhuiyuan’s face. This meant her condition had taken a huge step forward today.

Although, he didn’t know why.

Then his smile stiffened a bit. Could it… be because of how he’d been today?

Trying to shake off that unease, Li Zhuiyuan decided to talk about something lighter.

“Aunt Liu said she bought some smoked ham today—from Jinhua, in Zhejiang, I think. We’ll try it at dinner. Ah Li, have you ever had smoked food before?”

Ah Li shook her head.

“It’s made using a kind of wood smoke to infuse flavor, like this…”

He picked up a piece of wood shaving nearby.

Last time, when they worked on the black canvas, he had taken a piece of wood from the woodshed and shaved it himself.

But this time, Ah Li had done it. Which meant she’d made this wood shaving herself.

Why was it jet black and glossy, with a strangely pleasant scent? Not the usual yellow-white at all.

“Ah Li, what kind of wood did you use?”

She pointed under the small table.

Li Zhuiyuan leaned down—and his eyes widened. Under the table were three memorial tablets!

…

“Granny Liu, I’m returning this to you.”

Inside the east room, Li Zhuiyuan placed the box with the money and gold bars on the table beside Liu Yumei.

She opened it, glanced inside, then shut it again.

“Granny, aren’t you going to count it?”

“You brought it all back. What’s there to count?”

“Good.”

He also placed a fertilizer bag on the table.

Liu Yumei opened it, looked inside, and immediately stood up. She pulled out the three memorial tablets, wiped them clean, and placed them on the shrine.

“Ah Li, you can play with whatever you like at home, but what’s so fun about memorial tablets? Don’t touch them next time.”

Even now, she spoke gently, never scolding her granddaughter.

Then she started counting the tablets with her fingers.

She seemed to forget what she had just said—“You brought it all back. What’s there to count?”

“Huh, why are there still some missing?”

Li Zhuiyuan stayed quiet. The missing ones had already been turned into wood shavings.

He couldn’t very well drag over a whole bag of them, especially since half were already carved up by Ah Li.

“Little Yuan, did you check again? Maybe Ah Li dropped them somewhere outside?”

“Granny, I checked. Just these three.”

He wasn’t trying to dodge responsibility. He just thought it would be easier for Liu Yumei to accept that they were lost, rather than chopped up.

“Sigh.”

Liu Yumei sighed and gave Qin Li a somewhat aggrieved look.

The good news? Her granddaughter, once indifferent to everything, now seemed lively—even willing to give money to boys.

But money and gold bars were fine. Why the memorial tablets?

“Granny Liu, I told Ah Li not to touch the tablets again. Right, Ah Li?”

Ah Li nodded.

Liu Yumei could only rub her forehead helplessly. Then suddenly, she trembled and looked at Ah Li in disbelief.

Li Zhuiyuan: “Ah Li, Granny wants to make sure you understand. Tell her.”

Ah Li nodded again.

Tears immediately welled in Liu Yumei’s eyes. She turned to the shrine and cried out,

“The ancestors have shown their power! We’re blessed!”

…

After closing the door behind him, Li Zhuiyuan heard Liu Yumei and Ah Li thanking the ancestors inside.

He let out a long sigh of relief. Somehow, he’d fumbled his way through this.

He rushed upstairs, grabbed the bag of money, and handed it to Aunt Liu, who was busy in the kitchen.

“Little Yuan, where did you get so much money?”

Runsheng was also there, eating and waiting for dinner. He immediately said, “I won it playing cards!”

Aunt Liu looked skeptical. Clearly, she didn’t believe it.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Aunt Liu, here’s the list. Please help me buy another batch of supplies. And find two bricklayers to build a small workshop behind the house, just about the size of the woodshed.”

Runsheng chimed in, “No need to hire anyone. I can do it. I built the perimeter wall myself.”

Li Zhuiyuan ignored him. After seeing the collapsed mess that was Grandpa Shan’s wall, he had no intention of getting buried in rubble while working.

“Alright, I understand,” Aunt Liu said.

“And Auntie, be careful.”

“About what?”

“This money isn’t clean. Don’t dirty your hands.”

“Huh?” She touched the bag, a flash of realization in her eyes. “Don’t worry. I got it.”

Runsheng asked, “Why worry about money being dirty?”

“Well, Runsheng, paper money changes hands a lot. It must carry loads of germs.”

“Oh, I see.”

With time to spare before dinner, Li Zhuiyuan didn’t go back upstairs. Instead, he went down to the basement.

In Demon-Smiting Chronicles, whether it was tools or techniques, everything required time and effort. Nothing came easy. So he decided to pick another book to read during his free time.

Click!

He flicked on his flashlight and headed for the boxes.

Suddenly, at the edge of the beam, something dark and writhing moved.

He flinched, instinctively swinging the light toward it. The long shadow startled too and began to slither quickly.

A small snake!

“Whew…”

He pressed his lips together. For a moment, he thought something truly terrifying had crept into the basement.

The snake darted left, then right, and suddenly slithered straight toward him.

Li Zhuiyuan wasn’t particularly afraid of snakes. He’d seen many while visiting excavation sites with his mother.

Still, he wasn’t bold enough to just ignore them. So he backed up, bumping into a box behind him—its brass lock clinking loudly.

The sound scared the snake. It veered off sharply. His flashlight followed until it disappeared into a crack in the corner wall, just wide enough for a finger.

When it was gone, he turned to the box he had bumped into.

It had always sat at the edge of the pile, so he’d never opened it before.

Alright. You’re the one today.

He placed the flashlight on the floor, gripped the lid, and braced his legs.

Creak!

The lid opened and flipped back.

He clapped his hands, pleased. Ever since he started practicing Uncle Qin’s horse stance, he felt stronger—not just in muscle, but in control and precision.

He picked up the flashlight and shone it inside. The books were thick with dust—not from time sealed shut, but as if packed dirty from the start.

He turned his head and blew several times. Only then did the top row’s titles faintly show.

From experience, the best books were rarely on top. You had to dig.

That was his plan—until he saw the names of two books on the top row, right in the center.

The Liu Clan's Art of Observing Qi. The Qin Family’s Guide to Viewing Flood Dragons.

Liu? Qin?

His mind flashed to the memorial tablets on the shrine in the east room, all bearing the surnames Liu and Qin.

“No way… what are the chances?”

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