Rebirth of the Godly Prodigal

Facing Hong Dali’s mother, who was emitting an overwhelming queen-like aura, Ling Xiaoyi was under immense pressure. Upon hearing that she had been called for, she immediately went cold, and her body was covered in cold sweat. She carefully walked over, greeted Hong Dali’s mother respectfully, and said, “What would you like to know, Madam?”

“Your name is Ling Xiaoyi?” Hong Dali’s mother screened Ling Xiaoyi from head to toe, nodded, and said, “Yep, you are quite good looking. Quite suitable, though you are slightly old. That’s quite a pity.”

Ling Xiaoyi’s heart pumped rapidly upon hearing these words. She wasn’t sure what Hong Dali’s mother meant by that, so she slightly lowered her head and didn’t dare to speak.

“You’re 22 years old this year. Your zodiac sign is the Rabbit. Identity card number is 110102199310070040. Horoscope sign is Libra. Currently studying financial management at Tianjing University. Year two, class three. Your grades are excellent, and you have received a scholarship from your school. Adding that to your good looks, you can be considered the publicly known beauty in your course.” Hong Dali’s mother was stating the facts slowly as if she were very familiar with them. “You have a calm personality and are careless with minor things but astute when it comes to important ones. You tend to keep a low profile and don’t like to be in the limelight. You’re tolerant toward others but have more of a lazy character. Your parents are still around. Your father is a teacher, and your mother manages an apparel store that is doing average. In terms of finance, your family can be considered quite wealthy. Other than that, you also have a younger brother who’s 19 this year. He is studying at Tianjing Shifan University’s affiliated high school. The third year, class fourteen. His grades are not bad.”

At this point, Ling Xiaoyi couldn’t help but sigh at how strong the Hong family’s intelligence system was. She had only been here for less than two hours, but they had already found out everything about her. In the end, she could only say, “Yes, Madam. You’re right.”

“My point in saying all this is just to let you know that your background is very clean in my view. There is no other intention.” Hong Dali’s mother moved closer and patted Ling Xiaoyi on the shoulder. “Our family’s situation is special. My child Dali has a weak constitution. As his mother, I have to be responsible for his safety. You’re a good girl. When you’re with Dali next time, do your job faithfully. I can promise you that we will not mistreat you.”

Ling Xiaoyi naturally knew that her family background was of less significance than a feather in the Hong family’s eyes. There would definitely be no danger from them. Now, upon hearing what Hong Dali’s mother had said, she was both touched and envious. She hurriedly said, “I have always known that. Madam, please put your mind at ease.”

“Haha, it’s good that you know.” Hong Dali’s mother’s face finally had a bit of a smile on it. She suddenly changed the topic and asked, “Speaking of which, you helped out a lot with buying the estates that Dali bought from Hong Anbao today. The valuation you gave was quite accurate. The value was roughly the same as the one calculated by our asset valuation experts. You seem to have some talent in this aspect?”

“Yes, a little bit.” Ling Xiaoyi said, nodding. “I have been sensitive to the pricing of items from a young age. I can gauge the value of a normal item close to the mark most of the time.”

Hearing what she said, Hong Dali’s father, who had been sitting at the side this whole time, suddenly smiled and asked, “Oh? Is that true?”

Ling Xiaoyi hurriedly replied, “Yes, Master. It is true.”

“Hmm…” Hong Dali’s father randomly took a jade teacup from his side, held it in his hand, and asked, “Then, take a look at this teacup. Roughly how much do you think it is worth? I can give you a hint: this was sculpted from Hanming jade.”

Ling Xiaoyi walked a few steps closer and looked at it carefully. She then closed her eyes and did a rough calculation. She soon came to an answer and opened her eyes. She smiled and said, “5,200 yuan for one.”

Hong Dali’s father laughed loudly and said, “Haha, interesting. This child has got some talent.” He then held up the entire jade tea set and asked, “This is a whole tea set. It includes the tray, teapot, and four teacups. Try to calculate their individual prices and the total value.”

“OK.” Ling Xiaoyi closed her eyes again, calculated very quickly, and said, “The tray is worth 16,000. The teapot is slightly more expensive, 32,000. The four teacups are worth 5,200 each. Because the whole set was sculpted from Hanming jade, the value should be increased by 50%. The total price is… 123,200 yuan.”

Clap clap clap!

Hong Dali’s parents clapped at the same time. His father said, “This child Dali may be a bit of a prodigal, but his foresight is remarkable. A random stroll outside and he could bring such talent back with him, haha.”

Hong Dali’s mother also smiled and said, “This small rascal, he’s really a fool with a fool’s luck. Xiaoyi, the value you calculated basically differs from the actual value by only a little. The original sale price of this tea set was 150,000 yuan. But we were acquaintances with the seller, so we got it at cost. We spent an exact 105,000 on the tea set. All in all, your valuation is not bad.”

Although she had known in her heart that she should have calculated quite accurately, Ling Xiaoyi still secretly gave a sigh of relief.

Having confidence was one thing, but the result was another. Only when she knew her calculated figure and the actual figure were almost the same could she really rest her heart.

“My husband, what do you think of this Xiaoyi? If we let her follow Dali, it will be a waste of her talent. With her capabilities, there should be a more suitable position for her.” Hong Dali’s mother looked at Ling Xiaoyi. She felt even more reluctant now to let Ling Xiaoyi accompany Hong Dali in his squandering.

Unexpectedly, Hong Dali’s father smiled and said, “Since she was found by Dali, it wouldn’t be nice for us to interfere. Let her follow Dali first. At least she can help Dali squander less. The significance, in the end, is about the same.”

Hong Dali’s mother instantly came to a decision. “OK, then that it is how shall be. Xiaoyi, you can go and rest now. Remember to wake up early tomorrow and send Dali to school. On normal days, I give you special permission to go back to your school for classes when Dali is in school. There will be a transport catered to you. As for your living place, you will need to move here. OK, you may go now.”

“Yes, Madam.” Xiaoyi bowed respectfully, turned, and followed the butler out.

Once Xiaoyi had left, Hong Dali’s mother suddenly let out a giggle and said, “My husband, could it be that our luck turned for the better? It looks like Dali’s luck has improved by quite a lot.”

Hong Dali’s father lit a cigarette and replied, “This rascal went out at night for a while and bought three million yuan worth of land. By chance, the location of the land he bought is not too bad. His willful act of hiring lackeys also got him such talent as Ling Xiaoyi. Is this what one calls luck that you get from stepping on dog shit?”

“You old rogue, what do you mean by dog shit’s luck. You should say that our Dali is blessed by the heavens.” Speaking of this, Hong Dali’s mother sighed again. “Sigh, but our child Dali’s body condition still worries me greatly.”

“Don’t worry. We have been constantly sponsoring medical research in this field, there will certainly be a solution in the future. Even if there is no solution now, with the current speed of technological advancement, if five years is not enough, we can wait for 10 years. If 10 years is not enough, then we will just wait for 20 years. There will be hope eventually.” Hong Dali’s father stood up and stretched his arms. His lips made a demonic smile as he said, “OK, let’s go and sleep. It’s already so late.”

“Yep.” Hong Dali’s mother’s face turned red for a second, and then she walked up the stairs, shaking her hips.