Zhen Lingrong's eyes widened upon hearing this. "What's good is yours, and what you give me is mine. How can you give it to others?"
These were her daughter's good things. How could they be given away so casually?
Why hadn't she noticed before that her daughter was so generous?
Such items, if put up for auction, could fetch a lot of crystal coins. Yet, here she was, with a few words, about to give them away.
If Li Xin knew what Zhen Lingrong was thinking at this moment, he would surely want to cry.
You are the dignified Palace Master of Changqiu Hall, with all the crystal coins you could ever need. Do you still need to auction these things to exchange for them?
What Li Xin cared more about now were Shen Xiaoyan's words just now.
He stared at Shen Xiaoyan with his bright, small eyes, unmoving. "You just said that you gave those things?"
Shen Xiaoyan nodded. "Yes, I did. Is there a problem?"
Li Xin shook his head for a moment. "No problem, how could there be a problem? I just want to know, where did you get these things?"
These were all excellent items. Where did a little girl like her get them?
Shen Xiaoyan smiled mysteriously. "Why should I tell you?"
Li Xin was choked by Shen Xiaoyan's words and wanted to say more, but was interrupted by Zhen Lingrong.
"My daughter is here to see me, not to be interrogated like a prisoner," Zhen Lingrong glared at Li Xin.
If you want to linger here, fine, but you're actually trying to pry into every detail. What are you trying to do?
Li Xin was also startled by Zhen Lingrong's words.
He had heard that Zhen Lingrong had found her own child. Initially, he was somewhat dismissive, thinking she was like the Xi siblings.
However, seeing Shen Xiaoyan now, he realized he had been wrong.
Moreover, Shen Xiaoyan's ability to produce such excellent items proved that she was extraordinary in her own right.
Such a person, even without Zhen Lingrong's protection, could thrive.
Therefore, Li Xin's impression of Shen Xiaoyan and the others improved instantly.
Shen Xiaoyan, however, was unaware of his thoughts. She took out a bottle of tea from her space, opened the lid, sniffed it, and pinched a little out with her fingers.
Li Xin watched Shen Xiaoyan's careless actions, and his heart clenched.
How could such good things be taken out so casually?
Wouldn't they lose their fragrance?
"Child, how can you be so careless with things? Look, look, it's spilling out."
As Li Xin spoke, he reached out and snatched the tea bottle from Shen Xiaoyan's hand, quickly closed the lid, and put it into his own spatial ring.
Only when he was sure the item was safe did Li Xin breathe a sigh of relief. He still remembered another question: the immortal spring water.
The water in the tea he had just drunk was definitely immortal spring water.
Even though this tea would taste good brewed with ordinary water, it would be much better with that water.
Just thinking about it made Li Xin's mouth water.
So, he plastered a smile on his face and said to Shen Xiaoyan, "Girl, look at you, so clumsy. You don't even know how to store good things. Give them to Grandpa, and Grandpa will keep them for you. When you want to drink it, Grandpa will make tea for you, okay? Grandpa's tea-making skills are much better than your mother's. Look, such good things were wasted by your mother earlier."
Zhen Lingrong, who was innocently implicated, felt a mouthful of old blood stuck in her throat, unable to spit it out.
Shen Xiaoyan found it incredibly funny.
Wasn't this Li Xin a bit slow in the head?
To ask her for something, and to belittle her mother in front of her?
Shen Xiaoyan felt speechless, but Li Xin himself was oblivious and kept muttering.
Listening to him drone on like a monk chanting scriptures, Shen Xiaoyan felt her head would explode.
Why were all these old elders so lacking in seriousness?
Old Man Hou was like this, Yuan Heng was like this, and now Li Xin was like this.
It seemed the saying "old people are like old children" was correct.
Unable to bear it any longer, Shen Xiaoyan finally gave Li Xin a bamboo scoop of immortal spring water.
Once Li Xin was satisfied, he didn't stay any longer and vanished in a flash.
Shen Xiaoyan looked in the direction he disappeared, not knowing what to say.
What kind of person was he, leaving like this without even saying thank you?
As Shen Xiaoyan was thinking this, a gust of wind suddenly blew.
The wind was fierce, and she instinctively closed her eyes.
But when she opened them again, six people were in front of her.
These six were all old men, with different appearances.
But the one thing they had in common was their shining eyes.
Shen Xiaoyan felt a little scared looking at them. Were these old men all like dogs with keen noses?
She just brewed a cup of tea. How did they smell it?
Shen Xiaoyan didn't know that they hadn't just smelled the aroma of Shen Xiaoyan brewing tea; they had sensed the rich spiritual energy, which was why they had come.
Zhen Lingrong also kindly explained to Shen Xiaoyan, "The reason Li Xin ran away so quickly just now was to avoid running into them."
Zhen Lingrong's words made Shen Xiaoyan even more curious.
Looking at these old men, they should be elders of Changqiu Hall, right? Why was Li Xin avoiding them?
Was it because of different factions, so they had to avoid each other?
But Zhen Lingrong didn't seem like it either!
As Shen Xiaoyan wondered, an old man lunged forward and shouted at Zhen Lingrong, "Palace Master, what did you say? Old scoundrel Li Xin has already been here? He left? When did he leave? What good things did he take with him?"
"Oh, my Palace Master, if you have good things, can't you be a little less selfish? How can you only give them to Li Xin alone? We old folks don't have many days left to live. We must get our share of these good things!"
Listening to the old man's string of words, Shen Xiaoyan was truly shocked.
What was going on?
Was this person in front of her really an elder of Changqiu Hall?
She had an illusion that she had returned to Baiyun Village and saw the unreasonable old men in the village demanding things.
Just as Shen Xiaoyan was stunned, the other old men also rushed over.
They surrounded Zhen Lingrong, and then began to complain together.
Listening to their incessant chattering like flies, Shen Xiaoyan felt her head would explode.
Had she been deceived?
Why did it feel like she had walked into a pyramid scheme den?
Shen Xiaoyan wasn't the only one who felt this way.
Shen Xiaoming, being closer to Zhen Lingrong, had also been surrounded by the old men. He squeezed out with great difficulty and immediately scurried to Shen Xiaoyan's side, looking at the group of old men with some wariness.
"Big Sister, are we really in Changqiu Hall? Why are the people here so eccentric?" Shen Xiaoming asked, confused.
Shen Xiaoyan felt like crying and laughing.
It was her first time too. How would she know?
However, she was also very curious.
The atmosphere in Taiyangre Sect was completely different from this.
Taiyangre Sect had rather strict rules. Apart from Fujiwara Zifei, everyone showed utmost respect to Sect Master Yan Rulie.
Normally, they would be very careful even when gossiping, let alone making such a commotion like these old men.
Shen Xiaoyan could almost imagine that if someone dared to surround Yan Rulie and make such a fuss, Yan Rulie would slap them to death with one hand and then cremate them.
However, thinking about how Zhen Lingrong didn't seem like a Palace Master at all, Shen Xiaoyan could accept the current scene somewhat.
With a Palace Master who didn't act like one, and a group of elders who didn't act like elders, Changqiu Hall could still be the number one power in the Eastern Immortal Territory.
She didn't know if Changqiu Hall itself was too powerful, or if the other forces were too useless.
Zhen Lingrong was surrounded by this group of old men for a long time. Their chatter gave her a headache, and only then did she finally hear them finish their complaints and see them quiet down.
Of course, they quieted down because Zhen Lingrong said she would give them what she gave to Li Xin.
Shen Xiaoyan, listening from the side, heard it clearly.
She could almost imagine that if Zhen Lingrong hadn't said that, these old men would have continued to make a scene.
Zhen Lingrong pushed aside the old man in front of her and looked at Shen Xiaoyan with pleading eyes. "Xiaoyan, Mother implores you."
Shen Xiaoyan looked at Zhen Lingrong and felt a little helpless. She guessed that only Zhen Lingrong could act like a Palace Master.
Although she thought this, Zhen Lingrong still took out seven buckets of immortal spring water and seven bottles of tea from her space and placed them on the table.
"Here, this is it."
As soon as Shen Xiaoyan finished speaking, the seven old men excitedly took these things and divided them.
Before Shen Xiaoyan could react, a plump person, who looked like a Maitreya Buddha and was dressed like one, approached her.
"Little girl, you are the Palace Master's daughter? Not bad!"
Shen Xiaoyan listened to his praise and saw that he seemed sincere, so her mood improved a little.
But before a smile could appear on her face, she heard Maitreya Buddha continue, "Much more generous than your mother. You don't know how stingy your mother became after she became Palace Master. Do you know what my previous physique was like? Since your mother became Palace Master, I've become so thin over the years. Oh, how my heart aches!"
Listening to Maitreya Buddha's wailing, Shen Xiaoyan's smile vanished as if it had never been.
This...
What kind of person is this!
Look at how fat he is, and when he cries, his eyes are squeezed shut by the fat on his face, yet he claims to be thin!
Shen Xiaoyan felt a mouthful of old blood stuck in her throat, unable to spit it out or swallow it.
Shen Xiaoming, however, still had some childish spirit. Upon hearing this, he stood up, stuck out his neck, and said to Maitreya Buddha, "You're as fat as a Maitreya Buddha, and you still say you're thin? If the Palace Master truly mistreated you, you should be as thin as me."
"Pfft."
Hearing Shen Xiaoming, Shen Xiaoyan could no longer hold back and burst into laughter.
Maitreya Buddha, hearing Shen Xiaoming's words, did not get angry. Instead, he examined Shen Xiaoming from head to toe. Finally, he said, "You are the Palace Master's son?"
Shen Xiaoming was startled and instinctively said, "How did you know?"
As soon as he spoke, Shen Xiaoming regretted it.
By saying this, hadn't he admitted his identity?
Indeed, he looked at Zhen Lingrong and saw that her face had become much prettier, and the light in her eyes was so bright he dared not look directly.
Seeing this, Maitreya Buddha laughed heartily. "How could I not know? Your words are no different from what the Palace Master said earlier. If you weren't mother and son, could you have such默契 (mòqì - tacit understanding)?"
Shen Xiaoyan felt guilty and touched her nose. Fortunately, she hadn't said that she thought the same way.
After Maitreya Buddha finished speaking, he didn't care about Shen Xiaoming's reaction and turned around with a chuckle to leave.
The other elders had already received what they wanted and were preparing to leave.
It was Zhen Lingrong who stopped them. "Xiaoyan and Xiaoming are your juniors, after all. Are you just going to take their things like this, without giving them any见面礼 (jiànmiànlǐ - gift for a first meeting)? Are you even ashamed?"
Hearing Zhen Lingrong, Maitreya Buddha and the others waved their hands dismissively. "The things your daughter casually takes out are all very enviable to us. What else can we take out for her?"
After speaking, Maitreya Buddha looked at Shen Xiaoyan and said, "Little girl, don't forget to leave a portion for us in the future. Don't be as stingy as your mother."
Shen Xiaoyan watched them leave, her fingers itching. Could she get back the things she had given away?
However, what Shen Xiaoyan didn't expect was that after these people left, Zhen Lingrong smiled brilliantly.
Zhen Lingrong gave Shen Xiaoyan a thumbs-up. "Xiaoyan, you're amazing. You've really brought me face today."
Shen Xiaoyan was a little surprised. Zhen Lingrong had looked utterly dejected a moment ago, so why was she so excited now?
Zhen Lingrong leaned in excitedly and whispered, "If I want to openly acknowledge you, I need the agreement of these elders. Don't look at them acting like old mischievous children; they are all sharper than monkeys. Haven't Xi Jin and Xi Yin been trying to win me over all these years? They also know that to improve their status, they need the support of these elders. It's a pity that these elders have met everyone and seen everything. No matter how much they do, it's all in vain."
"But Xiaoyan, you are truly amazing. Just by casually going out, you've completely subdued them."