69: Chapter 69 This is what you call luxury

Following Father He into the private elevator to the top floor of the building, he discovered that this wasn't an office as expected, but rather like a private luxury mansion. The home furnishings were complete, and the decoration was grand and magnificent.

"Make yourself at home. I'll go make some tea." After leading Cao Xiao into the hall, Father He set down his bag and went to prepare the tea.

"Alright."

Cao Xiao placed the large bag in his hand on the coffee table and sat on the sofa, surveying the room. Hanging on the wall directly opposite him was a family portrait of He Yueyou's family. He had heard He Yueyou talk about her family situation before; her grandparents were still alive, and her father's generation had three siblings—a second uncle and a younger aunt. He Yueyou also had a younger sister named He Yueshuang, who was only sixteen this year and in her second year of high school, a quirky girl in her chuunibyou phase. He wondered if this was Yueyou's home or her parents' temporary residence?

"Cao Xiao, what are you doing in Hongdu today? You even brought things; you didn't come specifically to visit your mother-in-law, did you? Let me see what good stuff you brought." While Cao Xiao was lost in thought, Liu Guitang entered from outside. His eyes lit up when he saw the bag Cao Xiao had placed on the table, and he walked over.

"Hey, Brother Liu, this isn't for you. You can't just touch it." Cao Xiao didn't give Liu Guitang a friendly look. This guy, who acted more like a scoundrel than an older brother, had just made him lose face in the lobby. He stepped forward to protect the bag on the table and spoke bluntly.

Failing to get his way, Liu Guitang immediately complained, "Guarding it so tightly, there must be something good. You're not being very kind, kid! For the sake of you and the girl Yueyou, I've endured many cold glares from Huang Chunxiang. It wasn't easy to finally persuade the couple to agree to your relationship, yet you've forgotten about me. I heard you held a grand feast at Tianxing Garden last time and didn't even notify me. I heard you brought out a lot of good things. Also, you have an eight-hundred-year-old ginseng and kept it hidden? Don't you know I've been begging everyone lately just to get a piece of aged wild mountain ginseng? I only found out after more than half of it was chewed by a dog. Tell me, how are you going to compensate me, your matchmaker?"

Hearing this, Cao Xiao glanced around. Since Father He hadn't come out yet, he leaned closer to Liu Guitang and whispered, "Brother Liu, are you saying that Yueyou's parents have agreed to our relationship?"

Liu Guitang squinted at Cao Xiao and said with an air of feigned profundity, "Well, that depends on whether you have any sincerity! Success or failure lies in a single thought of mine."

"Brother Liu, don't you need ginseng? How about this one? It's at least a hundred and eighty years old. Is this enough sincerity?" Cao Xiao took a long wooden box from the bag, opened it, and handed it to Liu Guitang, speaking in a low voice.

"Cough, cough. Good, good, good! It's enough!" Liu Guitang was stunned when Cao Xiao suddenly produced a century-old ginseng. After snapping out of it, he coughed awkwardly twice and examined it carefully. Overjoyed, he snatched the box, closed the lid, and hid it behind his back. Then, he said to Cao Xiao with satisfaction, "I won't make things difficult for you; you're a good friend. I won't beat around the bush either. When I take action, there's nothing I can't handle. Your matter is settled. The engagement date has already been set for the sixth of next month. You'd better hurry up and prepare the betrothal gifts. By the way, prepare the matchmaker's fee and give it to me as well. I'm not greedy; just one high-quality item of each of those good things you have will do."

"Ah! I'm getting engaged to Yueyou?" Even though Cao Xiao was somewhat prepared, he was still shocked by the news. Even the engagement date was chosen? Wasn't it a bit too fast? As for Liu Guitang's other words, they were filtered out; right now, he was immersed in a wonderful vision of the future.

"What are you two whispering about so suspiciously over there?" Father He came out carrying the tea.

"No... nothing!" Liu Guitang sat up straight with a guilty conscience, trying his best to hide the box behind him.

"Old Liu, what guilty deed have you done? You're being insincere. What's that behind you? Move aside and let me see." Father He felt Liu Guitang was acting a bit abnormal today and couldn't help but scrutinize him. Suddenly, he saw a wooden box behind Liu Guitang. Liu Guitang had come with him, and his hands were empty when they arrived; there was no such box here either.

"Uh, Uncle, I originally came to visit Auntie today and brought some gifts. Since you're here, I'll give them to you." Seeing Liu Guitang trying desperately to hide it, Cao Xiao knew that if Father He found out he was bribing Liu Guitang, he would definitely have a bad impression of him. So, he quickly helped change the subject and started taking the gifts out of the bag.

"Your name is Cao Xiao, so I'll call you Xiao Xiao. Your mother told me about you and Yueyou. Since Yueyou agreed, I won't object. Elder Chen came by yesterday to talk about this. You've reached the age where you should get married. Originally, we wanted to meet your parents first to discuss it, but your teacher made the decision directly, so we took the liberty of setting the marriage. Since you're here today, I'll tell you first. Yueyou will be back tomorrow. Bring your parents over tomorrow so both sides can meet, have a meal, and finalize the specific arrangements."

"Ah! Thank you, Uncle, for fulfilling my wish with Yueyou. I will treat Yueyou well in the future!" Cao Xiao was a bit dumbfounded. It turned out that Liu Guitang had nothing to do with this at all; it was his teacher who was handling everything. This guy was taking advantage of his ignorance to trick him out of his things. He Yueyou hadn't told him either; as the person involved, he was the last to know, and he hadn't even told his parents. Why did He Yueyou's parents agree so easily? Was there something else he didn't know? But there was an auction for the ginseng tomorrow, so he might not have time. Thus, he spoke up, "I can't make it tomorrow. I came to see Auntie today because of tomorrow's matter. How about I visit with my parents the day after tomorrow instead?"

"What is it? Is it very important?" Father He asked with some displeasure.

"Uncle, don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to get out of it. It's like this..." Seeing Father He was unhappy and fearing a misunderstanding, Cao Xiao quickly explained the matter of tomorrow's ginseng auction.

"I've heard a bit about yesterday's events. It's just as well that the ginseng is damaged; otherwise, it would be a hot potato in your hands. I'll help you spread the word. There's no need to come to my house the day after tomorrow afternoon; just go directly to your Tianxing Garden! I heard you have a type of snake meat that is very nourishing. We'll bring Yueyou's grandparents over the day after tomorrow. The weather has been hot lately, and the elderly are a bit physically weak."

"Hmm? Cao Xiao, I'll also head over tomorrow to see if there's anything I can help with. It just so happens that Xiao Ke and Xiao Yi said they missed you."

Ignoring Liu Guitang—whom he had just realized was incredibly thick-skinned, not only having just swindled a century-old ginseng from him but now wanting to bring his whole family to Tianxing Garden to sponge off him—Cao Xiao opened the bag on the table and began taking things out. As he arranged them on the table, he said to Father He, "Uncle, I brought some snake meat today; you can send some to the elders first, and I'll bring more when you go to Tianxing Garden the day after tomorrow. Also, this is Purple Lingzhi for Yueshuang, this is a great red robe seal stone for you, these are several sets of jewelry for Auntie, and these are two pieces of ginseng prepared for the two elders—both are three hundred years old. There are also some that are decades old, which can be used for making soup. I'll bring more when they're finished. There are also some nourishing wild medicinal herbs and mountain mushrooms I found on Changbai Mountain. There's also some game at home, but I didn't bring it this time because it was too much. I'll make a special trip to deliver it another day."

Looking at the items on the table, Father He was stunned, and Liu Guitang was also dazed. They were used to living in luxury, but the things before them couldn't be bought with money; they were priceless. Especially those two wild mountain ginsengs—both were three hundred years old? And the ones that were decades old were meant for making soup? Even with their multi-billion net worth, they hadn't lived to such an extravagant extent. Not just them, even the world's richest person couldn't do it—not for lack of money, but because they couldn't be bought. Then there was that Lingzhi, so large it looked like it was artificially cultivated, and there was more than one. That blood-red great red robe seal stone was enough to make an imperial seal. None of the jewelry sets for Huang Chunxiang were simple; there were five sets in total made of gold, platinum, silver, chicken blood stone, and blue amber. Each set had extremely complex craftsmanship and was clearly the work of a master. Moreover, those medicinal herbs and mushrooms weren't common items, and it was hard to find authentic wild ones on the market.

Liu Guitang was fine, as he had long seen Cao Xiao's talent for gift-giving, but Father He was completely unprepared and couldn't quite handle the shock. Only then did he realize that his standard of living seemed to be lacking; the things before him showed him what true luxury was.