“Huh?” Liu Ruyan’s question left my mind blank for a brief moment.
But I still answered honestly. “Sis, you’re beautiful—the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.”
Liu Ruyan finally smiled.
Her smile made me feel a little giddy.
“You sure know how to flatter me.” Liu Ruyan brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry. I know what you’re thinking. I’ll leave this apartment entirely in your hands from now on. And when I buy a new place, I’ll come to you.”
Her words moved me to tears.
I’d waited so long to hear those words.
“Sis, thank you.” I bowed deeply to Liu Ruyan.
Seeing how excited I was, Liu Ruyan covered her mouth and laughed, her every movement radiating charm.
She seemed curious about me and asked, “Xiao Zhang, you work so hard. Whenever I call, no matter the time, you show up. How much do you make a month?”
I felt awkward, but answered honestly anyway. “Sis, you know what the real estate market is like these days. I haven’t sold a single apartment in six months. I can only make a few thousand yuan in base pay.”
“Oh?” Liu Ruyan clearly hadn’t expected that, despite how diligently I worked, I could only earn so little each month. Still, she asked, “Would you be interested in changing jobs?”
I said bitterly, “Sis, I graduated years ago. Changing jobs isn’t that easy.”
“How about being my driver? I’ll pay you twenty thousand a month,” Liu Ruyan offered.
I froze.
Seeing how serious Liu Ruyan looked, and that she didn’t seem to be joking, I was clearly tempted.
Could it be that she was interested in me?
But that couldn’t be!
She was so beautiful and so rich. Why would she be interested in me?
Besides, I wasn’t any good in that department.
And I still wasn’t divorced.
Maybe she was just messing with me.
After all, I still couldn’t fathom what rich people were thinking.
“Sis, I want to keep at it for a while longer and see how things go. If it really doesn’t work out, I’d be willing to be your driver—or even your servant.” After hesitating briefly, I gave her my answer.
If I could help Liu Ruyan buy a new place, I could probably earn hundreds of thousands.
I wasn’t planning to change jobs just yet.
“All right. Once you’ve helped me find a new place and earned your commission, you can think about being my driver.” Liu Ruyan seemed to see through me and said no more. She crossed her left leg over her right, picked up her phone, and signaled that I could leave.
I couldn’t help glancing at Liu Ruyan’s legs.
Because she was wearing a dressing gown,
most of her legs were exposed.
They were smooth and delicate, making my heart itch with desire.
“All right, I’ll get going.” I quickly looked away, tossed the trash in the bin, then tucked the iron basin under my arm and hurried out of the residential compound to a secluded spot.
I looked at the iron basin again.
The writing that had appeared on it wasn’t very clear, but I could just make it out.
Treasure-Gathering Basin: upgrades medicinal ingredients and repairs antiques.
The characters seemed to have been carved into it.
Looking at the antique-looking iron basin, I couldn’t help feeling a faint sense of anticipation.
“Could this really be a Treasure-Gathering Basin? Could something this miraculous actually exist?”
Still skeptical, I went home right away.
Li Ya had already gone to work.
I was home alone.
After searching for a long time, I found a bottle of Liuwei Dihuang Pills.
Over the years, I’d taken plenty of this traditional chinese medicine to improve my performance in bed.
But it hadn’t helped at all.
I took out one Liuwei Dihuang Pill and tossed it into the iron basin, planning to wait and see whether it would really upgrade medicinal ingredients.
But even after waiting for ages, nothing changed.
“Sigh, I got my hopes up for nothing.”
I was bitterly disappointed.
I’d thought my chance to defy fate had finally come, only to discover it was someone’s prank.
“I’m such an idiot. Liu Ruyan’s family deals in antiques. If this really were a treasure, how could they have thrown it away?” I smacked my forehead and laughed at myself.
After being busy for most of the day, I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me.
I collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep without even taking off my clothes.
I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep when, in a daze, I caught a faint medicinal fragrance.
“How long have I been asleep?”
I picked up my phone and saw that it had shut down at some point because the battery had died.
After plugging in my phone, I followed the medicinal fragrance to its source. It was coming from the iron basin.
I hurriedly looked inside.
I froze.
Inside was a pill the size of a walnut.
I quickly took it out.
I checked it again and again.
The medicinal fragrance was definitely coming from the pill.
I was absolutely certain that I’d only tossed in one small Liuwei Dihuang Pill earlier. Now it had turned into a pill the size of a walnut.
“Oh my God, could this really be a Treasure-Gathering Basin that can upgrade medicinal ingredients?”
I was so excited that I couldn’t help taking a small bite of the pill.
It melted as soon as it went down.
Just moments later, I felt a wave of heat in my abdomen, and something that had shown no signs of life before began to stir.
“Th-this can’t be real, can it?”
I couldn’t hold back any longer and swallowed the whole pill in one gulp.
Then,
I felt as if I had boundless strength.
I hurried into the bathroom.
It was just as I’d expected.
I was far more potent than before.
Once I was certain I wasn’t dreaming, I walked out of the bathroom, satisfied, and stood there grinning foolishly as I held the Treasure-Gathering Basin.
The description of the Treasure-Gathering Basin was far too brief. Since it could upgrade medicinal ingredients, could it do so infinitely?
If that was really the case, would tossing in a ginseng root that was only a few years old upgrade it to a hundred-year-old one?
Thinking this, I quickly got dressed, went to a pharmacy, bought a young ginseng root, and tossed it into the Treasure-Gathering Basin.
Nothing happened.
Remembering that the pill had also taken a long time to upgrade, I didn’t rush. I hid the Treasure-Gathering Basin in the wardrobe.
Just then, my phone suddenly rang.
I picked it up and saw that Li Qing was calling.
“Sis, what is it? Did you find the evidence?” I answered.
Li Qing sounded conflicted. “You’ll keep your word, right? If I help you find the evidence, you won’t reveal my secret?”
“Of course.”
“All right. Come to the Crown Grand Hotel now,” Li Qing said.
“What? That bitch Li Ya really went to a hotel room with someone?” I was furious.
“Why are you asking so many questions? Just hurry over,” Li Qing said impatiently. “I’ll wait for you at the entrance.”
I hung up and checked the time. It was already past nine in the evening.
I had a lot of missed-call notifications on my phone.
Several of them were calls and messages from my store manager.
He’d probably noticed that I hadn’t been at the store all day and wanted to give me a hard time again.
But I had no time to reply to my store manager. I went out, hailed a cab, and headed straight for the Crown Grand Hotel.