Chapter 493 - 432: Helping, Part 2
Chapter 493: Chapter 432: Helping, Part 2
Fortunately, the house was well-stocked with plenty of fresh meat and vegetables. Uncle Gu had slaughtered the live cattle and sheep Lu Jian Country sent over, and they hadn’t touched much of the portioned meat. Today, they used it all to entertain their guests, which emptied both the kitchen and the refrigerator. Tomorrow was the second day of the Lunar New Year, and the farmers’ market would likely be completely deserted. In the early 1980s, it wasn’t like later years when markets were bustling daily and supermarkets had popped up everywhere. During the New Year festival, the markets really didn’t have any vegetables for sale and wouldn’t reopen until after the fifth or sixth day.
Therefore, the Tang family would have to budget carefully for the next few days and couldn’t host guests so freely.
Xiao Man’s Treasure Pearl Space did have plenty of ingredients stored away, but she wouldn’t take them out at a time like this, nor would her grandfather and father permit it.
This winter, Grandpa Tang and Dad Tang had learned her secret.
Previously, she had often used the space, providing her family with grains and fruits rich in Spiritual Energy, as well as spiritual spring water. Although her grandfather and father knew she’d had an extraordinary encounter and believed she truly possessed a "dog’s nose" for finding all sorts of treasures across the country, their doubts grew over time, leaving them completely baffled. The seasons had long since passed, so how was it that the family’s supply of crisp, sweet pears never ran out? What about the fragrant, honey-sweet peaches and fresh, succulent grapes? Even when diced and juiced, their distinctive taste was unmistakable. The same went for other specialty foods—they would appear whenever anyone craved them! And after drinking the tea Xiao Man brewed or the water she prepared, no one wanted to touch tap water again...
Grandpa Tang had personally promised not to pry into his granddaughter’s secrets, but he eventually couldn’t contain his curiosity. While Tang Qingshan was on the phone with Grandpa Mo from Gongdao Village in G Province, he feigned nonchalance and asked a few questions to get a clearer picture. In the end, the father and son calmly pulled Xiao Man into the study for an "interrogation." Xiao Man, for her part, figured there were only upsides to telling her family the truth, so she readily "confessed."
However, she still held something back. She didn’t reveal the existence of the heaven-defying Treasure Pearl Space. The story she told was that her miraculous encounter stemmed from a thunderstorm in the countryside, where she had personally witnessed lightning strike the ground and unearth a storage ring. When she picked it up, the storage ring acknowledged her as its master and its space opened to her. The Ring Space was quite large and held many treasures, such as the Cultivation Technique she practiced, various peace charms and Life-saving Talismans left behind by a predecessor, and the herbs, grains, fruits, and spirit water in Jade Bottles she often brought out. The Ring Space was saturated with Spiritual Energy, so any ordinary food or herbs stored inside would become extraordinary after some time, their quality almost indistinguishable from spirit plant immortal products. Long-term consumption could ensure good health and prolong life, which was why she frequently swapped out the family’s ingredients and prepared their drinking water.
Even the flowers and plants her paternal grandparents raised, and the melons and vegetables they grew, had benefited greatly. And thousands of miles away in Gongdao Village, her other Grandpa and Grandma’s courtyard and herb garden were all her handiwork—she had soaked the seeds and seedlings in the Spiritual Spring from her space, which was why they grew like crazy!
After their shock, her grandfather and father were incredibly gratified by Xiao Man’s good fortune. Her grandfather, in particular, was the most deeply affected by the mention of a Cultivator’s storage ring, as he knew exactly what that entailed. The Gu family had once possessed an ancestral storage ring, rumored to hold an immeasurable amount of wealth and all sorts of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Unfortunately, their descendants had failed to inherit it!
As for the Tang family, his own great-grandfather had once possessed a Qiankun Bag. It was just as Xiao Man described: it could store items, and whatever you wished for would appear—an inexhaustible source of treasure! Very regrettably, for some unknown reason, their descendants were also unable to inherit it. After the old ancestor passed away, the Qiankun Bag vanished with him. His own grandfather had been heartbroken, yearning for it until the day he died, unable to even close his eyes in peace.
’He never would have expected that his own granddaughter would now possess a Storage Ring! And according to her, the Ring Space was like a warehouse filled with rare and precious items. It could store things in large quantities, and any ordinary item placed inside would be nourished by Spiritual Energy, its quality improving over time until it was nearly indistinguishable from spirit plant immortal products!’
Grandpa Tang’s face remained impassive, but inwardly he was overcome with emotion. ’Ancestors of the Tang Sect! Grandfather! You can all rest in peace now! My eldest granddaughter has obtained a storage ring, which is equivalent to recovering our ancestral Qiankun Bag. It must be the ancestors’ blessing that helped her receive this inheritance! The Tang family is truly blessed by fate! Our descendants’ fortune and prosperity will be long-lasting!’
Her grandfather and father sternly warned Xiao Man, "This secret goes no further. Never mention it again! Not even to Gu Shaojun or the Gu family!"
The Ring Space had acknowledged Xiao Man as its master, so it belonged to her and her alone. No one could even think of laying a finger on it! She could use it at home, and her grandfather and father would help cover for her, but they could not tell her grandmother, mother, Hao Hao, or Second Uncle. Although they were immediate family, suspicion and conflict among relatives were not uncommon throughout history. After all, greed is part of human nature, and people sometimes abandon their own flesh and blood for inexplicable reasons—case in point: Wu Xiaowen and Tang Qingyun!
Although the Tang Qingyun of today was consumed by regret, back then he had completely deferred to Wu Xiaowen, heartlessly abandoning his own daughter.
If those two were to discover Xiao Man’s treasure, there would be no guarantee that some terrible, irreversible consequence wouldn’t follow!
Without needing to discuss it, her grandfather and father came to a mutual decision: the Ring Space was Xiao Man’s private property. They, as father and son, would guard this secret with their lives and watch over Xiao Man to keep her from using the space carelessly, lest she be exposed and meet with disaster.
As for the other members of the Tang family, being able to occasionally enjoy the benefits from the space was the greatest blessing they could ask for. There was no need for them to know anything more.
So now, Xiao Man was under the dual supervision of her grandfather and father and could no longer move things out of her space as freely as she once did.
In the past, Grandpa Tang would often boast to others about how clever and deft his granddaughter was, how even the tea she brewed was more fragrant and mellow than anyone else’s. Nowadays, he avoided such topics completely.
For instance, when they were hosting guests today, a visitor wanted to give the children red envelopes and asked where his grandson and granddaughter were. Grandpa Tang feigned a polite refusal, smiling as he said, "They’ve gone off to play. They’re just children, no need to bother with them!"