Chapter 506 - 444: Breakdown
Chapter 506: Chapter 444: Breakdown
Gongsun Chongshan waved his hand. "This is your family’s good fortune, as it was meant to be. The Bai Family’s ancestors were Cultivators who made arrangements long ago. Spiritual Energy in Beijing is sparse, but your residence is located in a blessed place. The house may look isolated and out of place from the outside, but it was cleverly constructed right on top of a spiritual acupoint. No matter how thin the Spiritual Energy in the world becomes, there will always be some. And like flowing water, it naturally pools in certain places, which are known as spiritual acupoints. The one at your residence should be enough to satisfy the Cultivation needs of your family."
Mr. Bai nodded, his smile growing more content and proud.
Gongsun Chongshan lowered his gaze and sipped his tea. ’This old man managed to successfully perform Energy Introduction despite his sick and frail body,’ he thought. ’He’s on cloud nine right now, so I won’t hit him with the ugly truth. He’ll come to realize it on his own soon enough. Is Cultivation really so easy? Setting aside the enormous consumption of resources, just look at Spiritual Energy. Even with a spiritual acupoint, the amount the Bai Family can gather each day won’t be nearly enough for all their men. And once Mr. Bai reaches Second-level Qi Refining, this spiritual acupoint will only be enough for him—and he’ll only be able to use it once every two days!’
’And this whole family... the grandfather and grandsons all have quite good foundations. I doubt any of them will be willing to give up on Cultivation. They’re going to have a lot to worry about then!’
Gu Shaojun and Xiao Man never expected to eat their words so quickly. They had just been going on about how there were no Cultivators in Beijing, yet Bai Junfan had already successfully completed Energy Introduction. In fact, the Bai Family had a total of four such Quasi-Cultivators: Mr. Bai, Bai Lihua, Bai Junfan, and Bai Junjie. Additionally, Bai Lihua’s youngest son, Bai Junlin, as well as Bai Qingyue and three other young women of the family, all possessed Spirit Roots. However, due to resource constraints, they had to postpone their Cultivation and wait for a suitable opportunity in the future.
The others didn’t really mind. They’d heard that Cultivation wasn’t exactly fun and games, so they didn’t press the issue.
Bai Qingyue, however, knew the benefits of Cultivation. First and foremost, the ability to remain healthy and free of pain while preserving one’s youth and ageless beauty was something every woman dreamed of.
Mr. Bai doted on and highly valued his only daughter, but the supplementary elixirs Gongsun had brought were limited. Moreover, Gongsun had said they were also temporarily out of stock back home; they would have to gather all the necessary herbs and couldn’t refine more until next year. Mr. Bai had no choice but to console his upset daughter, promising he would grant her wish and let her begin Cultivation next year alongside his youngest grandson.
The Gu family, however, did not lack resources. After all, they hadn’t lost their entire fortune like the Bai Family. Grandpa Gu and his sons had already done a preliminary calculation. With their current foundation, counting assets both on and off the books, they could support the Cultivation of all the family’s descendants for at least twenty years! And within those two decades, the Gu family was fully capable of accumulating even greater wealth. There was nothing to worry about on that front.
Xiao Man was in charge of the elixirs that aided Cultivation. Tang Qingshan, who had just returned from visiting relatives in Gongdao Village, told her that a great many herb gardens had popped up there between last year and this year. Grandpa had always been passionate about helping the community, so he unconditionally provided seedlings to any villagers who wanted to start a garden. The herb gardens in the rest of the township and county, however, didn’t enjoy this perk. After all, the seedlings from Grandpa’s garden were extraordinary. Even when relevant township and county officials came to his door to try and persuade him, he wouldn’t just give them to anyone. Grandpa’s principle was firm: "I got these seedlings from the deep mountains of our village, so they cannot leave Gongdao Village!"
With Mo Jiabao’s help, Grandpa had also leased an entire mountain next to the reservoir. Xiao Man knew the mountain—it covered a huge area and contained deep streams and canyons. It seemed Grandpa was on his way to becoming Huaxia’s number one herb grower. With Mo Jiabao as his assistant, the old man was full of ambition and feared nothing.
The Sun Family purchased all the herbs produced by the gardens within a several-hundred-mile radius of Gongdao Village.
Xiao Man had come to an agreement with the Sun Family: she would take a small portion of the herbs from Grandpa’s gardens, and the Sun Family would get the majority.
This way, Xiao Man didn’t need to use the herbs from her personal storage space. Those had to be saved for when she advanced to a High Level to avoid waste.
Within three days, inside a Spirit Gathering Array that Xiao Man had set up with Magic Artifacts, jade, and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, Gu Shaojun guided the men of the Gu family, young and old, through Energy Introduction. They tempered their meridians, expelled the impurities from their bodies, and completed the first step of their Cultivation.
Over at the naval base, Gu Qiyuan had long since learned that his son, Gu Shaofeng, and his eldest nephew were home for the New Year. He also understood this Spring Festival was no ordinary one—his family was about to begin Cultivation. He was anxious, but he was stuck dealing with Tian Xueqin and didn’t dare defy his father’s ban. All he could do was call twice a day, morning and evening, to pay his respects to his parents. Granny Gu’s heart ached for her son, but Grandpa Gu told Gu Qiyuan, "Control your mouth and your wife. From now on, don’t let her know too much about family affairs. In a few days, when you come to Beijing for your meeting, bring Shaoling back here. We’ll have your mother watch over her. The Gu family’s eldest granddaughter has been led astray. I can’t just stand by while your wife completely ruins her. As for Shaofeng, he’s already left for another province. You two won’t be seeing him for a while. This is all your and your wife’s doing!"
Gu Qiyuan could only agree meekly, a bitterness in his heart he couldn’t put into words. ’Tian Xueqin isn’t a child whom I can just scold and order to change her ways,’ he thought. ’A leopard can’t change its spots. After being married for half a lifetime, I know her better than anyone.’
’I suppose this is just how things are,’ he continued to muse. ’We’ve been married for half our lives, our children are grown. What can we do besides just get by? Still, when I think of how most of my colleagues have supportive wives, respectful children, and happy, harmonious families, I can’t help but feel resentful that I’ve ended up in this situation.’
Because of Wu Xiaowen, Tang Haocheng had to postpone his trip, finally boarding a flight across the ocean on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.
He had been scheduled to leave on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, but an incident on the third day changed his plans. Instead of Tang Haocheng going to the Wu residence, Tang Qingyun booked two tables at a hotel and invited Wu Xiaowen and other members of the Wu Family for a meal. Only when the dinner was nearly over did Tang Haocheng inform Wu Xiaowen that he was preparing to study abroad and likely wouldn’t be back for three years.
Wu Yu Xuan and Lin Aizhen weren’t particularly surprised. After all, any child from a family with the means would study abroad these days to burnish their credentials and raise their social standing.
Wu Xiaowen, after her initial shock, was completely against the idea. She was in the middle of planning how to get back together with Tang Qingyun, and her son was an indispensable bargaining chip. ’How can I let him go abroad at such a critical moment?’
’Besides, what does the Tang family think they’re doing? I’m the one who gave birth to him! What right do they have to send my son abroad without discussing it with me, his own mother? They were even going to hide it from me until the very end!’
Wu Xiaowen flew into a rage and broke down on the spot. In the middle of the hotel restaurant, she began to weep inconsolably, loudly accusing the Tang family of orchestrating this whole thing, of setting a trap for her to destroy her marriage and inflict mental abuse. She wailed about the hardships of bearing and raising her son, crying that now she would be left with nothing—she was even losing her son... She grew more and more agitated as she spoke. The members of the Wu Family, while appearing to console her, were actually fanning the flames. They successfully pushed Wu Xiaowen to lose control; she smashed a few plates and bowls before collapsing to the floor in a faint.
Tang Haocheng took his mother to the hospital and stayed by her side for two days. Finally, Tang Qingyun went to the hospital himself and told his son to go.