A Single Step from Poverty to Prosperity

"Uncle, I'm back."

As soon as Xiao Han entered the Xiao Family Meeting Hall, he saw a middle-aged man sitting in the clan head's seat at the very center, holding some kind of book and grinning foolishly at it, completely engrossed, as though he were an emperor doting on his favorite concubine.

When he got closer, Xiao Han realized it was a ledger, filled with the huge profits the Xiao Family had earned from selling pills over the past half-month.

Xiao Zhan seemed not to hear Xiao Han at all, continuing to flip through the ledger.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem!!!"

Three loud coughs immediately snapped Xiao Zhan out of his own little world.

He looked up and saw his nephew—the one who had lifted the fortunes of the entire Xiao Family—watching him with an exasperated expression. Xiao Zhan gave an awkward smile, put the ledger away in his Storage Ring, then stood and gave Xiao Han a gentle hug.

"Good lad. I heard you were going away for ten days or half a month to get some experience. I was worried about you, so I was about to send people to look for you in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. I didn't expect you to come back so soon.

"After all, you're the hope of our Xiao Family's rise now. We can't afford to let anything happen to you."

Feeling the concern of the person who could be called the family member who had treated him best since he arrived in the Douqi Continent, Xiao Han's nose stung and his eyes reddened.

"I know, Uncle."

People weren't made of grass or wood; how could they be without feelings?

In the four years since he had transmigrated here, Xiao Zhan hadn't quite looked after him in every possible way, but at least he had treated him, his nephew, even better than Xiao Yan, his own son.

When Xiao Han had proposed reforming the market, his economic reform plan would never have been implemented so smoothly if Xiao Zhan hadn't argued fiercely against the old guard and stood his ground to the end. After all, reforming the market had ultimately taken a bite out of many people's profits.

As the saying went, taking away someone's livelihood was like killing their parents. Not only had Xiao Zhan fought for him, pushing aside all objections and making his plan a development strategy for the Xiao Family, he had also personally shielded him from the underhanded schemes of those people.

Just as Xiao Han was feeling touched, Xiao Zhan's next words shattered the moment.

"Han'er, well, heh heh—only a fifth of the pills you made for the family are left to sell. If you hadn't come back soon, I really would've had to send people to look for you." As he spoke, Xiao Zhan awkwardly scratched the back of his head and gave an embarrassed smile.

Pills?

Damn!

No wonder he'd hugged me the moment we met, as if he'd seen a savior. So he'd been treating me like a pill-making tool all along. I got all touched for nothing.

Xiao Han's face darkened. "So all that stuff you said to me just now was a bunch of lies to fool a kid, huh?"

"No, no! Your uncle was speaking from the heart, I swear."

Xiao Zhan could tell his nephew was a little upset, so he hurried to make amends.

"Really?"

Xiao Han's handsome face remained dark.

"Really. Truer than pure gold."

Xiao Zhan smiled apologetically at him again and again.

"Forget it. Let's talk business first."

Xiao Han went over and sat in a chair. Xiao Zhan hurriedly poured him a cup of tea.

Tap... tap... tap...

Xiao Han lifted the cup and took a sip, then tapped his fingers on the table. With a flick of his finger, he took a sheet of paper covered in the names of medicinal ingredients out of his Storage Ring.

"Uncle, I've advanced to Second Grade Alchemist. Please help me buy these ingredients for pill-making. Once we have them, the grade of the pills our Xiao Family sells should improve."

"You need me to gather ingredients? No prob—wait!"

Xiao Zhan took the list and nodded without thinking. But the next instant, he jerked his head up and stared at Xiao Han like he was some kind of monster, his face full of disbelief.

"Han'er... what... what did you say? You're already a Second Grade Alchemist?" Though Xiao Zhan knew nothing about alchemy, he knew that advancing as an alchemist was no easy feat.

If everyone could advance so easily, wouldn't High-Rank Alchemists be as common as cabbages on the street?

"Yeah. I broke through by accident a few days ago." Xiao Han said it casually, then looked at Xiao Zhan. "Is there a problem?"

What did he mean, he broke through by accident? And was there a problem? There was a huge problem! He'd only been learning alchemy for a little over a month!

Showing off without even trying was the deadliest kind of flex.

Xiao Zhan looked at Xiao Han, utterly speechless, but inside, he was overjoyed. What astonishing talent for alchemy! His nephew had incredible cultivation talent, and his talent as an alchemist was one in ten thousand, too. He was truly a monster!

Thinking this, Xiao Zhan shook his head and smiled. "It's nothing. I'm just genuinely happy for you. I already thought you had amazing talent as an alchemist, Han'er, but I never imagined you'd be this much of a prodigy.

"I doubt even the genius youths in the Jia Ma Empire's Alchemist Guild can compare to you, right?"

"Can't be helped."

Xiao Han lifted his chin at a proud forty-five-degree angle and said coolly, "Being stronger than every opponent is life's greatest annoyance."

"Han'er, you've accomplished so much. I'm sure your parents would be proud to have a son like you." Xiao Zhan looked at Xiao Han affectionately and sighed, thinking once again of his elder brother and sister-in-law, who had died in an accident.

"Perhaps."

A sorrowful expression appeared on Xiao Han's face, but inside, he felt nothing. After all, he had been an orphan from the moment he transmigrated, so he had no real attachment to his parents in this world. Xiao Zhan, on the other hand, might have been his uncle by title, but most of the time, he had played the role of a father.

"By the way, Uncle,"

Xiao Han looked up, his eyes gleaming. "Over the past half-month, the Jia Lie Family and the Aoba Family must've been hit pretty hard, right?"

"Heh heh. 'Pretty hard' doesn't even begin to cover it."

Xiao Zhan coldly cracked his knuckles, making them pop. "We've used pills to capture a full ninety percent of the foot traffic. The markets belonging to those two families have been running at a loss this whole time, and they're almost unable to keep their businesses going.

"According to our informants, before I revealed that we had a High-Rank Alchemist backing us, those two families had planned to join forces and launch a surprise attack to kill our Xiao Family members. But then they heard that your uncle had advanced to Dou Ling. They were so frightened that they quickly abandoned the idea and hid inside their families, afraid to show their faces."

Crack!

"A surprise attack on the Xiao Family?"

Xiao Han's eyes turned cold. He squeezed the armrest of the wooden chair so hard that it burst apart, scattering splinters everywhere!

A thick killing intent rolled off him. If those two families really had attacked the Xiao Family, never mind anyone else—someone like Qinglin, a little girl with no cultivation, would probably have been captured first.

With Qinglin's looks, if she were captured, she would face torment worse than death. Xiao Xun'er and Old Man Yao were there, so the Xiao Family would definitely be fine, but in Xiao Han's heart, those two families had already been sentenced to death!

Smack!

A hand gently pressed against Xiao Han's shoulder. It was Xiao Zhan, looking serious as he shook his head at him. "I'll deal with this. Your job right now is to focus on cultivation. There's no need to get your hands dirty with something like this."

"Okay."

Xiao Han suppressed his killing intent and smiled.

After they finished talking about the Xiao Family Market and the two rival families, Xiao Han and Xiao Zhan discussed which kinds of pills sold best at the market. Just as Xiao Han had expected, pills that restored Dou Qi and Healing Medicine were the most popular. Emergency pills that temporarily boosted one's strength sold less than the other two kinds, but they were still flying off the shelves.

Three kinds of pills clearly weren't enough. After thinking it over, Xiao Han took the book of pill recipes Old Man Yao had given him out of his Storage Ring and flipped through it. He picked out a few First Grade Pills and Two-Grade Pills that were cheap to make but had decent effects.

Then Xiao Han took out his homemade charcoal pencil and quickly wrote down the ingredients. He also handed Xiao Zhan three of the Storage Rings he had taken as Spoils from the bandits, asking him to send people to gather the ingredients.

After finishing everything, Xiao Han stretched and left. He hadn't seen his adorable little maid in a long time, and he couldn't wait to "pamper" Qinglin properly.

He walked past one Separate Courtyard after another in the Xiao Family. From a distance, he could already see his own little courtyard, far away from the Xiao Family's Clan Territory.

But for some reason, his courtyard looked different from afar.

Pfft!!!

Xiao Han took one look as he walked in and spat.

What the heck!

Who had painted my walls? Why were they so blindingly white?!

And my front gate? Where was my dark, double-door gate?

The old courtyard walls had been given a fresh coat of paint, making them look as if they had just been built. The black gate, once marked with the traces of age, had been painted a festive red. Even the little gaps and holes in the wooden door had been patched with instant noodles.

That was a mistake. They'd been patched with wood shavings.

Just as Xiao Han stood there, completely bewildered, the vermilion-red gate suddenly swung open, and Qinglin, dressed in green, rushed out.

"Waaah, young master! Young master, you're finally back! Qinglin missed you so much! Waaah..."

He felt a soft body collide with him, then caught a pleasant fragrance from Qinglin that lifted his spirits.

With a warm, soft beauty in his arms, Xiao Han affectionately held Qinglin and patted her little head.

"My sweet Qinglin, your young master missed you too."

He gently pinched Qinglin's delicate nose, then mischievously ruffled her hair. "I can't wait to take an afternoon nap with Qinglin."

"Mhm. Young master, you're always saying things that make me embarrassed." Blushing, Qinglin pushed Xiao Han away, lowered her head, and clasped her little hands behind her back.

"By the way, Qinglin, what happened to our courtyard?"

As he spoke, Xiao Han pointed to the freshly painted gate and walls.

"Oh, right—"

Qinglin swallowed. "I almost forgot to tell you, young master. While you were away, the Xiao Clan Head said that no matter what, you have a certain standing now.

"But it wouldn't be appropriate for you to keep living in such a shabby little courtyard so far from the Clan Territory, so..."

"So what? Uncle doesn't want me to move to one of those more luxurious courtyards, does he? I remember turning him down plenty of times already." Xiao Han frowned, thinking of how Xiao Zhan had tried several times over the years to get him to move somewhere nicer.

But, as the saying went, a silver or gold nest couldn't beat one's own doghouse. After all these years, he was used to living here. And this secluded courtyard was exactly what he wanted; at least no one would disturb him while he cultivated.

It was also close to the back mountain. He could reach it with a hundred-meter walk from the courtyard, which made it convenient for doing things he shouldn't be seen doing—for example, sneaking off to the woods for sex.

Ahem, ahem, that was beside the point. Sneaking off to the woods for sex was impossible; Xiao Han in this world was still a virgin, after all, and he was only fourteen.

"No, no!"

Qinglin hurriedly waved her hands. "The Xiao Clan Head said, 'A white coat of paint hides a hundred flaws.'

"No matter how shabby it is inside, as long as you paint the outer walls white and give the gate a fresh coat, it'll go from looking poor to looking luxurious from the outside."

"Damn!"

Hearing Qinglin's words, Xiao Han felt like his whole world had fallen apart!

Wasn't this just like those face-saving projects some places in his previous life came up with when poverty relief wasn't working?!

Uncle, why'd you have to learn the bad things instead of the good ones?!