"Hey, old friend, I called you all this way today. Rhea won't blame me, will she?" Xu Yi asked with a cheerful smile after letting go of his hand.
Who else could Xu Yi call his old friend but Heinz, who had founded the Xinfei Merchant Guild alongside him?
Heinz burst out laughing at Xu Yi's question.
"Rhea got tired of having me around the house ages ago. She kicked me out first thing this morning."
"Oh? Doesn't that mean you're homeless today?"
As Xu Yi joked, he looked Heinz up and down.
Since retiring, Heinz had spent most of his time living with Rhea in a secluded, peaceful valley outside Bunta City, unwilling to be disturbed. Xu Yi was usually busy and rarely visited Bunta City, so it had been more than two years since they last met.
Seeing him again after two years, Xu Yi noticed that Heinz's hair had grown a little whiter and his wrinkles a little deeper, but he still seemed in good spirits and looked quite healthy. That put Xu Yi considerably at ease.
Heinz was nearly seventy this year, which counted as a remarkably advanced age on the Sains Continent, where average life expectancy was extremely low.
The main reason he could maintain such good physical and mental health at his age was that he was far wealthier than ordinary people and had ample means to take care of himself.
Of course, that money came from his shares in the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the two walked toward the temporary platform erected in the center of the city square.
At the sight, reporters from countless newspapers gathered in the square lowered their heads and began scribbling furiously.
Today marked the first personal press conference Xu Yi had ever