Innocent, yet guilty for possessing a treasure

The sun rose in the east, filling the sky with morning light.

On a balmy day in March like this, spending half the day basking in the courtyard was a pleasure in its own right.

After dropping Lele off at kindergarten, Zhang Hongxing brought out a wicker chair and reclined in the courtyard.

But before he had been lying there long, Zhang Jun came in with two women, one older and one younger.

"Dad, look who's here."

Zhang Hongxing sat up in his wicker chair. From a distance, he saw a woman standing beside Zhang Jun who bore a striking resemblance to Li Xiuying. A little girl of six or seven hid timidly behind her.

This must be his second daughter, Zhang Ying.

Zhang Ying was studying Zhang Hongxing, too. Although Zhang Jun had told her several times on the way over that their father looked only thirty, she still found it hard to believe when she saw him for herself.

"Dad... it's me, Ying. This is Wenwen. Wenwen, say hello to Grandpa."

"Grandpa."

There was a certain distance in the way Zhang Ying called him Dad. After greeting her grandfather, Wenwen hid behind Zhang Ying again.

"Good. I'm glad you're back. I wasn't home all these years. It must have been hard on all of you."

"Dad, don't say that."

"Ying, you're back!"

Hearing the voices, Li Xiuying came out of the house, her face beaming.

"Mom!"

Seeing Li Xiuying looking like an entirely different person shocked Zhang Ying even more than seeing Zhang Hongxing had. Zhang Jun had mentioned it briefly, but she hadn't taken it seriously.

She had assumed her mother was simply glowing because her father had returned. At most, perhaps she had gone for a few extra spa treatments and some body sculpting.

Who would have thought she had actually turned back the clock?

"Mom, how did you do this? Oh my gosh, even your hair is growing in black again! And your skin! Mom, you have to tell me how!"

Once she got close to Li Xiuying, Zhang Ying's eyes practically shone.

As the saying went, what woman didn't love looking beautiful?

Seeing her daughter's astonishment, Li Xiuying smiled even more brightly. It was all the proof she needed that the changes in her appearance were wonderful.

"Ying, this is all your dad's doing. I only became like this after taking the Beauty-Preserving Pill he made."

"A Beauty-Preserving Pill? Mom, do you have any left?"

"Hahaha, yes. I saved some for you." Laughing, Li Xiuying took out the bottle Zhang Hongxing had given her yesterday and poured out three pills.

"Just take one of these Beauty-Preserving Pills. Your dad said one can keep you youthful for five years. Keep the other two as spares. If you run out, come ask me for more."

"Okay. Thanks, Mom." Zhang Ying swallowed one on the spot, then immediately turned toward Zhang Hongxing. "Thanks, Dad."

"We're family. No need to thank me. By the way, what does your husband do? Why didn't he come back with you?"

"He's a sports star. He's usually pretty busy."

"I see. Take me to meet him when you have time."

"Sure, Dad."

Zhang Hongxing caught a hint of helplessness in his daughter's eyes. But since she said nothing, he couldn't very well press her. He would ask his son-in-law about it later.

"Well, Dajun, why don't you take a Beauty-Preserving Pill, too?"

"Dad, I'm a grown man. What would I take that stuff for?"

"What do you think?"

"Oh, I get it. I'll take it. I'll take it."

One look from Zhang Hongxing was enough for Zhang Jun to understand. He hurriedly took a Beauty-Preserving Pill from his mother and swallowed it. Once he had taken it, at least he wouldn't look older than Zhang Hongxing when they went out together.

But less than five minutes later, Zhang Jun regretted it.

He could accept his rough skin becoming smooth, but the disappearance of his beard stubble filled him with grief. He had always taken pride in that mark of his manliness.

"Dad, you owe me my beard!"

Zhang Jun deliberately put on a look of utter despair, making the whole family burst out laughing.

"Grandpa, are you a magician?"

The timid Wenwen gathered her courage and walked up to Zhang Hongxing. She had seen the changes in her mother and uncle, and from the adults' conversation, she had figured out that Zhang Hongxing was responsible.

"Wenwen, do you want to see some magic?"

"No. I want to learn magic. Grandpa, can you teach me?"

"What would you do if you learned magic?"

"If I learned magic, I could protect Mommy."

"Good girl. But Grandpa doesn't know magic. What I know are immortal arts. Do you want to learn immortal arts?"

"Grandpa, are Immortal Arts stronger than magic?"

"Of course."

"Then I want to learn immortal arts."

Smiling, Zhang Hongxing picked Wenwen up. He had always intended to let his family gradually come to accept everything about him, then eventually teach them his cultivation techniques.

Now that Wenwen had asked, he certainly wouldn't refuse.

Only by practicing the Immortal Cultivation Method could their family stay together for a long time. Even if Earth's current spiritual energy only allowed them to reach the Golden Core Realm at most, that still meant another five hundred years of life.

With those extra five hundred years, he might be able to fully unravel the method that allowed him to cultivate by absorbing electrical energy. Then the Golden Core Realm would no longer be their limit.

While Zhang Hongxing and the others chatted happily in the courtyard, however, his daughter-in-law Yan Mei was running into trouble at work.

Yan Mei worked at a large supermarket, where her usual duties included picking orders, restocking shelves, and directing customers.

That morning, she arrived at the supermarket at eight, just as she always did.

Perhaps because she had taken a Beauty-Preserving Pill—the one Li Xiuying had given her yesterday—passersby along the way kept unconsciously turning their eyes toward her.

Since turning thirty-six, she hadn't experienced that sort of attention in a long time.

When she arrived at work, her coworkers kept coming over to ask about her beauty secrets. She answered each of them with a smile, saying only that she ate well, slept well, and kept a positive attitude.

Since she wouldn't say more, the others couldn't very well keep prying.

But one coworker, a close friend who had always treated her well, sought her out privately when no one else was around.

They had worked together for years and had always gotten along well.

So Yan Mei told her about the Beauty-Preserving Pill. After the woman pleaded with her, she even took one out and gave it to her.

That was when things blew up.

This was more or less what it meant to be innocent, yet guilty for possessing a treasure.

After experiencing the changes herself, that coworker immediately told her closest friend. Her closest friend then told her own closest friend, and soon, practically every employee in the supermarket knew.

Before long, Yan Mei found herself surrounded.

Everyone could imagine how valuable a Beauty-Preserving Pill that maintained one's youth for five years would be.

That was precisely why Yan Mei hadn't dared entertain even the slightest thought of selling them.

But she had never imagined that her dear coworker, her close friend, would hurt her like this.

Or perhaps she had brought it upon herself.

"Mei, just tell everyone. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all make some money together?"

"Exactly, Mei. If nothing else, name your price. We can buy our stock from you."

"Mei, why are you being like this?"

"I already told you, they weren't mine. A passing Taoist priest gave them to me, and there were only three. Why won't you believe me?"

"Mei, do you even believe that yourself?"

"Qian Zhenzhen, shut your mouth! I treated you like my closest friend, and this is how you repay me?"

"Mei, you can't say that. Aren't I doing this for your own good?"

"Like hell you are!"