DIV Chapter 2: Easy Resolution

His gaze remained fixed on the content of the divination.

Li Chang'an's eyes lit up, and his heartbeat quickened.

"The jade pendant of the Zheng family's young miss!"

If he found this jade pendant, he could use it as an excuse to seek an audience with the Zheng family's young miss.

At that time, the mining matter might still have a chance for resolution!

Li Chang'an immediately got up.

Without any hesitation, he left his house right away.

"I hope this golden finger won't be wrong."

The night was deep, and the bright moon hung high.

Not far from his door was a large river with shimmering waves.

The Qingshui River!

Qinghe Market got its name precisely because it was built along this river.

Looking around, the riverbank was shaded with green willows, thousands of willow branches swaying in the wind under the moonlight.

"The divination shows it's under a willow tree, but doesn't say which willow tree. I can only search slowly."

Li Chang'an patiently began searching by moonlight.

The river water was calm, and the water grass was lush.

He concentrated intently, his gaze sweeping over the area beneath each willow tree.

About an hour passed, and Li Chang'an's eyes were becoming somewhat dry.

Finally, under an old willow tree, he saw a faint glimmer of light.

"Found it!"

Li Chang'an's gaze focused, and his steps halted.

He looked around several times, cautiously crouched down, and parted the tangled water grass.

What appeared before his eyes was a exquisitely beautiful jade pendant, warm and translucent with delicate patterns, with the character "Zheng" carved on its front.

Li Chang'an immediately reached out and grabbed it.

He quickly tucked it into his chest.

"Phew..."

After doing all this, his breathing became somewhat rapid.

After all, this was the Zheng family young miss's jade pendant. If others saw it, it would likely bring unnecessary trouble.

Li Chang'an didn't dare delay and got up to head home.

After returning home and closing the door, he finally let out a long breath.

"Fortunately, nothing went wrong!" Li Chang'an took out the jade pendant to examine it carefully, his heart filled with irrepressible excitement.

The golden finger was accurate and flawless!

With the help of divinations, his future path of immortality would be smoother. Perhaps he truly had hope for the legendary path of longevity!

After quite a while, Li Chang'an finally calmed his emotions.

"Now is not the right time. I'll go find the young miss tomorrow morning."

Suppressing all his complicated thoughts, Li Chang'an closed his eyes in meditation and didn't sleep all night.

Time slowly passed.

Before he knew it, night retreated and the morning rooster crowed.

Li Chang'an opened his eyes, got up, and left his house, walking toward the central area of the market.

The Zheng family's young miss lived in that area and would occasionally appear to handle disputes within the market.

Before long, Li Chang'an stopped outside a small courtyard.

"Dong dong dong..."

He knocked on the courtyard gate, the sound muffled.

Soon, a maidservant opened the gate and looked at Li Chang'an warily.

"What do you want?"

"Miss, I found this jade pendant carved with the character 'Zheng.' It should belong to the Zheng family. Please kindly inform them."

Li Chang'an explained his purpose and took out the jade pendant.

A flash of surprise crossed the maidservant's eyes, and she immediately invited Li Chang'an into the courtyard.

"Please wait a moment. I'll go inform the young miss." Having said that, she walked toward the depths of the small courtyard.

Li Chang'an sat in the courtyard, waiting quietly.

Shortly after, a melodious and pleasant voice rang out.

"A few days ago, when I went to slay a water demon that was causing trouble, I accidentally lost my jade pendant. Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for returning it to me."

Like an oriole emerging from a valley, or like a gentle stream, it was refreshing to the heart.

Li Chang'an instinctively looked over.

It was a young woman wearing a blue-green long dress.

Perfect features and eyebrows like moths, eyes clear as water, graceful and elegant.

This was the Zheng family's young miss.

Zheng Qingqing!

Li Chang'an immediately stood up and cupped his hands, saying, "I greet the young miss."

"Fellow Daoist, there's no need to be so formal."

Zheng Qingqing smiled warmly, gentle and charming.

She spoke gently and asked about the jade pendant.

"I wonder where Fellow Daoist found it?"

"At the south side of the market, by the Qingshui River..." Li Chang'an responded in detail, recounting the events from beginning to end.

He explained that he had signed a spiritual contract with the Zheng family and had been assigned to mining this year, which made him anxious and unable to sleep.

So he went to the riverside to clear his mind and accidentally found this jade pendant.

"Mining?"

Zheng Qingqing was a clever person and caught the underlying meaning in Li Chang'an's words.

She smiled with pursed lips and said, "This matter is simple. I'll just have a word with Zheng Jinbao. Fellow Daoist Li need not worry anymore."

"Thank you, young miss!"

Li Chang'an was overjoyed.

He hadn't expected it to be resolved so easily!

This Zheng family young miss was not only exceptionally intelligent but also quite reasonable.

Li Chang'an had originally prepared a whole set of arguments, but none of them were needed.

Zheng Qingqing seemed to feel this wasn't enough.

"How about this, for the next five years, Fellow Daoist Li won't need to do anything else. Just cultivate in peace."

She gently caressed the jade pendant, her tone very soft.

"After five years, whether you stay or leave will be entirely up to your personal decision."

Hearing this, Li Chang'an was even more delighted.

He immediately expressed his gratitude.

A moment later, Li Chang'an left the small courtyard, and more than half of his anxiety had dissipated.

Next, it would depend on whether this young miss would fulfill her promise.

...

In the courtyard, the maidservant poured a cup of tea for Zheng Qingqing and said in a low voice, "Young miss, I looked into it. This Li Chang'an has low-grade spiritual roots and has shown mediocre performance in the past, with no particular strengths."

In that brief time just now, she had already investigated Li Chang'an's past thoroughly, confirming he was just an ordinary low-level cultivator.

Zheng Qingqing nodded slightly.

"Good, I understand."

"Young miss, should we pay more attention to him?"

"That's not necessary. It seems he's just someone with good luck. There won't be much interaction in the future."

Zheng Qingqing instructed the maidservant to visit Zheng Jinbao's residence to fulfill her earlier promise.

This matter was thus concluded.

...

At the edge of the market, in his house, Li Chang'an had just finished breakfast.

Suddenly, knocking sounds came from outside.

It was still that familiar voice.

"Chang'an, are you home?"

Li Chang'an opened the door.

Standing outside was the market steward, Zheng Jinbao.

At this moment, he had completely changed from his previous casual attitude, his face beaming with smiles.

"Chang'an, about what happened before, I handled it too roughly. Don't take it to heart."

As he spoke, he pressed a small cloth pouch into Li Chang'an's hands.

Inside the pouch were a full forty spirit stones!

Double the original amount!

Li Chang'an feigned surprise.

"Steward Zheng, why is this?"

"Stop pretending, boy. You know the young miss, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Zheng Jinbao patted Li Chang'an's shoulder, acting like a familiar elder.

He smiled and said, "Don't worry, just cultivate in peace from now on. I won't assign you any more tasks."

"Thank you, steward." Li Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief, completely at ease.

The young miss had kept her word and followed through.

For the next few years, he could enjoy a period of peaceful cultivation.

"Steward Zheng, please take these spirit stones back."

Li Chang'an only took the twenty that belonged to him and handed the other twenty back to Zheng Jinbao.

He understood clearly that this man had a greedy nature.

He couldn't afford to offend him over twenty spirit stones.

But Zheng Jinbao's attitude was resolute.

"You keep them! Cultivation requires spirit stones!"

He directly pushed Li Chang'an's hand back.

Li Chang'an was helpless.

Zheng Jinbao was determined to make him keep these spirit stones.

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