Grandpa Xu

As he entered the hall, he caught sight of Li Xin laying out breakfast on the table. Seeing the delicious pancakes and steamed buns, he started salivating. He grabbed a chair and sat down to eat as he beckoned for Li Xin to eat with him. The girl seemed reluctant at first, but still sat across him and started nibbling at a steamed bun.

Musing at the girl's childish antics, Ling Hong started eating his pancakes. He was surprised to see that it was really delicious. As he looked towards her from the corner of his eye, he could see a proud look on Li Xin's face.

"Your cooking is so good that I want to eat it for everyday." he said to her.

"Hmm...don't worry. I'm going to stick with you forever so you can taste my food everyday." she replied with a smug face.

He felt awkward at her reply and attempted to change the topic of conversation. "What do you think I should do today? Go around the city or catch up on the changes in the past years?" he asked.

Li Xin paused as she pondered for a while. She then replied to him "I think you should check out what all changed before heading out. Some new companies and families popped out in the last 3 years. We can go out tomorrow, I'll show you around. We can also visit the orphanage - there has been some changes too."

Ling Hong noticed that when the topic of orphanage was brought up, there was a slight discomfort in her voice. He guessed that she was still bitter about what happened in High School and wanted to go with him for extra assurance. He decided to act on her behalf against those people if there was a need to.

He nodded and said "Sure. I'll do it like that."

"Umm....." Li Xin fidgeted as if she wanted to say something.

"What is it?" he asked, curious about her question.

"Uhh... I...I just wanted to s..say Brother Ling looks more handsome today!" she struggled and shot out the words and grabbed the dishes before running away to the kitchen.

Ling Hong was startled hearing the comment that came out of nowhere. He turned to look at himself in the nearby mirror and upon seeing that his face had been beautified after last night's cultivation, rubbed his nose and turned back.

He decided to give the girl some time to calm down and walked to the front door. He stepped out of the villa and gazed around the surroundings. The residential area was full of green except for the few villas. It seemed that the area had been developed with the intention of preserving natural beauty.

He saw people in some villas driving away to work, few of them were sending their kids to school and the rest were elderly who watched the morning scenes with smiles on their faces. Suddenly, Ling Hong sensed a trace amount of qi from someone.

Looking in the direction he got the response from, he saw an old man sending off a young woman as he got into her car. As if in response to his gaze, the old man turned his head and met with his gaze. Surprise was apparent on his face as he never expected someone young like Ling Hong to notice his qi cultivation.

He then nodded in the direction of Ling Hong and turned back to go to the house. It was a gesture of invitation to Ling Hong for coming over to talk. Ling Hong also went back into the house to mention to Li Xin that he would go out.

"Xinxin, I'm going out to check out the area. I'll be back in a few hours." he called out.

Soon, an "Okay. I'll wait for you at lunch." came back.

Closing the door, he stepped out of the villa and walked in the direction of the old man's house. It was only a few villas from his. Soon he arrived at No. 8 Lakeside Villa and pressed the doorbell outside the gates. After a few seconds, an old voice rang out from the speaker at the security room near the gate "Let the young man come in."

The gates opened and a middle aged-man in a security outfit came out to lead Ling Hong in. He quietly followed the security guard inside while checking him out. The man was no ordinary security guard, his movements and aura suggested that the was a warrior. If his guess was correct, then he would be an army veteran.

Ling Hong guessed that the identity of the person living here was not simple. To buy a villa in this area required not only money but also connections. And to employ an ex-military official, even more connections were required. As he was guessing, they had already arrived at the backyard of the villa.

There was a resting area in the middle, surrounded by rows of plants. The old man from earlier was sitting in the resting area, observing Ling Hong as he walked. Ling Hong was really excited as he walked. The rows of plants were all medicinal herbs! Even though he got some of them from Grandma Chen's previous ones, he still had a lot more to collect. Tiger Yang Grass, Sky Blue Safflower, Devi's Trumpet and so many precious herbs could be seen.

The alchemist inside him was screaming non-stop seeing the treasure ground in front of him. His subtle actions of recognizing the herbs did not go unnoticed by the old man. His face broke into a smile as his guess was proved.

"As expected, little friend is indeed extraordinary. Have some time to chat with this old fellow?" he asked.

Ling Hong broke out of his little daydream and realized that he had just been tested. He was by no means agitated towards the old man for testing him secretly, but was overjoyed to find someone of the similar profession.

He turned to the old man and bowed before replying "This junior would love to talk with senior."

The old man seemed amused at his politeness and gestured the security guard to leave them alone and pointed to a seat for Ling Hong to sit. Ling Hong sat down as instructed.

"How shall this old man address this extraordinary little friend?" he asked to Ling Hong.

"Junior here is Ling Hong. I dare not claim to be extraordinary in front of someone with status like senior." he replied.

"Hahaha no need to put yourself down. Most of the herbs that I have planted could not be recognized if one does not have a high level in medicinal knowledge. To reach such a stage at your age indeed gives you the right to be extraordinary." the old man said heartily.

"Many thanks to senior. May I have the honor of knowing your name?" Ling Hong cautiously asked. He did not have much hopes as such a big shot would not easily divulge their name.

"The name is Xu Bing, you call call me Grandpa Xu. I am but an old man living out my final years with my granddaughter." he said.

Ling Hong fell silent at the revelation. He had only interacted with him for a few minutes but felt that the old man was very extraordinary given the fact that he had military veterans as guards and grew high grade medicinal herbs in his backyard. There was also the matter of him able to use qi, even if it was very weak.

"This..Grandpa Xu, could you let me take a look at your condition?" he asked in a small voice.

"Ha. Forget it, my disease is not something ordinary so you would only fail to deduce it given that you are a young man." Xu Bing said as he shook his head.

"Grandpa Xu, as the saying goes 'Miracles come for those who grab on to opportunities'. I happened have read a part of an old medicinal record that described various poisons and diseases that were uncommon. If there is a chance that you illness could be included in that, we could get a cure." Ling Hong replied earnestly.

Xu Bing smiled helplessly. How could it be that easy? He had contracted this strange disease years ago while travelling through a deep forest in search of medicinal ingredients when he was in his prime. He had spent over 25 years searching for any traces of the disease and it's cure but had gotten no results.

After all, Ling Hong was just a young man in his eyes that had just stepped in to the medical world. The chances of him having a cure was nearly non-existent.

But what he did not know was that Ling Hong was a reincarnated individual with a multitude of knowledge regarding medicine. In fact, Ling Hong had long noticed the problem within Grandpa Xu and even found out the cause with a single glance. He just sprouted all those lies regarding the medicinal record to not expose his true abilities.