The territories of the east and west courtyard bordered on the Xilan Street of the mountain town, which was full of the sound of firecrackers and children’s cheers at the moment. Some people were playing drums and performing lion dances. People saw those from the west courtyard piling up boxes and putting them in a line at the street corner. Everyone from the West courtyard was excited to see these boxes, since they already heard the news that the year-end bonus of this year would be bigger than usual.
Jiang Tianxiong, the owner of the west courtyard, was standing with his son Jiang Jian behind those boxes. The steward Li Hong was with them as well. They were looking at the other side of the street complacently. That was where the East courtyard was located. There were boxes, too, but the amount was much less. The atmosphere was also very dull. People from these two sides were in a completely different mood.
Gao Yue was standing there sorrowfully. She knew that her son had sold the panaceas, but she also did some calculations. The income of selling these three hundred panaceas could only save them from the plight for the moment. The year-end bonus would still be less than usual.
Suddenly Li Hong shouted, “Guys! You’ve been working a lot this year! Each family will get ten gold beast heads and ten Gathering Qi Pills. Besides, you’ll also get some fur and other awards.”
“Wow!”
Those from the West courtyard all shouted with excitement. Jiang Tianxiong nodded with satisfaction. The boxes were opened one by one and the things inside left the whole street in an uproar.
Out of curiosity, those from the east courtyard also looked over. They saw gold in the first big box and huge amounts of Gathering Qi Pills in the second.
In the third box there were some fancy furs, while in the fourth and fifth box were all kinds of weapons, from knives and swords to clubs. People from the West courtyard collected their year-end bonuses with excitement.
“Lady, shall we start?” Someone from the east courtyard said lifelessly.
“Wait a second. Chen said he would arrive soon,” Gao Yue said.
A middle-aged man with a hat suddenly said, “Lady, it doesn’t matter. We won’t blame you. If in the past few years we could enjoy the wealth together, this year of course we can share hardships together.”
“Yes, this isn’t your fault.”
“We can take it.”
Many people echoed that man’s words. But Gao Yue noticed more people were in silence. It was logical. They already lost hope for the east courtyard, since even if they had managed to get through that year, there wouldn’t be any big changes in the next year. Unless…the Windblade would return!
“Jiang Fan, what a beautiful talk!”
A harsh voice stirred up some disturbance in people. The middle-aged man with a hat looked over and said angrily, “Jiang Yu, it’s you! You are such an ungrateful soul.”
The man that had spoken was a small guy with an ordinary look and very small eyes. His eyes were so small that they narrowed into slits when he was smiling. His arrival provoked some anger in the crowd. It turned out this guy was originally from the East courtyard, but he deserted to the west courtyard before they really took over the East courtyard.
What was excessive was that he even tried to persuade others to desert with him. Jiang Fan was one of the guys he tried to win over. Jiang Fan scolded him harshly. This day, he came in order to get revenge. He was holding ten gold beast heads and ten Gathering Qi Pills in his hands and shouted, “Your son is in the crucial period of the Condensing Qi State. Does he know that your stupidity is holding up his progress?”
“Do you still remember the benefits you got from here before?” Jiang Fan said in a cold voice.
“Hahaha, I worked hard. I deserved it. Why should I be grateful? Let me have a look. I think you from the east courtyard will get five gold beast heads, at most.”
The whole East courtyard was embarrassed by his words. Especially Gao Yue. She lowered her head for shame. Jiang Yu was from the east courtyard. So he knew the situation of the east courtyard pretty well. Five gold beast heads were indeed the maximum. They couldn’t afford more.
“You are wrong.”
All of a sudden, Jiang Chen’s voice appeared. People looked over. Jiang Chen was walking in big steps to approach Jiang Yu. He said to him with hatred, “The year-end bonus of the east courtyard will be twenty gold beast heads and ten Gathering Qi Pills for everybody. Besides, all of the Gathering Qi Pills have a holy quality class.”
The whole Xilan Street was silenced by him. Everyone looked over to Jiang Chen. Jiang Yu didn’t know what to say. Whether it was true or false, he wasn’t in the position to question Jiang Chen.
“Jiang Chen, watch out. Your boasts will do you no good,”Jiang Jian said scornfully from the other side of the street.
“Son, where will we get the gold beast heads?” Gao Yue was nervous, too. No one knew better than her the situation of the East courtyard. What’s more, Jiang Chen was talking about holy Gathering Qi Pills! They would be doomed if they couldn’t fulfill their promise.
“Uncle Fan!”
Jiang Chen shouted, and smiled at Gao Yue to assure her. Fan Tu and two Wind Move Guards each carried a box and laid them onto the ground. They sounded pretty heavy. Everyone’s attention was drawn over. Then Jiang Chen opened the boxes in person.
People found gold beast heads in two of the boxes and holy Gathering Qi Pills in the other. Plus several boxes of things that Gao Yue had prepared, the west courtyard was beaten by the east in an instant.
“Let’s start.” Jiang Chen ordered calmly when everyone else was still in shock.
Fan Tu shouted as loud as he could, “Brothers and sisters of the east courtyard, please come to collect your year-end bonuses!”
“Is it for real that everyone gets twenty gold beast heads? And these holy Gathering Qi Pills are for us, too?” Someone from the East courtyard couldn’t believe it.
“Of course!” Fan Tu answered confidently.
“Hooray!”
People from the east courtyard couldn’t help cheering like beasts. Their depression was gone once and for all. Those from the west courtyard, who had been complacent, were stunned by the current scene. Jiang Yu, who had been boasting about his bonus, looked from the gold beast heads in his hand to those twenty heads and the holy Gathering Qi Pills in Jiang Fan’s hand, and looked confused.
“Haha, now your son knows what you’ve made him miss?” Jiang Fan said to Jiang Yu exactly the same thing that the latter had said to him. Jiang Yu felt regret, but he had to swallow it. He gritted his teeth and left in silence.
“Anyway, you Jiang Chen…” Jiang Jian was about to say something satiric.
But Jiang Chen didn’t give him any chance to do so. He interrupted Jiang Yu, “Cut the bullshit. I’ve achieved the Gathering Yuan State. How about you, Jiang Jian? I don’t see any progress in you! Gathering Yuan State?”
Jiang Jian had intended to satire Jiang Chen, but now he was taken aback by Jiang Chen’s words. He looked over to his father. Jiang Tianxiong stared at Jiang Chen seriously, as if he were trying to find something in him.
“Gathering Yuan State? For real, son?”
Gao Yue was so excited that she approached Jiang Chen and grasped his arms. There were so many surprises and she didn’t know how to describe her feelings. Her son recovered instead of remaining disabled for having been deprived of the holy pulse!
“Young Lord!”
“Young Master Chen!”
People from the east courtyard gathered around him, as if he were their backbone. As long as Jiang Chen was here, they wouldn’t be beaten by the west courtyard. Jiang Tianxiong left instantly without saying anything.
“Jiang Chen, my brother will be back tomorrow. You’ll regret it by then.” Jiang Jian said harshly, unwilling to throw in the towel so soon.
“Anytime!” Jiang Chen smiled with despise. He didn’t want to argue with such a wimpy nerd. By then the East courtyard fought a beautiful battle against the west courtyard in the year-end bonus matter. Jiang Chen was no doubt the biggest hero.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Jiang Chen told her the whole story about the holy Gathering Qi Pills. After hearing the story, Gao Yue stared at Fan Tu and reproached him, “Why did you act up with him?”
“Lady…” Fan Tu didn’t know what to answer.
“Mother, because we intended to surprise you,” Jiang Chen hasted to say.
“What kind of surprise is that? I could barely eat these days.” Gao Yue gave him a reproachful look, but then burst into sweet smiles.