Return to the City: The Strongest King
Chapter 816 - 817: Unexpected Gains

Chapter 816: Chapter 817: Unexpected Gains

"Sijie, where are you off to?"

One morning, Song Xiaodong, noticing that Li Sijie was all dressed up, casually asked her.

Li Sijie replied, "I have an uncle who just happens to live in Minghe, and with the New Year approaching, I’m planning to visit him early to pay my respects and buy him some gifts."

"You have an uncle in Minghe?" Song Xiaodong asked in surprise.

"Yes, my own uncle. We didn’t visit much previously due to the distance, but now that we’re in the same city, I really should go see him."

Song Xiaodong immediately said, "A mother’s brother is important! Since he’s your own uncle, I must come with you; it would be impolite not to."

"Ah, no need, you’re so busy. It’s just visiting a relative; you don’t have to go out of your way for me." Although she said this, Li Sijie’s face clearly showed delight.

Song Xiaodong said guiltily, "I brought you here but haven’t really talked to you much. I didn’t even know about your uncle being here, and I’m already sorry for that. Now that I know, how could I not accompany you? Moreover, you are pregnant; if your uncle asks, you won’t be able to explain it well."

That made Li Sijie nod her head, and she said happily, "Alright then."

Song Xiaodong said, "Actually, we don’t need to buy anything special; our Su family has everything we need. We can just pick a few items as gifts."

Song Xiaodong is the Patriarch of the Su family, so naturally, the Su family’s descendents and some other parties always bring him gifts.

He hardly pays attention to these gifts. The Su family has a steward specifically for handling these matters.

When the two entered the storeroom, Li Sijie was astonished to see so many gift boxes, easily a hundred, each tagged with contents listed.

"Whoa!" Song Xiaodong, seeing all these items, was also startled. "The Su family even has all these great things and I didn’t even know. This really shows the strength of the Su family, which I haven’t paid much attention to."

Li Sijie, whose impression of the Su family had been limited to its beautiful and large courtyard, was shocked to see such riches.

"There’s a pair of jade bracelets here, my goodness, full green, these must be worth a lot!" Li Sijie exclaimed as she opened a box.

Curious, Song Xiaodong came over and said, "Indeed, very pretty. If you like them, you can have them."

"Ah, how can that be? Such valuable items," Li Sijie shook her head repeatedly.

Song Xiaodong chuckled and said, "No matter how valuable, they’re not more valuable than you. Besides, these items belong to our family, so of course, you can just take them."

"That’s not right; giving me something alone and not others might make people feel upset."

Song Xiaodong thought that was true; fairness was important. Short-term, it might not be a problem, but if it prolonged, resentment could indeed build up.

"Hmm, you’re right. I’ll give it out together later, but you can pick some other gifts."

Li Sijie browsed around and then said with a wry smile, "I think we should just forget it. Everything here is very valuable; let’s stick with ordinary things like tobacco and alcohol."

Song Xiaodong quickly replied, "Just gifts like that, then it’s simple. Let’s ask the steward to prepare," knowing the Su family was not short of such things.

Li Sijie added, "That works. Bringing some tobacco and alcohol as a younger relative visiting will be appropriate."

About to head out, Song Xiaodong suddenly spotted a rectangular box, and the words on it caught his interest.

"Whoa!" Seeing the box, Song Xiaodong instantly showed a surprised expression.

"What’s the matter?" Li Sijie curiously leaned over.

"Ginseng! To find ginseng here," Song Xiaodong carefully opened the box, inside it was a decent-sized ginseng with a particularly deep color.

"What’s so special about ginseng?" Li Sijie was even more puzzled.

Looking closely at the ginseng, Song Xiaodong even lifted the box to take a closer smell, squinting his eyes, he said, "If I’m not mistaken, this ginseng must be four to five hundred years old."

Li Sijie curiously asked, "That old, then it must be a treasure, right?"

Song Xiaodong nodded and replied, "To others, it might just be a supplement, but for me, it’s definitely a treasure. I’ve been looking for such a thing for a long time, and today I finally found an even older specimen."

"That’s good for you," Li Sijie smiled, unaware of Song Xiaodong’s use of medicinal herbs.

Song Xiaodong carefully placed the ginseng back, then instructed the steward to keep a close watch on it, ensuring no one else could touch it, before they left the room.

Though nothing else was as important as the ginseng in the room, Song Xiaodong suddenly realized that with so much influence, he hadn’t used the Su family to acquire valuable herbs, which was truly foolish of him.

If Sun Yiyi could obtain so many fine herbs by leveraging the Sun family’s power, then the Su family naturally would have similar capabilities.

This was probably the biggest takeaway for Song Xiaodong today; the mood couldn’t have been any better—already a two-hundred-year specimen had benefited him greatly, but a five-hundred-year specimen would be even more effective.

The two prepared four gifts, then set off together in their car. On the road, Song Xiaodong asked, "What does our uncle do?"

"My uncle works in the district committee office, he’s a deputy director."

"Oh, he’s an official, very impressive."

Li Sijie teased, "Hey, in front of you, the Patriarch of the Su family, would a deputy director even matter to you?"

Song Xiaodong seriously replied, "He’s still your uncle. We must indeed show much respect."

Li Sijie laughed softly and said, "Right, I didn’t introduce you as the Patriarch of the Su family, just said you’re in business here. I was afraid it might scare my uncle."

Song Xiaodong burst out laughing, "It seems like everyone likes to keep their identities hidden nowadays."

Li Sijie helplessly replied, "What can I do? Your identity is too grand; not everybody can handle it. If they knew you were the Patriarch of the Su family, my uncle might act too cautiously, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable either."

Song Xiaodong nodded and added, "That’s true, I also don’t feel comfortable being treated differently."

Seeing Song Xiaodong agree made Li Sijie even happier, she smiled and confirmed, "Then that’s settled."