Chapter 37: 36. Easily Handled

36. Easily Handled

After returning home, Chen An saw Song Huaying walking in the courtyard while holding their daughter.

Gu Xinyue was accompanying her on the side.

Wen Zhiyun was not to be seen; she was likely in her room practicing hard.

"Husband!"

Seeing her husband return from outside, Song Huaying greeted him with her usual enthusiasm.

Gu Xinyue followed behind, stepping forward to silently help her husband take off the medicine chest on his back.

"Husband, our daughter must miss you very much; why don't you hold her?"

Song Huaying presented Chen Yuejian, who was in her arms, to her husband so he could hold her.

Chen An took his daughter and teased her little face with his finger.

It was a pity that his daughter was still too young and couldn't laugh yet, otherwise, he could have teased her until she couldn't stop grinning.

After strolling in the courtyard with his wives and concubines for a while.

Chen An soon arrived in front of Wen Zhiyun's door and stopped, reaching out to knock.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Fellow Daoist Wen, the situation outside has been getting increasingly chaotic lately. I worry that prices and such will rise significantly in a while, so I plan to go out later to purchase supplies. I would like to invite you to go with me; I wonder if it is convenient for you."

"..."

There was silence in the room for quite a while.

Then, Wen Zhiyun's intellectual voice came from inside: "Wait another quarter of an hour; I will go out with you once I finish my cultivation."

"Alright, I will call you then."

Chen An said in a flat tone, but he was very surprised inside; he hadn't expected this menopausal beauty to agree so readily, having assumed he would be met with her grumbling.

In truth, Wen Zhiyun knew how to distinguish what was important.

When interacting normally, she might be sharp-tongued, sarcastic, or passive-aggressive.

But when facing important matters, she would treat them very seriously.

Just like the matter of going out to buy supplies now, she felt it was very important, so she agreed to Chen An without much thought.

Because it was very chaotic outside, she worried that Chen An, whose cultivation was only at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, would be in danger if he went out to buy supplies alone and would easily be targeted by some ill-intentioned cultivators; she felt more at ease only if she, with her cultivation at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, accompanied him.

Soon, a quarter of an hour passed.

Wen Zhiyun changed into a loose Daoist robe and walked out of the room, covering her curvaceous figure tightly so that not a single bulge could be seen.

There was no help for it; her figure was simply too alluring.

If she didn't cover it up well, she would surely be ogled by many people with lewd gazes when walking on the street, which made her feel very disgusted.

"Let's go."

"Alright."

The two exchanged a brief sentence, then took their respective Spirit Stones and set off for the Market.

Song Huaying saw them and wanted to go along too.

But she was refused by Chen An.

A mother who had just given birth and whose body had not yet recovered, wanting to go out shopping with a baby less than a month old—no one would agree to that.

Helpless, Song Huaying and Gu Xinyue could only stay at home.

Song Huaying stayed behind to recuperate her body.

Gu Xinyue stayed behind to look after her.

After arriving at the Market.

Chen An and Wen Zhiyun did not walk around aimlessly to waste time; they shopped with strong purpose.

Buying Spirit Rice for food storage.

Buying Spirit Chicken chicks to raise.

Buying Spirit Plant seeds to cultivate.

Buying Talismans for self-defense.

Buying Alchemical Materials as backups.

Buying daily necessities that needed regular replacement.

After a round of buying.

Chen An's savings were directly halved, losing nearly 300 Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

In contrast, Wen Zhiyun, who was on the side, was fine.

From beginning to end, she spent less than 10 Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

She only bought a few months' worth of Spirit Rice for storage.

Her trip this time was mainly to provide protection for Chen An.

After all, with things so chaotic now, if Chen An, an Alchemist with only Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivation, were to return home alone with so many supplies, he would 100% be robbed on the way.

Now that she, with her cultivation as high as the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, was there to provide protection, the safety was greatly improved.

Seeing that the supplies were mostly purchased.

The two did not linger any longer and immediately set off to return home.

When passing by an accessory shop, Chen An suddenly stopped and said:

"Fellow Daoist Wen, please excuse a short delay; I will go in to buy some accessories to take back for Ying and Yue."

"Heh, I knew you would waste money on these useless trinkets that only look good."

Once she had the chance, Wen Zhiyun immediately began to mock Chen An without any reservation.

Chen An treated her words as wind passing by his ears and walked into the jewelry shop to pick out accessories on his own.

Afterwards, under the introduction of the shopkeeper, he took a fancy to a pair of Emerald Bracelets.

The price was not expensive; the pair added up to only half a Spirit Stone.

It was just right to buy them to take back and give to each of his wives and concubines as a gift.

Chen An paid half a Spirit Stone and asked the shopkeeper to pack them into a wooden box, making the packaging look as nice as possible.

When he was about to leave, he noticed Wen Zhiyun staring at a Pearl Bracelet in the display case, her face clearly written with the word "want."

He took another look at the price of the Pearl Bracelet.

It was not expensive, only ten taels of gold, which was one-tenth of a Low-grade Spirit Stone.

For a cultivator at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, she could buy a hundred of them with her eyes closed.

However, Wen Zhiyun hesitated and did not take out the money to pay for it.

Chen An knew that this beautiful woman going through menopause simply did not want to slap her own face.

After all, when they had just walked in, this beautiful woman had mocked him, saying that buying these things that looked good but were useless was a waste of money.

Now she had lifted a rock only to drop it on her own feet.

"Shopkeeper, wrap this Pearl Bracelet up for me as well."

Chen An said to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up upon hearing this; he immediately took out the bracelet, packed it up, and handed it to Chen An with a face full of enthusiasm, saying with a chuckle, "You are generous, boss. Welcome back next time."

Wen Zhiyun, standing to the side, watched this scene and guessed that Chen An might be planning to give this bracelet to her, and her heart suddenly became anxious.

However, Chen An simply tucked the packed bracelet into his bosom and turned to walk out of the shop.

Wen Zhiyun was stunned for a moment, her eyes filled with disbelief.

He bought this Pearl Bracelet, and it actually wasn't to give to me?

How could he be like this!

Wen Zhiyun was very angry, but even more so, she was disappointed.

She quickly chased after him, walked to Chen An's side, and began to hum and haw with a sarcastic tone:

"Heh, you bought a pair of bracelets as gifts for your wives and concubines, and then bought another bracelet; which vixen have you taken a fancy to, that you need to give a gift to win her heart?"

"You pretend to be affectionate all day long, but in reality, you are incredibly fickle, thinking every day about hooking up with some female cultivator; you really are two-faced."

"Tell me, are you..."

Before she could finish her last sentence.

Chen An suddenly reached into his bosom, took out the Pearl Bracelet, and handed it to her, saying:

"Vixen, this is for you."

"..."

Wen Zhiyun was speechless for a moment, but she quickly reacted and became somewhat flustered, saying, "Why... why are you giving this to me? What kind of relationship do we have that you would just give me a bracelet like this..."

Chen An said he couldn't be bothered to be coy with her and shoved it directly into her hand, saying, "Just take it, midwife. This is your fee for midwifery and childcare, as well as the compensation for your hard work accompanying me to buy supplies today."

"Heh, you think you can buy me off with a crappy bracelet worth only 10 taels of gold? You look down on me too much."

Although Wen Zhiyun was expressing disdain with her mouth, her hand very uncooperatively reached out to take the bracelet Chen An handed over, her entire demeanor incredibly haughty.

Watching Wen Zhiyun, who was unable to put down the Pearl Bracelet, Chen An just smiled and said nothing.

However, he was sighing in his heart that an older spinster who had been single since birth was easy to coax; just giving a small gift was enough to easily handle her.

PS: Setting out my bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation votes!