Elder Lu’s face fell as soon as she heard the voice, and she retreated to the bedroom with agility that belied her age, leaving behind the comment: "Tell him I’m dead!"

Just as the door closed, Xin Rong squeezed in from the front door, his eyes lighting up at the sight of Xu Huo. He set down the large bags he was carrying and greeted him, then began shouting inside the house: "Aunt! Come out quickly, I’ve brought good things for you; this time I’m definitely not here to freeload!"

Unfortunately, the people inside ignored him. Xin Rong, accustomed to this, exchanged a glance with Xu Huo, and then shouted towards the bedroom from the hallway: "I’ve brought Secondary Stone, aren’t you coming out to take a look?"

"Leave the things behind; you can leave now," came the voice of the old lady, though she still had no intention of coming out.

Xin Rong began to persist outside the door, babbling on, so much so that the old lady, utterly frustrated, finally opened the door with a stern expression: "I’ll believe you one more time."

Doggedly helping the old lady out, Xin Rong plopped down in an exaggerated manner, "Fang Jie, get me a cup of tea, my mouth’s gone dry from talking."

The old lady grabbed a fruit from the table and threw it over, "How dare you boss my disciple around!"

Xin Rong chuckled, wiped the fruit on his shirt and stuffed it into his mouth, "Auntie still dotes on me."

The old lady was utterly exasperated, turning to Xu Huo, "You see, it’s best not to use family for anything too long, because you never know when some shameless little brat might drive you crazy day and night."

Xin Rong, thick-skinned, was unfazed and sidled over to chat with Xu Huo, "Haven’t seen you for a while, your skills have improved!"

"Harvest has been good recently," Xu Huo replied, "I got some nice props, planning to sell them."

"Sell to me," Xin Rong immediately said, "My offer will definitely be fair."

Xu Huo was thinking along the same lines, so he took out some of the props he had won from the Fish Banquet for him to inspect. He had already stored suitable defense props and container props in his prop list and kept a few devices.

The Secondary Stone he prepared beforehand was originally intended for Elder Lu.

The old lady took a glance at the device and smiled, "The quality’s pretty good; what kind of prop are you looking to make this time?"

"Preferably something convenient as a defense prop," Xu Huo said.

Although he had quite a few Rank-A defense props, most weren’t very convenient to use. Many props weren’t suitable for intense battles, and ones that can sustain for long periods and offer close protection were what he needed. Protective suits were limited by their materials, and the defense level was insufficient.

The old lady carefully noted his requirements, "That’s not difficult; I know a few friends, as long as the materials are in place, good props are available."

Xin Rong raised his head, hurriedly took out the Secondary Stone he brought, "Aunt, I also want to make a prop!"

The old lady glared at him, "I’ll make you a Rank-C prop."

Xin Rong pretended to look pitiful, "Aunt, this is also Secondary Stone." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Judging by its quality, without any instruments I can tell you can still ask for good props; why don’t you just try your luck with empty hands?" The old lady passionately scolded.

Xin Rong was berated until he couldn’t lift his head, and only after she finished did he pass the teacup over, "Have a sip of tea, don’t go overboard... It’s just that my recent spending exceeded the budget a bit, plus the local Secondary Stone prices are rising fast, it’s hard to find anything good."

The old lady seemed calmer and did take his stone but added: "Save it up, once there’s enough, I’ll make something for you."

Xin Rong’s smile was a bit forced.

However, the old lady was no longer interested in him, taking Xu Huo’s box and leaving.

Watching her leave, Xin Rong shook his head, "I’ve come at a bad time."

Turning back, he cheerfully spoke to Xu Huo again: "Your props, each one I want. Later I’ll talk to the family to have them transfer the money to your account."

"How long are you staying this time? If there’s time, come visit my place; we’ve got a large Spatial Transmission Device set up lately, I haven’t seen it yet. Bringing friends, the elders might let me have a look."

Hearing it was a large transmission device, Xu Huo was immediately interested, "I heard such devices are consumables purchased from the Game Government, usually scrapped after one or two uses?"

"Mostly that, it’s not hard for the Eye of Platinum to conquer this technology, but the materials are extremely expensive," Xin Rong said, "Making it yourself is not as cost-efficient as buying... By the way, there’s news from Mechanical Castle saying they’ve developed a robot with perfect performance, have you heard of it?"

"No, frankly... Is the local mineral price surge because of this?" Xu Huo was somewhat surprised, "But the robot hasn’t debuted yet, why is the news already everywhere?"

"Who knows, maybe it’s a hype strategy," Xin Rong habitually viewed things from a business perspective, "I thought you and Miss Kou Kou were good friends, could you let my family get the first batch of goods?"

Facing his hopeful gaze, Xu Huo casually said: "I don’t have that much influence."

"How could that be," Xin Rong waggled his eyebrows, "Miss Kou Kou even gave you a Platinum Badge, isn’t that enough influence?"

Xu Huo didn’t think much of it, but was willing to help him with the transaction.

"Good friend!" Xin Rong exclaimed as he walked out the door, talking to a few people in the yard: "Come, come, Uncle’s giving you amusement park tickets, have fun!"

Xiao Yuan and the others came over, thanked him, and then collected their tickets, the Girl in the painting too.

"We need to go to school." Tan Qi looked inside at the time-limited project.

"Kids, keep your mind flexible," Xin Rong patted his head, "If a couple of days can affect school, it doesn’t matter whether you attend or not."

Tan Qi coldly brushed his hand off.

Xin Rong wanted to invite Xu Huo to hang out, thus using tickets to dismiss the children.

Xu Huo intended to visit the Xin Family too, not planning to bring the Girl in the painting along, so he entrusted Fang Jie to make arrangements, reminding the Girl in the painting to stay cautious before leaving.

The Girl in the painting confirmed several times that he wouldn’t suddenly enter an instance and waved, indicating she was going to play.