Chapter 194 - 149: This Cat Missed You to Death

Yang Pan was just as shocked. She quickly pushed the raw rubies on the table back toward Yang Qi.

"Xiaoqi, this is too valuable! Quick, take it back and keep it safe for yourself."

Du Xi came to her senses as well, waving her hands repeatedly. "Yes, Yang Qi. This gift is too valuable. We can’t accept it."

"Sister Pan, Du Xi, that’s not the right way to look at it."

Yang Qi said seriously, "To me, they’re just rocks I found in the mountains. They just happen to be a prettier color. Since they’re pretty rocks, isn’t it normal to give them to friends? Between friends, when you share something nice and interesting, do you really have to get it appraised first?"

"That’s different!"

Yang Pan shook her head. "Pretty and valuable are two different things. We’d feel uneasy accepting something so valuable."

"Yes, Yang Qi. We appreciate the sentiment, but we really can’t accept them," Du Xi insisted.

Chen Hao had also regained his composure. He patted Yang Qi’s shoulder and said earnestly, "Yang Qi, I know you mean well. But this... this is no ’trinket.’ It’s too valuable. You should keep it for yourself. It might be of great use to you someday."

"But what about when you gave me Qi Zai? Wasn’t that valuable?"

Yang Qi retorted with a smile, "A Beaked Eagle, the King of the Sky, rare in this country, legally imported, and you even covered all the future costs of raising him. What is the value of a friendship like that? Can you really put a price on it?"

Yang Pan was left speechless, unsure how to respond.

Chen Hao, on the other hand, pointed at Yang Qi and laughed in resignation. "So that’s what you were up to, you sly kid. You brought this up just to shut us up, didn’t you?"

"Just accept them."

Yang Qi’s tone was sincere. "In my hands, they’re really just two pretty, useless rocks. They might even attract trouble someday. If I give them to you, you have the connections and means to deal with them or store them properly. That’s the only way they’ll be put to good use."

It used to be fine.

But now the law explicitly states that every blade of grass, every tree, and every stone in the mountains belongs to the state. Private mining and trading are prohibited.

Cheap plants were one thing; no one really cared.

But for a valuable mineral like this, if a private transaction were discovered, the punishment would be unavoidable.

Chen Hao had been about to say he had connections to help cash them in, but upon hearing this, he forced the words back down.

’It’s true. The risks of privately trading valuable raw minerals were extremely high. If anything went wrong, the fallout would be immense.’

’Yang Qi, a "normal" keeper, really wouldn’t be able to handle it.’

Seeing the three of them fall silent,

Yang Qi pushed the two raw rubies toward Qiqi, who had been watching from the side, her eyes wide with curiosity as the adults pushed the stones back and forth.

"Here, Qiqi," Yang Qi said with a smile. "The grown-ups don’t like these sparkly rocks. How about Uncle gives them to you to play with?"

"Are you serious?!" Chen Hao exclaimed, exasperated.

Du Xi chided him with a laugh, quickly stopping her daughter’s little hand from reaching out.

"Be a good girl, Qiqi. You can’t play with this."

Qiqi pouted, looking a little upset.

"Alright, then."

Yang Pan took a deep breath and finally relented. "Since this is a token of your goodwill, Xiaoqi, it would be pretentious of us to refuse again. I’ll accept this stone. But Xiaoqi, this is the first and last time."

"Now that’s more like it."

Smiling, Yang Qi once again pushed the two raw rubies toward Yang Pan and Du Xi respectively.

Then he poured another raw ruby from his velvet pouch—this one a size smaller but just as vibrant and pure in color—and handed it to the expectant Qiqi.

"This little one is for Qiqi to play with."

"There you go again," Chen Hao said, putting a hand to his forehead. "How can a child play with something like this?"

"It’s fine for her to play with at home. Just treat it as a special ’toy’."

Without another word, Yang Qi placed the small gem in Qiqi’s outstretched palm.

The small gem was crystal clear, and it refracted a captivating red glow under the light, immediately capturing the little girl’s full attention.

Qiqi’s face immediately broke into a grin. She cradled the stone carefully and said sweetly, "Thank you, Uncle Yang."

"You’re welcome."

Yang Qi smiled and patted the little girl’s head.

Chen Hao and Du Xi glanced at each other, both seeing the mix of resignation and gratitude in the other’s eyes.

’Things had already gone this far; refusing again would just create distance between them.’

They had no choice but to put the gems away, each having already made up their mind.

After that, the atmosphere grew harmonious again.

They stopped discussing the value of the gems and instead chatted about interesting things going on in their lives.

「After dinner.」

As if they had planned it, Chen Hao and Yang Pan each brought out a large pile of exquisitely packaged health supplements from their homes.

Top-grade wild ginseng, deer antler, and donkey-hide gelatin, along with a massager for his grandmother, warm clothing, and more, were all unceremoniously stuffed into the trunk of Yang Qi’s SUV.

"Xiaoqi, these are for your grandmother. Don’t you dare refuse!" Yang Pan said with a serious look on her face.

"It’s all things an older person can use. Just a little something from us," Chen Hao added as he helped load everything into the car.

Yang Qi couldn’t fend off their enthusiasm, so he could only accept the gifts with thanks.

After they said their goodbyes, he drove away from the villa complex.

Partway there, Yang Qi made a turn and headed for Hongshu District.

At the entrance of the apartment complex where Qian Yu and Song Wan were roommates, he picked up the Bengal Leopard Cat, Overlord, whom he had contacted earlier in the day.

Song Wan brought Overlord down in a space-capsule-style cat carrier. As soon as he saw Yang Qi’s car, he began to meow excitedly inside.

Yang Qi exchanged a few words with Song Wan, then placed the carrier on the passenger seat.

The car had barely started moving when Overlord could no longer contain himself. He pawed at the zipper on the door, squeezed his way out, turned around, and let loose a torrent of meows at Yang Qi. "Two-legged Beast, you’re finally here to pick me up! I missed Boss, Brother Wan, and Brother Xue like crazy!"

"You just miss the Spirit Rice Porridge, don’t you?"

Yang Qi used his Basic Spirit Communication Technique to call him out without mercy.