Chapter 2198 — Raising the Stakes

Wang Xinyan had arrived in the classroom early. When she saw Wei Zhao walk in, her face flushed slightly. What had happened last night was far too ambiguous, and after leaving the cinema, Wang Xinyan had found no chance to say anything more to Wei Zhao. Back in the dormitory, He Meiyue and the others had grilled her relentlessly, leaving her unable to decide whether to explain or not. In the end, with no other way out, she could only tacitly acknowledge her relationship with Wei Zhao.

The crux of it was that she had no choice but to acquiesce—if she didn't, He Meiyue wouldn't believe her anyway and would just keep pressing, so in the end Wang Xinyan had no option but to let it stand.

"Morning," Wei Zhao greeted Wang Xinyan with a smile.

"Mm..." Wang Xinyan nodded.

"Sorry to have put you in a spot yesterday," Wei Zhao said quietly once he had sat down.

"It's not really a matter of being put in a spot. They'd already made up their minds long ago—take Bai Weituo, for instance. Explain or don't explain, they still call me Sister Xinyan. What good would explaining do?" Wang Xinyan said with a bitter smile.

"That's true enough. Then let them talk—my main worry was that it might weigh on your mind." Seeing that Wang Xinyan showed no particular reaction, Wei Zhao breathed an inward sigh of relief. What he feared most, in truth, was that Wang Xinyan might feel uncomfortable about it.

"What would weigh on my mind? As long as the two of us know what's really going on, that's enough." Wang Xinyan shrugged. "As for what others think, I don't care to bother. Living for other people is far too tiring."

"Actually, yesterday I wasn't deliberately taking advantage of you. It's just that cultivating while holding you is a bit faster," Wei Zhao explained.

"Mm... I know," Wang Xinyan said. In truth she didn't know, but she trusted Wei Zhao, and that was enough.

Wei Zhao wanted to say more, but just then You Panhu, along with Huang Mao and Zi Mao, came into the classroom and headed straight for Wei Zhao's side.

"Wei Zhao, how about we talk again?" You Panhu walked over, casually pulled up a chair, and plopped himself down in the aisle beside Wei Zhao.

"What's there to talk about?" Wei Zhao countered. "You just want to see the materials in my hands, don't you?"

"Heh, that's right. Since you already know my aim, I won't beat around the bush. Wei Zhao, just what will it take for you to trade with me?" You Panhu wasn't afraid of Wei Zhao calling out his motives—what he feared was Wei Zhao playing games with him.

"I don't want to trade," Wei Zhao said.

"Don't want to trade?" You Panhu was taken aback. He thought to himself, there's an opening here after all. "Don't want to" and "won't" are two entirely different things. "Don't want to" meant that Wei Zhao was subjectively unwilling, but if his subjective view could be changed, it wasn't impossible. So he said, "Wei Zhao, do you think my bargaining chips don't meet your bottom line? Let's not play Tai Chi with each other. Just be straight with me—what are your conditions?"

"Me? What conditions would I have? Right now it's you who wants to trade with me, and I who don't want to trade." Wei Zhao looked at You Panhu with a hint of mockery. "Since you don't want to play Tai Chi, then why don't you tell me what conditions you can offer? Say them and let me see. If I'm tempted, we trade. If not, forget it."

"Fine!" You Panhu nodded. The conversation had reached this point, and he had gotten a clear answer from Wei Zhao. He no longer held anything back and laid out his bottom line: "The five second-grade pills from before stay the same. I'll add an ancient top-grade medicinal cauldron!"

"An ancient top-grade medicinal cauldron?" Wei Zhao was somewhat astonished at You Panhu's words. An ancient top-grade medicinal cauldron—and he would hand it over to trade for some alchemist's reflections and notes? Was his head not right? Something that valuable, if it existed, would be a family treasure. How could anyone casually trade it away?

"Yes. I know you probably won't believe it, but I have a photo here. You can take a look first, and if you agree, I'll have it delivered immediately!" You Panhu said with a nod.

"You Panhu, it's not that I don't believe you, but you should at least give me a reason to. An ancient top-grade medicinal cauldron—if your head isn't waterlogged, would you really trade something that fine for an alchemist's reflections and notes?" Wei Zhao looked at You Panhu as though he were an idiot. "How credible do you think your words are? Tell me, do you believe them yourself? I won't deny that these reflections and notes have some value, but compared with an ancient top-grade medicinal cauldron, it's the difference between heaven and earth. You're not trying to fob me off with a fake, are you?"

"That... how could I..." You Panhu felt somewhat awkward at Wei Zhao's words. He had originally intended to boast a little more about the cauldron to highlight how excellent it was, but he had overlooked one point: the bargaining chip he was offering this time was clearly not on par with the value of the alchemist's reflections and notes, which was exactly why Wei Zhao had grown suspicious.

"It's not really a fake, is it?" Wei Zhao watched You Panhu's somewhat awkward expression and snorted coldly. "If you're just toying with me, then you can get lost."

"Ahem!" You Panhu coughed and gave a dry laugh. "Actually, you're not wrong. If it were a flawless ancient top-grade medicinal cauldron, forget trading with you—I probably wouldn't even be qualified to touch it!"

"Then what do you mean?" Wei Zhao asked in return.

"I'll be straight with you. This cauldron is indeed an ancient top-grade medicinal cauldron, but it has a crack in it—in other words, it's damaged," You Panhu said. "However, if you have connections, you could try to repair it. If it can be restored, its value would be beyond price."

"If it could be repaired, would it even come to me?" Hearing You Panhu's words, Wei Zhao sank into thought. Earlier, at the hidden Han family, he had obtained a fragmented scroll on the Way of Artifact Restoration, but these past few days Wei Zhao had been rather busy and hadn't had the time to study it carefully. But if he could thoroughly master it, might he be able to repair this damaged medicinal cauldron?

"That... heh heh, under normal circumstances it can't be repaired, but Wei Zhao, you're so capable—maybe by some lucky coincidence you could repair it, who knows?" You Panhu simply came out with it: "This thing is a good thing, but if anyone could repair it, do you think I'd still be trading with you?"

"Now that's more like a human being talking," Wei Zhao said.

"..." You Panhu was somewhat speechless. So then, everything I said before wasn't human speech?

"So in other words, you're basically bringing me a piece of scrap and trying to trade it for the alchemist's reflections and notes?" Wei Zhao curled his lip. "You really do take me for a fool!"

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