To avoid overthinking, Chu Yi headed straight to the Herbal Medicine Market.
Beijing’s Herbal Medicine Market was quite large, stocked with Ginseng, Fleeceflower Root, Lingzhi Mushroom, Cordyceps, and more. However, these were all artificially cultivated, dried, and dehydrated—not the wild, fresh seedlings Chu Yi wanted.
As Chu Yi pondered his issue, someone greeted him from behind. “Master, what brings you here?”
Chu Yi turned and saw the Yu Patriarch from before, with Old Zheng right beside him.
Thinking of his matter with President Yu, Chu Yi felt a bit guilty facing the Yu Patriarch. “Elder Yu, no need to be so polite. Just call me Chu Yi.”
Old Zheng’s expression turned subtle. Last time, Master Chu had helped remove his curse but hadn’t been this courteous with him from start to finish…
The Yu Patriarch chuckled. “Then this old man will get bold and call you Little Yi.”
Old Zheng shot him a sideways glance. No wonder his business wasn’t as big as the Yu old man’s—perhaps his face wasn’t as thick?
Chu Yi: “That’s fine.” He nodded again and greeted Old Zheng.
“Where are you headed, Little Yi?” the Yu Patriarch asked, already treating Chu Yi like family.
Chu Yi didn’t hide it and shared his troubles with the Yu Patriarch.
“Oh.” The Yu Patriarch nodded. “This old man knows a friend in the medicinal herb business. If you’re free, Little Yi, come with us two old folks to check out some stones? He should be heading there soon too. I’ll introduce you.”
“I am free…” Chu Yi hesitated. He’d just decided to keep his distance from President Yu, so what would mingling with his grandfather mean?
“Then it’s settled.” The Yu Patriarch didn’t wait for a refusal and dragged him forward.
“E-Elder?” Chu Yi followed involuntarily. The Yu Patriarch and Old Zheng were elderly; he didn’t dare resist, fearing he’d hurt them.
Elder Yu: “Truth be told, this old head of mine has a request too. We’ll talk as we walk.”
After hearing the Yu Patriarch’s request, Chu Yi’s mouth twitched. “Elder Yu means you want me to check the marriage prospects for your two grandsons?”
“Yes! I’m not worried about the second one. Her relationship with that boy from the Gao Family is stable—they might even beat her big brother to the altar. But her big brother doesn’t even have a girlfriend! And Little Xian too, with his workaholic drive just like his big brother back in the day. I’m really afraid he’ll follow in his footsteps…”
Chu Yi: “…” President Yu had just neglected work for personal matters; Elder Yu didn’t need to worry so much.
Seeing his disbelief, the Yu Patriarch sighed. “Back then, I consulted plenty of masters. They all said my youngest grandson’s Marriage Palace was dim and his marriage prospects severed. Little Xian’s grown this big without a single girlfriend. Even blind dates end in all sorts of accidents. How can this old man not worry?”
“!!” Chu Yi was shocked. “Elder Yu, what did you say? President Yu’s Marriage Palace is dim, marriage prospects severed? Who said that?”
How had he not seen it?
Yu Patriarch: “Master Zhengyi, Master Zhao—they all said so. Does Little Yi have a different view?”
“The Master Zhao you mean is Zhao Zhen?” Chu Yi didn’t know Master Zhengyi, but he’d met Zhao Zhen. Dragon Tiger Mountain’s divination skills shouldn’t have regressed that much, right?
“Exactly. Three Masters Zhao looked at it.”
That couldn’t be…
Chu Yi racked his brain recalling the last time he’d read Yu Qingxian’s face. Could Soul Separation have caused some error?
“Does President Yu believe it?”
“He calls it nonsense. He just doesn’t want to date.”
“…” No wonder last time when he’d asked if President Yu had other anomalies, he’d said no. He hadn’t hidden it on purpose.
Thinking of President Yu’s special treatment toward him, Chu Yi probed, “Uh, Elder Yu, have you considered… that President Yu might not like women?”
After all, modern relationships weren’t limited to opposite-sex; same-sex marriage was possible too. Was “severed prospects” what he thought?
Yu Patriarch: “I’ve found men for him too!”
With Big Brother Yu, Yu Zhensheng, as a super-aged bachelor at home, the old man was no longer limited by gender. He just wanted his grandchildren to have partners.
“Zhensheng at least has a chance. The masters say he can still marry before forty. But Little Xian? Even they shook their heads…”
Here, the Yu Patriarch’s gaze drifted to Old Zheng beside him. He’d heard Old Zheng suddenly couldn’t stop praising his granddaughter. Zhensheng was almost forty. Though the girl was ten years younger, he still wanted to give it one last push…
Old Zheng suddenly caught on. “Well, well! You old fox, haven’t contacted me in years, and now you suddenly invite me out. So this was your scheme!”
Yu Zhensheng was outstanding, sure, but at his age, how could he match his young, beautiful granddaughter? Forget training Xiao Rui as successor—even without that, he wouldn’t stoop to such tasteless matchmaking!
“Hey, Old Zheng, don’t be so absolute. What if the young ones hit it off?”
“Impossible! Xiao Rui has high standards!”
His delicate flower of a granddaughter would never fancy an old cow like Yu Zhensheng— or he’d write “Zheng” backwards!
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