Chapter 30: Gifted for the Sake of Poverty

Ye Qingning’s instincts were always reliable.

Except for not predicting in her previous life that the true daughter, Ye Hanyue, would fall for the second male lead, Xie Jibai, she was usually spot on in her guesses.

Now, when her intuition made her doubt herself, she found it difficult to accept.

Suddenly, a thought flashed across her mind. What if, in this case, the eldest daughter of the Yu family, Yu Tangtang, was the disciple being tested? And what if the ‘Cuiyun Grass’ wasn’t something given by the trial but a gift prepared by Yu Tangtang herself, using the identity of the test disciple?

Yu Tangtang had deliberately presented it as a gift in front of everyone, mentioning the name of the grass, perhaps trying to hide her identity as a disciple in the trial. After all, all the trial disciples, like her, had no special tools aside from their identity plates.

With the Cuiyun Grass, even if someone suspected her to be a disciple of the trial, they would dismiss the thought upon seeing the rare and expensive gift. After all, who would spend their own money to give such an expensive gift? No matter what other disciples might have brought, nothing would compare to this Cuiyun Grass.

If her assumption was correct, then the disciple behind Yu Tangtang’s identity must be wealthy. At least, if it were her, she wouldn’t be able to afford such a gift.

As soon as she thought of this, a soft and pleasant female voice interrupted her: “Father, Mother, where is my younger sister? Why isn’t she by your side?”

“Father’s birthday, and my younger sister isn’t here? Did she forget to prepare a gift for Father and is now hiding from us?”

Being suddenly called out, Ye Qingning felt helpless. She never imagined she’d be part of the spotlight today. It seemed everyone was keen to make her the focus, ensuring no one overlooked her.

But then again, she was standing a bit further back in the crowd and wasn’t too noticeable, so it wasn’t like she could say she wasn’t there! However, to claim that she was avoiding people was clearly another attempt at undermining her.

It was obvious that the sisters didn’t get along well—nothing new there. If Yu Tangtang couldn’t stand her, the feeling was mutual.

She responded lightly, “Who said I was avoiding? Don’t we, cultivators, have sharp eyes and ears? Seems like your eyes are not quite up to par, eldest sister.”

With a quick retort, she maintained her role as the rebellious second daughter. Who knew? Maybe Yu Tangtang was testing her.

However, when it came to birthday gifts, she truly had nothing to offer. Who could’ve imagined that a test in the trial would require a gift too?

She was broke, and that wasn’t an exaggeration. Even the rats would weep when they saw her, pitying her poverty.

“Zhizhi, your sister hasn’t been seen for a while. Don’t take her teasing to heart. She must have been too busy with the recent happenings in the city,” said her mother, Yu Furen, in a calm voice. It was clear that she was trying to mediate, worried about an open dispute between the sisters.

“Mother is right. I just made a joke about it. There’s no way my sister would forget to prepare a gift for Father. Right, younger sister?” Yu Tangtang’s tone was gentle, but she was clearly prodding Qingning into showing her gift.

Ye Qingning rolled her eyes internally. It was obvious that Yu Tangtang was trying to force her into showing her gift. No matter what she presented, it would never be as valuable as the Cuiyun Grass. Everyone would end up thinking that the eldest daughter of the Yu family was superior to her.

But she really didn’t have anything to give…

“Father, don’t worry. I’ve prepared a gift for you. I stayed up all night to personally draw these talismans. Recently, things have been uneasy in the city, and I’ve been worried about your safety, so I specially made these for you. I hope they can protect you, and if any evil spirits or ghosts come, they can deal with them!”

As she spoke, Qingning confidently presented the talismans she had drawn.

Yu Tangtang froze.

The system was also stunned.

Yu Laoye, her father, looked at the talismans with disbelief.

After a long pause, he finally reacted. “Darling, are these talismans you drew yourself? I’ve never seen anything like them before.”

“Indeed, I’ve never seen such talismans. Aren’t the talismans drawn by Daoists always on yellow paper?” someone in the crowd commented.

“Also, the talismans are supposed to be drawn in red ink, right? Why is this white paper, and the talisman is drawn with ink instead of vermilion?”

Hearing the comments, Qingning remained calm.

She had indeed used regular paper and black ink.

The reason? Simply put—she was broke.

When she first started drawing talismans, she was afraid of wasting the special paper and vermilion ink. So she practiced on regular paper with a normal pen first.

The talismans she was offering now were simply the ones she had drawn while practicing over the past month. She hadn’t thrown them away because, one, they were good for remembering her progress, and two, no one had specified that talismans had to be drawn on special yellow paper with vermilion ink.

Even great talismans could be drawn without these. It wasn’t about the materials, but the energy and skill behind them.

As for her talismans, there might not be much power behind them, but there were a few lighting talismans that actually worked. If her father used them as lamps, they could light up his room.

As for the others, well, he’d discover the effects one by one. It was like opening a mystery box.

Perhaps, later on, he might even find a flight talisman, and then he could experience the thrill of flying for a few meters. Just… maybe not at night, or else he’d get mistaken for a ghost.

The key was, presenting these talismans would make the others in the room think she wasn’t a talisman cultivator. Who would believe a talisman cultivator would be so poor that they had to draw talismans on regular paper with a regular pen? They’d probably laugh her to death.

Of course, she had nothing else to offer.

“Good! My precious darling has grown up and thought of your father. These talismans will definitely be with me from now on!”

Yu Laoye cherished the talismans like a treasure, tucking them into his robes.

Yu Tangtang’s gaze flickered for a moment, but she didn’t comment further.

From the information she had gathered, she knew that her younger sister, Yu Zhizhi, was unruly and spoiled, with a temper to match. She had even fought over the same man and had the figure of a beautiful but brainless woman.

But after seeing these bizarre talismans, she was at least sure that Yu Zhizhi wasn’t a talisman cultivator. A true talisman cultivator would never draw such childish talismans.

As for whether she was a disciple from the trial… She would need to observe her more closely. If so, she would just need to snatch the identity plate.

That would add points, and who wouldn’t look forward to that?