“An ordinary stone? Impossible!” Li Lei firmly rejected the idea because, in his eyes, as long as he focused intently, he could still see a faint glow emanating from the large stone before him. Even the spot where Jixiang had just chiseled it was now glowing more brightly than before, unlike earlier.

“But Young Master…” Jixiang tried to persuade him again, but Li Lei pushed him aside and grabbed the tools himself. “Step aside, I’ll do it myself!”

Clang, clang, clang…

Clang…

Crack!

Just as Jixiang was growing puzzled, under Li Lei’s forceful strikes, a small piece of the stone broke off like weathered wall plaster, revealing a faint, verdant interior.

This…!!!

Jixiang’s eyes widened in shock!

In contrast to his confusion, Li Lei, who had also noticed the different hue, burst into wild laughter.

“This is jade! This is jade, hahaha…”

Since his father was a jade merchant, Li Lei had some knowledge in this area. He hadn’t dared to think of it earlier because the old beggar hadn’t mentioned that his eyes could see jade. But now, seeing the interior of the stone, he was certain.

“This is jade!” he declared confidently. “I see jade!”

…

Having reached three thousand words, Fu Wenyu set down his pen.

Because The Legend of the Divine Eye involved a lot of specialized knowledge, Fu Wenyu had been cautious while writing to avoid mistakes. Since the Liuzhou Tabloid was only printed once every five days, he decided not to rush. He would write one chapter a day and use the remaining time to study, revise, and… drink milk tea.

Speaking of milk tea, it was impossible not to mention the great contributor to their household—the goats.

They were now on their third goat.

The first goat had been brought back by Fu Wenyu. Since ancient goats hadn’t been selectively bred and only grazed on grass without any nutrient-rich feed, their milk production wasn’t high—only about two or three pounds a day.

Normally, goat milk doesn’t need to be diluted with water when boiled, but Fu Wenyu, considering that the three members of his family weren’t in the best health, added water to make it easier to digest. Their bowls weren’t deep and had wide openings, holding about 200 milliliters when full. So, they could boil about ten bowls of milk tea a day.

Mrs. Zhou usually drank only one bowl and refused to have more, but Fu Wenyu and Fu Rong had no such reservations. They drank at least two bowls each daily, along with Fu Dashí and Fu Chunhua having one bowl each. This left about five bowls to exchange with villagers. However, apart from the thin, elderly Tian man with a child whom Fu Wenyu had met at the village entrance, no one else was willing to exchange for milk tea every day.

During the house-building period, to thank the uncles and brothers who had helped, Fu Wenyu had two more goats brought in. Every day, he boiled milk tea for them. On the day the main beam was raised, they slaughtered one goat and two chickens, cooking a pot of fragrant radish stew with goat meat and a steaming pot of chicken soup.

Now, the Fu family only had two goats left, and eggs were entirely purchased.

“Mother, where’s my sister?” Fu Wenyu asked curiously as he came out of the kitchen with a cup of milk tea, looking around but not seeing Fu Rong.

“She went with Chunhua to graze the goats,” Mrs. Zhou replied while hanging clothes to dry.

Mrs. Zhou and Fu Rong had been going to the Li Embroidery Shop every day to teach the selected embroiderers how to make velvet flowers. By now, the embroiderers had learned to make simple velvet flowers and had produced a large number of finished products. Since there were so many, Madam Li decided to sell them first to recover some costs. Mrs. Zhou and Fu Rong, who knew nothing about business, were now free and no longer needed to go to the city every day.

With her newfound free time, Fu Rong had practically turned the family’s two goats into pets. Every day, she happily led them out to graze, attracting a crowd of children who followed her around.

Knowing that the two of them wouldn’t return quickly once they left, Fu Wenyu quickly finished the sweet milk tea in his cup and went back to the kitchen to pour another bowl.

“Mother, I’m taking milk tea to Grandfather. I’ll be back later.”

Fu Dashí still lived in the old house with the second branch of the family.

Since Fu Wenyu had acquired the fifty-three acres of land and built a “mansion” rarely seen in the village, Fu Dashí’s expressions had become much more animated. He was always cheerful, often strolling to the village entrance with his hands behind his back to chat with the other elderly villagers.

Some time ago, someone had urged him to move in with Fu Wenyu, saying that living with his eldest grandson would bring him comfort. However, Fu Dashí refused, saying that it had been agreed during the division of the family that he would live with the second son. Because of this, the Fu Wenyu family’s opinion of him had improved, and they would often send him a share of whatever good food they had at home.

The daily milk tea was one such example, and Fu Wenyu specifically used a large bowl for it.

The old house’s door was open. Fu Wenyu called out, “Grandfather, are you here?” and, upon hearing Fu Dashí’s voice, he entered.

In the courtyard, Second Aunt Liu was feeding the chickens. Chicken feed was scattered all over the ground, and three chickens were pecking away. When she saw Fu Wenyu entering with the familiar large bowl, she forced a smile and said, “Oh, it’s Wenyu. Bringing that so-called goat milk to your grandfather again?”

“This stuff is so pungent, and drinking too much of it makes you run to the outhouse. It’s nowhere near as nourishing as goat meat. If you’re really filial, you should slaughter those two goats and bring the meat over.”

Her words weren’t without reason.

Second Aunt Liu had a relatively rare lactose intolerance. Once, she had snatched Chunhua’s milk tea and ended up spending half a day in the outhouse. Afterward, terrified, she went around shouting that goat milk was poison, that it couldn’t be drunk, and that it could kill people. Later, when others in the village who had drunk it refuted her and asked where she had gotten the goat milk, she was thoroughly embarrassed.

When Fu Wenyu heard about this incident, he rewarded his goats with a handful of fresh grass.

What had the goats done wrong?

Well done!

So now, Fu Wenyu wasn’t the least bit intimidated. He smiled and replied, “Second Aunt, how do you know that drinking too much goat milk makes you run to the outhouse? Could it be that you’ve tried it?”

“But I don’t remember ever serving you any.”

Second Aunt Liu’s face suddenly turned red.

Her lips moved, but she didn’t respond to this. Instead, she touched the copper hairpin on her head and changed the subject. “Wenyu, you should talk to your mother. Your family is still in mourning, yet your mother wears a silver hairpin and dresses up so flamboyantly. It’s just…”

“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?!”

Second Aunt Liu was startled as Fu Wenyu suddenly stepped closer, forcing her to retreat several steps.

Fu Wenyu wanted to hit her but held back.

His voice turned cold. “Second Aunt, if you don’t want to live a good life, I can make it worse for you. I remember it was agreed during the family division that this courtyard belongs half to my family, right?”

“My mother wears a silver hairpin because she has the ability, and I have the ability. In the future, I’ll buy her gold hairpins, gold earrings, gold bracelets, and a gold headdress. If you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll have a wall built right in the middle of this courtyard, then demolish our old rooms and raise ten roosters and ten pigs!”

This was an idea he had used in his previous dog-blooded era novels. Ten roosters crowing together and ten pigs creating a mess every day would soon drive that family to nervous breakdown and utter misery.

If the noise doesn’t kill you, the stench will!

Second Aunt Liu’s face changed, and she awkwardly stepped back. “Oh, well, I… I still have clothes to wash. I’ll go do that now, haha, haha.”

With that, she dropped the chicken feed basin and scurried away.

Fu Wenyu: “…Hmph.”

With such poor combat skills, how dare she gossip in front of him?

Fu Wenyu watched her retreating figure, adjusted his expression, and walked toward the main room.

In the main room, seeing Fu Wenyu enter, Fu Dashí asked curiously, “What did your second aunt say to you? She wasn’t bringing up Rong’s marriage again, was she?”

Fu Dashí, being hard of hearing due to his age, hadn’t heard the conversation in the courtyard. He only knew that his grandson had run into his second aunt and that there seemed to have been some unpleasantness.

Since the matter was already resolved, Fu Wenyu didn’t tell the whole truth. He simply said, “Second Aunt saw me bringing a bowl of goat milk and said a few extra words.”

Mentioning Second Aunt Liu and the goat milk, Fu Dashí snorted. He was aware of the incident from some time ago. However, since she was his daughter-in-law, he couldn’t say much and had only reprimanded his son a few times.

“Grandfather, drink it while it’s hot.”

Fu Wenyu set the bowl down and asked thoughtfully, “How have you been feeling after drinking this for two months? The physician said goat milk benefits the five organs and replenishes vitality. We’ve all felt much better since drinking it.”

Hearing this, Fu Dashí smiled happily.

“Good, much better. I sleep more soundly at night too. Don’t listen to your second aunt’s nonsense. This is good stuff. Old Tian’s granddaughter used to be as thin as a stick, and everyone said she wouldn’t survive. But now, when they bring her out, she’s chubby, isn’t she?”

The Old Tian Fu Dashí mentioned was the thin, elderly man who exchanged for goat milk from the Fu family every day. After his child drank the milk for a while, the effects were very noticeable. Because of this, the goat seller had even started a new business of renting goats in Fu Wenyu’s village. Now, apart from the Fu family, several other households had also rented goats.

After chatting for a while longer, Fu Wenyu bid farewell and left.

He walked around the village, greeting a few uncles and clansmen who had helped with the house construction. On his way back, he declined two villagers who asked if he was willing to sell his land.

Over the next two days, Fu Wenyu finished writing the third and fourth chapters of The Legend of the Divine Eye at home.

These two chapters described how the jade Li Lei had discovered sparked curiosity and awe among everyone. After craftsmen carefully removed the outer layer of the stone, they found that the entire interior of the large stone was jade!

A half-person-high piece of jade!

Although its quality wasn’t top-tier, it was smooth and flawless, with a shape resembling a pine tree. It was truly a rare treasure. Jade of such good quality could be cut into bracelets, made into jewelry, or carved into decorative pieces by master craftsmen—all excellent options.

However, news travels fast. After word spread that the Li family had acquired such a treasure, many people came to visit, hoping to buy it. The prices they offered kept rising.

With Master Li away, Li Lei was the head of the household.

He refused them all.

After completing the ancestral worship ceremonies, the group set off for home.

…

After finishing the two chapters, Fu Wenyu picked up the manuscript and read it with satisfaction.

But as he read, he suddenly felt that something was off. The plot seemed a bit too flat.

No drama, no conflict!

The failure of Sacrifice to Heaven had left Fu Wenyu with a psychological shadow. He always felt that stories that were too flat lacked appeal, and readers would lose interest.

So he picked up his pen and decided to give Li Lei a “green tea brother”!

Thus, at the end of the fourth chapter, when Li Lei and his group finally returned home after transporting the half-person-high jade with great difficulty, they heard a voice that seemed to mediate but was actually stirring up trouble.

“Father, don’t be angry.”

“Big Brother was traveling far from home for the first time. With so many interesting things outside, it’s normal that he lost track of time. He’s young and probably didn’t realize that Grandmother and you were worried sick at home, unable to sleep because he didn’t return on time. He also didn’t know that you sent people to wait at the city gates every day and even hired escorts to search along the way, fearing something might have happened to him.”

“Father, don’t be angry. Big Brother surely didn’t mean to do it on purpose.”

Master Li, not buying it, angrily said, “That unfilial son! You’re younger than him, yet you know these things. How could he not know? He has no sense of propriety. When he returns, I’ll break his legs!”

Li Lei, who had been worried the entire journey: “…???”