Chapter 2416: A Friend Comes from Afar
As soon as Old Lady Lu heard that voice, her face dropped. With a nimbleness that belied her age, she got up and headed into the bedroom, leaving behind a parting shot: "Tell him I'm dead!"
The door had barely closed when Xin Rong slipped in from the entrance. Spotting Xu Huo, his eyes lit up first, then he set down the large bags he was carrying, greeted him, and started shouting inside the house: "Great-aunt! Come out quick! I've brought you something good—this time I'm definitely not here to mooch off you!"
Unfortunately, the person inside didn't answer him. Xin Rong, used to this, shot Xu Huo a meaningful glance, then walked down the hallway toward the bedroom and said, "I brought you some Subclass Stones. Don't you want to come out and take a look?"
"Leave the stuff and you can go." The old lady's voice came through, but she still didn't intend to come out.
Then Xin Rong started being a pest outside the door, rambling on and on until the old lady couldn't take it anymore. She finally opened the door, her face stern, and said, "I'll trust you one more time."
Xin Rong sycophantically helped her out, then sat down with a swagger. "Fang Jie, get me some tea. My mouth's dry from all that talking."
The old lady grabbed a piece of fruit from the table and threw it at him. "How dare you order my apprentice around!"
Xin Rong chuckled, rubbed the fruit clean, and took a bite. "Great-aunt still spoils me."
The old lady was already at her wit's end. She turned to Xu Huo and said, "You see this? If you're going to live a long life, it's best not to acknowledge any relatives. You never know when some shameless little brat from a later generation will pop up and annoy you day and night."
Xin Rong had a thick enough skin that he didn't feel embarrassed at all. He even leaned over to talk to Xu Huo. "Haven't seen you in a while. Looks like you've gotten stronger."
"Had some good hauls lately," Xu Huo said. "I picked up some decent items and was planning to sell them."
"Sell them to me!" Xin Rong said immediately. "I'll give you a fair price."
Xu Huo had been thinking the same thing, so he took out some of the items he'd won from the Fish Feast for Xin Rong to look over. He'd already stored some suitable defensive items and container items in his item slots, and he'd kept a few instruments as well.
He'd prepared the Subclass Stones before coming, originally meant for Old Lady Lu anyway.
The old lady picked up an instrument, gave it a quick look, and broke into a smile. "Good quality. What kind of item are you thinking of making this time?"
"Preferably something convenient, a defensive item," Xu Huo said.
Although he already had quite a few A-grade defensive items, most of them weren't very convenient to use. Many weren't suitable for intense combat. What he needed was a defensive item that could be maintained for a long time and was extremely close-fitting. Protective suits, due to material limitations, didn't have a high enough defense level.
The old lady carefully noted his requirements. "That's not difficult. I still know a few friends. As long as the materials are in place, good items are plentiful."
Xin Rong looked up and hurriedly took out his own Subclass Stones. "Great-aunt, I want to make an item too!"
The old lady shot him a sideways glance. "I'll make you a C-grade item."
Xin Rong deliberately put on a mournful face. "Great-aunt, these are Subclass Stones too."
"With that quality, I can tell without even using an instrument. And you want a good item? Why don't you just come empty-handed and rob me!" The old lady launched into a passionate scolding.
Xin Rong couldn't lift his head from the scolding. When she was done, he handed her a cup of tea. "Have some tea, don't get yourself worked up... Actually, I've been a bit over budget lately, and the price of Subclass Stones in the district has been rising fast. I really can't find anything good."
The old lady's expression softened a bit. She accepted his stones but added, "Save them up first. When you've gathered enough, I'll make it for you."
Xin Rong's smile was a bit strained.
But the old lady had already lost interest in him. She took Xu Huo's box and left.
Xin Rong watched her go and shook his head. "I came at a bad time."
Turning back, he smiled at Xu Huo. "I want all of those items, every single one. I'll talk to my family later and have them transfer the money to your account."
"How long are you staying this time? Come over to my place if you have time. My family recently set up a large-scale Space Teleportation Device. I haven't seen it yet. If I bring a friend, the elders might let me take a look."
Hearing about a large teleportation device, Xu Huo immediately became interested. "I heard that most of these devices are consumables bought from the Game Government. They're scrapped after one or two uses?"
"Most of them are. It wouldn't be hard for the Platinum Eye to crack the technology, but the materials are extremely expensive," Xin Rong said. "It's cheaper to buy than to build... By the way, there's been news coming out of the Mechanical Castle. They say they've developed a robot with near-perfect performance. Have you heard about it?"
"Not really... Is the ore price increase in the district related to this?" Xu Huo was a bit surprised. "The robot hasn't even been released yet. How is the news already everywhere?"
"Who knows? Maybe they're building hype." Xin Rong habitually looked at things from a business perspective. "I was thinking, since you're good friends with Miss Coco, maybe you could get my family the first batch of goods."
Meeting his expectant gaze, Xu Huo said flatly, "I don't have that much influence."
"How could that be?" Xin Rong winked. "Miss Coco even gave you the Platinum Badge. Isn't that influence enough?"
Xu Huo didn't think so, but he was happy to make the trip for him.
"Good friend!" Xin Rong walked out the door and called to the few people in the yard. "Come on, come on! Uncle's giving you all unlimited tickets to the amusement park. Go wild!"
Xiao Yuan and the others came over, thanked him first, then took the tickets. The Painting Woman got one too.
"We have school," Tan Qi said, noticing there were time-limited events.
"Kid, be flexible." Xin Rong patted him on the head. "If a few days of playing can mess things up, then going to school or not makes no difference."
Tan Qi coldly slapped his hand away.
Xin Rong wanted to invite Xu Huo out for some fun, so he used a few tickets to get rid of the kids.
Xu Huo was going to the Xin family anyway and didn't plan to take the Painting Woman along. He asked Fang Jie to make arrangements, and before leaving, he reminded the Painting Woman to be careful.
After confirming several times that he wouldn't suddenly enter an instance, the Painting Woman waved her hand, indicating she was going to play.
Xin Rong's first stop was, of course, not the Xin family, but a bar.
On the way, he called up his usual close friends and said to Xu Huo, "I've been on a long trip recently too. It's a good chance to catch up with them."
"Don't be so serious. Just have a good time tonight. I still need time to report to my family."
Xin Rong's friends included both men and women, so they didn't go to any seedy places. Xu Huo had met several of them before, so they weren't strangers and it was easy to hang out.
When they heard that Xin Rong had acquired a batch of items, these people were also interested and wanted to buy a couple for themselves. During the conversation, the topic of the Mechanical Castle's new robot came up again. Someone said mysteriously, "I heard that robot is equipped with the latest energy weapons."