Chapter 58: 59: The Quirky Paperweight
"It\'s nothing, pretty good actually." Long Xiaoshan thought that he should test it again next time, there should be no problem.
If it really were an evil technique, it definitely wouldn\'t enhance a woman\'s body as well.
"Oh, then, then I\'ll go out to work." Chun Tao was afraid that if she stayed in the office too long, there would be more idle gossip.
"Hold on, Taozi, did you go to school?"
Chun Tao said, "I went up to junior high school, then I stopped."
Long Xiaoshan nodded. That was normal. Generally, in the countryside, everyone studied up to junior high school because it was nine years of compulsory education. After finishing junior high, most people either went out to work or engaged in farming.
"How well did you learn? Are you good at math?" Long Xiaoshan asked again.
Chun Tao said somewhat embarrassedly, "It was, it\'s alright."
"Be more specific, how much could you score?" Long Xiaoshan asked.
"For the middle school exams, I think I got around eighty-something points in math. Why are you asking all this?" Chun Tao said.
"Eighty-something points, that\'s not bad," Long Xiaoshan smiled and said, "That\'s a very good score. How about this, later I\'ll go to the bookstore and get you some books, you can review, and in the future, if the farm needs an accountant, someone to do the bookkeeping and calculations, I\'m planning to have you do it."
"Ah, I can\'t do it. I\'m not good at calculating." Chun Tao quickly waved her hands.
"It\'s very simple, the business on the farm isn\'t that complicated right now. I\'ll teach you a bit every day. Start learning it, and later you won\'t need to go up the mountain to work anymore." Long Xiaoshan said.
Chun Tao was now his woman, he of course didn\'t want her to be exposed to sun and rain anymore, doing those rough jobs.
"Then, then I\'ll try," Chun Tao understood Long Xiaoshan\'s intentions and felt a sweet sensation in her heart.
After chatting a bit more, Chun Tao quickly left first.
Once Chun Tao left, Long Xiaoshan planned to go find Shen Yuerong in the township, but just as he was about to leave, He Xiangyue darted in, looking at Xiaoshan without speaking.
"Mom, what\'s wrong?" Long Xiaoshan asked.
"Son, listen to your mom, don\'t get involved with Chun Tao anymore."
Long Xiaoshan\'s brow furrowed and he said, "Mom, what do you mean by \'getting involved\'?"
Hearing Long Xiaoshan\'s tone, He Xiangyue became agitated and raised her voice, "Little Xiaoshan, I know you\'re young and strong, and Chun Tao is attractive, your fondness is normal, but Chun Tao is fated as a White Tiger, a husband-destroyer, you can\'t mess with her. In a couple of days, mom will find you another girl, we have money now, I\'ll find you someone even more attractive than Chun Tao."
Hearing this, Long Xiaoshan understood that Chun Tao indeed hadn\'t said anything wrong.
He hadn\'t even mentioned marrying Chun Tao, only got a bit closer to her, and He Xiangyue was already anxious.
This wouldn\'t do. Leaving aside the issue of marrying or not marrying, this attitude was affecting his relationship with Chun Tao.
A thought struck Long Xiaoshan, and he smiled, "Mom, do you think a woman can overshadow me?"
"What do you mean?"
Long Xiaoshan explained, "Mom, do you think I could make you walk without crutches in just one day, raise such big shrimp, and produce so many fruits and vegetables if I were an ordinary person? To tell you the truth, I met a master in prison, his skills are almost no different from a Celestial\'s, and I became his disciple. Moreover, that master can foresee people\'s fates. He said I am destined as an Azure Dragon, a fate of overshadowing the wife. Ordinary women can\'t suppress my fate and will be harmed in return. There must be a White Tiger to counterbalance me to achieve equilibrium."
"Really?" He Xiangyue was startled.
She and Long Dashan had always believed that their son\'s skills were imparted by a Celestial.
Could the words of a Celestial be wrong?
And the folk did indeed have the saying that the Azure Dragon overshadows the wife.
"What do you think?" Long Xiaoshan looked at his mother.
At this point, He Xiangyue completely stopped worrying about Chun Tao and focused all her thoughts on her son. If her son truly had the fate of the Azure Dragon overshadowing the wife, it could affect the continuation of the family lineage.
In the countryside, that was a matter of utmost importance.
```
Getting out would be terrible.
He Xiangyue\'s face kept changing colors. After a while, she said, "If the White Tiger does bring balance, will you then be free from trouble with other women?"
"Should be," Long Xiaoshan said ambiguously.
"Fine!" He Xiangyue didn\'t know what she was thinking but looked at her son repeatedly and said, "Leave this matter to me; you don\'t have to worry about it."
"Mom, what are you going to do?" Long Xiaoshan asked, puzzled.
"Don\'t concern yourself with it, just go about your business," He Xiangyue said, then walked out.
Long Xiaoshan shook his head; he should have managed to fool He Xiangyue.
He was planning to visit Shen Yuerong that day, so he left the farm, got into his pickup, and drove toward the township.
Half an hour later, the pickup rolled into the township,
Lotus Township was not large, and the town government was easy to find.
Su Ze parked outside the town government office.
He took out his phone to call Shen Yuerong.
He had saved the number the day before.
So, after a few rings, the call connected.
"It\'s Xiaoshan, right? Come on up, I\'m in the farthest office on the third floor," the voice on the phone sounded lethargic.
After hanging up, Long Xiaoshan hurriedly made his way inside.
The town government building opened up to a courtyard. Lotus Township was a poor town, and the office building had seen better days. It was covered in ivy, with moss growing in the corners, and outside were tall plane and camphor trees, each several decades old. Though the heat was intense outside, inside it felt quite cool, even a bit chilly.
He walked all the way in, and, perhaps because it was nap time, the place was very quiet, with hardly anyone around.
Long Xiaoshan made his way to the very back room on the third floor.
The door was indeed marked with the sign for the Mayor\'s Office.
He knocked on the door, and Shen Yuerong\'s voice came from inside: "Come in."
So he pushed the door open and entered.
Inside was a tidy-looking office. The cement floor was spotless, there were flowers in a vase on the desk, and the window by the door was covered with purple curtains, with a faint delicate fragrance wafting through the air.
Shen Yuerong was sitting behind a big desk, seemingly perusing some documents.
Seeing Long Xiaoshan, she pointed to the sofa across from her and said, "Take a seat for now. I just need to finish this document."
"No worries, take your time."
As Long Xiaoshan spoke, he had already activated his Spirit Eye.
He observed the room because he had seen Chun Tao\'s soul last time, proving that this Spirit Eye was extraordinary. He wanted to see if there really was a ghost hidden here but, after looking around, he found no signs of a spectral presence.
However, he did notice that there was another black handprint around Shen Yuerong\'s neck.
There were now two handprints on it, as if someone was strangling her.
And Shen Yuerong\'s complexion appeared tinged with darkness, her eyes rimmed with black circles.
As he watched, he suddenly narrowed his eyes, focusing on something on the big desk. On the desk, there lay a dark paperweight which, to the average person, was just a paperweight. However, Long Xiaoshan could sense a chilling aura emanating from it.
This object was definitely odd.
Long Xiaoshan walked up to the desk and picked up the paperweight.
Shen Yuerong glanced up but said nothing, probably thinking Long Xiaoshan was just curious, and went back to reading her documents.
Holding the paperweight, Long Xiaoshan could see even more clearly; the outside was pitch black, but through the Spirit Eye, he could see symbols inside that resembled nonsensical scribbles.
```