The Silly Alchemist

A few days later, the empire began discussing the need to make necessary requisitions for the land. However, doing so would significantly impact the empire, potentially driving the empire into chaos.

In the mainland, private assets were highly protected. If anyone were to even consider breaking the law, there would be unneeded tension amongst the tycoons and aristocrats of the empire. Heck, even the top three empires wouldn’t be able to bear the consequences of this possibility.

Taking all their options into consideration, the empire figured that the best course of action was to get in touch with the former owner of the mountain. However, in the midst of all this, the former owner picked up on something.

After understanding the situation, the former owner came up with a possible way of tracking down the buyer.

“I don’t know who this guy is but I’m guessing he doesn’t have much care for money... It was a barren mountain worth nothing! However, this person bought it at such a high price and never gave me any trouble during the whole process. This person has to be a prodigal son, if not an idiot.”

He was right. Why would a regular person by a barren mountain? Not only that, a regular person would have tried to negotiate for a lower price.

Instead, the new owner had bought it at an extremely high price. Could it be that he had known of the true value of this mountain? Even if he did, he would’ve negotiated for a lower price. This has to be the work of a prodigal son! An extraordinary prodigal son!

The seventh brother frowned at such a reply.

“Yeah, even if he did know the true value, he shouldn’t have offered such a high price, unless… wait what did you say earlier? A prodigal son? Oh my, could it have been bought by that prodigal thirteenth brother?” the seventh brother anxiously said.

After recalling of Ye Lang’s previous prodigal doings, the seventh brother immediately rushed home to search for Ye Lang.

The seventh brother was certain that it was Ye Lang. There’s no one else who would do such a prodigal thing like that. In the past, while Ye Lang had been splurging non-stop, there were a few things that made him bountiful profits.

About three years ago, Ye Lang had bought a large piece of land and houses belonging to the poor.  After that, he built new houses for them to live in, stirring up controversy in the empire. Although he had done it out of charity, many people figured he’d done it out of boredom, simply wanting to squander his fortune to fill in his free time. 

That aside, him purchasing lands and houses, alongside building new houses was such a prodigal thing to do. After he had spent a few hundred thousand gold coins, he could finally say, “That was satisfying!”

That wasn’t all. Just two months ago, the imperial capital had announced plans to establish a new aristocrat region. Coincidentally, the region just so happened to be the piece of land Ye Lang had purchased three years ago. Consequently, there was a great number of people competing to buy the piece of land from Ye Lang.

This was only one of the many cases where Ye Lang splurged, not expecting any large payout at the end. People couldn’t help but think that this kid, Ye Lang, was blessed by the Lady Luck herself.

“Oh, I found it. Here, take a look.” Ye Lang said as he handed over a certificate he found to the seventh brother.

“When did I buy this? Perhaps about five to six years ago, when Tigress was still around…”

The seventh brother was too busy paying attention to the certificate that he couldn’t be bothered of Ye Lang’s words. 

“Bingo!” he said. “I’ll get you a good price. See you later.”

Right after he said that the seventh brother bolted off back to his workplace. There must have been a few anxious guys waiting there.

“......” 

Oh god, I just wanted to be prodigal. Why does this always happen to me? Damn it, I just had to earn another fortune… Sigh…

Ye Lang couldn’t help but sigh. Many people would’ve beaten him up if they heard this. People planned their entire lives, overworking their brains for years without even knowing whether they’d be successful while all he had to do was splurge without thinking and he’d succeed.

He also had successful prodigal encounters with significant success. However, overall, he was still unsuccessful. Over time, his assets accumulated, to the extent that even he couldn’t keep track of their net value.

And this was only right now. Who knew if this would happen in the future? There might be more situations similar to this in the future where he’d forget about what he’d previously purchased and a few years later, the value of the assets would have skyrocketed through the roof.

Let’s not forget he purchased this about five to six years ago. Most of these situations only arise a few years later anyway. Despite Ye Lang never forgetting to be prodigal, he’d always find a way back to making a fortune.

Perhaps, this was just like what the show Slumdog Millionaire said, “It’s written!”

“Whatever, forget it. I’ve gotta mix these ingredients first... They are precious ingredients, must try…” muttered Ye Lang.

He no longer cared about all these matters. If it was already written, then there would be no need to care at all. Caring wouldn’t make a difference anyway.

If it wasn’t fated to make money, then it was what Ye Lang wanted. After all, he came to be prodigal. It was a win-win.

“Brother, it’s a holiday today. It’s so nice outside! Why are you meddling with these at home? Don’t you want to go be prodigal outside?” said Ye Lanyu to Ye Lang who was busy playing with the ingredients in his little hidden chamber.

“Not going, no mood! I failed again today,” replied Ye Lang in a depressing tone.

“Failed? Please don’t tell me you earned money today. How much did you earn this time?” asked Ye Lanyu.

She pondered for a while before quickly figuring out what Ye Lang was talking about. After all, she knew him well enough to understand...

“Not sure yet, we’ll know when Seventh Brother returns,” answered Ye Lang casually.

Ye Lanyu sat aside and stared at Ye Lang for awhile.

“Brother, I have a question for you, you must be honest with me,” asked Ye Lanyu.

“What’s the question?” asked Ye Lang, confused.

“Are you sure you aren’t investing?” 

This was way too suspicious. After all, a prodigal kid was making more money than businessmen.

“...Of course not, do you think I’m that stupid? Besides, I don’t always gain from my spending. Most of the time, I lose money.”

“Stupid? You’re the one who’s trying so hard to be a prodigal. Why be a prodigal son?!”

“This is my life goal!”

“Nonsense! Who would set this as their life goal?!”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“...”

……