The Silly Alchemist

“Wait!” The girl obviously wasn’t going to let Ye Lang leave. She barely got the chance to interact with him, surely she wouldn’t let him leave without hearing her out.

She had put in so much effort to obtain this chance, she wasn’t about to let it slip out of her hands. She had been rejected outside the Ye Residence one too many times, and finally decided to target Zhen Xiaoyan.

Everyone was aware that Zhen Xiaoyan was staying in the same compound as Ye Lang and was the only one able to be in close proximity with him. She was also relatively easier to approach. Other people like Ye Lanyu and the seventh princess were of the same rank as Ye Lang, so it will be hard to approach them, just as it was hard to approach Ye Lang.

Zhen Xiaoyan and the girl were family friends and childhood playmates. However, they had lost contact in recent years due to the little girl’s unique position. Their initial friendship was merely due to their family’s business relationship. The girl’s family owned shares in the Zhen family restaurant but were merchants.

Due to private reasons, the girl had to join in on the business at an early age, then taking it over at the age of ten.

Despite being a merchant family, they were struggling but still managed to remain relatively rich. Their financial state could be described as robbing Peter to pay Paul.

And because of that, her parents passed away when she was ten due to the stress from overworking. She also had no grandparents, hence was the only living member of her family. That was why she had to take over the family business at such a young age.

Surprisingly, after she took over the business, the business was back up on its feet but it was unclear if it was momentary.

She urgently needed a miracle to turn her business around and Ye Lang was that miracle!

She wanted to trade with Ye Lang!

With that intention, she sought for help from Zhen Xiaoyan to arrange a meeting or help with the negotiation with Ye Lang. But once Zhen Xiaoyan knew what her motive was, she rejected the girl’s offer and persuaded her to look for other ways to turn the business around as this wouldn’t work. The girl thought that it was a win-win situation that no one would reject, at least after listening to it first!

“Little girl, what’s the matter?” asked Ye Lang as he lowered his head and gently caressed the girl’s forehead.

The puzzled girl looked up at Ye Lang, confusion written all over her face. She thought Ye Lang would be difficult to get along with, but that did not seem to be the case.

“Thirteenth prince, I want to talk business with you today,” said the little girl.

“Business?” asked a surprised Ye Lang.

“Yes. You will earn, you won’t lose a single cent! You don't have to invest in any capital either. Our profit can be split in half. The only thing you have to do is provide a formula…” The girl nodded as she offered all of her attractive perquisites. She was very confident that Ye Lang will accept her offer to trade. However--

“I reject!” replied Ye Lang firmly.

“I knew you would… Wait. You reject?!” The girl expected Ye Lang to agree and was taken aback when he did the exact opposite.

“Exactly, little girl. I reject! An innocent girl such as yourself should play at home, not do business trades,” Ye land said as he gently patted the girl’s head, and then attempted to walk past her.

“I’m not a little girl anymore! I’ve been the breadwinner for three years now. I want to play too but I couldn’t!” the girl sighed, sorrow in her voice. Ye Lang’s kindness seemed to have encouraged her to voice her feelings.

“A breadwinner for three years? How old are you?” asked a very confused Ye Lang.

“...Thirteen.”

“You became a breadwinner at ten?! Where are your parents?!”

She remained silent.

“Ye Lang, she’s all alone. She’ll be very sad if you ask her questions like that,” whispered Zhen Xiaoyan into Ye Lang’s ear.

“Poor kid…”

“I don’t need your pity! You just have to be serious in this business negotiation!” the girl replied firmly.

Ye Lang replied, “Well, did you think I was joking? Let me tell you again, I refuse to participate in this business!”

“Why?! This is only a profit for you and you don't have to bear the risks. You can even share the profit, so why not? Is it because you want to get into this business on your own too?” the girl continued to fire question after question.

“No. I will not be doing any business at all.” Ye Lang said, shaking his head.

“Why? Is it because your formula cannot be mass-produced?”

“Formula? Ah, you probably want the diet pill formula. That’s not a big deal, it will definitely make a huge profit!”

Even without her mentioning, Ye Lang was able to guess which formula she wanted. No one should be fooled by his laid back attitude. He was shrewder than anyone else when he needed to be.

“Then why do you refuse?”

“It’s profitable, that’s why!” he replied with a smile.

“Huh?” The girl was puzzled. She could not figure out what he meant.

Zhen Xiaoyan interrupted and said, “Don't you understand? I told you before, he’s a prodigal son. If you let him squander, he’ll seal the deal. But if you allow him to earn money, he’ll refuse!”

Zhen Xiaoyan had explained this to the girl before, but the girl remained stubborn and refused to listen to her. She couldn’t understand why someone, even a prodigal son, would refuse an offer to make money, because then he will be able to spend more money!

She finally believed that Ye Lang was not an ordinary person. He refused a profitable business deal that would normally be accepted. She now understood why he was a prodigal kid. 

After a long moment of silence, she said, “Alright. What if you give me the funding and I take all the profit? You’ll remain a prodigal son that way. “ 

Zhen Xiaoyan immediately covered the girl’s mouth and dragged her aside. “Ye Er, he might be a prodigal son but that doesn’t mean he’s willing to be taken advantage of. Even if he did agree to it, the Ye family will refuse, especially his elder sister and fiance. If you continue to act this way, you’ll never be able to live in peace!”

“...” The girl remained silent once again, not because her mouth was covered, but because she just realised how reckless she was being.

It was true. Making a small profit might still be acceptable, but doing this will end up in a disaster. Someone once did this and lost everything. 

Ye Lang had his own standards too. He would not tolerate anything that went against his own values.