The Silly Alchemist

“Why doesn’t it have anything to do with you? If you achieve good results, your status in the empire will go up. And if that happens, no one will stop you even if you walk sideways!” said Zhen Xiaoyan urgently. She wanted Ye Lang to understand that if he wanted more privileges, he needed personal strengths in addition to his family’s support. 

However, Ye Lang didn’t seem to have any interest in it. Instead, he said, “I can walk sideways now and no one would dare stop me. If you don’t believe, watch...” 

After saying that, he then walked sideways… “Of course no one will stop you, it’s just a metaphor, stupid!!” Ye Lang’s cousin knocked him petulantly, “Xiaoyan’s suggestion sounds good. You should compete and get some good results, it’ll be helpful for your future.” 

“I’m… not… going!” Ye Lang emphasized every word to show he stood by his decision. 

“Why not? Are you afraid it’d be too much trouble to go? It’s actually very fun, and the competition will be held at Sheng City in Ai La Empire next year. Outsiders aren’t usually allowed in there, you know,” Zhen Xiaoyan started talking to tempt Ye Lang because she knew that the other things might not attract Ye Lang’s attention. 

“Sheng City? Is it the birthplace of the Sacred Teachings? Where the authorities of religion are?” Ye Lang was weirdly sharp about facts like these. 

“Yep, and other than during the pilgrimage season, there won’t be any opportunities for you to enter. Didn’t you mention something about wanted to travel one day? Isn’t this a good opportunity for you?” asked Zhen Xiaoyan. 

“That’s true…” Ye Lang nodded, but he added, “But if it’s open for the competition, I could still enter even if I wasn’t competing.” 

“...” Zhen Xiaoyan fell silent for a moment and sulked to herself. Why can’t you be your confused self now?! Why was he confused at the wrong times, but so smart now? 

Yes, that was what she was thinking now. “It’s not guaranteed. There might be too many people, then there would be a limit for entry,” said Zhen Xiaoyan. Although she knew this reason was a stretch, she still said it nevertheless. 

“Well, they’ll only restrict tje rest. I’m the thirteenth prince of the Ye Family, how can I be stopped?” said Ye Lang with disdain. 

“Why can’t you think about your future for once? Do you really want to continue living like this? And still be a prodigal son in the future? What if you go bankrupt one day?” Zhen Xiaoyan was mad at how disappointing Ye Lang was. She didn’t know why she was this angry though. 

“If I go bankrupt, then my goal will be achieved…” said Ye Lang casually as if it didn’t matter much to him. 

“You... You… You’re hopeless!!” roared Zhen Xiaoyan. 

“You’re flattering me! You should go, I still have things to do,” Ye Lang waved his hand, gesturing for Zhen Xiaoyan to leave.

“Hmph!!” Zhen Xiaoyan stomped her feet, turned her back and walked into the building angrily.

“Cousin, let’s go home. I still need to treat your face.” Ye Lang ignored Zhen Xiaoyan’s anger completely and said calmly towards his cousin. 

“Little Lang, Xiaoyan is just concerned. You shouldn’t treat her like that,” sighed the cousin.

“I know, but I don’t like things like these. It’s troublesome and it has a lot of drawbacks,” said Ye Lang while walking back.

“Drawbacks? I don’t think there’ll be any drawbacks,” asked the cousin. What Ye Lang said next only made her more confused, it was difficult to understand what kind of person her cousin was. 

“Everyone thinks that with my current family background, I’ll be a very powerful person if I show off my skills at the competition. However, is it really that great to hold so much power?” asked Ye Lang faintly. 

“...” His cousin was deep in her thoughts. 

“I’m not suitable for that position anyway. I’m a fool just like you all say and I’m always a blur. What do you think will happen if I actually received a position like that?” Ye Lang waved with a smile. 

“... About that, I think you should just live the way you are living right now. It’s okay, I’ll take care of you if you go bankrupt,” his cousin went silent for a moment. She changed her mind and immediately became supportive of Ye Lang being a prodigal son. 

“Remember what you said! Don’t take your words back when it really happens!” Ye Lang was suddenly alert again when he heard her. 

Ye Lang’s cousin knocked on him and said, “How dare you doubt my words! I’m able to take care of you even for ten generations. However, I won’t let you spend money recklessly like how you do right now. I’ll only let you spend a thousand… no, ten thousand gold coins every month! 

A thousand seemed like it was too little for his cousin, so she increased it to ten thousand... 

This didn’t mean his cousin didn’t know the value of a thousand gold coins. She knew a normal person might not be able to earn this much money even after working for ten years. It was just that the amount was too little for Ye Lang, and he would suffer. 

“Cousin…” Ye Lang looked at his cousin with teary eyes. 

“What’s wrong, are you touched?” teased his cousin.

“Yes, cousin, I love you…” said Ye Lang while nodding. 

“Hey kid. You can’t just say that, you have to save it for someone you like!” blushed his cousin. 

Can’t believe I got teased by this little kid… “Cousin, there are many types of love, this is the type of love I have for my family. If you don’t want it, then I won’t give it to you, I’ll only give it to my neurotic elder sister.” 

“Don’t be like that! Come on, be good. Remember to love me as much as you love your neurotic elder sister in the future.” 

“...” 

… “A-choo!”  Ye Lanyu rubbed her nose, confused. “Am I sick?” 

… It was a peaceful night. Ye Family was as quiet as the night was. Yes, it was quiet in general. 

For Ye Family, it was peaceful as long as someone didn’t cause an uproar. Of course, this excluded special circumstances. 

“Where’s Ye Lang?” asked the head of Ye Family at dinner. 

At this moment, there were dozens of people occupying seven or eight large tables, eating in the Ye Family’s hall. This was the situation every day, where Ye Family had always maintained this tradition of eating together as a family. 

The Ye Family was huge, there were dozens of people in that family!! 

While there were dozens of people present, the head of Ye Family could easily tell that Ye Lang wasn’t there. Although Ye Lang was often absent, it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t ask. 

Ye Lanyu was also absent but the head of Ye Family didn’t bother asking about her because he knew Ye Lanyu must be with Ye Lang.

“He’s helping his cousin. I think he’s doing plastic surgery on her, something about microdermabrasion. Hmph, that kid wouldn’t help me with that!!” said Long Anqi with a little resentment. 

“Oh, didn’t his cousin say she was leaving tomorrow?” asked the head of Ye Family in the meantime after he’d gotten his reply. 

“Yes. That’s why this kid used this as an excuse for not going to class for two days,” answered Ye Chengtian while smiling, as if he’d already got used to Ye Lang not going to class and he didn't oppose it. 

“Oh, then let’s continue eating!” said the head of Ye Family. 

… 

The three of them closed the door and took off the… Ahem, don’t think of it in the wrong way. They were siblings and would never do anything illegal. They just took off the cousin’s veil. 

As the veil was taken off, the shockingly long scar could be seen. It made Ye Lang emotional while Ye Lanyu felt pity.

After a moment, Ye Lang took out a small thing similar to a small ballpoint pen and fiddled with it for a while. 

At that time, both Ye Lanyu and his cousin saw a light emitted from the ballpoint pen. And when the light that was emitted was shone at the ground, it could actually burn pebbles.

And it seemed like Ye Lang wanted to use the “ballpoint pen” to do the treatment on his cousin’s face… “Brother, are you sure? You’re dead if you ruin your cousin’s face,” doubted Ye Lanyu. 

“Don’t worry, I was just testing. I’ve adjusted now!” said Ye Lang. 

“Oh… But wait, didn’t you say you wanted to do microdermabrasion? Why are you using this now?” Ye Lanyu suddenly remembered what Ye Lang said before. Microdermabrasion was often done using tools to remove scar tissue.

“This IS microdermabrasion. We don't always use tools that rub off scar tissue. This kind of light stimulation is more effective as it can lighten or remove the scar… Maybe make your skin look better too...” replied Ye Lang casually. What he didn’t know was how tempting these words were for the two girls. 

“Really? Then you should do my whole face and body too...” said his cousin immediately. 

“And mine! Cousin, your skin is good enough, my skin is awful! Little brother, help your elder sister out here!” snapped Ye Lanyu. 

“Little Yu, how is your skin bad? You’re lying through your teeth. No one will have good skin if your skin is bad. Your skin is crystal clear, like ice!” retorted his cousin immediately. What she said was true. Ye Lanyu’s skin was perfect and almost no one could have skin as flawless as hers. 

“No, it wasn’t like this before. It became better as time passed. Come to think of it, maybe it’s because of my brother, he often tests weird things on my body,” Ye Lanyu looked at Ye Lang. She wasn’t sure but there was an 80% chance that she was right. 

“Really?” Ye Lang had a clueless expression. It wasn’t fake, he’d experimented with so many things that even he couldn’t figure out if anything he’d done had any effect on her.