Chapter 54 Meeting an Old Friend
Li Chang remained silent for a while before returning to the camera, greeting the audience, and then ending the live stream.
He arrived at the Qingfeng Sect and, led by a disciple, went to the reception hall.
When he reached the door, he saw Xie Xuan and Xie Kuling inside the hall, chatting with four other people.
The four people were two men and two women, all around fifty years old. They looked somewhat uneasy and kept glancing towards the door while talking to the Xie family uncle and nephew.
Therefore, they saw Li Chang'an immediately when he reached the door.
Li Chang'an stopped in his tracks, standing at the doorway and looking at the four people across the distance.
He was calm and expressionless.
The four people seemed somewhat agitated, and one of the women even stood up, looking at Li Chang'an, her eyes instantly reddening.
"Chang An, you've grown so tall."
As she spoke, she couldn't help but take a few steps toward Li Chang'an.
As she approached, the woman became nervous again, clasping her hands awkwardly together, and asked, "Do you...do you remember us? I'm your Aunt Rong."
The other three also looked over.
Amidst their expectant yet apprehensive gazes, Li Chang'an smiled gently and nodded, saying, "Of course I remember, Aunt Rong."
He then looked at the three people and greeted them one by one: "Village Chief, Aunt Yuliang, Uncle Li Hui."
They were all from the same village as Li Chang'an. After Li Chang'an's parents and younger brother passed away, these people were among the few who did not curse him as a jinx and even gave him food.
Six years later, they are not much different from the ones Li Chang'an remembers, except that they have aged a bit.
That's why he recognized her at first glance.
Upon hearing this, all four of them breathed a sigh of relief, and smiles involuntarily appeared on their faces.
The initial tension eased upon hearing that Li Chang'an still recognized them.
Village chief Li Guoliang waved his hand: "I'm not the village chief anymore, just call me uncle."
Li Chang'an nodded and called out, "Uncle."
Yang Rong's tears fell with joy.
She stepped forward, took Li Chang'an's arm, and looked him up and down: "You've gotten taller and stronger, and you look much healthier than before, good, good, good."
Six years ago, Li Chang'an was only sixteen years old, just starting high school. He was a head shorter than he is now, thin, and his face still had the immaturity of a teenager.
He no longer looks childish; he has grown much taller, standing at 1.88 meters, and his shoulders have broadened.
The changes are quite significant.
Feeling her concern, Li Chang'an nervously clenched his fist.
Having not seen them for so many years, he actually didn't know how to get along with them.
Yang Rong, oblivious to the fact that he had seen your photo online, laughed and said, "If we hadn't seen your photo online, we definitely wouldn't have recognized you at first glance."
"We've finally met, so let's all sit down and talk," Li Yuliang said.
Yang Rong then led Li Chang'an to sit down on a chair to the side.
Xie Kuling glanced at Xie Xuan, then made an excuse and left with his uncle, leaving the living room space to Li Chang'an and the others.
After the two left, the reception room became more lively. Several people were catching up with Li Chang'an, asking him about his life over the years, and occasionally talking about things from the past.
Li Chang'an gradually relaxed, and only after they stopped did he ask the question that had been bothering him:
"Uncle, Aunt, is there something you need from me today?"
Their village is in the remote city of Jiangchun, which is more than ten hours away from Ling'an by train.
That only covers the time spent traveling by train. In reality, before taking the train, one has to take a bus from the village to the county seat, and then another bus from the county seat to the city, before one can buy a direct train ticket.
Li Chang'an paused for a moment and said, "Coming all the way from Jiangchun City is so troublesome..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Guoliang waved his hand and said, "It's no trouble at all. We bought plane tickets, so it didn't take much time."
Li Guoliang took out a stack of papers from his briefcase: "We came here today to give you this."
Li Chang'an took it and was immediately taken aback.
That stack of papers contained debt settlement certificates, a total of eighteen copies, each marked "debt settled" and bearing the signatures of the individuals involved.
Li Guoliang: "You kid, you secretly paid back the rest of the money without even sending us a message. Without this, what if someone denies it later and tries to extort you?"
Yang Rong: "At first, when the bank called to verify our information, my aunt Yuliang and I thought it was a scam. Later we found out it was because you wanted to repay the loan."
Li Hui: "You transferred the remaining debt, and we guessed that the others must have received the money as well, so we went with the village chief to find those people and had them sign this certificate."
Not all of the eighteen creditors are still in the village, and some of them are difficult and unreliable. They must have gone to great lengths to get the signatures.
Li Chang'an tightened his grip on the paper slightly.
After a long while, he finally raised his head, smiled, and said, "I made a note when I made the payment, and I also have a receipt. Even if someone tries to extort me, I'm not afraid of going to court."
Li Yuliang chuckled and said, "Wouldn't going to court be even more troublesome?"
Yang Rong: "My child said that you are a big star now with many fans. If you are really extorted, it will damage your reputation."
So they took care of his worries and even traveled a long way to deliver these eighteen debt settlement certificates to him.
Li Chang'an lowered his head again and took a deep breath.
My heart was filled with a complex mix of emotions that I couldn't shake off for a while.
"Okay." Li Chang'an put all eighteen certificates into his storage bag, then looked up at the four people and said solemnly, "Thank you."
Yang Rong, who was sitting closest, patted his arm and said, "You don't need to thank us."
Her eyes reddened again, and her voice trembled with emotion: "This is the only thing we can do for you. We couldn't help you six years ago, and you've suffered so much all these years..."
Li Guoliang and the other two were also somewhat downcast.
“Auntie…” Li Chang’an was at a loss for words. “It’s okay. It happened six years ago. No one can help me, and there’s no need for anyone to help me.”
He smiled and said, "Besides, I'm not suffering now."
His words left the others speechless, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Li Yuliang wiped his face and said, "Yes, my daughter said you inherited the Xuanling Immortal Mountain. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to find you."
That year, the day after they signed the IOU, Li Chang'an left alone.
They went to his school to look for him, only to find out that he had dropped out and thrown away his phone card, and no one could contact him.
Later, they would receive a small sum of money every month, ranging from five hundred to two thousand, which Li Chang'an used to slowly pay off his debts.
Until half a month ago, when the debt was fully paid off and they were still in shock, they learned from the younger generation in their family that Li Chang'an had inherited Xuanling Immortal Mountain.
That's why they came looking for us.
Speaking of Xuanling Immortal Mountain, Yang Rong said with relief, "With Xuanling Immortal Mountain, your life will only get better and better."
Li Guoliang and Li Hui both nodded, "The hard times are over, and the good times are here."
"Things will get better from now on."
Li Chang'an looked at the four people.
They were genuinely happy for him; there was no pretense or jealousy.
Upon realizing this, Li Chang'an felt a surge of unease.
The group talked for a while longer.
Xie Kuling came to the reception room and said that he had prepared a meal for them, asking if they wanted to eat and talk at the same time.
Yang Rong and the other three arrived in the city early in the morning by plane and hadn't even had time to eat.
Li Chang'an nodded and thanked Xie Kuling.
Xie Kuling smiled and left. A few minutes later, his disciples brought over the food and placed it on the large round dining table in the reception room.
The food was made with spirit rice and vegetables from Xianshan Farm. At first, Yang Rong and the others were able to chat with Li Chang'an while eating, but later they focused on eating.
After the meal, Li Chang'an accompanied the four of them for a stroll around Qingfeng Sect.
He's currently at the Golden Core stage and can only leave Xuanling Immortal Mountain for two hours at a time. He spent most of today chatting and catching up with Yang Rong and the others, so he didn't have time to take them sightseeing in Ling'an City.
They could only wander around the Qingfeng Sect before heading to the Xuanling Immortal Mountain.
The four of them visited Li Chang'an's terraced fields, ponds, and the pigs, chickens, and ducks he raised.
They didn't plan to linger in Xuanling Immortal Mountain, and around 3 PM they said they had to leave.
Li Guoliang: "We booked our plane tickets for 4:30, so we have to go earlier."
It takes about 40 to 50 minutes to get to the airport from here. According to their habits, they should actually go to wait for their flight after finishing their meal.
They just wanted to catch up with Li Chang'an a little longer, so they dragged it out until now, when it was time for them to leave.
Li Chang'an was taken aback, then checked the time and realized it was indeed getting late.
"I'll ask someone from the Qingfeng Sect to drive you there."
All four nodded.
Li Chang'an had no time to leave Xuanling Immortal Mountain today, so he could only escort them to the exit.
Before parting, he hesitated for a moment, then took out his phone and added all four of them on WeChat.
Afterwards, Li Chang'an sent a message to Xie Xuan, asking him to help see Li Guoliang and the others off.
Xie Xuan readily agreed.
Li Chang'an stood in the bamboo forest, put down his phone, looked at the ball of light at the entrance, and sighed softly.
Tianxuan and Chajing appeared behind him.
Tea Spirit, somewhat curious, leaned over and asked, "Who are these people who came today? What are they here for?"
Li Chang'an came to his senses and said, "The elders from the same village used to come and give me proof of debt repayment."
"A debt settlement certificate? What's that?"
Li Chang'an turned and walked towards home, answering as he did so: "It's the certificate the creditor gives you after the debt has been paid off. With this, you can be sure the debt has been paid off."
The tea essence nodded.
Tianxuan glanced at her and asked in a deep voice, "There's actually a question I've always wanted to ask... Li Chang'an, why do you owe so much debt?"
He only knew that Li Chang'an had debts, but he couldn't figure out the specific reasons.
Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an slowly stopped in his tracks.
He thought for a moment, then looked up at the sky with a mournful expression: "Speaking of which, it has something to do with you guys."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
