Long Dongqiang
The small cloud boat landed silently on Tingyunping behind the God of Wealth Palace on the North Road.
Tu Shanlan stepped off the cloud boat first, her expression grave: "The situation is more complicated than I imagined. Ao Ming, Qian Jin, stay close to me. Let's go in first and find the Northern God of Wealth to get more details."
The three hurried along the corridor covered with thick snow. The vast palace interior seemed strangely empty and desolate, a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle outside the palace gates. Only a few jade lamps embedded in the ice walls emitted a faint, cold light.
"Strange, where are they?" Ao Ming rubbed his hands together, exhaling a puff of white breath. "Where are the people from the North Road God of Wealth Mansion? Did they all go to the front gate to block people?"
As soon as they finished speaking, a small wooden sign standing at the corner of the corridor caught their attention. Several neat characters were written on the sign in vermilion:
"Colleagues of Chen Group, please come in—>"
The arrow points deep into the corridor.
The three looked at each other, completely bewildered.
"What's going on?" Ao Ming muttered. "Did they know we were coming? And they even left signs?"
"But why does this look like the food is about to be served?" Qian Jin clearly hadn't forgotten the welcome banquet she hadn't been able to eat at.
“It seems that the God of Wealth of the Northern Road already knows we have arrived and has arranged for someone to meet us.” Tu Shanlan pondered for a moment, “Let’s follow.”
They followed the signs. Sure enough, after a few steps, another identical wooden sign appeared, its arrow pointing in another direction. After several turns, the sign finally pointed to a huge, half-open ice door carved with snow lotus patterns.
Pushing open the door, one enters a spacious yet unusually quiet hall. The hall is furnished with ice-sculpted tables and chairs, and is also completely empty.
"..." Ao Ming looked around, even more confused. "What's going on here? Is the entire Northern Road God of Wealth Mansion on strike? Or have they all gone into hiding?"
Qian Jin frowned and whispered, "Sister Lan, something's not right."
Just as Tu Shanlan was about to speak, a small door at the back of the hall was gently pushed open. A snow-white celestial deer with antlers like shimmering coral peeked out. It spoke in human language, its voice gentle and clear:
"Are you three Tu Shanlan, Ao Ming, and the newly arrived Fairy Qian Jin from the God of Wealth's Prayer and Astrology Group?"
“Indeed.” Tu Shanlan stepped forward. “Immortal Deer, may I ask…”
“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” The immortal deer nodded and walked out gracefully. “The situation is urgent. Apart from some celestial officials and strongmen who have been transferred to the palace gate to maintain order and prevent mortals from breaking through the barrier, everyone else in the mansion, including the God of Wealth of the North Road, is currently discussing matters in the side hall. Da Qiangzi… has also been brought there. You should come with me quickly.”
So that's how it is! The three of them felt a little relieved and quickly followed the fairy deer.
After passing through several corridors, we arrived at a palace with a distinctly different atmosphere. Even through the heavy, dark ice doors, we could hear the heated debate emanating from inside.
The fairy deer gently nudged the door open with its antlers.
The side hall was brightly lit, and the chill seemed to have been somewhat dispelled by the presence of the numerous celestial officials. The God of Wealth of the North Road sat in the main seat, his brow furrowed. Below him sat a dozen or so celestial officials, all with solemn expressions, arguing incessantly.
The most eye-catching feature is a golden dragon statue, perched on a huge ice jade base, its entire body gleaming with golden light, in one corner of the council hall.
Its majestic form, with its head held high and scales gleaming with a pure gold luster, makes it a lifelike and priceless ornament.
As soon as Tu Shanlan and the other two entered, the argument in the hall temporarily ceased, and everyone's attention turned to them.
When the God of Wealth of the North Road saw them, a tired but pleased look appeared on his face: "You've finally arrived! This must be Fairy Qian Jin, right? You must have had a long journey! Please have a seat." He gestured to the empty seat next to him.
Ao Ming, being impatient, couldn't help but ask as soon as he sat down, "Lord God of Wealth, there's chaos outside! What exactly happened? What trouble has Da Qiangzi gotten into?"
The God of Wealth from the North Road sighed, waved his hand, and said with a hint of helplessness, "This matter... well, it can't really be entirely Daqiangzi's fault. Sigh... let him tell you himself. Daqiangzi?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the golden dragon statue that had been sitting on the ice jade base, which had been like a lifeless object, suddenly... moved!
The enormous golden dragon first lazily stretched its body, then slowly coiled, circling the entire side hall once, its posture elegant yet slightly drowsy from just waking up. The dragon scales rubbed against the air, producing a soft metallic hum, and golden light flowed, dazzling the eyes.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the majestic golden dragon flew smaller and smaller, shrinking until it finally transformed into a golden ray of light and landed lightly in the center of the conference table where everyone was seated.
The golden light faded, revealing its true form.
That was a small golden dragon... only as long as an adult's arm!
It was chubby and round, covered with fine, delicate scales that looked like they were made of pure gold. Each scale shimmered with a warm, dazzling light, making it unbelievably beautiful.
What's most striking are its eyes, big and round, clear and bright like the purest glass, looking at everyone with a slightly confused and aggrieved expression.
This is so cute!
However, the moment the little golden dragon opened its mouth, a strong, almost unbearable, corny smell shattered all illusions about the majesty of mythical beasts:
"Oh my god! I've been waiting for you all! I've been so frustrated!" Little Golden Dragon flicked its tail, its voice loud and clear with a touch of naivety. "Little sister, you're the new guy they were talking about, right? Let's get acquainted. My surname is Long (Dragon). My parents believe that since we were born and raised in the East, the East will inevitably become stronger and stronger. So my name is Long (Dragon), which means East and Strong! They all call me Da Qiangzhi (Big Strong Paper)!"
Tu Shanlan's heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong!
I was so worried about the urgency of the situation that I completely forgot to build up Qian Jin's image as Da Qiangzi!
After all, just hearing the name "Daqiangzi" would conjure up the image of a burly, strong man in anyone's mind, but instead, an adorable little golden dragon from Northeast China pops up in front of you? Qian Jin is probably stunned by this, isn't he?
She subconsciously looked at Qian Jin, preparing to say a few words to ease the awkwardness.
However, what she saw instantly petrified her!
The moment Qian Jin's clear eyes saw Da Qiangzi's pure gold scales, it was as if two thousand-watt golden lamps had been lit! The solemnity she felt when facing the rioting crowd and the dejection of missing the welcome banquet vanished instantly! In its place was an almost obsessive, sparkling fervor, like seeing a priceless treasure!
Before anyone could react, Qian Jin dashed to the conference table!
She stretched out her hands and, with lightning speed, tightly hugged the chubby, golden little dragon on the table into her arms!
"You've suffered these past few days!" Qian Jin's voice was filled with heartfelt and intense heartache! But her gaze was fixed on those dazzling golden scales. As she spoke, she used her slender, fair fingers to lovingly and carefully stroke the smooth, cool scales on the little golden dragon's body, which were like the scales of a top-grade gold ingot!
That look, that movement, was filled with boundless pity and love for the priceless treasure!
Daqiangzi was completely dumbfounded!
His tiny dragon body stiffened in Qian Jin's arms, his large dragon eyes wide open. He had never seen anything like this before.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, a tremendous, indescribable mix of grievance and gratitude welled up inside him! He let out a soft "woof," turned his paws around, and tightly hugged Qian Jin's arm, burying his round head against her chest, his voice trembling with tears:
"Oh, my dear sister! You understand me!!! Waaaaah..." Tears, like tiny golden beans, fell in a steady stream, landing on Qian Jin's sleeve and spreading out in a dark patch.
The man and the dragon put on a touching performance right before everyone's eyes.
The God of Wealth of the North Road had tears in his eyes. He stroked his non-existent beard and said to the surrounding celestial officials with deep emotion, "Look! Look! What is true camaraderie! What is team spirit! This is the cohesion of the God of Wealth's Prayer Department's Chen Group! Everyone should learn from the Chen Group! Applause!"
Tu Shanlan's lips twitched slightly, her mind racing: "Hehehe...deep affection? Cohesion? This is all a misunderstanding! Qian Jin's eyes weren't looking at a colleague! He was clearly looking at a moving gold mine!!" She felt her temples throbbing.
Ao Ming was completely dumbfounded, his jaw almost dropping to the ground.
He glanced at Qian Jin's "affectionate" way of stroking the golden scales, then at Da Qiangzi's silly, "I wish we'd met sooner" expression, and couldn't help but cover his still-swollen face, muttering under his breath, "Da Qiangzi... are you an idiot?" "Qian Jin is probably already calculating how much you're worth..."
He recalled the murderous intent on the cloud boat that had almost killed him, and quickly swallowed the rest of his sentence, only daring to rant inwardly: This woman's hobbies are really...consistent!
"Cough! Cough cough!" Tu Shanlan cleared her throat forcefully, forcibly drawing everyone's attention back from the scene. "Lord God of Wealth, Ao Ming was right just now. Da Qiangzi... uh, what exactly happened? Those wealthy businessmen outside are crying and wailing, saying that Da Qiangzi caused them to go bankrupt and that they want compensation?"
The God of Wealth from the North Road finally came to his senses, and the emotion on his face was instantly replaced by worry: "Sigh! This matter really isn't Daqiangzi's fault. Never mind, let him tell you the details himself." He gestured to Daqiangzi, who was still sobbing in Qian Jin's arms.
All eyes were once again focused on the man and the dragon.
Daqiangzi wiped away his tears with the tip of his tail, struggled to peek half his head out of Qian Jin's embrace, and began to explain in a muffled voice:
"Well, here's the thing!" He tried to put on a serious face, but his cute appearance and heavy accent only made it less effective. "Actually, there were only three wealthy businessmen who came to me for wishes! When I looked at their destiny books..." He paused, trying to recall the technical terms, "Oh my god, they were... people whose lifespans were almost over! They were about to die!"
“As you all know,” Daqiangzi spread his little hands, “their lifespan is almost over, how can they expect to have good fortune? Good fortune is a blessing that only the living can enjoy! You have to be healthy enough to bear it! Of course, their existing wealth and what they earned before don’t count, what’s rightfully theirs is theirs.”
“But those three of them, they’re so persistent!” Daqiangzi’s tone was full of helplessness. “They kept asking me, ‘Greatly efficacious Golden Dragon Lord, how much money will we be able to earn in the future? At what age will we become rich?’ I said, ‘Don’t you have a future?’ They acted like they didn’t understand, and kept asking and asking, repeating the same few questions over and over again!”
"I was so annoyed by them that I had no choice but to say, 'Oh, don't ask anymore! When you go to the West, you'll understand everything!' I figured that when they die of old age and go to the West, they'll understand that they won't be making any new money at this stage!"
"But I don't know what they did after that!" Daqiangzi's voice suddenly rose, filled with accusation. "All I know is that the three of them went bankrupt! Then they brought a whole bunch of servants and helpers here to make a scene! They insisted that it was my fault! That I cursed them! Waaah... I'm innocent! Hey! Qian Jin, stop picking at my scales! It's itchy!"
Daqiangzi twisted his chubby, golden body, trying to avoid Qian Jin's unconscious caresses.
The God of Wealth from the North Road sighed and continued, "That's roughly the situation. Da Qiangzi's original intention was to let them take it easy, but the saying 'you'll understand once you go to the West'... sigh, they misunderstood it. That's why we're in this situation now."
A brief silence fell over the hall once again. The truth of the matter was now clear: the misunderstanding stemmed from a significant gap in communication and understanding.
Just as Tu Shanlan and Ao Ming were frowning and pondering how to quell the storm, Qian Jin, who had been engrossed in studying the golden scales, suddenly raised his head.
With a tone that blended genuine affection with pure academic inquiry, and a slight tinge from Daqiangzi's accent, she asked the most important question on her mind at that moment:
"Daqiang! I just want to know! Are all your scales pure gold?!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
