The Almighty Mystic Just Wants A Quiet Life - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Bo Nan instinctively glanced at the Taihu stone in the center of the pond. He’d been precise; the explosion had carved out a perfect cavity without damaging the structure. But then he looked at the koi… wait, how did they finish all the glutinous rice already?!

Worse, two of them were floating belly-up. Looking at their heads, they had clearly been “pelted” by flying stone shards. They weren’t coming back from that.

“Speak up, damn it! Where are my fish?”

Bo Nan said calmly, “The fish are fine.”

“I don’t believe a word you say! I’m coming back to see for myself!” Bo Weiping roared.

“Yes, come back with Brother as quickly as possible. Don’t delay—go to the garage now,” Bo Nan urged again. “It’s a matter of life and death.”

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed over the line. His father asked, his breath uneven, “Did you… did you kill someone?”

“If you don’t come back soon, it’ll be close enough.”

Click. The line went dead, but not before he heard his father let out a string of curses.

Bo Nan looked at the floating fish and decided not to use them to test his father’s blood pressure. After all, his dad was getting older; what if he blew a literal fuse out of rage? Besides, there were so many fish in the pond—missing two wouldn’t be noticeable… right?

Feeling like a thief, he scooped them out. Looking up, he saw the gardener, Uncle Ding, peering through a second-floor window. Bo Nan gave him a bright, innocent smile, then casually carried the two fish to Auntie Li for “humane disposal.” Koi didn’t taste great—too earthy—but with enough spices, they were edible.

Uncle Ding closed the window, stifling a laugh. Before, the Second Young Master loved messing with that pond, which used to give him a headache. After this latest trip, he thought the boy had changed his nature, but it turned out he was the same as ever.

Strangely, it felt reassuring.

Bo Weiping and Bo Yizhen made record time. The drive from the office usually took an hour; they pulled into the driveway in just over thirty minutes. They had definitely been speeding, but that was a problem for the chauffeur; they were just focused on getting home.

The phone kept giving the “The subscriber you have dialed is powered off” message. Bo Weiping, having caught his breath, tried to call again only to find Bo Nan wasn’t answering. He turned to Bo Yizhen: “What is that little brat doing? Why isn’t he picking up!”

Bo Yizhen was relaxed, showing no signs of panic. “Maybe his phone died?”

“Do you think he actually killed someone?”

Bo Yizhen thought about it. “No. Nan has a sense of proportion.”

Bo Weiping’s face softened slightly, but he immediately began grumbling again. “If he didn’t kill anyone, how dare he talk like that! What kind of mess is so big that we had to drop everything and rush back?!”

Bo Yizhen added silently, But what if?

Bo Weiping: “Dammit, if he did kill someone, I’ll be the first to turn him in for the sake of justice!”

Bo Yizhen: “…”

To be honest, he didn’t believe a word of that. His father would more likely be the first one to help bury the body.

As they sat in the car, Bo Weiping ran through a list of every possible trouble Bo Nan could have gotten into. Bo Yizhen remained unperturbed; he felt that if Bo Nan really had a problem, he had the ability to solve it himself rather than dragging the family into a rescue mission.

Oh wait, there was one possible problem… money.

Bo Nan’s dividends were currently locked; his father would skin him if he touched them. Maybe he should give Bo Nan his supplementary credit card? The kid was an adult now; it was normal to have expensive hobbies. Look at the neighbor CEO’s kid—supercars on the left, luxury watches on the right, each worth millions. Their family wasn’t short on cash; there was no point in being stingy.

Bo Yizhen had been that age once. He knew that while money was important, timing was more important. If you don’t have money to spend during the age when you most want to show off, no amount of zeros in a bank account later in life can bring that specific feeling back. [1]

Flowers bloom again, but youth never returns. Bo Yizhen wanted Bo Nan to live without regrets.

The car stopped. The moment the two stepped through the iron garden gate, they both froze. It was a bizarre sensation—like stepping through an invisible barrier, a “popping” feeling that sent goosebumps down their arms.

It felt as though something had been “switched on.” Bo Yizhen looked at the garden; the reds seemed blindingly vibrant, the greens were so lush they looked like they were dripping, and the muggy afternoon heat seemed to vanish instantly.

A cool breeze met them. Suddenly, a drop of water hit Bo Weiping’s forehead. He looked up; the sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in sight, yet a fine, misty rain began to fall. It was refreshing and pleasant.

Bo Weiping blinked and looked at Bo Yizhen. “This is…”

Before he could finish, the “mist” suddenly became a torrential downpour, as if someone were dumping buckets of water on their heads. The rain was coming from the wrong direction—sideways. They turned their heads and saw Bo Nan hiding in a corner of the garden, holding a bright yellow garden hose. The “rain” was coming from him.

“BO—NAN—!” Bo Weiping gritted his teeth. “You little…”

He wanted to say “son of a bitch,” but then he remembered that would be an insult to his own wife. “Are you tired of living?!”

“Ah, Dad, Brother… you’re back so fast.” Bo Nan held the hose sheepishly. “I was just… watering the plants…”

Bo Yizhen took off his glasses and wiped his wet hair back. He unfastened his expensive sapphire cufflinks with cold precision. “Dad, let me handle this.”

In response, Bo Nan tilted the hose. The jet of water hit Bo Yizhen squarely in the chest.

After that, there were only four words to describe the scene: Chaos and flying feathers.The result was Bo Nan getting a “lecture” (and a few light smacks) from both his brother and father. Now, the three of them were soaking in the large home sauna tub together.

Bo Weiping draped a towel over his shoulder and kicked Bo Nan’s calf. “Alright, spill it. What was all that about?”

“Nothing, I just missed you guys,” Bo Nan tried to dodge the question with a casual excuse.

He wasn’t actually just being a brat with a hose. Once the feng shui layout was set, the plants would undergo a rapid change. He wasn’t worried about his family noticing, but he didn’t want the servants to get suspicious. By soaking the garden, the vibrant plants would just look “freshly watered.” Once people got used to the new look, it wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.

Bo Weiping whipped the towel off his shoulder, looking like he was ready to strangle Bo Nan with it. “Your father isn’t senile yet.”

Bo Nan looked at Bo Yizhen, who looked back with an “I’m not helping you” expression.

Bo Nan sighed. “I set up a feng shui layout for the house. I needed you two back so the array could lock onto you. From now on, as long as you live here, no one can harm you.”

“A what?” Bo Weiping knew about feng shui. Many of his business rivals got more superstitious as they got older. “Brat… where did you learn that? What’s it do?”

“I learned it on my trip,” Bo Nan said. “The standard three: wealth, protection, and health. Also, I want to build a villa on the Little Green Mountain plot. I’ll move there permanently. If I stay here, it’ll interfere with the layout I made for you.”

Bo Weiping nodded slowly. “Oh, so that’s it…”

Then he immediately splashed water in Bo Nan’s face. “Is this family short on money?! I’m only fifty! Why do I need to ‘preserve my health’?! I’m not even retired! You want to move out for this nonsense? Is there a hole in your brain?! Yizhen, talk to your brother!”

Bo Yizhen spoke up: “Let him, Dad. I actually think the Little Green Mountain plot should be developed. We’ve been paying maintenance on that forest for years; building a resort there to at least break even is a good move.”

“You little—!” This time Bo Weiping barked at the eldest. “Bullshit!”

Bo Yizhen waved his hand, ignoring Bo Nan. “Nan, go out first. I need to talk to Dad.”

Bo Nan gave his brother a mental thumbs-up. That’s the man in charge! So reliable!

His current disadvantage was his age; he couldn’t exactly tell his father he was a reincarnated master. It would only worry him. His father looked grumpy, but he was fiercely protective; if he knew how much Bo Nan had suffered in the past life, he wouldn’t sleep for weeks.

Bo Nan left the room.

Inside, Bo Weiping glared at Bo Yizhen. “Did you hear him?! Feng shui! Is that something a young person should be studying?!”

“It’s better than the Liu family’s kids spending their nights in bars, doing drugs, and racing cars,” Bo Yizhen countered. “Bo Nan is an adult. It’s normal for him to have his own ideas and be a bit rebellious. Didn’t I want to start my own business when I graduated? We can’t let him be a trust-fund baby forever. It’s better he has his own skills than just relying on me.”

Bo Weiping found the first half reasonable, but the second half made his eyes bulge. “You’re his brother!”

“I am,” Bo Yizhen said calmly. “I’m ten years older than him. I’ll likely die before him. Should he have to rely on my children for food? There’s always a distance between generations; who knows what would happen? Let the money for the villa come out of his dividends. Once it’s built, it’s his to run. He wants to be productive; why stop him?”

“Little Green Mountain is right under our noses. Even if he messes up, he can’t go far. If you don’t agree, what if he runs off to the North where we can’t reach him? You know he’s capable of it.”

Bo Weiping knew he was right, but he still hesitated. “But what if he stops living at home!”

“He lived in a dorm during college and traveled everywhere after graduation. He already doesn’t really ‘live’ here. He can still come back for weekends. It’s the same thing.”

Bo Weiping was silent for a while, then patted his eldest son’s shoulder. “At least you’re easy to deal with. You never tried to move out.”

Bo Yizhen stood up and put on his robe, laughing. “That’s because you were always traveling for work. If I moved out, I’d have to take that little ancestor with me, plus the servants. Moving wouldn’t have made a difference.”

A wet towel flew at his head. Bo Yizhen caught it behind his back without looking and waved. “Dad, don’t soak too long or you’ll get dizzy.”

Bo Weiping watched him leave, muttering, “…another little brat. Lanjun, why are our kids so good at annoying me!”

Regardless, the villa was a go.

Bo Nan was waiting outside. When Bo Yizhen emerged, he peeked inside. “Is Dad okay?”

“He’s fine,” Bo Yizhen said. “It’ll take at least six months to build the villa. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

“I’ll live out, come back on weekends. I have some things to handle.”

“Fine,” Bo Yizhen said. “Stay safe.”

“Don’t worry, Brother.”

Bo Yizhen nodded and took a few steps before realizing Bo Nan was still following him. “Something else?”

Bo Nan looked at him expectantly. “Brother… can I have some money? I’m actually broke.”

“No!” Bo Yizhen said irritably.

Then he threw a credit card into Bo Nan’s arms.