Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Xu Lingguang spent three days remaking four rattan nests.

But since the yard was only so big, the four kittens couldn't fit all their nests under one tree. Xu Lingguang thought for a moment, then went and cut some branches. He spent half a day making a simple cat tree and then fixed the nests to the branches in order of size. This saved space and gave the kittens more places to play.

As expected, the kittens loved the all-natural cat tree after it was built, especially Zhaoling. He was originally a phoenix and naturally loved to perch in high places. Now that his little nest was placed in the highest spot, he flapped his wings and snuggled in, chirping contentedly.

Yu Rong, Yun Feng, and Mu Yun each occupied their own little nests, lazily basking in the sun inside.

Xu Lingguang watched from the side, thinking that he was now a man with a large family and business. He was thinking that he should buy more materials on this trip to Qingyu City, and that he would probably expand the house when he had some free time in a while.

Thinking this, Xu Lingguang said to the cubs, "I'm going out now. You all take good care of the house. If things go quickly, I'll be back tonight. If not, I might not be back until tomorrow. I'll cook you something delicious when I get back."

The cubs already knew he was going down the mountain, and they all gathered around to see him off. When he was about to leave, the cubs were still squatting at the door, looking at him with longing in their eyes.

This is the first time in all the time Xu Lingguang has lived in this world that he has experienced the feeling of having someone to care about.

He couldn't help but go back and pat each of the cubs on the head, smiling as he said, "I'll be back as soon as possible, and I'll bring you gifts."

Xu Lingguang is going to Qianjinlou to attend an auction.

Manager Zhao had already given him the invitation to the auction; all he had to do was arrive on time. Xu Lingguang had been worried that he didn't have enough money, but unexpectedly, Cheng Huang had given him a large sum, so he felt quite wealthy this time.

However, despite feeling pleased inside, he remained very cautious on the surface.

To avoid being watched, he wore a blue robe that was different from his usual attire, and let his high ponytail down, half of it hanging down his back, and casually tied it into a bun with a jade hairpin.

His outfit was made of fine but not expensive materials, and went unnoticed. He then took a folding fan, used it to cover his face, and entered the venue quietly.

The auction began quickly, with one item after another being presented. The host above introduced the items with great enthusiasm, while the guests participating in the auction below were equally excited, and the bidding was fierce.

Xu Lingguang clutched all his belongings, his heart pounding as he listened to the increasingly high bids.

There are so many rich people, why can't there be one more?!

After one round of bidding, the Rejuvenation Pills were presented for the second round of auction. Manager Zhao's information was indeed accurate: there were three bottles of Rejuvenation Pills, ten pills per bottle, with a starting bid of 30,000 low-grade spirit stones.

The Rejuvenation Pill is not suitable for high-level cultivators, and most of the participants in the auction are cultivators whose own cultivation level is not high. When Xu Lingguang heard the bids quickly climb from 30,000 to 80,000, he finally raised his paddle to bid.

"One hundred thousand."

Previously, the bids were increasing by five thousand at a time, but he directly added twenty thousand, causing some people who were very cautious with their bids to hesitate.

Only one voice was still echoing: "One hundred and five thousand."

Xu Lingguang's heart was bleeding, but he still bid in a deep voice: "120,000."

This price was actually slightly beyond his budget, but the competition at this auction was simply too fierce, making it virtually impossible to snag a bargain. In comparison, the bidding for the Rejuvenation Pill was relatively less intense, since the high-level cultivators hadn't made their moves yet.

However, even with ordinary cultivators bidding, the price was a bit painful for Xu Lingguang, so he planned to use his aura to scare the others away.

Because the starting bid for the first bottle is usually the lowest, the starting bid for the second and third bottles is always 50% of the previous bottle's selling price. The temptation of a bottle containing ten Rejuvenation Pills is considerable for low-level cultivators and ordinary people.

As expected, after Xu Lingguang decisively announced "120,000 low-grade spirit stones", no one participated in the bidding for a long time.

Firstly, this price is already above average compared to the usual retail price; secondly, there are two more bottles to go, so there's no need to haggle over this one.

In the end, Xu Lingguang won the first bottle of Rejuvenation Pill with 120,000 low-grade spirit stones.

Xu Lingguang settled his payment of the spirit stones and received the Rejuvenation Pill, but he didn't leave immediately. He remained seated and watched the entire auction. Firstly, he wanted to broaden his horizons, and secondly, leaving now would attract too much attention; if someone was watching him, it wouldn't be worth it.

And his guess was correct. The second and third bottles of Rejuvenation Pills were eventually sold for 140,000 and 170,000 respectively. Especially the third bottle, probably realizing that the price of this auction would not be low, and with only one bottle of Rejuvenation Pill left, those who had hesitated before participated in the bidding, and finally the price was driven up to 170,000 low-grade spirit stones.

Seeing this, Xu Lingguang no longer felt bad about spending an extra 20,000 spirit stones. Luckily, he made the bid decisively, otherwise he would have had to spend tens of thousands more spirit stones for no reason.

So, all things considered, he actually made a profit.

When the auction ended, Xu Lingguang mingled with the crowd and left. Once he was out of the Qianjinlou area, he found a secluded spot, took off his blue robe and put it in his bag. He then tied his half-down hair into a high ponytail with a hairband and swaggered into the crowd on the street, intending to buy daily necessities and pick out a gift for his four children.

Although buying the Rejuvenation Pill cost a lot of money, Xu Lingguang now had a full twenty Rejuvenation Pills in his hands, which gave him a lot more confidence and made him feel elated.

He led the donkey around, looking at anything interesting he saw. In the end, he bought a lot of toys and snacks for his four children, and even bought several skewers of candied hawthorn.

As he passed a jewelry stall, he saw a pair of pretty pink butterfly hair clips. He thought that Yun Feng seemed to really like the feather pendant on Xiaowo's head, and had even secretly tried to compare it with her head. So he bought them too.

Xu Lingguang strolled along, and the little donkey's bamboo basket was already full of things.

Seeing that it was getting late, Xu Lingguang fed the donkey an apple and prepared to return to Ailao Mountain. He led the rope and walked against the crowd towards the city gate. Just then, someone else was walking towards him. Xu Lingguang glanced at him casually, and his brows furrowed.

The person walking towards him looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen him before at the entrance of Qianjin Tower. However, this was not the reason why Xu Lingguang cared. Qingyu City was not large, and he would often see a few familiar faces when he came and went. What caught Xu Lingguang's attention was that the person was carrying a cage, and inside the cage was a listless black snake.

For some reason, the moment he saw the black snake, he felt it looked like Song Nanchu.