Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 19 Adorable Pets Unleashed, Yi Zhonghai Encounters Setbacks

At nine o'clock in the morning, Lin Yan went downstairs on time. After a quick wash, he returned to his bedroom on the second floor. He drew the curtains to block out any possible outside views, and with a thought, his figure disappeared from the room and entered the Qiankun Realm.

Just as he stood firm by the spiritual spring, a golden light shot into his arms like a cannonball. The force was so great that he staggered and almost lost his balance.

"Brother! Brother! Did you come to pick me up? Can I go out and keep you company?" Xiao Qi rolled around excitedly in his arms, her childish voice filled with boundless anticipation.

Lin Yan finally steadied himself, lifted Xiao Qi up in front of his eyes, and looked at it seriously: "Xiao Qi, tell me honestly, did you eat a lot of good food in the space? You're so strong, your brother can hardly catch you."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qi quickly covered her furry face with her two little paws, then secretly peeked out a crack, her big, dark eyes timidly observing Lin Yan's expression. Seeing that he didn't seem really angry, she weakly let out a voice from between her paws: "Um... there are more and more animals in the special supply area that haven't fully evolved yet... and you can't eat them, brother... but they smell so good when roasted, they smell so good... I... I couldn't resist, so I had the puppet roast them for me... I'm sorry, brother, I was wrong, I won't do it again next time, please don't be angry with me, okay?"

Hearing its pitiful yet slightly greedy explanation, Lin Yan was both amused and exasperated. He quickly picked it up and gently stroked its back, comforting it, "Little Seven, I'm not blaming you, and I'm not angry. You were the one who took care of those things; you can eat as much as you want. I was just happy that our Little Seven is eating a lot, growing strong, and getting stronger!"

"Really?!" Xiao Qi suddenly raised its head, its eyes wide open. After confirming that Lin Yan was not displeased at all, it burst into a huge cheer, "Awooo!" and soared into the air. It spun around excitedly several times, then suddenly buried itself back in Lin Yan's arms, rubbing its little head against him as if only in this way could it express its current ecstasy.

After frolicking around, it remembered its business, jumped down from Lin Yan's arms, and proudly pointed its little paws to the side of the Enlightenment Tea seed: "Brother, look! The cultivation room you asked me to build last time, I've finished it!"

Lin Yan then noticed that a small, exquisite pavilion had appeared next to the Enlightenment Tea Seeds. The pavilion was made entirely of precious sandalwood, with exquisite openwork carvings on the upper part, ensuring both ventilation and light while also possessing a refined elegance. In the center of the pavilion was a futon, and the first-grade top-quality spirit-gathering array plate that he had left in the courtyard was cleverly inlaid directly below the futon, with a detachable design for easy access.

"How is it? How is it? Does your brother like it?" Xiao Qi raised her little head, with a smug look on her face that said, "Praise me, praise me!"

Lin Yan sincerely praised it, reaching out to stroke its smooth fur and giving it a thumbs up: "Fantastic! Little Qi is amazing, so thoughtful!"

Xiao Qi was so happy after receiving the praise that she seemed more satisfied than if she had eaten ten barbecues, and her little tail wagged like a flower.

Lin Yan didn't leave immediately. Instead, he took Xiao Qi and carefully inspected all areas of the space. The tea garden was lush and green, the economic forests were growing well, and the saplings of rosewood and padauk seemed to have grown even thicker. The agricultural area was of paramount importance, with potatoes and sweet potatoes accounting for more than half of the planting area.

Xiaoqi reported, "Brother, these grains are maturing incredibly fast! With a flow rate of 120 times, we can harvest a batch every day! A lot of them are being used to feed the pigs, chickens, and ducks."

Lin Yan nodded in satisfaction, deciding to go into seclusion again in a few days to focus all his efforts on breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. At that time, the spatial area could be expanded tenfold, and the time flow rate could be increased to 1:150, allowing him to plant even more life-saving food.

After the inspection, Lin Yan had Xiao Qi arrange the puppets' daily tasks, and then said to it, "Are you ready? We're going out."

Xiao Qi immediately spun around excitedly, and with a flash of golden light, it instantly transformed into a chubby, fluffy little white puppy that looked like it had just been weaned, looking adorable.

Lin Yan hugged it and flashed out of the space.

Upon arriving in the unfamiliar environment, Xiaoqi first warily twitched her wet little nose, then excitedly rolled around on the wooden floor on the second floor, filled with curiosity about everything new.

Once the initial excitement wore off, Lin Yan held it in his arms again and earnestly laid down three rules: no talking, no biting, and no running around.

Xiao Qi used her divine sense to transmit her voice, which carried a hint of grievance: "Brother, the air outside smells terrible. There's no spiritual energy at all, and it has a strange odor."

Lin Yan gently stroked its head, speaking softly yet earnestly, "Little Seven, your brother comes from this 'unpleasant' mundane world. It's a fact that we live in the Dharma-ending Age, where spiritual energy is depleted. But we cannot despise the world that nurtured us because of this; forgetting our roots will hinder our cultivation. Cultivation also requires cultivating the mind. Understand?"

Little Qi seemed to understand but not quite, yet she still wrinkled her little nose and gave in: "Okay... with my brother with me, Little Qi can be anywhere!"

These words warmed Lin Yan's heart. He took Xiao Qi to see the little doghouse he had made for it. Xiao Qi was very satisfied with the little wooden house with a soft cotton pad and a small blanket. It immediately crawled inside, rolled around, and patted the pad with its little paws, showing how much it liked it.

Next, Lin Yan invited his cousin and cousin's wife upstairs to formally introduce Xiao Qi, informing them that this was the Qilin from the space, and discussed its feeding arrangements. Xiao Qi quickly used its divine sense to tell Lin Yan that it had already instructed the puppets in the space to prepare roasted meat for it every day, so there was no need to trouble his cousin's wife to make it specially.

Lin Yan praised Xiao Qi for being sensible and easy to take care of. Xiao Qi, however, thought to herself weakly: "I just want to eat delicious Lingquan roasted meat every day..."

As evening approached, the residents of the courtyard house gradually returned home from get off work.

As expected, Yi Zhonghai, accompanied by Jia Dongxu, knocked on Lin Yan's door.

Wang Cuihua, the "cousin's wife," was picking vegetables in the small dining room when she heard a knock on the door. She put down what she was doing, wiped her hands on her apron, and went to open the door. When she saw Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu, she showed just the right amount of surprise and awkwardness on her face. She quickly let them in, poured two glasses of chilled water and placed them on the table, and then hurried to the kitchen to call her cousin who was "stirring the fire."

As soon as Lin Gang entered the small dining room and saw the master and apprentice, a simple yet slightly apprehensive smile immediately spread across his face: "Oh! Grandpa, Brother Dongxu? What brings you two here? Please, have a seat!"

Yi Zhonghai, putting on airs, first pretended to be concerned as he looked around the room, then feigned concern as he inquired about Lin Yan's health and family situation. The answer he received was, of course, exactly the same as the "impoverished" version circulating in the courtyard.

He cleared his throat, finally revealing his true intentions: "Gangzi, I've heard about your family's situation. As an elder in the neighborhood, I can't just stand by and do nothing. So, I discussed it with Dongxu. You know their situation; they only have one room, and five people, young and old, are crammed in. Your family just renovated their house, and it looks quite spacious. If we could rent out one room to Dongxu's family, wouldn't that be a win-win situation? Your family would have an extra source of income, and their family would have more room to breathe."

Lin Gang still wore a simple, honest smile: "Uncle, my whole family is so grateful that you're so considerate of us! You're such a kind person! But... given our situation, we really don't have anywhere to rent! How about this, I'll show you around and you'll understand!"

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu exchanged a glance, then followed Lin Gang to their feet with some skepticism.

Lin Gang first pointed to the kitchen, the small dining room, and the toilet: "Uncle, look, there are only these three places on this floor. Which one can be rented out?"

He then led them up to the second floor, where two doors faced the top of the stairs. One was tightly closed, and they could vaguely hear soft breathing inside. Lin Gang lowered his voice and said, "This is Xiao Yan's room. He's not feeling well today; he took his medicine and is sleeping. Let's not go in."

He pushed open another slightly ajar door, revealing only an old bed and an old-fashioned wardrobe; the space was cramped. "This is our room. Sir, you be the judge. There are only two rooms upstairs. Xiao Yan is sick and needs one to rest quietly, while my wife and I have the other. How can we rent this out? We can't possibly squeeze into a room with Xiao Yan for a pittance, can we? Besides, Xiao Yan's illness is most aggravated by noise; he needs someone to rest quietly. Why did we go through all that trouble to build a toilet? Wasn't it to make him suffer less? What if outsiders move in and disturb him, worsening his condition?"

His words were reasonable and sincere, yet tinged with embarrassment and grievance: "Uncle, we appreciate your and Brother Dongxu's kindness! But the truth is... alas, we can't help. I'm so sorry!"

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu were rendered speechless by this rebuff, their faces turning pale and then flushed, yet they couldn't find any reason to lash out. They could only offer a few dry, polite words like "It's alright, it's alright," and "We'll think of something else," before slinking away.

After seeing them off, the cousin and his wife returned to the house and exchanged a smile. The cousin wanted to go upstairs to report to Lin Yan, but his wife stopped him and whispered, "The master told us to handle things outside because he doesn't want to bother with these trivial matters. From now on, we can handle these things ourselves."

Upstairs in the study, Lin Yan stroked Xiao Qi in his arms and heard the conversation below clearly through his divine sense. He gave the two puppets a big thumbs up for their perfect performance!

Back home, Yi Zhonghai sat silently at the dining table, his brows furrowed. He knew the Lin family didn't have any extra rooms to rent, but for some reason, he felt something was off about what had happened today. It was as if he had been orchestrated by an invisible force from beginning to end. This feeling of being out of control made him extremely uncomfortable, yet he was helpless and could only suppress his anger, unable to eat.