After the exchange meeting, Wang Xiaoqiang and Melian brought the agarwood table back home and placed it in the beach villa.

The agarwood table was quite heavy; as they lifted it from the car, Melian was sweating profusely. In the end, following Wang Xiaoqiang's suggestion, they placed the table in the study.

Once they had set down the agarwood table, Melian collapsed breathlessly onto the floor. Wang Xiaoqiang, of course, was fine. While they were carrying the table, the two Spiritual Springs on his arms released energy to replenish his stamina.

"Melian, you lack exercise..." Wang Xiaoqiang said, staring at her.

"Mhm, you're absolutely right. I hate the heat, so I usually don't exercise in the summer, unless it's an indoor workout..." Melian's large, beautiful eyes fixed on Wang Xiaoqiang. "But since I divorced Kelly's father, I haven't done any indoor exercises, haha..."

"Haha, you could actually try yoga... with your great figure," Wang Xiaoqiang added. It wasn't just a compliment—Melian indeed had a good figure. Despite nearing her forties, there wasn't a hint of excess fat on her slender waist, and her skin was firm and fair, with not a wrinkle on her face. She radiated the aura of a mature woman, that special charm quite different from Chinese women.

"Ha, I'm getting old, really," Melian joked. "I'm nearly forty years old—I'm almost twenty years older than you... If you don't believe me, you can try it; my skin is already sagging..."

As she spoke, Melian crawled over to Wang Xiaoqiang like a cat, her gaze filled with a wild allure that was irresistible to men.

Wang Xiaoqiang watched her steadily.

He watched as she took his hand and placed it on her arm.

The ravages of time had surprisingly left no mark on this woman; instead, it had turned her into a fine vintage.

After Melian left, Wang Xiaoqiang took a short nap. Then, he got up, took a cold shower, and went into the study, sitting down beside the agarwood table, his eyes on the broken table leg.

Touching it, the smooth feel of the agarwood was not inferior to Melian's skin, only cooler to the touch compared to hers.

When Wang Xiaoqiang's hand reached the broken part of the table leg, with a single thought, he channeled the Wood Element Spiritual Qi into the fractured area. The green Spiritual Qi turned into fine dust-like particles, gradually filling the break and taking on the color of agarwood before seamlessly integrating with it.

When Wang Xiaoqiang withdrew his hand, a perfectly intact agarwood table lay before him, undetectable even to immortals that it had ever been broken.

After fixing the agarwood table, Wang Xiaoqiang sat quietly admiring it for a moment, as one would admire a beautiful and serene woman, then stood up, walked out of the study, and locked the door.

Over the following week, Wang Xiaoqiang got busy. His phone was ringing off the hook; the callers were all people he had met at the carving exchange, whether artists or not. Everyone wanted Wang Xiaoqiang's eggs because the artists could use them to create superior works and elevate their fame while the amateur carvers or investors hoped to craft valuable sculptures with these eggs to sell for a good price.

To the world, all hustle and bustle are for fame or gain; if not for prestige, then for profit.

Wang Xiaoqiang's eggs glowed translucently at night, resembling jade or emerald, much like Luminous Pearls. Engraved with patterns, they became treasures of sheer beauty, spurring eager purchases.

Wang Xiaoqiang then took a stand. He had Rolando deliver the eggs to the beach villa and directed buyers to come pick them up there. As for the price, Wang Xiaoqiang doubled it to one thousand US Dollars each. Selling a thousand a day fetched him a million US Dollars.

This was exorbitant profit!

Seeing how well the eggs sold, Wang Xiaoqiang cut off the supply to the Allen Grand Hotel; after all, there was nothing in the contract that obliged him to provide eggs to the hotel.

Then, Wang Xiaoqiang bought a pitbull, infused it with Spiritual Qi to turn it into his own Spirit Dog, and stationed it at the chicken coop specifically to ensure its security. Except for staff, no one else was allowed access. This was to prevent the loss of the precious fowl and eggs.

Melian was an independent woman. After becoming involved with Wang Xiaoqiang, she didn't expect him to assume any responsibilities. On the contrary, she felt somewhat guilty towards him, thinking she was too old for him, having seduced him, when in fact Wang Xiaoqiang preferred mature women like her—perhaps this was what they call an acquired taste. Melian was thoroughly impressed by Wang Xiaoqiang's vigor and found herself unable to quit.

That suited Wang Xiaoqiang just fine. As long as he stayed in the beach villa, he didn't need to cook or eat out; Melian prepared meals for him, sometimes even drawing his bath. And of course, he effectively moved into Melian's home, saving himself the trouble of maintaining his own place.

Of course, Wang Xiaoqiang didn't sponge off her. When he gave Melian eggs, he didn't charge her for them.

Melian, the esteemed sculptor, had a considerable income. In fact, someone like her could have lived quite comfortably if she had been willing to lower her standards and sell her artwork more often, easily earning enough money to buy a villa every month.

Wang Xiaoqiang and Melian, along with her daughter, lived harmoniously. Wang Xiaoqiang was also kind to Kelly, often buying her small gifts to make her happy.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Xiaoqiang had been in the United States for over a month. Zheng Shuang called to report that, due to the hot weather, there were signs of illness among the pigs at the farm. Wang Xiaoqiang felt it was time to go home for a visit.

As for Dolly Ranch, it was still entrusted to Dolly. In fact, with Rolando around, Wang Xiaoqiang was already quite at ease. However, having an extra pair of eyes was always good, considering Dolly was his quasi-girlfriend in the United States.

After saying his goodbyes to Melian and her daughter, Wang Xiaoqiang flew back to his homeland.

Upon landing in the Provincial Capital, Wang Xiaoqiang made calls to Xu Qingxue and Xia Mi to see who was available. In the end, it was Xu Jingxue who was free and came to pick up Wang Xiaoqiang from the airport.

Seeing Xu Qingxue coming alone, Wang Xiaoqiang spread his arms wide, hoping to give her a big hug. Xu Jingxue dodged and wouldn't let him embrace her, but Wang Xiaoqiang, realizing Xu Qingxue was not annoyed and even had a smile on her face, went straight up and hugged her anyway.

Xu Jingxue turned her smile into a pout, pounding Wang Xiaoqiang's shoulder with her small fists, "Let go of me, let go—I'm still in my police uniform..."

Only then did Wang Xiaoqiang realize that Xu Qingxue was still in her uniform. Yet, the sight of her in uniform made her look dashing and extraordinarily majestic, bewitching Wang Xiaoqiang the more he looked. So he planted a kiss on her pretty face.

"Go away, you haven't brushed your teeth, it stinks to death..."

"Really?" Wang Xiaoqiang brought his mouth close to his hand, blew out a breath, and admitted—indeed, he had missed brushing once on the airplane, and his breath was a bit stinky.

Inspired, he infused some Water Element Spiritual Qi into his mouth to clean his teeth. Now, being only a step away from the Mahayana Realm of the Qi Guiding Technique, he felt his ability to guide qi was extremely responsive. For example, if he didn't want to brush his teeth, he could use the Water Element Spiritual Qi to clean his mouth. Of course, the cleansing ability of Water Element Spiritual Qi wasn't comparable to water and toothpaste; one still needed to brush morning and night because skipping once would cause bad breath, but cleaning with Water Element Spiritual Qi could keep his breath fresh for at least a month.

"Ha, the police lie too. Where's the bad breath? Smell this..." Wang Xiaoqiang opened his mouth wide and blew at Xu Qingxue. Xu Jingxue wrinkled her brow and squinted her eyes, dreading the stink, but when Wang Xiaoqiang exhaled, she found, to her surprise, that the obvious bad breath from moments ago was gone, and there was a refreshing and lovely scent in his mouth now—better than any chewing gum and more akin to the fragrance of a flower.

"Alright, alright, mind your appearance..." Xu Qingxue pushed Wang Xiaoqiang away and took his suitcase... "Hey, where to, your old home or the villa...?"

"Where do you hope I would go?"

"I couldn't care less..."

"Alright then, I'll go to the old home..." Wang Xiaoqiang said.

"To your old home? Why would you make someone pick you up to go there... You could just take a ride straight home..." Xu Qingxue pushed the suitcase back to Wang Xiaoqiang.

"Alright then, to thank you for picking me up, I'll stay at the villa for one night..." Now Wang Xiaoqiang was gradually becoming bold, directly saying to Xu Qingxue, "Hey, Little Xue, I was missing you day and night in the United States. How about we stay at the villa together tonight... hehe..."

"Go on, keep dreaming..." Xu Jingxue pushed Wang Xiaoqiang away, but hearing him say he missed her day and night made her heart sweeten.

Upon arriving at the Riverside Villa and entering the room, Wang Xiaoqiang kissed Xu Qingxue's face and said, "Baby, I want you to stay with me all day today..."

Xu Qingxue pushed him away, "No, I'm leaving in a bit."

Although Xu Qingxue said she would leave, she procrastinated in doing so. While Wang Xiaoqiang was taking his shower, she took out his clothes from the bag and washed them.

After his shower, Wang Xiaoqiang saw his clothes hanging on the balcony, and Xu Qingxue was sitting on the sofa watching TV, showing no signs of leaving. Wang Xiaoqiang felt both a sense of warmth and a rush of excitement. Tonight might be his lucky night!

"Qingxue, shall we go out to eat...?" Having tidied up, Wang Xiaoqiang sat next to Xu Qingxue and asked her.

"I don't feel like it, I'm quite tired. Let's just order takeout..." Xu Qingxue said, massaging Wang Xiaoqiang's freshly washed hair.

"Alright, then we'll order takeout..." Wang Xiaoqiang was even more hopeful about the night ahead.

Even though they ordered takeout, Wang Xiaoqiang chose a lavish meal, complete with Western dishes and opened two bottles of red wine. In the end, he even lit candles, creating a candlelit dinner.

They sat opposite each other at the table, the candlelight illuminating Xu Qingxue's face, softening the cold and adding a warm glow. At that moment, her face showed a rare smile. Wang Xiaoqiang gazed at that smiling face and became momentarily lost, unconsciously taking hold of her jade-like hands. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)

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