Chapter 2554 — Yu Xiaoke's New Trouble

"Here's the thing—if Wei Zhao agrees to the trade, have Panhu take a look at it, photograph whatever's on the first page and send it back to the family. I'll examine it myself and see just how important these materials really are!" Elder You said. "If they're truly valuable, then we must get them at any cost, no matter how much we have to pay! If they're merely optional, then pay just a little—if Wei Zhao agrees to trade, fine; if not, so be it. And if they're worthless, forget the whole thing."

"That could work, but Wei Zhao... would he even let me look?" You Panhu asked, somewhat hesitant.

"Well... that depends on your ability!" Elder You said. "Panhu, this will be a trial for you as well. If you handle it well, I intend to groom you to become the family's First Elder. But if you can't even manage a trifling matter like this, how can you ever hope to become an Elder?"

"Ah..." You Panhu was startled, staring at his grandfather in shock. He had never imagined his grandfather actually meant to groom him for the position of the family's Great Elder. That post was second only to the family head—though it dealt little with the family's affairs and devoted itself wholly to alchemy, even the family head had to treat it with the utmost respect!

The Great Elder of the You family at present, kept largely out of sight, was his grandfather's younger brother—You Panhu's Second Grandfather. A second-rank alchemist, so formidable that even his grandfather had to be polite in his presence; his eldest uncle groveled before him all the more. And You Panhu had never even met the man...

You Zhentian's expression also shifted slightly. Second Grandfather had never married in his life and naturally had no children, so the position of Great Elder was bound to be chosen from Grandfather's branch. You Zhentian was the heir to the family head, and his own son was likewise being trained to lead the You family one day. The Great Elder's position mattered a great deal too—yet never had You Zhentian imagined his father would groom You Panhu as its successor...

Previously, You Zhentian had assumed it would be good enough if You Panhu became an ordinary Elder—he had never expected the family's Great Elder...

Yet at this moment, if You Panhu genuinely obtained something that would benefit and advance the You family, then his becoming heir to the Great Elder would be the wish of all. Especially given his friendship with Kang Zhaolong—once Kang Zhaoming became an Elder of the Xuandan Sect, then You Panhu might not merely become the You family's Great Elder, but even the young family head...

At that thought, You Zhentian resolved to make sure You Panhu firmly secured the Great Elder's seat, and on no account set his sights on the position of young family head. So he nodded hastily and said, "Indeed, Panhu, you must cherish this chance. If you become the Great Elder, you'll be all the better able to assist your brother You Panlong. You two brothers will lead the You family to glory..."

"I'll do my best!" The You Panhu of now still had no thought of replacing anyone—the Great Elder's position alone had him trembling with excitement. He was not yet a man of such ambition. "Grandfather, what do you say to me offering a second-rank medicinal cauldron? If Han Jingyi studies alchemy, a second-rank cauldron is a consumable—easily damaged."

"That could work too. Anyone who isn't a skilled, practiced alchemist will ruin a cauldron in no time, so bringing another second-rank cauldron is fine. But a single second-rank cauldron alone probably won't be very tempting, will it?" Elder You said.

"Hmm... but our family has no spare third-rank cauldrons—only second-rank ones at present..." You Panhu said.

"True, we have no third-rank cauldrons, but we do still have some of the materials for casting one. See if you can hoodwink Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi—give them a set of materials and trick them into believing they can cast a third-rank cauldron themselves?" Elder You thought for a moment and asked.

"That could work..." You Panhu stroked his chin and nodded. He had hoodwinked Wei Zhao before, trading off a cracked, worthless cauldron as a treasure. Would Wei Zhao fall for it again this time?

"To make it look genuine, you might give him some materials for refining third-rank pills as well. That way he won't suspect that the third-rank cauldron could never be cast at all..." You Zhentian reminded him.

"Right. Then I'll give it a try—I'll get all these things ready first, then present them to Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi one by one, and see whether they're actually tempted!" You Panhu nodded.

Meanwhile, at the school, Wei Zhao received a call from the Songshan City orphanage—but the caller was not Yu Xiaoke, it was Xiao Ken.

"Brother Wei Zhao, Sister Xiaoke has run into some trouble," Xiao Ken said.

"Oh? Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Wei Zhao's heart tightened and he asked at once.

"It's nothing too serious—just that the Swiss francs you gave Sister Xiaoke, she can't exchange them..." Xiao Ken said. "These past few days she's been running around about it, but she hasn't found a suitable channel. The black market wants too high a commission—it made her furious!"

"So that's what it is!" Wei Zhao slapped his forehead in sudden realization. He had given that whole pile of Swiss francs to Yu Xiaoke, but overlooked one problem: if she tried to exchange them through official channels, there would inevitably be complications. The sum was simply too large, and she couldn't explain where it came from. "Hasn't she gone to see Fatty Lai?"

"No. President Lai's company says they're about to negotiate a very big deal—President Lai has gone abroad," Xiao Ken said.

"Fatty Lai's gone abroad?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. He hadn't involved himself in the company's affairs for a long time now, and had no idea how far things had progressed. But from what Xiao Ken said, the company seemed to be doing well—well enough to be doing business overseas. "All right then, I'll head over there myself in a bit."

Wei Zhao had originally meant for Yu Xiaoke to go to Gu Pengzhan. Exchanging foreign currency might be beyond others, but Gu Pengzhan, the local business titan, would have no trouble at all—his connections in banking ran deep.

But then Wei Zhao reflected that Yu Xiaoke was not familiar with Gu Pengzhan, and in truth he wanted to visit Songshan City to see Ying Ziyu and Chen Xi as well. It had been so long since he had seen them—how had they been lately? From the fact that Ying Ziyu had run into trouble and not come to him, Wei Zhao felt he had perhaps been somewhat neglectful of her and the others. So he decided he would go and see for himself.

"En, all right then." Xiao Ken was instantly delighted to hear Wei Zhao was coming. Ever since learning that Wei Zhao was the Phantom Thief, Xiao Ken had been at ease, knowing Sister Xiaoke's lifelong happiness was secure. But for some reason Wei Zhao did not want to reveal his identity, so Xiao Ken could do nothing about it.

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