Chen Fan started searching the internet with keywords like 'round-shape', 'pure white', 'scent-emitting' etc. Unfortunately, none of the search results were related to the crystal. Chen Fan refused to give up and changed to a few search websites, but the information he got was all irrelevant stuff.
"Oh heaven, please don't do this to me... I still need to go strengthen the electric eel." After staring at the screen for more than two hours, Chen Fan finally ended up sighing heavily with his head in his hands.
Chen Fan decided to take a shot at it as he opened the last search website and typed in a few keywords. "White, round, transparent...glass…"
"30 RMB amethyst scent bag, postage included…"
"White tulip…"
"Oh my god, what's all this?" Chen Fan finally gave up after flipping through more than ten pages. Switching off the computer angrily, Chen Fan laid on the bed feeling despondent.
"What was that damned white-robed man up to? Why couldn't he just tell me the origins and use of this thing on the dining table before he died, instead of acting mysterious and leaving me hanging. Look what happened, he's now in hell playing games with the little ghosts.?"
After lying on his bed and grumbling, Chen Fan thought through the sequence of events and started to understand why he stupidly went to Myanmar. He had initially thought that it was the mysterious identity of the "rose" and the Kunwu dagger pendant on her neck that attracted him. However, now it seemed that the possibility of the white-robed man's sandalwood box guiding his footsteps was seventy percent!
The mysterious pendant...the amazing translucent white crystal… It was as if they had magical powers, filling Chen Fan's entire mind! After a few hours of trying to sleep while thinking this through, Chen Fan was still unable to figure out things out.
The next morning, Chen Fan woke up with bloodshot eyes. After washing up, he leaned on the couch and took out his phone, intending to give the company a call to check if there was any big business. Chen Fan was very picky now. When people inquired about trivial stuff, he would get Yu Lin to turn them down straight away.
However, when Chen Fan was scrolling through the contacts in his phone and saw a number below from 'Ocean Storm', he suddenly felt breathless, as if something was stuck in his throat and even the surrounding air seemed to stand still. His heart pounding and taking in two deep breaths, Chen Fan stared at the word 'Dad' on the phone screen with wet eyes. It had been more than four months. Other than making not more than five phone calls, he had not gone home once. He even lied to his family during the summer holidays that he was working at a nearby internet cafe and earning 1,200 RMB a month.
"Just take care of yourself. Your mom and I will help you earn enough money to get yourself a wife!" The last conversation came up in Chen Fan's mind. It was a simple yet heartwarming statement. After remaining silent for thirty seconds, Chen Fan gently scrolled to 'Dad' and then pressed hard on the dial key.
"Hello, it's not even end of the month and you're calling, you've used up all the money for your living expenses?"
"Dad, I've something to tell you, but don't be too agitated!" Chen Fan sat on the couch and tried to calm his tone before talking.
"What is it? Tell me quick!" The tone on the other side of the phone sounded anxious and did not seem to have any hopes on Chen Fan saying anything comforting.
"Well…" Chen Fan habitually tugged at his ear before lying. "I bought a lottery ticket with 20 RMB a few days ago and I won…"
"Lottery?" Excitement came from the other end. "Tell me quick, how much did you win?"
"Um...I accidentally won the first prize, 20 million RMB."
"20 million RMB?" The other end went silent for five seconds before saying, "Son, let me tell you something too. You have to stay calm too after listening!"
"Um!"
"Do you remember you used to play with this porcelain jar and fill it with sand when you were little? Your uncle told me that it's an antique, so I got him to sell it. It turned out that the jar was a great treasure, and your uncle actually sold it to a rich Guangdong businessman for 25 million!"
"25 million?" Chen Fan's jaw almost dropped from shock. It didn't make sense. That jar didn't look like a high grade item and Chen Fan also knew about it when it was being sold. Wasn't it sold for only a few hundred RMB? How did it become 25 million?"
"Yes, 25 million!"
"Where's the money then? Why haven't I seen you take it out before?"
"Isn't it being used for your living expenses? It was sold for 25 million Vietnamese Dong!" (1 RMB = 2,816 Vietnamese Dong)
"Dad, I'm serious. I really won 20 million RMB, and I've already collected it!"
"Oh, I believe, I believe!" Although he said he believed, even a fool could tell what he really meant from his tone.
"Never mind, I'll show you the evidence when I come back this afternoon. Oh, I've even bought a BMW!"
"Err...son, are you alright? I'll ask your mom to take you to the hospital when you're back later!" Chen Fan was speechless and simply hung up the phone.
Rubbing his forehead, Chen Fan took out his phone again and dialed the number of Yuanxiang Handicraft Processing Factory where he had the giant wrist band and antique certification done.
"Hello Boss Chen, how are you? What can I do for you today?"
"Are you able to do up a certification of a lottery prize collection? The type with the amount written as 20 million RMB. I need to use it!"
"That stuff? As long as there's a sample, we can print it out and engrave an official stamp on it with a machine!"
"Um, help me find one. Just make one up if you really can't find any sample. It's fine as long as the seal is correct, I need it urgently!"
"No problem, that's easy!"
After hanging up, Chen Fan took out two bank cards and looked at them. One was the 20 million RMB that the white-robed man remitted, and the other one was the 19 million from the silver and transportation fees from Zhang Xueyang.
"4 million RMB for taxes, 1.45 million RMB for the BMW…" After doing the sums, Chen Fan drove to the bank and transferred the 5.45 million RMB from the 20 million RMB card to the other. After some thought, he transferred in another few thousand RMB before getting the bank to provide him with a proof of deposit.
It was 2PM in the afternoon, in Liangchen Town, 20 miles away from Zhongyun City. Liangchen Town was Chen Fan's hometown. As it was near a huge natural lake. Many locals in this town not far away from Zhongyun City were in the aquaculture business.
A black BMW was driven to the side of a 20-acre pond by a lousy driver. After getting out of the car, Chen Fan held the newly-produced certificate of prize collection in his hand as he looked with mixed feelings at the single-story house with a large yard. The house was specially built by Chen Fan's parent's to raise crabs. Chen Fan would come back and stay with his parents every year during the summer and winter holidays. However, ever since he had gotten the electric eel avatar, Chen Fan had not seen his parents for more than four months.
After taking in two deep breaths, Chen Fan walked forward and pushed the door before entering. The 50 square meter yard was filled with various types of crab feed and a mixer. Beside the mixer were a couple in their forties busy working. The man who was pouring the feed into the mixer was wearing an old brown casual jacket. Years of hard work had left faint creases at the corner of his eyes. The woman beside him was wearing a blue and white overall. Her hair shown outside the rim of her hat was grayish, but her face showed the matured charms of women her age. These two people were none other than Chen Fan's parents.
"Dad, Mom!" Chen Fan shouted with a lump in his throat.
"Son, you're really back?" Chen Fan's father quickly patted the dust off his hands.
"Son, your dad said that you're ill, what happened?" Chen Fan's mother went forward with worry and touched Chen Fan's forehead with the back of her hand. "Hmm, feels normal!"
"He said he won 20 million RMB in a lottery!" Chen Fan's father also went forward. "Where's the 20 million? Show it to me."
"There!" Chen Fan passed him the document in his hand, pointed at the BMW a distance away and shook the car key in his hand.
What was the impact of a black-and-white document with a bright red seal? If this was not enough, there was still a bank proof and a BMW car key. Words cannot describe how the couple felt at the moment. They had worked hard their entire life, and Chen Fan told them he had easily won 20 million RMB when they were totally unprepared. It was 20 million RMB, not 2 million, not 200 thousand.
"This...this…" Chen Fan's father stared at the big "20 million" words on the document proof before quickly rushing to close the door and dragged Chen Fan into the house.
"Son, were you wearing a hat and a mask when you collected the prize?" Chen Fan's father said firmly. "If you did not, we'll move immediately and go somewhere far away."
"I did, I even wore gloves!" Chen Fan calmed his father down. "Don't worry, only the three of us know this!"
"This is wonderful, my son is so smart now!" Chen Fan's father patted Chen Fan's shoulder earnestly.
"S-son, is this real?" Chen Fan's mother's voice couldn't stop trembling. "20 million is enough to last us a few lifetimes…"
"How can it be fake when the certificate is right here in black-and white and that BMW is right in front of you?" Chen Fan sat down and pointed at the document on the table.
"I'm not gonna rear crabs anymore, I wanna go traveling, I wanna go to Hong Kong!" Chen Fan's mother held tightly onto the bank card. "Hubby, let's get rid of the crabs and go traveling to Hong Kong."
"I quit!" Chen Fan's father pounded the table. "I'll contact the crab collector this afternoon. Holy sh*t, these eight-legged bastards had me working my ass off. After we're done with Hong Kong, we'll go Jiuzhaigou. After Jiuzhaigou we'll go Hainan!"
Chen Fan's mother hugged Chen Fan and shook him non-stop. "Son, I'll keep this card for you, for getting your future wife. We don't need your money for our travel. We'll have around 230,000 RMB in savings after selling the yard and crabs. It'll be enough for your dad and I to go traveling!"
"Um!" Chen Fan nodded and then told his mother the password. He had no intention of taking the card back after showing it.
"I'll go contact the crab collector. You two go pack up. Let's go stay in the city today!" Chen Fan's father took a long while before he calmed himself down.
After Chen Fan's father left in a hurry, Chen Fan got pulled into the room by his mother to help tidy up the stuff.
"Son, why did you suddenly think of buying a lottery ticket? I've never seen you buy into the lottery before!" Chen Fan's mother said emotionally as she stuffed the suitcase with clothes. It was impossible to describe her level of happiness at that moment. It would probably take five or six sleepless nights to calm her feelings down.
"I saw my classmate winning 500 RMB from buying a lottery ticket, so I also went to buy a few." Chen Fan took out two pieces of clothing from the drawer. "Oh, mom, just bring a few pieces for changing. We're now multi-millionaires and you can buy all the expensive clothes that you want."
"Right, we'll never be able to use that much money in this lifetime!" Chen Fan's mother nodded vigorously.
"Mom, why are you still keeping my childhood toys!" When Chen Fan opened another drawer, and he saw that it was filled with toys such as the Calabash Brothers and Ultraman. These were all things Chen Fan played with when he was still a young kid, and they had been kept by Chen Fan's parents.
"I felt that it was a little wasteful to throw them away, so I kept them in the drawer."
"Oh!" Chen Fan went through the things casually, wanting to see how many of them could bring back his childhood memories.
Suddenly, Chen Fan got startled and the expression on his face was more agitated and stunned than when his parents saw the 20 million RMB.
"This...this…" A round object around the size of three apples in the drawer hit Chen Fan's heart like in a nuclear explosion. Although the color of the object was a little dull and the scent it gave out was not as pure as the white crystal and even had the smell of rotten apple mixed with it, Chen Fan was certain that it was the same as the crystal swallowed up by the electric eel the day before.
"Mom...mom…" Chen Fan trembled all over as he held the taupe crystal. "This...where...where did this thing come from?"
"This?" Chen Fan's mother turned her head while trying to remember. After thinking for a few seconds, she said, "You've forgotten? You picked this up from the sea when you were young."