"Put it on my dad?" Lily Zhong looked completely puzzled.
"Be good, just do as I say." Evan Lin nodded, but his words only earned him a big eye roll from Lily Zhong.
"I'm your teacher, you know! Who do you think you're talking to? You sound like you're coaxing a little kid!" Lily Zhong glared, feeling weirded out.
"Just trust me and do as I say."
Seeing how certain Evan Lin looked, Lily Zhong finally took the item he handed her.
She tried to persuade Evan Lin a bit more, but when she saw he wasn't listening at all, Lily Zhong had no choice but to go stand anxiously by Hank "Doggy" Han's side again.
Hank "Doggy" Han even glanced a few times in the direction Lily Zhong had just come from, but seeing nothing suspicious, he kept on greeting the guests.
"Spent some spiritual qi to make a simple illusion magic artifact. Even if it's only good for one use, that's enough."
Evan Lin leaned against the wall, yawned, and looked coolly at Lily Zhong and Hank "Doggy" Han, who were still standing by the door.
That Law Seed was pretty low-grade to begin with, so Evan Lin just used it straight up. If it were anyone else who knew what they were doing, they'd definitely say he was wasting something precious.
Even a Law Seed of this quality could fetch a fortune at auction.
Lily Zhong gripped the simple magic artifact tightly, her face full of worry.
Finally, it was time for the banquet to start. The emcee came downstairs, smiling as he invited Hank "Doggy" Han and Lily Zhong upstairs to begin the ceremony.
On the second floor, a red carpet had already been rolled out.
Hank "Doggy" Han puffed out his chest, but his hunched back and short stature still couldn't measure up to Lily Zhong's height.
Lily Zhong swept her gaze around and spotted Evan Lin sitting at a table, leisurely sipping tea. Her heart tightened with anxiety.
"Now, let's welcome the bride and groom!" the emcee announced.
The emcee shouted loudly from the stage.
Hank "Doggy" Han and Lily Zhong walked toward the stage.
There were three chairs set up there.
Hank's parents sat on two of the chairs, while Old Man Zhong took the third, grinning with smug satisfaction.
Once Lily Zhong and Hank "Doggy" Han were on stage, the emcee rambled a bit before announcing loudly, "Now, please serve tea to both sets of parents!"
Hank's father declared, "Now that you're married, it's your job to give the Han family a son. Lily, I've already talked to your dad: a son gets $100,000, a daughter $50,000. As soon as the baby's born, you get paid in full!"
Hank's father made the announcement loudly and shamelessly.
The guests whispered among themselves, some looking at Lily Zhong with sympathy, others with scorn.
It was obvious she was being sold to the Han family as a baby-making machine.
Lily Zhong clenched her teeth, her face twisted with anger. When it was time to serve tea to Old Man Zhong, he made a point of asking the emcee for the microphone.
Instead of drinking the tea right away, Old Man Zhong cleared his throat and, in a rustic accent, proudly declared, "Everyone knows me, right? I'm Old Man Zhong!"
"My greatest pride in life is raising Lily into such a wonderful daughter! I raised her all by myself! I'm so glad she found a good family to marry into! Very proud! And Hank is a kid I watched grow up—he's a good boy, gave money, gave a house, and didn't even ask me for a dowry!"
Old Man Zhong grew emotional and proud as he spoke.
In his eyes, this deal was a huge win. But the guests couldn't help laughing at his shameless bragging.
Nobody had ever dressed up selling a daughter in such fancy words before. Everyone here knew Lily Zhong got where she was with zero help from Old Man Zhong.
"And most important, everyone here is a witness! The in-laws just said it: $100,000 for a son, $50,000 for a daughter! I want to thank the Han family for being so open-minded!"
Old Man Zhong chuckled slyly—this was his real goal, getting everyone to bear witness.
Hank "Doggy" Han grinned, "No worries, I'll give you another guarantee. If Lily has twins, I'll give you $200,000 for retirement!"
His words made the guests burst out laughing. Old Man Zhong felt no shame at all—instead, he turned to Lily Zhong and urged, "You better work hard!"
Old Man Zhong happily drank the tea Lily had served. After hesitating, Lily took the chance to slip Evan's magic artifact onto her father's body as instructed.
She still had no idea what it was for, but after doing it, Lily glanced at Evan Lin, who gave her a calm nod, signaling her to wait and see.
"Okay, let's move on to the next step! Bride and groom, come up to the stage and..."
The emcee spoke loudly, then suddenly shook his head and joked, "Wait, why is the bride sitting over there? That's not right—the groom should help the bride up!"
The emcee laughed heartily.
"What? Isn't Lily standing? She didn't sit down."
After drinking the tea, Old Man Zhong—dressed awkwardly in a suit—was happily daydreaming about how he'd spend the money once Lily had a kid. But when he heard the emcee's words, he froze, annoyed. "Are you kidding? Hurry up and get to the next part so we can go to the bridal chamber!"
Old Man Zhong called out impatiently.
Just as he spoke, Hank "Doggy" Han walked over with a sleazy grin. "Hey, Lily, you're being naughty—this seat's for your dad. Why are you sitting here?"
"But you're right, let's hurry up and move on. After this, straight to the bridal chamber! Don't be naughty, or else I'll... hehe."
Hank "Doggy" Han grinned and yanked Old Man Zhong up from the seat with one hand.
"Yeah, let's get on with it!"
"Haha, Hank can't wait, huh?"
"Of course! Hank's been dreaming about this day for years!"
The guests all joked and teased from below.
Lily Zhong stood there, eyes wide, still clueless about what was happening. Then she heard Hank "Doggy" Han say to her, "Dad, you sit down. After lunch, I'll take Lily to go have a baby!"
Totally confused, Lily sat down in the spot Old Man Zhong had just vacated.
Old Man Zhong's face twisted with panic. "Wait, what? No, Hank! I'm your dad!"
"Lily, quit joking around. Come on, didn't you say you wanted to have kids ASAP? Stop messing around!" Hank "Doggy" Han laughed.
In everyone's eyes, the real Lily Zhong now looked like Old Man Zhong, and Old Man Zhong looked like Lily Zhong!