Chapter Thirty-Five: The Postponed Auction

  Not yet entering the Emerald Tower, Kevin came out to greet him.

  "Ferr, you're finally back..." Kevin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with a lingering fear: "If you were half an hour late, Uncle Greer would have beaten me to death!"

  "What's going on?"

  "You rushed out just now, there's something I forgot to tell you." The two walked all the way into the Emerald Tower, and Kevin explained things on the road: "The auction of Ofa medicine has been postponed!"

  "Why?" Lin Li was taken aback, thinking that Ge Rian wouldn't have made a mistake with his medicine. This old man had waited for decades, just waiting for the day when the Magic Guild would make a comeback, and the auction of thirty bottles of aura medicine had given him this opportunity, how could he bear to postpone it?

  He had always thought that after Greeran and Old Merlin's battle, those thirty bottles of Olfactory potions were sold out. On the way back to the Emerald Tower just now, he was still thinking about when to go find Greeran to split the profit, but he never expected that the old man would actually postpone the auction time!

  Kevin's face revealed a hint of bitter smile: "Because you weren't there..."

  "What kind of bird-brained reason is this? If I'm not here, it's postponed?"

  "These are Uncle Ge's own words, as for what reason, he never told me, and I didn't dare to ask..."

  "...Lin Li also knew that Kevin was like a mouse seeing a cat when he saw Ge Rui'an, and he was so afraid of this fat old man that he was about to die. Since he said he didn't know, it must be true that he really didn't know. So Lin Li didn't continue to pester him, but asked another question: "Then when will it be postponed?"

  "Today, half an hour later, so I just said that if you were late for another half hour, I might have been beaten to death by Uncle Greer." Kevin's pale face was full of joy: "That day, after Uncle Greer knew you locked yourself in the room, he said you would make a final breakthrough today, so the new auction date was set for today."

  "Oh... where is he now?"

  "I just went to the reception room, he originally asked me to inform you, after coming out of the certification hall, go find him, but I forgot about it..."

  "You go ahead and busy yourself, I'll go find him."

  Lin Li walked into the living room and saw Ge Rui'an's chubby face.

  "What excuse did you use?"

  "Gregory was taken aback: 'What kind of excuse is that?'"

  "Pretext for delaying the auction of Ofac's pharmacy!"

  "Oh... I'm in a bad mood." Grian said with an air of indifference: "I told them, Old Man Lin came knocking on the door, which made me very unhappy, so I postponed the auction time for Ofar's medicine."

  "You're crazy..." Lin Li secretly wiped away a bead of sweat. This kind of excuse probably only Ge Rui'an could come up with...

  "In any case, those thirty bottles of Orbal medicine are still in the hands of the Magic Guild, so no matter how dissatisfied they are, they can only keep their mouths shut. Who dares to come and speak out of turn..."

  "What is the reason?"

  "I told you, because you weren't here." Grian's face showed a serious expression for the first time: "This auction will attract all the powers of Gallos. If you're not here, how can I introduce these powers to you?"

  Lin Li was somewhat strange: "What's the introduction for?"

  "I'm getting old, although I didn't want to admit it before, but after that fight with Old Mei Lin the other day, I know I really am old. If I were ten years younger, I wouldn't need your wake-up potion at all, one hand would be enough to crush him! Greian seems a bit disheartened: "Think about it, I'm already over sixty this year, how many more years can I still manage the guild? The guild will eventually change leadership, if the new president doesn't even understand the power of Gallos, how can he manage the guild?"

  "You're still quite ill, shall I prescribe some medicine for you?"

  "I'm not joking!" Grian's eyes were fixed intently on Lin Li, his expression more serious than ever: "You know the guild has no one else to use, and you're not unaware of it. Look at those good-for-nothings in the guild - the old ones are mediocre, the young ones are stupid, none of them have any potential. For these idiots, I've gone gray prematurely! Luckily, I later dug you up for the guild - legendary mage Anduin's disciple, magical genius, master alchemist... apart from you, who else in the guild has the qualifications to sit in this position?"

  "Kevin can."

  "Stop joking, Kevin is so scared of me that his legs are trembling. Who in the guild can control him? After you sit in this position, it's okay to let Kevin help you, this kid is not bad at being a helper..."

  Lin Li stared at that chubby face for a long time before finally confirming that Ge Rui An wasn't joking: "Are you serious?"

  "A thousand truths and ten thousand certainties."

  "Damn it! Can't you choose someone else? I can barely do something else, let me be the president? If things go wrong, your family's fortune will be squandered in a few years..."

  "None of my business!" Grian retorted with a glare, "By the time you've bankrupted the guild, I'll probably be dead and gone. After I'm dead, let the floodwaters rise..."

  "Absolutely not!" Lin Li was resolute in his refusal. He really didn't want to be the guild leader, it wasn't a position that was easy to sit in. If he wanted to do a good job, he would definitely be exhausted to death. On the other hand, if he messed around and did nothing, he wouldn't be tired, but more than half of the time he would be scolded to death. Lin Li didn't want to be exhausted to death or scolded to death, so not being the guild leader was the best choice.

  "Don't rush, don't rush, anyway it's not like you're going to sit now, I just have this idea, you think about it first, if after a few years you still don't want to sit, we'll talk about it then..." Grian also knew he couldn't pressure him too much, so he comforted him with two sentences and changed the subject: "Apart from this matter, actually there's another reason..."

  "What reason?"

  "Hmm, that day I heard someone say that in order to get Ofar's medicine, some families have already started selling their family heirlooms. At the time, I thought, rather than letting others take advantage of us, why not let the Magic Guild take advantage instead? So I told them, if the money isn't enough, it's okay, we can use items as payment, whether it's materials or equipment, as long as they're usable, our guild will accept everything."

  "I reckon when the time comes, the things we bring back will be all over the place..." As he said this, Ge Rui An shamelessly stuck a gold sticker on his own face: "Although I'm knowledgeable, I also can't guarantee that I'll recognize everything. In this guild, apart from me, only your eyesight is somewhat reliable. When the time comes, you'd better help me pay attention and see if I've missed anything..."

  "…Lin Li thought you just said let me help you identify it, why go around in such a big circle?"