Seeing Shen Luoying like that, she was probably nervous too, but for the moment, she didn't know what to say to Lin Qinghen.
There was originally some distance between the two of them. At first, neither moved, and there was a period of silence. Then, Shen Luoying hesitated and walked forward a few steps.
Lin Qinghen heard her speak, her voice soft: "Regarding the divorce, I must thank you. Also, Qinghen, I... am sorry."
Lin Qinghen was worried she would think he was fierce, but in reality, this personality of his was exactly what Shen Luoying had hoped for.
If she had been like Lin Qinghen back then, acting more decisively, not being held back by all those messy matters, and had returned to the Shen Family immediately upon discovering her pregnancy, insisting on a divorce no matter what, and keeping her distance from that mess of the Lin Family, perhaps things would not have turned out this way.
Lin Qinghen listened to these words, stunned for a moment, and replied: "It's okay."
Then he took the initiative to step forward, paused for a moment, and then reached out to hug her, patting her back to comfort her.
Shen Luoying was a very good person. He could feel a strange, yet gentle, sense of familial affection from her.
The original owner had lost his life at the age of six. When Lin Qinghen first transmigrated here, he thought it was just a coincidence. The Lin Family hadn't treated him well, and he always felt like an outsider. But seeing that face beneath the birthmark, which bore such a high degree of similarity to his own in his previous life, and the strange fluttering from the bottom of his heart while standing with Shen Luoying now... perhaps everything was fated.
At this moment, everyone else was tactful and had retreated, leaving this place to this pair of ill-fated mother and son.
Yin Jiuxiao thought about it and originally wanted to leave as well, but with a movement of Lin Qinghen's hand, he turned his head and pulled him back.
"Jiuxiao is not leaving," Lin Qinghen looked back at him, stepped back, and continued: "Um, Mother, I was just about to introduce him to you. He is Yin Jiuxiao, the current Young Lord of the Yin Family, and also... my husband."
Shen Luoying's gaze fell upon their clasped hands.
Because of that hug, she had been on the verge of tears, but now, seeing this, the feeling in her heart was a complex mixture of emotions, and she immediately held back her tears.
...What is the experience of waking up to find that your beautiful child has already married? In any case, it is not particularly pleasant.
Moreover, the first time she heard him call her "Mother" was while introducing his husband; it always felt like her own cabbage had been trampled by someone before she could even take a good look at it.
"The things I experienced in the Lin Family are truly in the past. It is not Mother's fault, so please set your mind at ease and do not worry about it. In the future, they will not be able to disturb you," Lin Qinghen emphasized again, then exchanged a glance with Yin Jiuxiao with a smile on his face, "Besides, look, not everything I encountered was bad."
At the time, it was indeed a very unwilling proxy marriage, but looking at it now, it was his greatest stroke of luck. Because of this, he came to have a connection with Yin Jiuxiao and ended up together.
It was both mutual affection and fated.
Shen Luoying looked at this scene, was silent for a moment, then sighed and said: "Qinghen, you won't be staying by my side in the future, will you?"
Her child had truly grown up.
"I will naturally accompany you during this period, but once you have recovered, Yin Jiuxiao and I will eventually have to return to the North Province," Lin Qinghen said, then blinked his eyes, "However, if you are willing, you can come with me to the North Province. It is very interesting there, and I think you will like it."
When he left the North Province, he had instructed Mu Jiu to expand his garden. Today, he received news from there saying that it had already taken on a significant scale.
After dealing with all those messy people outside, Lin Qinghen would definitely return to the research life he was accustomed to in the future; this was his proper main profession.
He still bore the responsibilities of the North Province Alchemist Association. As the Association President, he had to constantly update research progress and simultaneously provide guidance or reference opinions to all Pharmacists within the association to maintain the association's vitality and ensure its longevity.
There were too many Profound Rank Pill Formulas, and there were naturally many methods and approaches waiting to be improved. He would be busy in the future.
Moreover, after Lin Qinghen completed the previous System task, his System also underwent some changes.
Counting the previous hidden rewards, his backend now had four production lines. Four Yellow Rank Pill Formulas, with production speed suppressed to an extremely low level, and supply volume steadily increasing. Five Earth Rank Pill Formulas, plus Lin Qinghen's 23% bonus—although his Pharmacist Rank was not considered high, in terms of quality and speed, Lin Qinghen's significance now was likely no less than a Heaven Rank Nine Stars Pharmacist.
The System's detoxification pills had already been given out, and the advancement task stage had also been completed. After a period of upgrading, the System prompted him that he had currently entered the Advanced stage.
In the future, the System would no longer require him to do anything in the form of tasks, but would instead require the host to fully exert subjective initiative, draw inferences about other cases from one instance, and strive to promote the overall improvement of the Spirit Realm's pharmacy capabilities.
Therefore, the System's task interface had now been changed to a point-based System, and he could freely choose his research direction.
Lin Qinghen had looked at it carefully; whether he improved a Pill Formula or improved any Materials, as long as it was a replicable and promotable achievement, it could be placed here on the task interface for verification.
The System would calculate points for him based on the degree of improvement and actual utility. Points could be exchanged for all kinds of rewards, including natural affinity, Pill Formulas he could produce on the production bench, or new production lines, though the prices were not cheap.
Lin Qinghen had tried it; not everything needed to be put in. A Profound Rank Pill Formula with an improvement of about 10% could be exchanged for one point. But one point of natural affinity required one hundred points, and the price would increase in the future; after all, the higher the bonus went, the more difficult it became.
The price of Profound Rank Pill Formulas that could be put on the backend ranged from thirty to fifty points, and a new production line cost five hundred.
Truly, life is endless, and research is ceaseless. Given the System's pricing, Lin Qinghen's future work would be quite fulfilling.
He had previously heard from Zhang Fu that Shen Luoying was also interested in research. If she recovered her health and wanted to do something, she could just do it with him. If she didn't want to be tired, the environment in the North Province was recovering, and Tear City was originally a place with a very beautiful environment; she could also retire there, whatever made her happy.
Hearing Lin Qinghen describe the situation in the North Province, Shen Luoying was truly interested, her eyes lighting up: "Alright."
She was never an idle Young Miss. If it hadn't been for the marriage contract set since childhood and her slightly poorer health, it would not have been certain who between her and Shen Luofei would be the Family Head.
Shen Luoying herself was a Pharmacist with excellent talent. Before she fell into a deep sleep, she was a Heaven Rank Eight Stars. Once she truly recovered her health and followed Lin Qinghen to the North Province, she would be the highest-Ranked Pharmacist there, which would be a powerful asset to the North Province Alchemist Association.
Lin Qinghen had reunited with his mother and had given Lin Chongtian a satisfying beating, so he was naturally in a very good mood. He accompanied Shen Luoying to talk for a while, carefully told her about his research direction, and let her go to sleep early, only to be caught by Yin Jiuxiao afterward.
The Shen Family had arranged his residence in a small courtyard very close to Shen Luoying, just door to door. Lin Qinghen had just stepped out of that room, and immediately after, he was swept up by Yin Jiuxiao and carried back to his own residence. Before the door was even closed properly, he was pressed onto the bed and kissed.
"...You, what are you doing?!"
Lin Qinghen was panting, and it took a while before he could catch his breath. He felt as if his body had been softened by him, unable to get up, and then he glared at him.
"Keep it down!" he said, "My mother just fell asleep. If you wake her up, then what?"
He always felt that Yin Jiuxiao had been going crazy in bursts during this period; anyone would be unable to handle it.
Yin Jiuxiao, however, gripped his waist and wouldn't let go, then lowered his head to bite the corner of Lin Qinghen's lip, saying: "Previously, I was considerate of your reunion and have endured long enough. Now, I don't want to endure anymore. Qinghen, be good, call me again?"
Lin Qinghen: "Call you what?"
"Husband."
Lin Qinghen:...
How does he still remember?
Not only was it the first time Shen Luoying heard him use this title for the introduction, but it was actually also the first time Yin Jiuxiao had heard it.
Where had Lin Qinghen called him that before? For a long time in the beginning, he had stubbornly believed that he was the one who had married Yin Jiuxiao, very thoughtfully pampering the other party as his wife, and even after being pressed down for so long, he still hadn't changed this mindset.
Moreover, he usually just called him "Jiuxiao"; he really hadn't used that title. Yin Jiuxiao hadn't noticed this detail before, but the moment Lin Qinghen opened his mouth like that, he couldn't hold back anymore.
That night, he insisted that Lin Qinghen make up for everything he had missed before.
Lin Qinghen had always indulged him. Even though he was shy, after being pestered by him for a while, he still went along with his wishes and called out softly a few times. But later, as this person became more and more excited, he felt that something was not quite right.
As expected, a wolf cannot be fed too full, otherwise, the one who suffers will only be oneself.
The next day, Shen Luoying, who was in poor health, had already gotten up, but Lin Qinghen still hadn't. Yin Jiuxiao, however, had woken up early, lightly and carefully closing the door behind him, and explained: "He is too tired, let him sleep a bit longer."
Shen Luoying: "...Oh."
She was not stupid; one look at this situation and she knew what it meant.
Looking at that expression on Yin Jiuxiao's face... the feeling of her own cabbage being trampled certainly became even stronger.
Lin Qinghen stayed in the Shen Family for about half a month. Besides taking care of Shen Luoying and dealing with Yin Jiuxiao, he also handled official business.
Now that all his identities had been clarified, the cooperation with the Shen Family and Fuxin Mystical Method seemed even more solid.
But the matter of supplying Profound Rank Medicinal Pills had not yet been discussed. Butterfly Dream had previously used this to lure Suyexian Mountain, but when it came to the real channel, Lin Qinghen's choice was still them.
In the previous cooperation, the Shen Family had contributed more. Leng Qiuyue had secretly rejoiced at the time, feeling that she had picked up a big bargain, but now looking at it, Lin Qinghen had been waiting for them right here.
The Butterfly Dream Pharmacy itself wasn't the issue; the main point was Lin Qinghen's other clarified identity: President of the North Province Alchemist Association.
In the past, all the Pharmacists in the entire Spirit Realm were managed by Fuxin Hall. After the incident in the North Province, they couldn't be contacted and had to form their own entity. But now that pharmacy in the North Province had risen and there was a separate association, it naturally had to be distinguished from Fuxin Hall. Thinking carefully, there were many conflicts within this.
Therefore, it was not that Fuxin Mystical Method had good luck from the beginning; it was that Lin Qinghen had set his sights on them early on. Under such a cooperative relationship, much friction was reduced, and Leng Qiuyue was also willing to sit down and discuss things properly with him; in reality, it was still paving the way for the North Province Alchemist Association.