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They waited until ten o'clock that night.
Midway, Caelan's mother wanted to make something for them to eat, but considering her current condition, Caelan naturally refused. However, among the things he'd bought today, besides snacks, everything else was ingredients—and Caelan didn't know how to cook.
He was wondering whether to go into town to get some takeout when Hadrian, who had been standing silently by, suddenly said he was "somewhat skilled in cooking." He rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a few ingredients, and went into the small kitchen.
In no time, a fragrant aroma wafted out. Soon after, he emerged with four plates of dishes that were perfect in color, aroma, and taste.
Feeling Caelan's strange gaze, Hadrian asked, "What? Can't someone in construction have some cooking skills?"
"No, no," Caelan quickly said.
The earth-element veteran is truly amazing.
After dinner, Caelan's father still hadn't returned. So Caelan led Hadrian to the back of the house. Behind it was a patch of wasteland. In the village, apart from farmland, other plots of land were worthless. When Caelan's family was prosperous, they'd bought a large area of wasteland behind their house—but later they couldn't even sell it.
"What kind of house are you planning to build?" Hadrian asked.
Caelan thought for a moment, then conjured an image of a grand villa.
"Oh, this architectural style is quite unique." Hadrian's usually calm face finally showed some emotion. "Did you design it yourself?"
Caelan nodded. "Uh, you could say that."
Hadrian didn't press further. Instead he asked, "Where is the nearby river?"
Caelan took Hadrian around the vicinity to survey the most suitable terrain. He even carved a three-dimensional blueprint of the designed house on the spot for Hadrian to reference at any time.
Hadrian: "Do you have any preferences for the house's materials?"
Caelan: "Ah, I don't know about these things. You decide for me."
Hadrian: "Looking at your blueprint, your house is predominantly white with a slight yellowish tint, dark brown roof. I recommend using gray-blade stone for the exterior walls. This type of rock is not only high in hardness and toughness, but its price is also reasonable..."
"Okay! But do we sell this kind of rock here?"
"You'll probably have to buy it in Jadecrest City. It's only about a hundred kilometers away—at most it will delay things by two days."
"That's fine then."
"What materials do you want for the drainage pipes?"
"..."
Caelan's mother sat on a small chair to the side, silently watching her son communicate with Hadrian, not saying a word. In Caelan's memories, she was already a very quiet person. After her health deteriorated, she spoke even less.
In contrast, his father was very talkative.
"I just calculated," Hadrian said after half an hour. "If you entrust the entire house to me, it will cost a total of 2,160 gold crowns. As for time, it will definitely be completed within thirty days. Of course, you can still choose to find the materials yourself—I'll provide a list..."
"No need," Caelan interrupted. "I'll leave everything to you. Vice Dean Cassandra said you're a trustworthy person."
Hadrian expressionlessly grunted "Oh" and continued to write and draw on the paper, calculating.
Caelan looked at the time. Almost ten o'clock. "Uh, old brother, I'll get you a room in town tonight for you to rest. The countryside might not have the best conditions."
Hadrian nodded.
Caelan was about to say something when suddenly there was a movement outside the door. He looked and saw his father, Matthias Oxhand, pushing a handcart back. His whole body was dirty and covered in black ash.
Seeing several people in the room, Matthias was first stunned. Then after seeing clearly who was inside, he immediately asked in surprise, "Hey! Why are you back, kid? And this old brother is...?"
"Father, you're back. This is a house-building expert from Crimson Port, whom I specially invited."
"Ah? Why did you invite a house-building expert? Wait—you invited him from Crimson Port? Can you afford it?" Matthias was greatly alarmed.
Hadrian: "Don't worry. Your son can afford it."
Matthias: "Are you really a house-building expert? You look so young, old brother. You're not a swindler, are you? I'm telling you, my family doesn't have any money for you to swindle right now."
Hadrian remained silent.
Caelan's mother, who had been sitting silently to the side, couldn't help but say, "Matthias. Our son is very rich now."
Matthias was stunned, turning his head to look at his son. "You're very rich? Where did you get the money?"
Caelan made a face as if covering his forehead. "Dad, haven't you heard on the news about a famous Illusionist in Crimson Port?"
"Never heard of it. Who in the village listens to the news? Those things have nothing to do with us common folk." Matthias scoffed.
Caelan was startled, realizing the village indeed seemed to have no habit of listening to the news. Not only the village, but his classmates also didn't seem to listen much. Apparently, his former self had only listened to adventure novels and biographies when he was in Crimson Port. It was only after his transmigration that he'd started listening to the news.
His father also seemed to enjoy listening to legends and adventure novels. Weather forecasts were a must-listen.
From the memories in his mind palace, Caelan recalled waking up to use the bathroom when he was three or four years old and occasionally hearing his father listening to the erotic novel The Scullery Maid's Secret on the enchanted crystal receiver. It was said this timeless masterpiece was written by the Holy Emperor before his rise to power—but the Moonwatch Imperial Family denied it. Though their denial was not firm. Rather ambiguous, actually.
After some explanation, Matthias finally understood the general idea, but still found it hard to believe. "You mean... you made some illusion games and then earned a lot and lot of money?"
"Yes. And then I thought of you two still living in this leaky old wooden house, so as soon as I received the payment, I rushed back immediately. Planning to build you a big house to live in." Caelan said this without batting an eye.
"But you didn't have to come home ten days early! You could have waited until school was on holiday. Isn't traveling tiring?" Matthias complained.
Seeing that his father's mind hadn't caught up yet, Caelan simply pulled out a thousand gold crowns from his spatial ring and poured them all onto the table with a clatter.
Instantly, the entire room seemed to brighten up.
Matthias's eyes immediately went wide.
Caelan's mother also couldn't help but widen her eyes.
As the former richest man in Oxmoor Village, how much cash did Matthias have at his peak? One hundred and fifty-two gold crowns.
And how much money was on the table before him now?
Not lasting a few seconds, Matthias rolled his eyes and fell backward.
Caelan's mother cried out in alarm.
Caelan was about to be too late to catch him when a figure instantly flashed to his father's side and caught him.
It was Hadrian.
Caelan was about to say thank you, but then he saw Hadrian calmly raise his hand to gather magical power. A pure white Holy Light appeared, slowly merging into Matthias's body.
"He's fine. He just got a little emotional," Hadrian said calmly, withdrawing his hand.
Not hearing Caelan's reply, he turned his head to see Caelan's face full of question marks.
Hadrian then explained, "I have Light element talent, so I learned a bit of Holy Light Healing."
Caelan nodded, giving a thumbs-up to indicate that the earth-element veteran was amazing.
Hadrian then said, "However, it's quite basic. It can't cure your mother." He gestured for Caelan to come and help.
"Father, are you okay?" Caelan quickly took over, supporting Matthias's arm.
Caelan's mother also walked over with difficulty and supported his other arm, her eyes full of worry.
Matthias shook his head, indicating he was fine—but his eyes still couldn't leave the gold crowns on the table.
Hadrian looked at his dusty palms, thought for a moment, then waved his hand. A gust of wind swept toward Caelan's family. The whirlwind quickly spun around the three, and soon all the dust on them was cleared away.
Throwing the collected small black ball of dirt outside the house, Hadrian continued to sit on the stool, writing and drawing.
Ah. The earth-element veteran is amazing.