Qin Ningyi raised his eyes, all emotion receding from them. "Put it away."
He wasn't curious about what the other party’s return gift was. He had only sent a gift out of missing A Rou, and he didn’t care who the recipient was or what they sent back.
He had finished eating and should rest. He would visit Grandma Yao first thing tomorrow to get the medicinal herbs as soon as possible so that his grandfather could awaken sooner and everything could become clearer.
He could only hope his A Rou would be well and wait for him.
Qin Ningyi tightened his grip on the jade pendant in his hand and turned back to his room. Little did he know, Huo Rou was only one floor away from him. If he had looked at the jade pendant, he would have recognized the small jade piece that came from the same origin as the one in his hand.
Hearing his instruction, his subordinate dared not speak further and put the small piece of jade into the backpack they had brought.
"What a shame, it looked quite nice," the subordinate muttered to himself, closing the study door.
The person who had been waiting outside the door, crouching there, approached. "Third Brother, what a shame about what?"
"It's the return gift from Grandpa Nong. Young Master Qin didn't even look at it," Third Brother waved his hand, indicating there was no major issue.
Upon hearing this, the other person looked at him curiously. "Third Brother, they say Grandpa Nong and his team have broken through a new technology. He's a national hero! What if the thing they sent is experimental seeds processed with that new technology?"
Third Brother kicked him, looking somewhat amused and exasperated. "You wish! Do you think they'd give you such seeds?"
"But it's such a hot topic! What if they just gave it as a gift? It's worth a lot!"
Third Brother rolled his eyes at him, finally understanding why Qin Ningyi had sent the few of them here. This down-to-earth way of thinking was indeed a good choice for village work.
"Could you even grow it? Have you ever studied farming? Do you even have land?" After bombarding the man with these three questions, Third Brother walked away without looking back.
The other person grumbled in place, "Can't I want it if I don't have land? Then..."
Grandma Yao also chimed in, "Yes! But the ingredients are indeed good."
Out of habit, she had glanced at the raw materials. They were indeed precious medicinal herbs, and the origin and supply channels for each raw material were clearly marked. The ingredients were transparent and rare.
Compared to the foreign product that Pan Yue had bragged so much about a few days ago, the ingredients alone showed a clear difference in quality, let alone the technology used.
Grandma Yao knew that China's biotechnology was not as good as that of foreign countries, but in this product, she saw hope for the rise of domestic enterprises. Several new technologies she knew of were all used in this product!
As for its specific efficacy, the one Huo Rou received was top-notch.
"The packaging is indeed nice," Pan Yue murmured. "But Grandma, you can't judge the quality of something by its packaging. We have to be careful with things we put on our faces."
She refused to believe this product could be better than the one she gave. Although the packaging was very well done, it wasn't a brand she was familiar with. The packaging didn't even have its own brand name, nor did it look like a custom order.
Hearing Pan Yue's words, Grandma Yao chuckled inwardly. She was knowledgeable about medicinal herbs and wouldn't judge quality by packaging.
An An didn't care what they were saying behind him. He happily went upstairs with the gift box. He had felt the logo was familiar at the time, and when Grandma Yao opened it to look at the ingredient list, he was standing next to her. He stood on tiptoe and saw the brand of the skincare product.
Qin Shi Skincare.
It was his father's company.
His father's company's skincare products must be very precious, so he had to hide it.
"Let's eat together! Let's eat together!" Grandpa Nong's cheerful voice came from downstairs. "Girl, let's eat together! We'll benefit from you and eat longevity noodles. Hahaha."
"Mom is back?" An An murmured to himself and quickly shoved the gift box into the small bookshelf where Huo Rou kept her books.
He looked with satisfaction at the gift box nestled among the books, placed alongside the pile of jade stones. "Mom treasures these books the most, and this pile of jade isn't durable. This is the most suitable place."
Treasured and precious.
Quite fitting.
An An nodded, his face flushed, and ran downstairs.
"An An is here?" Grandpa Nong's sharp eyes spotted An An coming downstairs and immediately called him over. "Quick, come over, let's toast the birthday star and our hero today!"
An An "thumped thumped thumped" his way to Huo Rou's side. With Qiao Yushan's help, he climbed onto a chair, picked up the drink in front of him, and cheerfully clinked glasses. "Happy birthday, Mom, and may you always be beautiful!"
As he put down the cup, An An frowned and asked with curiosity, "Grandpa Nong, who is the hero??"
He had only heard the word "birthday star" and had quickly raised his glass to offer his blessings. Now, he was finally curious about the part he hadn't understood.
"You don't know?" Grandpa Nong raised his eyebrows. "There's something our An An doesn't know?"
"Then why did you come over to toast?"
He intended to be playful. An An fiddled with his fingers and lowered his head, smiling shyly. "An An doesn't know everything. An An only knows about Mom's affairs."
Yao Jian put the meat from his bowl into An An's bowl, smiling as he looked at him. "But what we're talking about is your mom's affairs!"
The adults were all drinking alcohol. Yao Jian, with a flushed face, looked at An An and smiled mysteriously and mischievously.