The Matter of Inheritance

Chapter 3 The Matter of Inheritance

Pushing open the door, a damp and musty smell hit me, and dust filled the room.

The villa's living room was large, but it felt very deserted. The furniture was neatly arranged and hadn't been touched in a long time. All the windows were covered with brown curtains.

There are staircases leading to the second floor on both sides of the wall. Under the stairs are piles of shovels, wooden buckets, and some miscellaneous items such as tables and chairs.

Apart from that, the living room wasn't decorated much; there weren't even vases or photos, perhaps because they didn't want to spend money on such simple and pretty decorations.

Mingyou opened all the windows to ventilate the room and let the musty smell dissipate as soon as possible. Then he suddenly realized that the windows were not locked at all, and one of the windows was even half open.

Is he really that careless?

With these questions in mind, he then wandered around the various rooms on the first floor: the kitchen, the bathroom, and the back door leading to the vegetable garden and fishpond in the backyard...

After a while, the air inside the house was much fresher. After finding that the villa had not lost water or electricity, he found a socket, put his Rotom phone there to charge, then took out an apron, put it on, and began to clean.

It was only when we started cleaning that we noticed some footprints that didn't belong to him on the dust covering the floor. But there shouldn't have been anyone living here for several months before Grandpa passed away.

"This size must be a Pokémon... Did it climb in through the window looking for food?"

Mingyou guessed this and continued to work. However, while cleaning, he always felt that there was a gaze secretly watching him from inside the house.

Sensing the gaze, his eyes fell on a wooden cabinet in the corner of the living room, on which were placed some books, the edges of which were covered with cobwebs, but a broken black and white tea canister stood out.

The white part on the tea canister looks like a face, with eyes and a mouth resembling black graffiti. There are three black dots on its right forehead, and green cracks on the left side of the tea canister.

[Smooth Tea (Premium): A matcha Pokémon that hates wasting food. It would be happy if you brought it some damaged or broken crafts, but don't let it know that you destroyed them.]

"Grandpa's Pokémon?"

Upon seeing this, Mingyou immediately assumed that, but Kesimocha did not respond.

He took the broom and walked forward.

Just as they were about to ask further questions, they found a letter next to the tea. Judging from the dust on it, it seemed to have been there for a long time.

Curious, I picked up the letter and began to read it.

The letter was left by my grandfather; it seems he forgot to send it along with the front door key.

The letter mentioned that the grandfather was a researcher when he was young. After hearing that the Taijing phenomenon also existed in Beishang Township, he came here from Padiya to investigate.

However, the village did not trust outsiders and hindered him in various ways. In the end, he had no choice but to buy a piece of land on the confluence of rivers far from the village to use as a research institute, and he often traveled between Beishang Township and Padiya.

However, the research institute was located in the wild, and wild Pokémon in that era had little contact with humans and were mostly not very friendly. They would often fight each other because they were hungry and could not find food.

For safety reasons, Grandpa brought some planting techniques from Padia and started growing fruit trees and vegetables here. He had a simple idea: as long as there was a good harvest, he wouldn't have to worry too much about wild Pokémon not finding food and attacking him.

However, the presence of food here has attracted many wild Pokémon to settle down here. This should have been a very dangerous situation, but these Pokémon did not attack him; instead, they treated him as a companion...

Over time, they became close friends, which gave the grandfather, who had always been engrossed in scientific research, a new understanding of creatures like Pokémon.

In addition, Taijing Research was terminated due to the bankruptcy of its investors. Having already fallen in love with Pokémon, he simply left the team and stayed here to live with the Pokémon. As a Pokémon Ranger, he used the manor to take in the Pokémon he had rescued.

The family understood and supported their grandfather's decision. Decades have passed in the blink of an eye, but as he gets older, his energy is not as good as before, and his memory is also declining.

His wife and children passed away one after another, which devastated him and caused him to fall seriously ill. It was during that time that he developed a chronic illness and knew that his days were numbered.

Realizing his health was deteriorating, he had no choice but to make plans and leave this letter in advance.

He wanted to leave everything he had to his grandson to manage, hoping that one day the grandson would come and take over and inherit it.

"..."

After reading the letter, Mingyou folded it up, put it away, and sighed softly.

I never imagined that my grandfather would be here all alone, working as a ranger, taking care of the Pokémon around him, and doing this for decades.

Was it stubbornness, or had feelings already developed? Perhaps only the deceased grandfather knew the answer to this question.

The other person must know about your situation, but as your only family member, all they can do is hold onto that sliver of hope and believe that you can manage...

"Leave this burden to me..."

Mingyou looked somewhat helpless. If he inherited the property, he would be burdened with debts; if he didn't, his grandfather's hard work over the years would become a tourist attraction.

Since entering the manor, every Pokémon he has seen has probably been cared for by his grandfather and has come to regard this place as its own home.

If the manor is demolished, at best they can get a new home; at worst they will be homeless and have to go back to their old lives.

What should we do?

Mingyou was indeed having a hard time making a decision. He wanted to inherit the business, but he was worried about not being able to pay off the debts. After all, he was now all alone and had no one to rely on, and it would be difficult for him to earn any income in Beishang Township...

After pondering for a long time, he came to his senses and looked ahead. After trying to communicate with Simocha, he found that the other party still ignored him, so he had no choice but to continue cleaning and tidying up the house...

Before we knew it, the sky was gradually darkening.

As night fell, the villa's only light brought a long-lost warmth to the tranquil estate.

In the dimly lit orchard, a figure suddenly flashed by, startling Ariados who was resting in a tree, but before he could react, the other person had already left.

After a busy afternoon, Mingyou finally finished cleaning the villa in the living room. It was really tiring to do this kind of thing by herself, but she enjoyed it.

He has always been taken care of since he was a child. Now that he has regained his memory, he should become independent, take care of himself, and no longer rely on others!

I glanced at the time on my phone.

8:20PM

It's already very late, and he hasn't eaten yet. He plans to rest on the sofa after he finishes eating.

He hadn't rested since arriving in Niangguang City. There's a 12-hour time difference between Kitakami Township and Padiya, and he was really struggling to keep up.

He went to the kitchen and found that the only food he could eat was a bundle of unopened noodles and garlic. Boiled noodles in plain water were too monotonous, so he took his phone and went to the vegetable garden in the backyard to pick some vegetables to use as ingredients.

The vegetable garden in the backyard is quite large, but it has been neglected for a long time and is now overgrown with weeds.

I looked around with my phone and the harvest was alright: jicama, tomatoes, bok choy, and scallions. These were enough as side dishes.

On his way back to the house, he looked at the sweet potato he had just dug up... also called yam.

[Jicama (D-): The soil is very good, but without care, it can only grow to this quality. It's better to cut it into thin slices and make sweet potato soup than to eat it raw.]

Looking at the information, Mingyou couldn't help but think of that strange card from before, which seemed to be able to change the type of yam seed.

As for the letters following "yam bean," they represent quality, and naturally, the higher the better. If a variant of the crop can improve its quality, it should be rare and fetch a good price...

Perhaps because she had too many things to do today, Mingyou suddenly thought of making money.

I took the vegetables back to the kitchen, washed them thoroughly, chopped the scallions and garlic, sliced ​​the tomatoes (half for tomato salad with sugar, and the other half chopped to cook noodles later), and peeled and diced the sweet potatoes to eat as fruit.

Next, heat oil in a pan, add minced scallions and garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add diced tomatoes and cook until they release their juices. Then add water, season simply, add noodles and bok choy, and the aroma will instantly fill the air.

Mingyou worked at an orphanage in her previous life, so she has basic life skills. Her cooking skills aren't great, but she can make sure the children like to eat.

He really likes children and thinks that if he works at the breeding center, he should be able to take good care of the Pokémon babies there.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have any Pokémon right now. He just wishes he could have a Pokémon as a companion...

(End of this chapter)