In addition to the supplements, there were also several valuable gifts.
Vernon sucked his pipe and narrowed his eyes at Sheffield. "Save it. You've never cared about me." He squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth.
Sheffield purposefully ignored Vernon's words and opened one of the boxes, in which there was another pipe. "In order to buy a good pipe for you, Evelyn and I went to many shopping malls. This pipe is hand-made of photinia wood in Denmark. Do you like it?"
The pipe was in the shape of a trunk. With one look, one could easily tell that the beautiful engraving was carved by a professional artist.
Vernon took the pipe, observed it closely, and nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you, Evelyn. You're more filial than Sheffield."
Sheffield pretended to be unhappy after hearing that, and he wore a gloomy expression on his face. "Master, I'm also filial to you. That day, you asked me to stay here for one night. I did. I even missed my date with Evelyn to accompany you." It wasn't like Sheffield was jealous of Evelyn. In his heart, he was thrilled when he heard Vernon praise her.
Evelyn cast a confused gaze at him, wondering which date he was referring to. Her fingers subconsciously traced the edges of her chin. Was it the time when she was with Savannah and his phone was off? Realization dawned on her and she raised her surprised glance at him. 'So, he was here that day.'
"Go away! Don't say you know me!" Vernon's face was twisted into disgust.
Evelyn was amused by the two's bickering.
Sheffield opened another bag and said, "Master, please take a look at this." There were several boxes in the bag.
"Latakia tobacco?" Vernon's eyes lit up when he saw the two words carved on the surface.
Sheffield chuckled at that. "You're such an old smoker! You recognized it at a single glance!" He pushed the shopping bag towards his master.
Latakia tobacco was very expensive Eastern tobacco from Syria. It was black and one of the very few kinds even the stems and leaf veins of which were useful. A small amount of the tobacco in the formula was enough to produce a thick fragrance.
Latakia tobacco was so rare that Vernon rather smoked Virginia tobacco.
The sight of the brand-new tobacco made Vernon's heart want to burst out of his chest. He even ignored Sheffield's joke and nodded insistently. "Thank you, Evelyn. You're so thoughtful."
"It's all Sheffield." Evelyn sent Vernon a polite smile and looked at Sheffield. "He told me about your hobbies. We picked the gifts together."
If it weren't for Sheffield, she wouldn't have even known what gifts to buy Vernon.
Vernon knocked on Sheffield's head with the pipe. "He is quick-witted. Sadly, he just loves playing tricks too much and won't ever get serious. Evelyn, let me tell you something. When his grandfather was alive, this brat went to his yard every day to steal herbs and eat them. After his grandfather passed away, he began coming to my yard to steal herbs from me every day, and I beat him a lot for it."
"Eating herbs?" Evelyn was intrigued.
"Yes! Stupid, right? He could have died from poison!" Vernon took a glance at Sheffield with a solemn face.
Evelyn nodded and pursed her lips at the thought of Sheffield eating herbs. "Yes, really stupid."
"He was lucky enough to survive! You know what? When he was three years old, one day, when his grandfather wasn't paying attention, he ate some herbs of rhizoma ligustici and almost died. Luckily, his grandfather found it in time and saved him." Vernon's face melted when he recalled Sheffield's childhood.
Evelyn cast an affectionate glance at Sheffield, who had opened a jar of tea leaves and was smelling the leaves. He acted as if he weren't the one Vernon was talking about.
"At that time, the one thing that his grandfather feared the most was that he would eat the poisonous Chinese medicinal herbs such as graceful jessamine herb. So, he specifically stored the herbs in a room, and he would lock the door every day in order to keep Sheffield away. Well, this guy took the chance when his grandfather was asleep to steal the key. He found a jar of graceful jessamine herb. He opened it and just as he was about to put his hand inside, the jar dropped on the ground. It broke into pieces before he could eat the herb. The noise woke his grandfather up. Sheffield ran away and went home by himself at eleven o'clock that night..."
"Master!" Sheffield groaned after hearing the conservation. "I'm here to wish you a happy new year. But why do you keep talking about those embarrassing stories? I don't want Evelyn to listen to you anymore." It almost felt like Sheffield was throwing a tantrum.
Evelyn coughed up her giggle and cast Sheffield an adorable gaze. "Let Grandpa continue. What are you afraid of?"
Sheffield shut his mouth and got back to smelling the leaves from the jar. He had no choice but to listen to Vernon's narration of his childhood.
Vernon didn't even bother looking at Sheffield. "His grandfather chased him back home, forcefully pulled him out of bed, and gave him a violent beating. He also put a fierce dog in front of the room full of herbs. It helped, but it only lasted for two days! On the third day after school, Sheffield dropped some powder of thorn apple into the water and fed it to the dog. In ancient times, the knockout drops were mainly made from thorn apple flowers. After the dog drank the water, it slept the whole day. By the time his grandfather found out about it, Sheffield had done this to the dog three times already. At that time, the dog didn't dare to bark at him anymore."
Evelyn chuckled when she imagined the scene. It seemed Sheffield had been too naughty as a child.
Sheffield frowned and looked earnestly at Vernon. "Master, can't you say something nice about me?" he pleaded while leaning against the chair and played with the pipe he bought for Vernon.
Vernon grabbed the pipe from him and brushed the imaginary dust off it. "I want to, but is there anything good about you? Why don't I seem to have its memory? I only remember your tricks. I still remember what your grandpa told me at his deathbed."
Curiosity level in Evelyn's heart had already reached its peak. "What did he tell you?"
Vernon sat back and took a drag on the pipe. The smoke formed rings in the air. "He told me to keep an eye on Sheffield and not let him engage in the traditional Chinese medicine industry. Or else, a lot of people might suffer! You know, Sheffield had never done anything good with Chinese medicine. Other people use it to save lives, while he uses it to kill."
"He was a two-faced old man. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left his medical notes to me," Sheffield argued.
"Speaking of the notes of traditional Chinese medicine, I have more to tell you." There were so many things about Sheffield that Vernon couldn't wait to tell her.
"Okay." Evelyn sat straight and gazed at Vernon with interest.
"After Sheffield got the notes of traditional Chinese medicine from his grandfather, he hid in a remote forest and studied them for days and nights, memorizing all the content. When he was back home, he burned the notes in front of his father. His father was so angry that he disowned him instantly."
Evelyn was stunned and confused. "Sheffield severed his relationship with his father?"
He had told her that his parents passed away. Evelyn thought for a moment. 'Oh, maybe his father disowned him before he died.'
"Yes! Do you know how many people were willing to pay a high price to get that book? Someone once paid two hundred million, but Sheffield got angry at that person and asked him to go away." If Vernon were in Sheffield's shoes, he would have kicked that person out of his house too. The fruit of Mooney's painstaking work could only be inherited. It was not for sale.
Although Sheffield's father was not happy about this matter, Vernon had always been blissful about what Sheffield did. It proved that Sheffield was a kind and righteous kid and did not value money over people.
Speaking of Sheffield's past, Vernon had a lot to talk about. Sheffield had listened for so long he even began dozing off. Vernon was about to continue when he happened to gaze at half-awake and half-asleep Sheffield and decided to make some food for them. "Sheffield, show Evelyn around. I'm going to prepare lunch for you."
"Got it." Cross-legged, Sheffield rested his head against his hand and watched Vernon leave the room.
Evelyn was amused by Sheffield's childhood stories. "You were a naughty boy back then."