The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 461 Homecoming
After this fruitful trip to Peach Blossom Land, Ryan and his friends reunited with his parents in Qiantang. However, according to Ryan's grandfather, it might take some time to hold the engagement ceremony, so the four parents had to busy themselves with their work during this time. He took the two younger ones with him and rushed over first, so they could take a look at the family's collection of books.

"Our family is a family of alchemists with a history of 1 to 3 years in Chang'an." Ryan's grandfather said proudly on the plane. "For hundreds of years, our family has been engaged in the cultivation of various magical plants. Now one-third of the raw materials for herbal magic potions in the north of the Celestial Empire are supplied by them."

"The magic family of the Celestial Empire, this must be something to look forward to." Hermione said happily through the Phoenix mark on her arm. "At least in the UK, I don't have the opportunity to visit those wizard family estates, not to mention that you have invited my parents."

After the plane landed, they stayed in the People's Building for one night. As Ryan's hometown for two lifetimes, Chang'an in the mid-90s was far from being as prosperous as it would be 20 years later. In the early morning, everyone was still woken up by the sound of traffic bells on the street. The motorway seemed very empty against the backdrop of bicycles. Although private vehicles had appeared at this time, there were still few cars on the street.

Riding in an old rented jeep, they drove southwards. After more than an hour, they saw a magnificent mountain range that seemed to be just around the corner.

"We're almost there." Ryan's grandfather, who was sitting in the passenger seat, said as he looked at the Qinling Mountains in front of him. Sure enough, the car stopped after driving for more than half an hour. After Hermione got out of the car, she found a beautiful small mountain village in the river valley below the shoulder of the road. There was smoke rising from the village, and she even saw a man driving a cow to work in the fields on the riverbank.

"Is this the place? But I think it's no different from an ordinary village." Hermione said, looking at the mountain village.

"Of course there is no difference." Ryan's grandfather came up from behind. "In the Celestial Empire, there is no traditional wizard manor inhabited by pure alchemists like in the West. Here, traditional alchemists are used to living in the same area with people who are related by blood. If it is a long history, then there will be villages where people live together in clans."

"It's incredible." Hermione looked at the village in the valley below the mountain with excitement. "This is a completely different world!"

After entering the village, Ryan, under the guidance of his grandfather, began to greet many villagers. Ryan only then realized that he was in the middle of the generation in the village. Among his peers, the number of people two generations older than him and those two times younger than him was basically the same.

Finally they came to the big house that served as the village committee. The house was plain and simple, and the only difference from other houses in the village was that the walls of this house were made of blue bricks, not adobe tiles like most houses in the village.

"What are we doing here?" Ryan asked curiously. Because the layout of the house was no different from most of the village committee offices in this era: there was a brown desk next to the window, with two drawers locked with a large iron lock. On the desk were several file bags and notebooks, and behind the chair was a small cabinet of the same color. Apart from that, the house was empty. After entering the door, I found that there was a wooden rack with a washbasin in the blind spot before the door, and a small pile of farm tools behind the door.

"Don't be impatient, don't be impatient." Ryan's grandfather looked at Ryan who was a little anxious at this time and said, "You have to learn to wait. Only slow work can produce fine work."

After saying this, he took out a hoe from the corner of the wall and pressed it down on a mark on the wall. Immediately, the back wall of the house became like the wall of the Leaky Cauldron. The bricks began to move around with the depression as the core. A small hole first appeared in the wall, and then slowly expanded into a brick archway that could allow two people to pass side by side.

"Come in." Ryan's grandfather called. "Inside is the family ancestral hall, and your engagement ceremony will be held here. The elder helped calculate the date, and twenty-one days later is a good day, which matches your birth date. During this time, you two will live in the east wing. Come out for lunch, and when your uncle comes in the afternoon, ask him to take you to Chang'an, which is the core area of ​​the Heavenly Dynasty's alchemists." "By the way, take this." When the grandfather saw Ryan and Hermione preparing to go to the wing to put their luggage, he handed Ryan a wooden sign: "This is an identity card, you can go to the library in the back to read books. But your young wife cannot go in for the time being. These restrictions can only be lifted after her name is added to the family tree after the engagement ceremony."

When Ryan was adopted as a child, his name was already recorded in the family tree. That's why even though he was just an adopted son, he was treated no differently than a biological child.

After saying goodbye to his grandfather who was in a hurry to go to the village to chat with old friends, Ryan walked into the wing room assigned to him. The decoration here was very similar to the style of the hotel outside, but whether it was the two wooden beds or the coffee table and stools, they all looked old and beautifully made.

But surprisingly, there was an old TV of more than 40 inches on the table. Of course, this old TV was compared with the -inch rear-projection color TV in Ryan's previous life. In this era, this small color TV can be considered a fashionable product. What was even more surprising was that there was a color TV in such a place.

There is a button on the side of the TV. If you turn it to the left, you can watch TV programs for ordinary people, and if you turn it to the right, you can watch programs of Tianchao Alchemist TV. However, in this era, the programs of the alchemists are news and lectures, and they also occasionally insert popular science programs and movie videos for ordinary people.

"There's nothing like this in the UK." Hermione said a little depressed after watching the TV program. "Muggles in the UK have better and more advanced living conditions than here. But wizards' lives seem to have stayed in the past 100 years. The only thing I find strange is where do Chinese wizards get their electricity from?"

"As far as I know, they have mastered the method of using magic to generate electricity." Ryan said, "This is much easier than modifying a television. I think the only reason there is no wizard TV station in the UK is because there are too few people and the demand for televisions is even lower. Whether it is opening a wizard TV station or selling televisions to wizards, it will only lose money. You have to know that if you can make a magic radio used in Hogwarts, it is technically possible that you can't make a television that can operate normally in the wizarding world. So the only possibility that the British wizarding world does not have this thing is because it is not needed."

After going out to the village to have lunch, Ryan and Hermione visited the ancestral hall together. The main room where the tablets and other things were usually placed was closed, so they just looked at the layout outside. In addition to being able to see that there were many magical defenses, many houses could not be seen at all for what purpose.

They were planning to take a break after the tour, but at this moment Ryan's grandfather walked in with an old man who looked very similar to her.

"Our Liang En has grown up so big. When I looked at your photos before, you were still a little guy not even as tall as your grandfather's waist. Now you are about to get married." Ryan's great uncle said.

The uncle was Ryan's grandfather's younger brother. Unlike his grandfather who couldn't do magic, he had a very good talent for magic. After graduating from Kunlun College, he went to the Tianchao Alchemist Academy in Chang'an for further studies for three years, and then stayed on to teach. According to the previous plan, Ryan would follow him to appreciate the scenery of the Tianchao magic world before their engagement.

"Are you ready?" Ryan's great uncle was a straightforward man. "If you are ready, let's go."

(End of this chapter)