Shulan wondered why the general seemed unhappy after becoming a widow.

Then I immediately thought it was impossible, that I must be overthinking it.

Although they were only husband and wife in name only, it was still inconvenient for her to occupy the position of Mrs. He.

What if that person already has someone they like? Wouldn't I just be taking up space and being disliked?

So, thinking she was overthinking things, she started eating her snacks without a care in the world. After Ruyan left, a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties with a goatee, carrying a teapot in one hand and a fan in the other, went up on stage.

A waiter quickly carried the table and chairs up, and before he could even speak, everyone applauded and cheered.

The middle-aged man looked around at the audience, struck the gavel, and everyone immediately fell silent.

His voice was very magnetic, and his tone was also very rhythmic as he began to sing: "As the saying goes, to die under the peony flower is to be romantic even as a ghost."

The gavel is struck again, signifying the end of the opening poem and the beginning of the main story: "Last time we talked about how the scholar Liu passed by a dilapidated temple. When he rested in the temple at night, he felt something pressing down on him, and his body swayed as if he were floating on clouds."

This scholar Liu was quite bold. At this moment, he wondered if he had been bewitched by a ghost. He squinted and secretly peeked, and a beautiful concubine came to his side and said, "My lord, shall we spend the night together?"

Although Liu the scholar knew something was amiss, he was captivated by the concubine's unparalleled beauty and was momentarily mesmerized.

As the storyteller recounted the tale, his expressions, gestures, voice, and even the gavel he used created such an atmosphere that even Shulan couldn't help but focus and listen attentively.

As he spoke, it was as if the scenes unfolded before my eyes, captivating and absolutely brilliant.

The scholar spent the night with the beautiful concubine. When he woke up the next day, it was as if he had just had a beautiful dream. He lingered in the memory and refused to leave. He stayed in the dilapidated temple, waiting for the concubine to come at night.

Sure enough, on the second night, the beautiful concubine arrived as promised once again, and the two of them enjoyed themselves immensely.

Having found amusement in the temple, Liu lost interest in the imperial examinations and spent all his time living as husband and wife in this dilapidated temple…

Shulan thought to herself, "Isn't this just another version of Nie Xiaoqian?"

Sure enough, just when the scholar thought he had been living as husband and wife with his beautiful concubine for half a year, but in fact he had only been in the temple for three short days, and he was completely emaciated and not far from death, he encountered a Taoist priest who had come down the mountain for training.

The Taoist priest happened to witness them engaging in marital relations, and he directly injured the beautiful concubine, causing her to escape.

Instead of being grateful, Liu Shusheng resented him for meddling in his affairs.

The Taoist priest said that the beautiful concubine was a fox spirit who sucked away people's yang energy, and that in two days her yang energy would be completely drained, but no one believed him.

Everyone who heard this thought that Liu Shusheng was both stupid and that dying under the peony flower was a romantic death.

Just as they were listening with rapt attention, they heard the sound of the gavel striking.

The storyteller said leisurely, "To find out what happens next, please listen to the next episode."

Upon hearing this, even Shulan felt a pang of anxiety, muttering, "When will the storyteller tell the next one? Tomorrow?"

She needs to hear the rest of the story, otherwise she'll keep remembering it.

I guess the others felt the same way, but there was nothing they could do but come back tomorrow to continue listening.

He couldn't help but praise, "I wonder who the owner of this restaurant is. He's so good at business, no wonder the restaurant is doing so well."

Having just mended his broken heart and composed himself, General He couldn't help but ask, "Want to get to know you?"

Shulan said happily, "I do think about it. After all, if I were to fake my death in the future, I would have Aunt Chen open a restaurant of this type. With good cooking skills and good management, the business would definitely be booming."

He Fengmian, who was about to explain his identity, was speechless.

Suddenly I don't want to talk about it anymore.

But then she said, "But I also know that you can't just meet a big boss whenever you want."

He sighed inwardly and said helplessly, "It's still easy to see him."

Hearing his tone, she raised an eyebrow: "Could it be that the General happens to know the owner of this restaurant?"

"Yes." He didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "This restaurant is owned by my brother and me."

Now it was Shulan's turn: "...What a coincidence!"

He Fengmian chuckled: "It is indeed a coincidence, but this was the idea of ​​my brother and Yaozhi, and has nothing to do with me. Therefore, Yaozhi will also receive a lot of dividends every year."

In the past, he would never have told her about this.

During the months they spent together, her identity was indeed verified; she was not sent by Xie Huilin or the Right Chancellor.

He admitted that he couldn't tell if someone was real or fake, so he figured it wouldn't hurt to tell her.

She wasn't the type to reveal secrets, and he even had a selfish thought: if she knew his secrets, could he use them as a reason to keep her from leaving in the future?

Even if you know the answer is no.

Putting aside his frustration, he looked at the person in front of him: "If you want to hear it, I'll have someone invite Mr. Tan over to tell you."

Upon hearing about this fuss, Shulan quickly waved her hand: "No need for that. Listening to stories depends on the atmosphere. It's more lively with more people. Just find out when we can listen tomorrow, and we'll come back tomorrow."

Even if it's a restaurant owned by the bearded brothers, there's no need for them to make an exception for themselves.

They're in it to make money; she needs to understand that.

Hearing this, He Fengmian did not insist and said, "Then let's keep this private room tomorrow."

"good."

They left the restaurant and didn't go anywhere else.

First, they went back to the Fan family. Sure enough, the young master Fan woke up for a while, drank some porridge, and then fell asleep again.

Shulan took his pulse and, seeing the couple still somewhat worried, reassured them, "Don't worry, you've survived the ordeal. You just need to take good care of yourself from now on."

Sure enough, the Fan couple breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Actually, when their son woke up, they could tell from his mental state that he had improved, but they still wanted to hear Shulan tell them definitively that their son was alright, so that they could be at ease.

Shulan finally heard the gossip about Young Master Fan.

I know the reason he did this is because he had a childhood sweetheart with whom he had grown up. The two were engaged and were supposed to be married on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.

Unexpectedly, she met her true love and eloped with him.

When his beloved eloped with someone else, he became a laughingstock, and even the good-tempered Fan Wenqing was depressed.

He was already depressed, but when he heard that his grandfather had suddenly fallen seriously ill because of this, and that he had not even been able to see him one last time, he was so angry that he was overcome with rage.

After listening, Shulan comforted Madam Fan: "It's alright. Perhaps this misfortune will turn out to be a blessing in disguise, and his health will actually improve."

Madam Fan smiled and said, "Yes, with Madam He here, my son's health will definitely get better and better."