Chapter 173 Yuzhou

As the rooster crowed, the sky gradually brightened.

The town gradually awoke from the darkness.

Many shops along the street had their doors half-open, carrying fresh goods into their stores.

There were also street vendors selling steamed buns and mantou, their steamers already bubbling with steam and emitting a wonderful aroma.

The innkeeper tossed a clean rag over his shoulder, yawning as he put down the stool on the table and wiped all the dust off the table with the rag.

Even the innkeeper got up early, stood at the counter, and used an abacus to calculate the money spent on goods received and paid out that morning.

A few tapping sounds made the two of them look towards the stairwell, wondering which guest it was. They had gotten up just as dawn was breaking!

The innkeeper took a closer look and realized it was the brother and sister they had complained about yesterday. He immediately put on a smiling face and went up to them: "Gentlemen, why didn't you sleep a little longer? Why are you up so early?"

Wu Gousheng was a little confused and looked at Wan Qiqi with a pair of puzzled eyes.

Wan Qiqi was somewhat taken aback by this obsequious, fake smile. Even though she had changed her clothes yesterday, it shouldn't have caused such a drastic change in her boss.

As the owner of an inn outside Yuzhou City, he should have long been used to all kinds of guests coming and going from the north and south!

Why did he suddenly change his personality after just one night?

Wan Qiqi sensed something was amiss, but didn't give herself away, smiling faintly: "I'm used to it!"

Her behavior was neither distant nor intimate, which made the innkeeper break out in a cold sweat.

The woman in front of him looked simple, but her eyes were so complex that he couldn't figure her out. The man behind him, however, could tell what she was thinking at a glance. Good ending.

But it's obvious to anyone with eyes that this woman is in charge, and that's also what's being said over there!

He dared not offend them, yet he didn't know how to deal with it.

Wan Qiqi guessed from his reaction that someone had spoken to the shop owner, which was why there was such a change in his status. That person must be someone of high status.

She had never been to Yuzhou before, nor did she know any officials. The only possibility was Bai Lingxuan!

She glanced at the respectful waiter and innkeeper, becoming even more certain of her idea.

"Bring us two bowls of vegetarian noodles."

Wan Qiqi found a seat by the window and sat down.

Wu Gousheng quickly followed behind her and sat down in the opposite seat, behaving extremely obediently.

"Alright, gentlemen, please wait here. I'll arrange for someone to do it right away!"

The innkeeper said this and pulled the waiter away together!

Once everyone had left, Wu Gousheng snapped out of his stiff posture and put one foot on a stool, propping his head up as he asked, "Sister, is the innkeeper possessed?"

He didn't understand why she had suddenly changed her personality.

Wan Qiqi looked at him, a meaningful smile on her face, and said, "Just consider it the host's way of showing hospitality!"

She believed that this was Wan Ziyan's doing; he had contacted Bai Lingxuan on his own behalf!

Thinking of this, she sighed again at the fact that the two of them loved each other but could not be together.

Soon, the waiter brought over two bowls of steaming hot vegetarian noodles and placed them in front of the two men, along with two plates of pickled vegetables. "Gentlemen," he said, "these are complimentary pickled vegetables. Please enjoy them."

Upon smelling the aroma, Wu Gousheng couldn't wait to pick up his chopsticks, stir it a couple of times, and take a big bite.

Wan Qiqi stared at the plain noodles, which were sprinkled with chopped green onions and looked quite appetizing.

But when she smelled the aroma of lard in her mouth, an image of a burning, charred corpse suddenly flashed into her mind, and her stomach churned, making it impossible for her to eat.

Looking up, Wu Gousheng was still engrossed in his work.

Wan Qiqi knew that Wu Gousheng ate very little noodles and couldn't taste the lard, which was why he could enjoy the food so much.

If she interrupted him now and told him that there was lard in it, she didn't know if he would still be able to eat it.

After hesitating for a while, she decided not to say anything, since she had been vomiting everything she ate yesterday and felt uncomfortable with nothing in her stomach.

After Wu Gousheng finished eating, he noticed that Wan Qiqi hadn't touched her chopsticks, so he couldn't help but ask, "Sister, this noodle dish is so delicious, why aren't you eating?" He then licked his lips.

He was starving; he could eat three bowls of vegetarian noodles, let alone one!

He was penniless, and Wan Qiqi had paid for everything, so he couldn't bring himself to ask for help.

Wan Qiqi pushed the noodles in front of her over and said indifferently, "You eat it! I don't have much of an appetite."

Wu Gousheng hesitated for a second, then took the noodles and started eating, muttering as he ate, "Sister, don't think about those things, just eat! Otherwise, how can you help that girl from the Lin family if you're hungry!"

Wan Qiqi said she wanted to, but couldn't.

After the two finished eating, they sat on the first floor of the inn for a while, and it was already bright outside.

When it came time to pay, the innkeeper was very polite. He even gave Wan Qiqi a discount and a small bag of snacks as a gift for the two of them to eat on their journey.

Wu Gousheng felt that the boss was being unusually attentive and that he must have ulterior motives, but he happily ate the snacks.

Only Wan Qiqi knew that the innkeeper was not so kind-hearted; he probably took the money from both sides to give away this bag of pastries.

She noticed yesterday that these pastries cost more than thirty coins each when sold separately. How could they be given away for free?

The journey into town was short, taking only a quarter of an hour on foot. Wan Qiqi left the mule cart at the inn, and the two walked there.

From the town to the outskirts of Yuzhou City, the ground was flat, and there were still wheel tracks from horse-drawn carriages along the way.

The trees and weeds on both sides have been cleared so that they do not extend onto the official road and affect the passage of carriages and horses.

Even though Wan Qiqi had made preparations, she was still shocked when she stood at the towering and majestic city gate!

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