Su Rong has a pleasant voice, soft and shallow, the tail of her words carrying a trace of languidness.
The moment she began to speak, both of the men fell silent in astonishment.
Only then did Lu Fengyan take a closer look at Su Rong. Her face was obscured by a veil, vague and indistinct, but he could tell she was an extremely gentle and amicable woman. He could only bow slightly and said, "Seeing as Miss shares the same perspective, it would be disrespectful to not accede. I will return the favor in the future."
He hesitated, ultimately refraining from inquiring Su Rong’s name out of respect.
Su Rong thought to herself, Zhou Gu could discern a person’s character from their words. He said Lu Fengyan’s writings were too unconventional, yet his demeanor did not reflect this. He was courteous and respectful.
Zhao Shu, compared to Lu Fengyan, was far more brash. But seeing Su Rong fully veiled, he felt it inappropriate to inquire about her full name and said with a smile, "Thank you, Miss Feng."
He assumed her surname was Feng, as she claimed to be Fen Ling’s sister.
Su Rong couldn’t freely divulge her name, thus she didn’t object to this reference.
The waiter brought over the menu, Lu Fengyan and Zhao Shu were too embarrassed to order much, each ordered one dish, then passed the menu to Fen Ling. Fen Ling waved it off and told the waiter, "Little brother, serve us all the signature dishes of your restaurant."
The waiter, upon hearing this, responded promptly, "We have twelve specialty dishes in our restaurant. All four of you might not be able to finish. Do you want all of them?"
Without hesitation, Fen Ling affirmed, "Of course, all of them." In the end, he turned and asked Su Rong, "Sister, if we can’t finish, we can takeaway, that won’t waste anything, right?"
Su Rong wondered who they could feed the leftovers to, since there were no dogs or cats in the Eastern Palace. The palace maids and eunuchs had their own meals, wouldn’t they dismiss the leftovers? She replied, "Packing leftovers doesn’t seem appropriate, there aren’t any pets where we’re staying."
Fen Ling was disappointed, "But I want to eat everything."
Su Rong was also in a bind. She turned to the two men across, "Would you gentlemen mind helping with the takeaway?"
She thought to herself, there were no beggars or stray cats or dogs in Capital City. If there were, it would simplify things.
Fen Ling eagerly looked at Lu Fengyan and Zhao Shu upon hearing her suggestion.
Zhao Shu laughed and said, "Brother Feng, there’s no need to order so much. Zhuangyuan Building’s food is delicious. Since you are staying in the Capital for a while, you can come here a few more times."
Lu Fengyan concurred, "We share accommodation, and we also don’t have any pets. It will be inconvenient to pack leftovers."
"All right!" Fen Ling hadn’t expected the challenge to come in the form of packing leftovers. Finally given the chance to show generosity without considering the cost, his generosity was curbed. He could only hold the menu and ask Su Rong, "Should we each order three dishes? That’s eight dishes in total, rationed across the four of us, two dishes per person. We will definitely be able to finish."
Su Rong nodded, quickly choosing three dishes.
Fen Ling promptly named his three choices, then looked at the two men across, "Gentlemen, would you like any wine?"
Lu Fengyan politely refused with a smile, "We’re going to study this evening, tea will be fine. Please feel free."
"We’ll have tea as well!" Fen Ling ordered another pot of tea.
The waiter sent the order off to the kitchen. It wasn’t long before he returned, carrying a pot of tea, which he poured for the four of them.
Zhao Shu was fond of small talk, quickly engaging Fen Ling in a conversation. And as Fen Ling was also a talkative type, he responded to Zhao Shu’s queries about the scenic attractions, local customs of Chuānxī, which led to discussion about the number of scholars who came to the capital city this year etc.
Lu Fengyan was more reserved, as was Su Rong, hence the table was filled with the voices of Zhao Shu and Fen Ling’s exchange.
The waiter began serving dishes in succession, the tantalizing aroma interrupted their ongoing conversation.
Halfway through the meal, a few brightly attired men entered the restaurant. One of them said in a familiar voice, "See, didn’t I say this is a good time to come? We didn’t have to wait in line for seats."
Su Rong’s ears perked up at the familiar voice. She turned around, hoping that she would not be recognized by Xie Lin.
The waiter laughed and replied to Xie Lin, "It’s the little prince Xie! You’re right, this is a perfect time for you to come."
He looked perplexed, "But why didn’t you reserve a private room in advance today? If you had, you wouldn’t have had to wait at all."
Xie Lin waved him off, "We just came out for a casual meal today, we don’t need to be so formal. Sitting in the main hall is fine."
The waiter nodded with a smile, noticing a group of five or six people, he led them to an empty big table.
By chance, this large table was behind Su Rong’s table.
Xie Lin walked past Su Rong, sat down at the back, then started to order dishes. Those who came with him obeyed him and had no objection. After ordering the dishes, Xie Lin ordered wine, and then said to his companions: "The supply of Drunken Blossom drink is sold out, otherwise we would have gone to Yingkefang for a few drinks today, the intoxicating taste of Drunken Blossom is truly satisfying."
"Is this Drunken Blossom said to be produced in Jiangzhou?" someone asked.
"To be exact, it is produced in Jiangning County." Xie Lin had a story to tell when this was mentioned, "I’ve been to that small winery and met the owner’s wife there."
"It’s actually a small winery?" someone asked with surprise.
"Yes." Xie Lin said, "Would you have expected it? Just a small restaurant, brewing wine in a small courtyard. When I was going back to Beijing, I didn’t have enough money so I brought back ten jars. Only after I returned to Beijing did I find out that this wine had been sold in Beijing. It costs two hundred silver taels per jar, but in Jiangning County, it’s only a hundred taels per jar."
"It raised this much?" someone complained, "The distance from Jiangning County to Beijing is not that far, isn’t the shipping cost added too much?"
Xie Lin shook his head, "I think it is acceptable. After all, if someone wants to open a shop in the Capital City, they need to purchase a shop, hire employees, plus shipping fees, and damages on the way, it should be priced at this rate."
"Oh, that makes sense." The man was speechless.
A group of people sat in Zhuangyuan Building, discussing the Drunken Blossom from Yingkefang lively, without feeling any inconvenience. The atmosphere was heated up.
As they arrived, Zhao Shu and Fen Ling stopped talking, they continued eating while listening to the people at the table behind them.
Someone asked Xie Lin, "Xie Lin, I heard that you went to Jiangning County with Zhou Gu and stayed in the governor of Jiangning’s residence? Not only that, but when you returned to Beijing, you also came back with Zhou Gu and that talented man from Jiangzhou, Su Xingze?"
"Well, so what?" Xie Lin asked.
"Nothing big, it’s just that we all want to know what Su Xingze looks like? He has been in Beijing for a month now, but he rarely goes out, he’s incredibly mysterious." someone said.
Xie Lin scoffed, lowering his voice, "I don’t blame Brother Su, I managed to drag him out to play at Juxian Building that day. I specifically booked a private room. Who would expect that before we even warmed our seats, Yan Li found him. Yan Li acted like he was looking for trouble, and where would Brother Su want to go out and make trouble again?"
Someone looked puzzled, "Why did Su Xingze offend...oh, I remember now, because Zhou Gu defeated Jiang Sheng."
"Yes, yes, yes, let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s enough for you to know about it in your heart." Xie Lin waved his hand, unwilling to say more.
With that said, everyone unanimously avoided this topic, and mentioned Zhou Gu, "Zhou Gu has become unfamiliar since he returned from Jiangning County. We haven’t seen him around. I heard that he stays at home to study diligently. This is really fresh. When has he ever cared about the imperial examination?"
"Hey, don’t say that. The imperial examination is a serious matter, sacred and solemn. Why can’t Zhou Gu care about it?" Xie Lin was afraid this would be heard by some people and Zhou Gu would be accused of despising the imperial examination.
"Oh dear, Xie Lin, we haven’t seen you for many days, and we found that you’ve changed too. You and Zhou Gu were contending for Miss Qin and it was quite tumultuous. How come in just a short time, not only have you two reconciled, but you became even closer than before? You are even defending him."
With this being said, it echoed the thoughts of everyone present, they all wanted to know what happened.
Xie Lin said proudly: "He initiated the reconciliation with me, saying that he realized his mistake and apologized to me. I reluctantly agreed to reconcile with him."
Everyone clearly didn’t believe it, "Is that so? Can Zhou Gu take the initiative to apologize to people?"
"He didn’t apologize, but he did apologize." Xie Lin’s expression couldn’t be more serious, "If you don’t believe me, ask Zhou Gu yourself when you see him."
Everyone sighed, "Oh, when did Zhou Gu change his nature? This doesn’t seem like something he would do."
Xie Lin grumbled, both jealous and envious, "Because he has a good fiancée!"
Everyone was startled.
Su Rong was surprised to hear her name mentioned in the conversation. She calmly picked up a piece of Fried Crispy Chicken, lifted the thin curtain of the parasol with one hand, held her chopsticks in the other, revealing her jaw, and continued to eat with relish.
Fen Ling also picked up a piece of Fried Crispy Chicken, pricked up her ears, and listened while eating.
But Xie Lin was very conscious, seeing everyone looking at him, full of curiosity, he waved his hand, "It’s not good to openly discuss someone’s fiancée, let’s talk about something else!"
Everyone was speechless, they were not allowed to mention this or that, how are they supposed to chat?
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