Chapter 877 The Summit Takes a Turn
Song Chunxue nearly choked.
She could tell from the faint smile on Lord Zhao's face that this was a good deal.
"Oh, yes, I did have that idea. I wonder if your manager's asking price is high?"
Master Han also pinched his fingers casually, then smiled and took a sip of wine.
Fangyue sighed. Her senior brother was truly biased.
However, she doesn't seem to need these things.
Returning to the capital, she had only one purpose: to make a plan that she thought her senior brother wouldn't mention for over a decade.
As expected, her choice to seek out her senior brother was correct.
This trip to Beijing will bring great fortune.
"Not too high, not too low. The shopkeeper wanted to sell it three months ago. Last year, he was like he was under a spell, everything went wrong for him, and he urgently needed to sell the shop to make ends meet. If you are sincere about buying it, I will send someone to invite the shopkeeper over right away."
The waiter, seemingly afraid they might change their minds, went to the door and said, "Don't worry, the manager will definitely come. Otherwise, neither I nor we will get our wages for the next six months."
"Please don't leave! Tell the chef to make whatever you want to eat. If things go well, consider this meal a token of our gratitude to our distinguished guests."
Before he finished speaking, the waiter had already disappeared.
Song Chunxue understood her senior brother's good intentions, stood up and raised her glass, "I'd like to toast my senior brother. I'm very grateful that you all think of me in every way. Although this is the first time I've spent the New Year away from home, I'm happier than in any previous year."
Lord Zhao raised his wine cup. "It was nothing, no need to take it to heart. There will be better things in the future. If I remember them all, it will be too tiring."
Fangyue noticed the tears in Song Chunxue's eyes and pulled her to sit down. "Don't offer toasts to everyone one by one. Everyone hates that. Senior Brother just needs to keep that to himself."
"But I'd like to toast both of you. I thought I'd feel very uncomfortable being out in public, but I didn't expect..."
Master Han poured her some wine and said gently, "If you're really that touched, go to the kitchen tomorrow and make a pot of potato and chicken stew, and also cook a table full of the dishes you brought from home. I just remembered, they're quite delicious."
Song Chunxue said excitedly, "No need to wait until tomorrow, I'll go to my senior brother's house tonight to make it for you."
"No need, tomorrow it is," Master Han said casually. "Otherwise, if we go back late, Lord Xie will start to overthink things. You are not alone now, so you should be more mindful of that."
Song Chunxue touched her forehead shyly, "Really?"
Fangyue picked up a crab for her, saying, "Try this, I'll scoop out the crab meat for you."
Song Chunxue looked resistant. "No, no, no, I don't eat things with too much leg, it's too scary."
"This Longjing Shrimp has become quite famous in recent years, why don't you try it?" Fangyue enthusiastically recommended. "It's peeled and has no legs."
"No, no, senior sister, you eat it. I've seen it before and it only looks like legs, so I don't dare to eat it."
She thought of how she had picked up a whole shrimp and put it in a bowl, then turned it over and saw the legs. This reminded her of the many legs on the ground: dung beetles, woodlice…
She thought the most disgusting thing in the world was woodlice, and that the hairy legs of a shrimp looked a bit like them.
"Ugh~"
Song Chunxue tried hard to suppress it, but still couldn't help gagging softly.
"Haha, I've learned something new. You can't even eat anything with more than four legs?" Master Han looked at her leisurely. "Then if you saw scorpions, roasted grasshoppers, roasted cicadas, or roasted river shrimp that Southerners love to eat, wouldn't you be too scared to pick up your chopsticks?"
"..." Song Chunxue looked pale. "Master Han, let's not talk about this. I'll cook you a table full of hometown dishes, and these will definitely not be included."
"Then we can enjoy this crab. It's incredibly delicious; you'll want to eat it again after you've tasted it once." Fangyue handed her the scooped-out crab meat. "Want to try some?"
Song Chunxue looked at the yellowish thing and kept her upper body far away. "You should eat it. I won't waste it."
For a native of Northwest China, eating these things is simply horrible; it makes them feel uncomfortable all over.
What she couldn't stand most about that month at the beach was the variety of small animals in the water, all of which had many legs and ran incredibly fast.
The scariest thing was that while staying at the inn, she met something called a cockroach, with those two antennae...
She took a big gulp of wine, clasped her hands together, and pleaded, "Eat your food properly and forgive me. I'm not used to this yet. It's okay for you to eat. I'll pretend I didn't see anything. Maybe I'll get used to it after seeing it a few more times."
"Knock knock knock".
The gentle knock on the door brought Song Chunxue a sigh of relief.
"Would you gentlemen be willing to buy my tavern?"
It was clear that the shopkeeper was in a great hurry. As soon as he opened the door, he got straight to the point and asked the question.
"Yes, I wonder what the price is? Is there anything wrong with this tavern?" Lord Zhao asked.
“Absolutely no problem. I’ve always managed this tavern very well, and it’s made a lot of money for my family. It’s just that we’ve encountered some major setbacks in the last two years, so I had no choice but to sell it to get some more money.”
At this point, the shopkeeper looked around, his eyes filled with deep reluctance.
"This is my last shop. If I weren't so desperate to make ends meet, I wouldn't be willing to sell it." The shopkeeper looked up at the ceiling, tears welling in his eyes.
Lord Zhao stood up and said, “It will be alright. Life is full of disappointments. As long as you get through this hurdle, you will always make a comeback. You are still young and have a bright future.”
As he spoke, Lord Zhao took out a talisman from his pocket and handed it to him, then flicked away imaginary dust from his shoulder. “In less than three years, you will surely make a comeback.”
The shopkeeper quickly rubbed his eyes, then wiped them on his clothes before accepting the talisman with both hands. He bowed to Lord Zhao in surprise and gratitude.
"Thank you for your kindness, young master. I believe that heaven rewards those who persevere, and we will surely overcome this difficulty." The shopkeeper said, pursing his lips as if afraid he would burst into tears.
Lord Zhao looked at Song Chunxue.
Song Chunxue understood, "Then I'll buy this tavern for you first. When you're doing well in the future, you can come back to me to buy it back."
The shopkeeper was astonished. "Really?"
“Of course, I won’t have time to take care of it myself after buying it. I won’t feel reluctant to part with it if I don’t develop a bond with it.” Song Chunxue took out a bag of silver. “This is five hundred taels of silver. We’ll settle for the price you agreed on, with refunds or additional payments as needed. What do you think?”
"This..." The shopkeeper rubbed his eyes, hesitantly took the bag and examined it, then glanced at the four of them with a look of astonishment. "I'm not seeing things, am I? Why are you so quick to agree? Could it be that..."
"Are you worried that we're setting a trap, just waiting to buy your tavern?" Fangyue shook her head slightly. "We are all cultivators. Our senior brother saw your difficulties and knew that this tavern had a good feng shui location, but it couldn't overcome the great obstacles in your life and the high level of our magic. That's why we gave you a talisman."
"If I'm not mistaken, your ancestral home is unstable and started to decline six months ago, but a 'benefactor' you met two years ago has been helping you all along?"
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