"Excuse me, sir, is your room open tonight?"

"No, it's full, get lost."

"Your Mightiness……"

"Go away, your mother!"

“…”

This is the third wave of guests leaving Xia Chong Zhai.

He left with a regretful expression without even entering the door.

But before they were impatiently driven away by the black-hearted shopkeeper surnamed Zhao, they could not help but look back at the table of guests sitting in the corner of the empty hall of the old restaurant.

Leave in dismay.

In the hall, Fan Yushu looked outside the door at the group of people who had just left.

Including this group of people, three groups of people had come to inquire within half an incense stick of time. This shabby and remote little restaurant was like a naked beauty beckoning customers at the door, attracting wave after wave of strange customers to this deserted alley.

The first group of guests who interrupted the conversation between Shopkeeper Zhao and Zhao Rong was a plain-looking young man, followed obediently by a white-haired old servant.

However, Shopkeeper Zhao waved his hand impatiently and closed the door to refuse visitors.

The second wave of people came in the form of a young girl with some white scales on her face, followed by a dark-skinned man about two meters tall.

The boss Zhao, who was also very cunning, rejected it by flicking a toothpick.

The group of people leaving now were a group of men dressed strangely.

The leading man was dressed like a young master, holding a folding fan, handsome and elegant, while the group of male servants behind him were even more feminine and handsome than this young man.

Fan Yushu remained calm but was secretly shocked.

If he guessed correctly, this handsome young man in the lead was a direct descendant of a family that ranked very high in East City. Well, judging from his sexual orientation, he probably matched a name that sounded familiar to him...

As for the girl with white scales on her face and a cautious expression in the previous wave, although Fan Yushu did not know her, he had some knowledge of her. He estimated that she might be related to the Water Demon Clan of Wangque Continent. The latter was one of the several major demon clan forces in the Demon Clan Mansion Zhaixing Tower, and originated from the straight Li Du that ran through the north and south...

As for the first wave of people...Fan Yushu didn't know them either, but they were most likely from extraordinary backgrounds.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at the inn he was in and the black-hearted shopkeeper who was muttering and sticking his butt out to get wine behind the counter not far away.

Fan Yushu looked at the empty hall. How could it be full of people? Could it be that they were all invisible? My goodness, the small restaurant was set up in such a shady location, and this weird shopkeeper was so arrogant and domineering that he refused to see the guests and drove them away. What about the meal that Fairy Zhao invited today?

However, when he thought of a special place that was hard to find that he had heard of before, he became silent...

At this time, the atmosphere at the table was no longer as awkward and tense as before, and it relaxed.

After the meal was served, Concubine Zhao Ling said that only a bowl of soup was missing, and tonight's dishes would be complete.

So everyone took their seats.

The three waves of guests that arrived at the door in a short period of time just now surprised Zhao Rong and his companions. The refusal of guests by Manager Zhao made people even more curious, but they didn't take it too seriously. After all, Manager Zhao looked a bit weird, swearing all the time, and doing things in an eccentric way, which made people a little difficult to understand.

Concubine Zhao Ling did not untie the apron around her waist. She sat next to Zhao Rong and asked him in a low voice: "Brother Rong'er, what happened to you today..."

She paused, staring at the profile of his face, without saying all the words.

Zhao Rong looked up at her, shook his head, and patted her folded hands on her knees. "It's okay. I just remembered something and got a little...emotional."

He paused for a moment and laughed at himself, "Well, I guess Mr. Zhu and the others are embarrassed by this."

Concubine Zhao Ling pursed her red lips and turned to look at Zhao Qian'er.

Then, she stood up and said seriously to the fox-eyed girl:

"Miss Su, what you said just now was too polite. It's not as exaggerated as you said. There's no such thing as greatness between my husband and me... It's just that those bored people like to gossip and spread rumors. Please don't take it seriously."

After she finished speaking, Concubine Zhao Ling smiled at Su Xiaoxiao, turned to everyone and said, "The soup should be ready soon. I'll go to the kitchen to help Aunt Bing," then turned and left.

Zhao Qian'er did not follow him, but looked around at everyone at the table with her eyes sharp. She stayed on Su Xiaoxiao and Zhu Yourong for a little longer than the others, her peach blossom eyes slightly narrowed. The next second, she leaned close to Zhao Rong's ear and whispered affectionately:

"Brother Rong'er, I'll go get you a glass of wine~"

After she finished speaking, the little girl tilted her head and smiled at the people who were looking at her, then turned and went to a black-hearted shopkeeper at the counter.

Zhao Rong watched Xiao Qian'er's back.

"Zi Yu, the place chosen by my sister-in-law... is a little bit wrong." Seeing the two girls leave, Fan Yushu came over and whispered.

Elsewhere at the table, Zhu Yourong was chatting with the emotionally unstable Su Xiaoxiao about family matters. Yu Huaijin and Li Xueyu also joined in. In addition, the honest man Jia Tengying, who seemed to have found the courage from nowhere, also came over and said a lot.

At this moment, the dull sound of "Dangdang" from the bronze bell rang out in Xia Chong Zhai.

Zhao Rong and Fan Yushu turned around and saw that the old man in green robe appeared at the door again. Just like when Zhao Rong and others came just now, he was using the wooden stick to knock on the old bronze bell on the inside of the door again.

The bell sounds come from here, echoing in the hall.

"Two quarters past ten o'clock." Zhao Rong murmured softly.

"Ah, what?" Fan Yushu, whose words were interrupted by the monotonous bell sound, was slightly startled and turned around to ask.

"I say..." Zhao Rong looked towards the open door of Xia Chong Zhai. There was no light outside, only the silhouette of the old man in green robes, and the night was dim. "Yeah, I can hear it."

Fan Yushu glanced at Zhao Rong's smiling profile, then listened carefully to the sound of the bell. There seemed to be nothing strange about it.

He shook his head: "Tzuyu, listen to me, you are not from here, so you may not know this place... Xia Chong Zhai!"

Zhao Rong thought about it and said seriously: "What do you mean by 'seemingly'? Isn't this it? It's written on the plaque outside the door."

“…”

Fan Yushu felt that his friend was looking at him as if he was a fool. He coughed quickly and said, "I know, but I thought it was just a name change, or even that the store owner was just trying to gain fame, but now it seems..."

"Now it seems to be true?" Zhao Rong continued with a smile.

Fan Yushu glanced at the alley outside the door which had just welcomed three groups of people in a short period of time, then looked at the shopkeeper behind the counter and nodded quietly.

Zhao Rong followed his gaze, his smile faded, and he spoke calmly, "Xia Chong Zhai, is it very famous in Duyou City?"

Fan Yushu nodded, then shook his head:

“Locals and people who have been in Duyou for a long time should all know that Duyou City has seven time-honored brands. They are the best that have survived thousands of years of competition in various industries in the city. The youngest of them has a history of 1,800 years. You should know some of them. Most of them have become well-known large businesses on Wangquezhou Mountain.

"Well, my Caotang shop is one of them. However, with a history of 1,800 years, it is the least qualified among the seven time-honored shops. It has become the starting point for the other shops to mock and ridicule us. My old man smiles and nods on the surface, but I know whether he is really being bullied or not..."

He paused, "Come back to the topic. Tzuyu, do you know how many years the second oldest of these seven time-honored shops has been in business?"

Zhao Rong shook his head, "How much?"

"Five thousand seven hundred and ninety-two years."

Fan Yushu reported a number skillfully, and seemed to be very familiar with the matter. Zhao Rong couldn't help but glance at him and nodded slightly. To be honest, Zhao Rong was also a little familiar with this number.

A few days ago, I was shopping with Qingjun and Qian'er in Duyou East City. I saw it on a plaque in the middle of a busy street very close to Youshan Mountain. It was a large business group that seemed to have business all over the countries of Wangque. The characters were inlaid with gold lace, and it was bright enough to blind a young scholar from a hundred meters away...

Fan Yushu glanced at Zhao Rong, who seemed to have digested everything.

At this moment, he looked at the old decorations in the halls on both sides, raised his index finger downwards, pointed at the ground, with an expressionless face.

"This place opened earlier than that place. In a sense... it is the oldest store in Duyou City."

Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows when he heard that, and looked towards the black-hearted shopkeeper who was bargaining with Xiao Qian'er behind the counter not far away. Seeing the stubble on his bearded face and full of arrogance, the young scholar couldn't help but sigh, no wonder he was so arrogant, how disrespectful.

He thought for a moment and pointed at the table, "Are you saying that this little restaurant has been open for at least 5,800 years?"

Fan Yushu nodded.

"This place is called this. It's located in East City, where every inch of land is worth a lot of money. Some strange people came here just now... This is probably it. It's the oldest brand in Duyou, Xia Chong Zhai. I also heard about it from my grandfather. He doesn't know exactly how many years this place has been open, but it must be much older than we imagined..."

"But it's different from the other six time-honored brands. The other six, like most of the businesses in the world, have been acquired by the great immortals and carefully managed for thousands of years, or divided and controlled by several major forces, or the surnames of the families behind the helm have changed one after another. They have all worked hard to develop and gradually grow...

"However, Xia Chong Zhai has always been a lonely small restaurant, operating quietly, opening and closing on time, with unique rules, and located in a remote corner. Well, it may have been located in a busy street in the downtown area, but after thousands of years of vicissitudes, even Dongcheng has been renovated no less than three times...

"Today, things have changed and people have changed. It is still too low-key, has strange rules, and is picky about its customers... Most people in Duyou City have forgotten that there is such a so-called oldest restaurant in East City. At most, they have heard of it in some old stories about Duyou from the mouths of the elderly."

"Oh, I guess Shopkeeper Zhao may not be able to figure out these old calendars. It is said that this Xia Chong Zhai was inherited by him halfway through his career, or it is an ancestral inheritance from his family. Hiss, how many generations must it have been passed down..."

As the words gradually fell, Fan Yushu looked around in disbelief, as if he still couldn't believe that he could come here to eat tonight:

"I didn't expect that Xia Chong Zhai is here, in the shabby alley next to Wutong Street... No wonder, who would have thought that there would be a small restaurant operating under a flag in this shabby alley? I guess this place has become a nail house in East City, and it's the toughest one. Maybe only Youlan Mansion knows about it."

Fan Yushu couldn't help but exclaimed: "Ziyu, this meal of yours is... too amazing. How did you find this place? The most important thing is that yours can actually come in and cook. Those people just now must have finally found this rumored place, but were directly rejected by the shopkeeper..."

Zhao Rong listened quietly for a while. Hearing his friend's emotion, he also sighed inwardly, feeling a little helpless.

My lady, you are too awesome. Can't we keep a low profile? Or did you find this place by accident? The fate of the girl of destiny?

At this time, Zhao Rong supported his chin, lowered his eyes and remained silent for a moment.

He nodded, looking at his friend who was getting increasingly excited, "I just saw several groups of people outside trying to get in, so... are there any good things here? Or... inheritance or adventure or something like that."

Zhao Rong paused, tapped the table with two fingers, and said with a smile:

"It can't be that... you admire the personality of Shopkeeper Zhao and come to chat with him, right?"

"Hehe...hehe..." Zhao Rong laughed, and the smile gradually disappeared.

His face turned expressionless.

Because the friend in front of him didn't show much expression. So it couldn't be...

"In a sense...it seems like I really came here to chat with him."

Fan Yushu pondered for a moment, thought about it, and nodded again:

"Well, I'd like to have a drink."

“…”

“…”

The young scholar turned his head and silently glanced at the bearded man behind the counter not far away, whose lips smelled as fragrant as if smeared with honey.

I could only hear his arrogant voice faintly:

"Damn it, one glass! I can only pour one glass! Little girl, your trick of acting like a spoiled child has been seen through by me. If I wasn't afraid of Bing Niang getting angry tonight, I would have given you a few words..."

“…”