Seeing him come out, Ji Xiaoxi's eyes smiled like crescent moons: "Brother Zu, I'm so glad to see you're alright."
Zu An felt a warmth in his heart: "I heard that you've been coming to the classroom every day to see if I've come back. I'm so sorry to have worried you."
"No way," Ji Xiaoxi's slightly chubby cheeks were flushed with a faint pink, "I don't come every day..."
Zuan laughed heartily: "I will always remember Xiaoxi's concern. Oh, by the way, this is for you."
As she spoke, she pulled out a beautiful handkerchief from her bosom: "Here, take this. I dirtied your handkerchief in Jackal Valley that time and said I'd get you a new one later, but then all sorts of things got in the way and I almost forgot. This time I finally found the chance to buy one. See if you like it. If you don't, I'll buy you another one."
"No need, this one is quite pretty." Ji Xiaoxi looked at the exquisite handkerchief with obvious delight. "Wow, it's even inlaid with gold thread, this must be very expensive, right?"
“Not expensive at all, I’m a rich man now,” Zuan said, patting his chest. “Only a handkerchief like this is worthy of you.”
Ji Xiaoxi blushed and said sweetly, "Thank you so much, Brother Zu!"
"By the way, I have a bottle of medicine here. Could you help me see what it's for?" Zu An took out the porcelain bottle he had taken from Chen Xuan earlier.
Upon hearing the word "medicine," Ji Xiaoxi's initially shy face instantly turned serious: "Okay, let me see."
After opening the bottle cap, Ji Xiaoxi first roughly observed the properties of the liquid inside the bottle, then brought it to her nose and gently fanned the bottle opening with her little hand to smell the aroma inside.
"Sweet?" Ji Xiaoxi asked, somewhat puzzled. "This medicine doesn't look like poison or any kind of healing medicine. Brother Zu, would you mind if I poured some out and tried it?"
“Of course I don’t mind,” Zuan laughed. To him, this thing was just a meaningless piece of junk if he didn’t understand its medicinal properties.
After receiving permission, Ji Xiaoxi poured a small drop from the bottle onto her hand, then stuck out her pink tongue and gently licked it.
Zuan was startled: "Hey, be careful, it might be poisonous!"
He didn't mind the other person trying, but who knew the other person would try it with their mouth?
What if something goes wrong during the test?
Ji Xiaoxi smiled sweetly: "Don't worry, Brother Zu, I know what I'm doing. I've been exposed to all kinds of poisons since I was a child, and my father has also given me a lot of spiritual medicines. Although my body is not immune to all poisons, most poisons are hard to harm me."
Zu An finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although Ji Dengtu was unreliable in other aspects, he cared a lot about his daughter and raised her like that since she was a child. He figured that even if Chen Xuan had some kind of poison on him, it wouldn't be able to harm her.
"Have you figured out what kind of poison it is?" Zuan asked curiously.
Ji Xiaoxi shook her head, a hint of doubt on her face: "It doesn't seem to have any toxicity. It's a bit like a tonic, but it seems quite different from ordinary tonics... Well, class is about to start, so I'll go back first. I'll tell you after I figure out its medicinal properties. You don't mind if I take this with me first, do you?"
"Of course I don't mind. If I can't even trust Xiaoxi, who else in this world can I trust?" Zuan laughed heartily.
Ji Xiaoxi blushed, thinking to herself, "Don't you even trust your own wife?" However, she was mostly focused on exploring the medicinal properties and soon became engrossed in it before leaving.
Back in the classroom, Zuan was met with a look of adoration from Wei Suo: "Boss is truly the boss! You just managed to win over Qiu Honglei from Meishi Yanxing, and now even the pure and innocent Ji Xiaoxi is completely devoted to you. You're a force to be reckoned with!"
Zuan's face darkened: "Don't talk nonsense, we're just friends."
Having witnessed Ji Dengtu's obsessive protectiveness towards his daughter, he didn't want any rumors to reach his ears. If that guy knew he had bullied Ji Xiaoxi, he'd skin him alive.
"Boyfriends and girlfriends, I know what that means." Weiss had a lewd expression on his face that everyone understood.
Zu An didn't want to get entangled with him about Ji Xiaoxi's question, so he asked instead, "By the way, what's so special about that Sifang Pavilion you mentioned earlier?"
Weisuo explained, "Sifang Pavilion is owned by the Wang family. The name comes from the idea of welcoming guests from all directions. It is the most luxurious restaurant in Mingyue City. That alone is not a big deal, but the top floor of Sifang Pavilion is inaccessible even if you have money."
"The Four Directions Pavilion has set rules that only the most outstanding individuals in each field are qualified to go up there. For example, you must either be a genius in the cultivation world or a highly learned scholar..."
"Only those who meet these conditions are qualified to go up. Sifang Pavilion has been open for so many years, and probably fewer than three digits have ever been to the top floor. Therefore, anyone can be proud to be able to go to the top floor of Sifang Pavilion."
"So normally I wouldn't be qualified to go up there, this time it's all thanks to you."
Zu An chuckled: "The Wang family has quite the marketing skills, but this is a bit too much of a publicity stunt. I don't believe that if Lord Mingyue and the City Lord wanted to go, they would dare to stop them."
Wei Suo replied, "The Wang family isn't stupid either. They've already left a way out in their rules. People like Lord Mingyue and Lord Xie are outstanding individuals in the officialdom; moreover, they are powerful cultivators, so they naturally meet the requirements for promotion."
“I see,” Zuan said with some curiosity. “These people are fine, after all, they are famous. But what about other guests who are not well-known but have real talent? How do you determine whether they are qualified?”
"That's simple. Just try it out on the spot. Cultivators will display their cultivation level; musicians will showcase their works; and scholars will be tested on poetry and prose. I heard that there are some timeless couplets written by great talents upstairs. If you can match any one of them, you can naturally go up..."
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