"Master!" Ji Shen couldn't believe it.
In his opinion, Mu Xingzhi was not only his teacher, but also his friend. Not only did he not help him, but he actually proposed to Yun Yuan in public when he knew that their family was not on good terms with her. This was tantamount to a betrayal of their friendship.
He seemed to have been slapped hard, and his face turned blue and white.
Mu Xingzhi ignored him and bowed deeply to Yun Yuan, saying slowly, "My name is Mu Xingzhi. My family owns a thousand acres of fertile land and eight hundred restaurants. I wouldn't call myself extremely wealthy, but I do have a small fortune. If my wife is willing to marry me, I will devote all my resources to protecting her for the rest of my life."
His voice was gentle and low, as soft as a spring breeze, but with a hint of imperceptible tension.
Ji Huai's body was tense, his fingers trembled unconsciously, and a thin layer of sweat seeped out of his palms.
Will she agree to marry him?
He prayed silently in his heart, hoping that Yun Yuan would not agree to Mu Xingzhi's proposal. Deep in his heart, he felt an indescribable sense of uneasiness and crisis.
Finally, Yun Yuan spoke. Her voice was soft, but her eyes were firm and clear.
"Thank you for your help, sir. I am just a humble person and I really don't dare to approach you. I am deeply grateful for your kindness today."
She looked at Yan Xiaoman, whose face had turned as dark as the bottom of a pot, and raised an eyebrow: "I am willing to sign a bet with this scholar, but the bet chips must be exchanged for a shop and two hundred taels of silver."
Mu Xingzhi was slightly taken aback, but then his eyes lit up with interest. He had thought she would refuse, but why did she agree to the bet? Did she have something to rely on?
The onlookers also couldn't understand Yun Yuan's thought process.
Since they were both getting married, wouldn't it be better to just marry Mu Xingzhi and become his wife? Why did they make a bet with Yan Xiaoman? As customers, they knew exactly how good Yan Xiaoman's braised pork was.
They all shook their heads, as if they had already foreseen Yun Yuan's fate.
"Okay!" Yan Xiaoman thought it was hopeless, but unexpectedly, there was a sudden turn of events. Mu Xingzhi's behavior put her in danger. She secretly cursed Yun Yuan as a vixen, and her desire to crush Yun Yuan to death became even more urgent.
She shouted, "If you lose, go home with Er Gouzi directly. You are not allowed to go back on your word for any reason."
Yun Yuan: "You too."
Er Gouzi rubbed his hands excitedly, his eyes glued to Yun Yuan's stunningly beautiful face, "Wife..."
"Who is your wife?" Yun Yuan interrupted him, her eyes filled with disgust. "It's just a bet. Do you really think you're a nobody?"
Everyone laughed, and Ergouzi's expression suddenly became fierce.
He didn't know what he was thinking about, and his face calmed down again, but his eyes were always fixed on Yun Yuan.
Mu Xingzhi looked at Ergouzi, a dark light flashed in his eyes, and he unexpectedly met Ji Huai's equally dark eyes. The two of them tacitly looked away.
Yan Xiaoman felt both happy and contemptuous when he thought that he could deal with Yun Yuan soon. She was just a native woman and she really didn't know her place.
So many restaurants in the city wanted to make the same braised meat as hers, but they all failed without exception. She was also very cautious. The spices she usually used for braised meat were ground and mixed together into powder, and no one knew what was in it.
She pulled Ji Shen over with a smug look on her face, "Husband, please write a written agreement and have her put her fingerprints on it. Then you won't be able to deny it in the future."
Ji Shen hesitantly turned his gaze to Mu Xingzhi. Seeing that he did not stop him, he hesitantly reached out to take the pen handed to him by Yan Xiaoman and wrote a note.
Yun Yuan said, "One isn't enough. What if I win and you don't acknowledge it? Write me another one."
Hearing this, Yan Xiaoman's eyes became even more sarcastic, but he still asked Ji Shen to write another receipt.
Throughout the process, the atmosphere was tense.
In full view of everyone, Yan Xiaoman was the first to press his fingerprints, and then handed the receipt to Yun Yuan.
Yun Yuan calmly pressed her handprint and looked at the menu in Yan Xiaoman's store.
"Braised pig's trotters, braised chicken feet, braised pork belly, and braised eggs are all available in your shop. How about we compare these four?"
"Okay." Yan Xiaoman held his head high. "We'll meet here in three days."
Yun Yuan, however, looked disgusted and said, "I don't want to come here again. It's so narrow and crowded. I want to go to Huai Shang Restaurant."
"I think it's feasible." Ji Huai said, "I have some connections with Huai Shang Restaurant. Just give them a call. The ingredients will also be provided by Huai Shang Restaurant. I will ask the steward to free up two kitchens for you two to compete."
The onlookers cheered, "Then let's all be judges!"
"I'm a scholar, let me go first, I promise I won't show favoritism."
Ji Huai said loudly: "Anyone present that day can be a judge. Everyone is welcome to come. I will reserve enough space for everyone."
"Okay, okay, I'll definitely go!"
Amidst the clamor, a loud shout suddenly came from next door: "You old bastard, I already said I'm not buying your chicken, why don't you get out of here!"
Yun Yuan looked over and saw an old man, along with a cage of chickens, being roughly pushed and shoved by the waiter from the roast chicken shop next door, and finally fell to the ground in a miserable state.
She felt that the old man looked familiar. While she was thinking about it, Ji Huai rushed forward without hesitation.
He quickly helped the old man up from the ground and asked with concern: "Uncle Wu, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Yun Yuan finally remembered that she had met this old man when she was taking care of Ji Zhang's funeral. He was one of the many members of the Ji family and had also given Ji Zhang paper money.
Uncle Ji rubbed the place where he was hurt from the fall, with a bitter look on his face, but he still waved his hand and said it was okay. He was a little surprised to see Ji Huai, "Brother Huai, you are in the city too?"
"Not only me, my sister-in-law and Ji Xiucai are here too." Ji Huai was angry: "Let's not talk about this for now. What exactly happened? Why did this guy push you?"
Uncle Ji Wu really saw Yun Yuan and Ji Shen in the crowd, and a look of joy appeared on his face. With so many clansmen around, they would definitely be able to get justice for him.
Ji Shen had read the most and was a scholar, so it was natural for Uncle Ji Wu to ask him for help first.
"Scholarly nephew, please judge for me. I brought twelve chickens to sell, and this clerk asked me to go back to the store to negotiate the price. We couldn't agree on a price, so I planned to carry the chickens to the next buyer, but when I counted them, I found that one of the chickens I brought was missing."
Ji Shen walked out slowly, frowning: "Uncle Wu, are you saying that the guy stole your chicken?"
"Exactly!" Uncle Ji Wu said, "We were just discussing the price. He was worried that the chickens would make the ground dirty, so he asked me to put the chicken coop in his backyard where the chickens were kept. I counted the chickens before I left, and there's no way one of them would be missing for no reason."
The guy didn't expect that the old man had any acquaintances here, but he was not afraid at all.
"Everyone in the neighborhood knows that my shop has been open for over a hundred years. How could such a big shop possibly owe you a chicken?"
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