I did go to the street after all, but the experience was really not pleasant.
At least in Hua Cai's opinion, that is indeed the case.
"Hey, Yue Chen, did you leave something here?"
Passing by the same clothing store for the Nth time, Hua Cai searched the empty ground with a puzzled look, feeling her legs were aching terribly.
"No," Yue Chen replied coldly, his face ashen.
No?
"Then what are we doing wandering around here?" Hua Cai said plaintively, her small hand shielding her eyes from the direct sunlight. Suddenly, her eyes lit up: "Yue Chen, let's go have tea. That teahouse looks very famous. I can almost smell the fragrance of the tea."
She had been walking back and forth in this area of less than 100 meters for an hour. She was almost sick of seeing just a few shops on the street. Right now, let alone whether the tea was good or not, she could taste the flavor of mist tea even in a bowl of plain water.
"Let's go, let's go—" Hua Cai tugged at Yue Chen's sleeve and shook it, looking at him pitifully.
Yue Chen surrendered instantly, glancing reluctantly at the clothing store behind him before grabbing Hua Cai's hand and leading her toward the teahouse she had mentioned.
He seemed to finally understand where the helpless look in Jin Yin's eyes came from.
This was Hua Cai's third visit to Xinducheng, but Yue Chen seemed to be a regular. As soon as the two entered the teahouse, a man dressed as the manager greeted them with great enthusiasm.
"Young Master Yue has arrived. Please come upstairs, both of you." The innkeeper greeted the two men before even asking them a question.
As expected, he's a regular customer.
Yue Chen merely nodded politely to the shopkeeper, without moving, his gaze fixed on her as if observing her intentions.
“Okay, then we—” Hua Cai was about to agree when a figure entered through the main entrance.
"Shopkeeper, bring me a pot of good tea." A hoarse voice rang out. The man stood in front of the counter, looking towards the shopkeeper. His gaze paused, then fell directly on her.
Hua Cai's expression changed. Looking at the shopkeeper who was still waiting for their answer, she took a small step, turned her back to the man's gaze, and shyly nestled into Yue Chen's arms: "Husband, there are too many people here. Let's stay here and go upstairs."
Her voice, which had been clear and melodious just moments before, now carried a hint of husky coquettishness.
The shopkeeper's gaze shifted, his eyes subtly landing on Yue Chen's face.
Yue Chen froze, his gaze fixed on the person in his arms.
Not hearing a reply, Hua Cai looked up in Yue Chen's arms, and from an angle where the people at the counter couldn't see her, she slightly raised her small, claw-like hand and threatened in a low voice: "If you don't cooperate with me, I'll let you taste what it's like to have your heart pierced by a claw."
As he spoke, he grinned mischievously, showing off his small white teeth.
Yue Chen laughed instead of being afraid, lowered his head slightly, and pressed his thin lips against Hua Cai's ear in an ambiguous way: "Why should I? You are ruining my reputation."
Bah, you have no reputation whatsoever.
"You—" Hua Cai gritted her teeth. The people at the counter were getting impatient and started walking over here.
"Shopkeeper, if you haven't poured tea, please say so." The voice was already close behind the two people, even though they were only a few steps away.
The shopkeeper's gaze fell on Yue Chen's face. Yue Chen smiled slightly and winked at the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, please attend to the other customers. We need to think about it. Sorry."
"Alright, this way please, esteemed guest," the innkeeper greeted the people behind him warmly.
Hua Cai couldn't see the two people's gazes and assumed that the person had been called away by the shopkeeper. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to take the opportunity to slip away and give Yue Chen a memorable lesson when she heard a hoarse voice behind her again: "This young lady looks very familiar, as if she is an old friend of mine. I wonder if I have mistaken her for someone else."
They haven't left yet.
Hua Cai tightened her grip on Yue Chen's clothes and snuggled closer to him, lowering her voice to the lowest possible level, afraid that the person behind her would hear: "Spit it out."
The more frustrated she looked, the more pleased Yue Chen felt. He didn't care about her vulgar language at all and leaned close to Hua Cai's ear with a smile: "A set of clothes."
Huh? What was she thinking?
"Deal." It's just a set of clothes. The Jin family is wealthy and powerful. They lack everything except money. They could wear a different set of clothes every day until they die.
Hua Cai readily agreed, then awkwardly moved a little further away from Yue Chen.
This guy just talks like he's going to, why is he standing so close?
"Manager, we'll go up ourselves and bring in the best tea leaves." Yue Chen greeted the manager cheerfully, put his arm around Hua Cai's shoulder and walked towards the stairs. As he passed the person whose eyes were fixed on Hua Cai, he smiled slightly and said, "My wife has only been married for a short time and is a bit shy. Please excuse her."
Hua Cai gritted her teeth, and I endured it.
With Yue Chen's arm around her, she slowly made her way upstairs. As she turned a corner, she could clearly feel the gazes that had been fixed on her disappear.
Hua Cai didn't move until they entered the legendary private room, at which point she suddenly jumped out of Yue Chen's arms and took two steps toward the window.
Hua Cai quietly opened a crack and looked downstairs, only to find that from this position, she could see almost every spot downstairs clearly.
"This location is incredible." Hua Cai turned to look at Yue Chen, incredulous.
Yue Chen poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip: "It's alright."
Even though it wasn't meant to be boastful, Hua Cai inexplicably felt like hitting someone.
She rolled her eyes at him and continued to peer through the crack in the window to see the person who had already taken a seat downstairs.
"Why are you working so hard?" A leisurely voice came from behind. Yue Chen held a teacup in one hand and pulled her away from the window with the other, then reached out and untied the curtain above.
A thin curtain fell down, and Yue Chen, with his free hand, suddenly pushed the window open, causing it to swung outwards.
The curtains were almost transparent, so even though the windows were blocked, everything in the lobby downstairs could still be seen clearly.
As the window was pushed open, the person downstairs seemed to hear the noise and immediately looked up in this direction.
Hua Cai was startled and immediately tried to get out of the way downstairs, but Yue Chen pulled her back, and she was still a step too late.
"What's the rush? We can see clearly outside from here, but we can't see into the room from the outside." Yue Chen remained calm and poured a cup of tea, handing it to Hua Cai.
Sure enough, the person downstairs only glanced up in their direction before looking down again.
Relieved, Hua Cai turned to look at Yue Chen with dissatisfaction: "Even if you couldn't see it, couldn't you have told me beforehand?"
As she spoke, her gaze fell on the teacup that Yue Chen had handed her. She was also extremely thirsty, so she took it and drank it all in one gulp, then handed the empty cup back to Yue Chen.
"Another cup, please." His gaze remained fixed on the ground below, and he made no attempt to be polite in ordering Yue Chen around.
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