Chapter 15: Thunderclap

  The May breeze is lazy, brushing against my face with an indescribable comfort. The Tianfu Teahouse is bustling with people coming and going, but Qiuxi's heart feels somewhat empty. Having traveled to this dynasty for two years, she has almost started to think of herself as a person from the Eastern Jin. In Shazhou City, there are familiar flavors, and in the guest house, there are familiar flush toilets. Perhaps in this world, she is not alone, and many times, it's not that she doesn't know anything, but rather that she is instinctively avoiding painful things. Living like an ostrich may be foolish, but it's not necessarily unhappy.

  Every time Gān Hú Lí smiled lecherously, nothing good would come of it. Qī Miǎo was still lowering his head, only focusing on devouring these delicate pastries, thinking he really wanted to comfort himself after last night's hard work. It turned out to be a trap. Last time it was insect grass, what is it this time? The atmosphere in the elegant room was very strange. Qī Miǎo tried hard to say something to break this eerie silence, opened his mouth, but still only picked up a crystal package and put it in his mouth: "I wonder if Brother Gān has any hobbies?"

  "Hobbies? Hmm, making money." The kid was straightforward to the point of being cute, and this sentence almost slipped out.

  "Hmm, straightforward enough, I like it. So, what's your ideal?"

  Make a lot of money.

  "......" Qiuxi felt a bit like she was going crazy, sometimes this guy was more cunning than a fox, and sometimes he was dumber than a wooden board. In the morning at Gan's residence, he had resumed his usual expression of "don't come near me", Qiuxi almost suspected that everything that happened on the rooftop last night was just an illusion. At this time, when Gan Jing said these words, although he was facing the window, the kind of ease and comfort that overflowed from his words was written all over his face. How many faces can a person have? Qiuxi had been in contact with him for so many days, but only today did she feel like this was the real him. Real, what is real anyway?

  The beaded curtain was lifted lightly, and both of them were stunned. Since it was a refined room, who would be so rude as to barge in without reporting first? The newcomer seemed to have not expected there to be two people inside, and their face revealed a hint of surprise. They took a step forward and bowed to Gan Jing: "I didn't know that Master Gan was also here, please forgive my intrusion." Qi Xian had only slightly turned her head to look when the newcomer lifted the curtain, thinking that this person must be looking for Gan Jing since she and her father were new to Shazhou and didn't have any acquaintances. But just now, she heard him say something like that, clearly indicating that he was familiar with Gan Jing, yet it seemed that he wasn't here for him this time.

  Gan Jing only nodded slightly, which was considered a greeting, with an extremely cold attitude. The warm smile that originally existed disappeared for a while, replaced by the familiar face of a stranger. Qi Mei carefully observed the person and thought: "Isn't this the great hero I met on Phoenix West Street? However, today's hero is wearing a plain long gown, without a sword at his waist. Although he bowed to Gan Jing first, his eyebrows and eyes were full of arrogance, completely different from the respect he showed to Master Zhu earlier."

  "No matter who Manager Lei is looking for, shouldn't he at least announce his presence first? That's what Master Zhu taught us." Gan Jing peeled a peanut and put it in his mouth with an air of nonchalance, but Manager Lei didn't seem to feel embarrassed by his words. Although he appeared to be responding to Gan Jing, his eyes had already casually swept towards Qiuxi: "I've always done things this way, I hope Master Gan will excuse me. This time, I came on behalf of my master to discuss a business deal with Miss Liu."

  As Ah Guan had said earlier, half of the people in Shazhou City were surnamed Gan and the other half were surnamed Zhu. In this world, apart from the steward of the Zhu family, which steward dared to be so presumptuous in front of Young Master Gan? The two of them came and went, and Qi Xi understood some things. Although she had never met Master Zhu before, she had already experienced his demeanor on the street that day. Qi Xi was also very curious about what kind of deal such a person would make with her. She gestured to Lei Zongguan to sit down and talk, but she didn't know why Gan Jing suddenly showed such strong rejection. It seemed that it was because the two families had been competing for many years and had always regarded each other as enemies.

  "What kind of deal does Mr. Lei want to make with you?" Qi Xi was a curious baby, but the more curious she was, the more mysterious Mr. Lei became. He glanced at Gan Jing and then bowed to Qi Xi: "The master of the house wants to do a big business with the young master, as for what kind of business it is, please trouble the young master to come again tomorrow, I will personally pick you up in the morning."

  In the end, Qi Xi still didn't know anything, and Gan Jing said with a face full of disdain: "Are you sure you want to come here tomorrow? Doing business with that person is not a simple matter. If possible, it's best to stay away from people from the Zhu family. Just like that Lei general manager earlier, I heard he has an unusual relationship with the most mysterious assassin organization in Jianghu. I advise you to just stay at home tomorrow, if you want to do business, I'll help you."

  She knew that they were doing it for her own good, so she nodded obediently, but who would have known what thoughts were hidden beneath that innocent-looking face? She wasn't someone who was afraid of death or craved life, and instead felt that missing out on such an exciting experience might lead to a lifetime of regret. Not wanting to worry Gan Jing too much, she pretended to be nonchalant about it. Meanwhile, Gan Jing said he wanted to go take a look around the various shops before leaving, but in reality, he was worried about leaving Ah Guan behind with Qi Xi. For Qi Xi, Shazhou was still an unfamiliar place, and having Ah Guan by her side made everything more convenient.

  "Seventh Young Master, where are we going now? If you want to buy something, we can go to Haitangli. If you want to try the delicious food of Shazhou, we can go to Fenghuang West Street." Seeing his own young master and this little gentleman being so familiar with each other, Ah Guan's way of addressing Seventh also changed slightly. Seventh seemed very pleased with this new way of being addressed, but didn't respond, instead continuing on towards the Tian Sha Riverbank. Although Ah Guan had no idea what Seventh Young Master wanted to do, he was still happy to go along, because there was a strange shop called Guo Ran Shop there, and the Double-Skinned Milk Buns from Fat Uncle's place had already taken hold of his stomach.

  Looking from afar, the fat uncle was still sitting at the entrance of the store, gazing up at the sky at a 45-degree angle. The store was still very quiet, or rather, there wasn't a single customer inside. Qiuxu sighed and walked forward: "Fat uncle, I really doubt how this shop of yours has managed to survive until today. How many customers will come to patronize it? Don't you feel anxious at all?"

  "What's the hurry, you see I've caught a little pest like you. Business can't be rushed, just go with the flow. By the way, little ghost, didn't you come by this morning? How did you end up coming back so soon?" Actually, people like Fat Uncle are really not suitable for doing business, it's a pity about his craftsmanship, those ingredients for making doublenai can't be used after they've gone bad, what a waste. This old man is really willing to throw things away.

  "I said, Fat Uncle, anyway those ingredients of yours will be thrown away after today, might as well sell them to me."

  "Are you out of your mind?"

  Qī Xiǎo accordingly also learned to follow Gān Jìng's example, narrowing his eyes and smiling. ā Guān only felt that such a smile seemed familiar. In the heart of "Qī Shào Ye", there were naturally other plans. How could he alone enjoy something as delicious as double-skinned milk?