Chapter 10 A Farce of a Meal (1/2)

”Big Brother Donghuang! Big Brother Donghuang!”

It was almost noon. Not long after Lin Lan had left, Zhou Donghuang, who had just calmed down and was beginning to practice, was startled by a voice from outside.

The voice belonged to a girl, and it sounded tender and musical to the ears.

This voice...

Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes, and memories from a thousand years before surfaced in his mind, causing the corners of his mouth to be pulled upwards in a slight smile.

He had been ten years old that year.

He had seen a little girl, five or six years old, being bullied by several boys about the same age as her on the main street. He had stepped forward, grabbed one of the boys, and hit him hard, scaring away the other boys.

From then on, the little girl often came to the Magnolia Guild seeking his company, following him and Chen Dandan around, calling them ”Big Brother Donghuang” and ”Big Sister Dandan.”

That's right, today is the nineteenth, , the twelfth month, 1, 1227 in the Ziyun Era.

On this day in my previous life, Xiaoyu came to invite me out for a meal… but because of Chen Dandan's betrayal and the precarious situation of the Magnolia Guild, I was in a bad mood and rejected her invitation.

Zhou Donghuang recalled the incident just as he opened the door.

Outside stood a girl who looked about eleven or twelve years old, delicate looking and with well-formed features, and it was not hard to imagine that she would grow up to be a beauty.

Qin Xiaoyu was eleven that year and was from a branch of the Qin family of Qingshan Town.

In the past, Qin Xiaoyu's position in the Qin family was ordinary, but ever since her father had a breakthrough and became a level-one adept of the gathered qi and an elder in the Qin family three years ago, she had become the little princess of the Qin family in one fell swoop.

”Big Brother Donghuang, I have been invited for a meal at the earthly dining booth at Yunxuan Restaurant… Let's go together, shall we?”

This scene played out exactly as he remembered it.

At first, Zhou Donghuang was planning to reject the invitation just like he had previously, but seeing the look of longing on Qin Xiaoyu's face, his heart melted, and he agreed.

”Big Brother Donghuang, whenever my father brings me for a meal at Yunxuan Restaurant, we only go to the people's dining booth and never the earthly dining booth… I heard that the earthly dining booth is magnificent; there are more dishes on the menu, and there is a minimum expenditure of thirty liang of silver.”

Qin Xiaoyu's excitement was plain to see during their journey to Yunxuan Restaurant after leaving the Magnolia Guild.

”Xiaoyu, who is hosting the meal?” Zhou Donghuang asked curiously.

Ordinary people couldn't usually spend the money to eat in the earthly dining booth at Yunxuan Restaurant. As the son of the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, he was naturally somewhat aware of the costs involved.

The great hall did not have a minimum expenditure. The booths, however, did have a minimum expenditure.

The lowest class of booths was the people's dining booth, with a minimum expenditure of twenty liang of silver, and the slightly better earthly dining booths had a minimum expenditure of thirty liang of silver.

The next class above the earthly dining booths was the best class of heavenly dining booths, with a minimum expenditure of a hundred liang of silver.

Even when the heads of the lesser families of Qingshan Town went to eat at Yunxuan Restaurant, they would only go to the earthly dining booths at most.

They would only reserve a heavenly dining booth if they had an important guest to entertain.

A hundred liang of silver for a meal was a great expenditure even for the head of a lesser family.

In Qingshan Town, an ordinary family of three would spend at most eight to ten liang of silver in a year.

”It's Zhong Gang of the Zhong family. He lost a bet with Big Brother Qin Fei, so now he has to treat Big Brother Qin Fei to a meal in the earthly dining booth of Yunxuan Restaurant.”

Qin Xiaoyu giggled. ”Big Brother Qin Fei brought me along and told me that I could bring someone else along, anyone I wanted… the first person I thought of was you, Big Brother Donghuang.”

The Big Brother Qin Fei that Qin Xiaoyu mentioned was the first young master of the Qin family, who was a year older than Zhou Donghuang.

Be it the Zhong family or the Qin family, all the lesser families of equal status to the Wang family each had a level-two adept of the gathered qi in command. They were considered the most illustrious person in the family.

Zhou Donghuang felt a surge of warmth in his heart at Qin Xiaoyu's words. This little girl did not forget him when such an opportunity presented itself.

At that moment, Zhou Donghuang was thinking about how he would bring Qin Xiaoyu to the heavenly dining booth in Yunxuan Restaurant some day in the future for a good meal and let her eat her fill.

He was now the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, and the entire Yunxuan Restaurant was his business. He would not even need to spend money to eat at Yunxuan Restaurant.

Zhou Donghuang and Qin Xiaoyu were soon approaching Yunxuan Restaurant.

As the best restaurant in Qingshan Town, Yunxuan Restaurant was located in the bustling center of Qingshan Town and occupied an area comparable to any of the family mansions in Qingshan Town.

With Qin Xiaoyu leading the way, they both entered an earthly dining booth on the second floor.

As they walked through the main entrance of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang spied the chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, Li Xian, whom he had met two days ago. Li Xian was calculating a bill with his head lowered and had not seen him.

”I knew that if I allowed Xiaoyu to bring someone, she would surely look for you at the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang.”

As soon as he entered the booth with Xiaoyu, Zhou Donghuang heard a familiar yet distant voice from his memory. It was the first young master of the Qin family, Qin Fei.

Currently, there were three people in the booth besides Qin Fei, and they were all people whom Zhou Donghuang could recall from memory.

The first young master of the Zhong family, Zhong Gang, second master Zhong Yi, and third lady Zhong Xiu.