They arrived at the hua lou and they were welcomed by one of the shopkeepers. The shopkeeper took them to the usual place and this time, Yao Ying felt more comfortable because he knew that he was here purely for business matter.
Yao Ying paid attention to the shopkeeper. He was a bit old -- around forty years old and his hair was more to the greyish side. Although he was old, his movement was quite agile, probably because he was very thin and had a little bit of martial arts skills. If there was a strong wind, he would probably be blown away by it --- he looked that fragile. However, his eyes were sharp, showing that he was clever and his smile was quite sly.
"Shopkeeper He... I want to welcome my friend to the hua lou life," Lin Jian smiled proudly. "Call my favorite Mi Hui for me." One of the courtesans were called Mi Hui, it was a part of their disguise. So once he called Mi Hui, it meant that Lin Jian wanted to meet with the inner circle of the organization. To other regular customers or oblivious shopkeepers, they would only think that Lin Jian want to call Mi Hui -- one of the courtesans.
Lin Jian already told him about it on the way there. He even asked Lin Jian, what if there was a confusion between the two Mi Hui --- the courtesan or the organization. Lin Jian laughed at him and explained, "Don"t worry! Only three people which are able to call the organization -- Uncle w.a.n.g, me, and now... you. Unless there is a token to move them, other people can"t easily call them. Besides, you can only ask for the organization to the three senior shopkeepers."
Yao Ying nodded in understanding. "What about General Lin?"
"Ah... Father doesn"t want to handle hua lou. He is a bit miffed at women --- except the love of his life," Lin Jian said.
"Is the one who welcomed us one of the inner circle shopkeepers?" Yao Ying asked.
"Yes. Shopkeeper He is one of them and he"s the one I trusted the most," Lin Jian answered and also gave Yao Ying a hint.
"Will I also be able to meet the two housekeepers today?"
Lin Jian shook his head. "No... it will be too obvious because they usually handle everything behind the scene. If we accidentally meet them, I will let you know. For now, shopkeeper He will be just fine. He"s our main contact anyway."
Yao Ying knew what Lin Jian said was correct, so he didn"t really make a fuss about it. A few servants served them luxurious dishes along with the most expensive wine on the table. They already knew Young Master Lin"s preferences, so Lin Jian didn"t need to order anything and everything would be prepared and delivered to him.
"Is there a need to order this many dishes?" Yao Ying sighed, still feeling that they were really wasting foods here.
"Don"t worry. This is on me!" Lin Jian said.
"That"s not what I mean," Yao Ying answered in disdain. He was a peasant and knew how hard it was for peasants had to work just to serve foods on the table for their families. That"s why his heart felt slightly aching when he saw people wasting foods like this. "If you weren"t able to finish the food, I will bring the leftovers with me."
"What for?" Lin Jian asked. He was a young master who was born with a silver spoon on his mouth, so he didn"t really understand Yao Ying"s train of thought.
Yao Ying explained patiently because it seemed like the young master needed to be taught to care more about the peasants. "To give them to the people who don"t have enough foods to eat. If we can"t eat it all, in the end... the foods will be thrown away and don"t you feel that it"s a waste of foods?"
Lin Jian was surprised with the way Yao Ying"s mind worked, but it made sense. He nodded in agreement and he vowed that he would also do this next time.
"Let"s eat while waiting for Mi Hui." Lin Jian was pretty hungry and it was also time to eat lunch. Yao Ying nodded in agreement because he started to get hungry too.
They both eat heartily and in the middle of eating, the door was opened from the outside. "Young Master Lin... Young Master w.a.n.g..." Three beautiful women came into the room and greeted them politely. Yao Ying knew that he was Young Master w.a.n.g, but he felt that it was a bit weird because other people rarely called him with that surname and he still didn"t get used to it.
Yao Ying watched them carefully and one woman in a soft pink robe stood out from the rest. The woman is a stunning beauty and her delicate makeup made her appear more seductive. When she greeted them, her bearing was magnificent and elegant. It was on par with Yao Ling, but he preferred Yao Ling"s exquisite beauty. If he wasn"t in a hua lou, he would have probably mistaken this woman as the daughter of a prominent family.
The two other women"s bearing didn"t lose to the woman in the soft pink robe and Yao Ying wondered what kind of training they underwent to make them this graceful. Yao Ying really admired the person who handled the training. No wonder the VIP customers loved to come here and have a great time with the women --- without having s.e.x. Looking at them would certainly make people feel content.
As though they knew that they came strictly for business, the women didn"t try to seduce both of them. They sat quietly in front of them and looked at Lin Jian"s next instruction. "Girls, this is Young Master w.a.n.g. He is a part of our Mi Hui and when I"m not around, he will be the one who handles everything."
"Yes, Young Master Lin," they politely answered.
Lin Jian pointed at the girl in the soft pink robe and introduced her, "She"s our number one courtesan, Mi Hui. We always describe to people that the meaning of Mi Hui"s name can be said as secret rendezvous with the customer, just to make them feel happy and don"t realize the other meaning behind the name."
Ah... so he guessed correctly. That stunning beauty is Mi Hui. Yao Ying nodded politely at Mi Hui and didn"t say anything else. He felt like applauding them for thinking that far about the name and the code -- Mi Hui.
"She"s our contact to our network intelligence in this hua lou and the people also know her as the owner of this hua lou," Lin Jian grinned.
Yao Ying was surprised that Mi Hui was actually the popular fake-owner of this hua lou. The woman looked no older than him, so they were probably at the same age. It seemed like this woman was clever and quick-witted to have that t.i.tle.
"Nice to meet you," Yao Ying finally talked to her. It would be rude of him if he didn"t make a brief conversation with her, after all, he would be in touch with her from time to time.
"Nice to meet you too, Young Master w.a.n.g. If you need something, you can just tell me," Mi Hui talked to him politely. After all, the men in front of her were their bosses and she knew her place very well. She was the owner in name only and the people who held the power in this hua lou were these young masters.
"I will," Yao Ying said.
Lin Jian introduced the other two women as Qing Su and Qing Lu. Yao Ying curtly nodded to them. He didn"t know what he should do, so he just kept silent and let Lin Jian do the talking. He would only become an observer.
"Qing Su, you can play qujin for us," Lin Jian ordered. Qing Su quickly went to the qujin that had been prepared beforehand and start playing.
Lin Jian whispered to Yao Ying that the qujin would m.u.f.fle their talking voice, so no one could hear what they were talking about. Yao Ying nodded in understanding.
"Qing Lu, you can sing along," Lin Jian once again ordered the other woman. Without being told, Yao Ying already understood the reason.
"Mi Hui, come closer... any report?"
Mi Hui quickly sat near both of young masters, but she didn"t breach the etiquette and still maintained a good distance. It seemed like the women in this hua lou really knew their place.
"Yes, Young Master. This servant has a few things to report," Mi Hui answered. She looked at Yao Ying hesitantly, because she wasn"t sure if it was okay for her to talk in front of him. After all, she was also surprised that Master w.a.n.g Luo Hai and Young Master Lin would let a stepson handle this hua lou"s operation. This hua lou was an important point of the organization.
Lin Jian saw the hesitation and said, "It"s okay! You can talk in front of him. He"s our own people and you should treat him just like the way you treat me."
When Mi Hui heard the approval from Young Master Lin, she had no choice but to give the report in front of Young Master w.a.n.g. Yao Ying saw her hesitation and he knew that he needed to gain the approval of these people first before he would be allowed to fully handle the operation of Mi Hui.