Chapter 12: The New Owner of Yunxuan Restaurant
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“So it’s Grand Master Qin, Grand Master Zhong, Second Master Zhong, and Third Lady Zhong.”
Even though the four people before him were the scions of the Qin and Zhong Families of Qingshan Town, Li Xian merely gave them a mild nod.
Had the patriarchs of the Qin and Zhong Families been there, they would still have treated him respectfully and appropriately.
These small fries were insignificant to him.
“Esteemed guests, please lower your volume from now on… After all, you are not the only patrons of Yunxuan Restaurant!” Li Xian said softly, looking at Qin Fei and the others with a gleam in his eye.
“Chief Steward Li Xian has no need to worry, we will definitely be quiet from now on,” Qin Fei replied, bowing hastily.
The three Zhong siblings all nodded and echoed Qin Fei, forcing smiles on their faces and nodding like chickens pecking at rice grains.
Qin Xiaoyu was standing beside Qin Fei, and the look in Li Xian’s gaze gave her a sense of restraint and fear.
Usually, whenever her father saw Li Xian when they were both at Yunxuan Restaurant for a meal, her father would prompt her to follow his lead as he bowed respectfully to Li Xian.
Li Xian was the Chief Steward of Yunxuan Restaurant and was also a trusted servant of Zhao San, the wealthiest man in Qingshan Town.
Zhao San was held in high esteem in Qingshan Town, and it was said that he had direct connections to the Governor’s Household in the prefecture capital.
As Li Xian turned to leave, Qin Fei and the others simultaneously let out their breath.
“Chief Steward Li, that was magnificent!”
A calm voice rang out suddenly in the booth, causing Qin Fei and the others to shrink back and tremble in fear.
The voice seemed familiar to Li Xian, who had just turned around, and he turned back again to look in the direction of the voice.
He immediately saw Zhou Donghuang, who had half his face blocked by Qin Xiaoyu who was standing in front of him.
Although he could only see half his face, Li Xian recognized Zhou Donghuang at once.
The new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant!
Why is he here?
Thinking of his earlier performance, Li Xian’s heart thudded and looked uneasily at Zhou Donghuang, not making a sound for a long while, just like a little boy who had been caught doing wrong.
“Zhou Donghuang, you went too far!”
Zhong Yi stared furiously at Zhou Donghuang, and yelled, “You don’t really think that you are the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, do you?”
“Zhou Donghuang, you really are insane! You dare behave like this in front of Chief Steward Li Xian. Today, even though the Magnolia Guild has not yet fallen, it still will not be able to protect you!”
“Zhou Donghuang, apologize immediately to Chief Steward Li Xian… If not, I will not spare you today!” Zhong Gang followed up with an angry roar, trying to stand up for Li Xian.
“Zhou Donghuang, I, Qin Fei, called you brother out of respect… I never thought you would throw that respect away!”
Seeing how Zhou Donghuang dared speak to Li Xian, Qin Fei, who did not want to be dragged down with Zhou Donghuang, hastily tried to draw a line between them.
“If it were not for my treat, in two days’ time, when your Magnolia Guild has fallen, you would never have the chance to step into the earthly dining booth of Yunxuan Restaurant for the rest of your life.”
“Now, I command you, apologize immediately to Chief Steward Li Xian… if not, don’t even think about walking out of this earthly dining booth!”
Qin Fei looked at Zhou Donghuang with a look of extreme coldness, as though he would strike Zhou Donghuang if his command was not obeyed.
From the moment Zhou Donghuang had spoken, all eyes had been on him, and no one noticed the uneasy expression on Li Xian’s face.
“Big Brother Donghuang…”
Qin Xiaoyu’s expression had also changed; she never imagined that her Big Brother Donghuang would dare behave in this manner in front of Li Xian.
Was he not afraid of offending Li Xian?
“Chief Steward Li Xian, my big brother has been feeling moody these few days, what he said just now was nonsense, you… please don’t take it seriously,” Qin Xiaoyu said as she s.h.i.+fted her gaze from Zhou Donghuang to Li Xian.
As she did, she was stunned.
She saw Li Xian looking uneasily at Donghuang, as though Donghuang were some kind of sea monster.
Piak!
The clear, sharp, sound of a slap echoed around the booth without any warning, as suddenly as Zhou Donghuang had spoken just now.
It was Li Xian who had moved to face Qin Fei and had given him a fiery slap, immediately leaving a red palm print on his cheek.
“Chief Steward Li Xian, you…”
With blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth, Qin Fei looked at Li Xian in stupefaction, having no clue as to why Li Xian had slapped him.
If he recalled correctly, had he not been sticking up for Li Xian? Even if Li Xian had wanted to slap somebody, it should not have been him, should it?
The slap had also gotten the attention of the three Zhong siblings, but they were equally dumbfounded at the scene before them.
And now, Li Xian, who had just slapped Qin Fei, ignored the shocking face of Qin Fei and said respectfully with a trembling voice to Zhou Donghuang, who was seated in the booth, “Young Master Donghuang, I… I did not know you were coming… If I had known, I would definitely have arranged a heavenly dining booth for you.”
This scene left everyone else in the booth wide-eyed in shock.
Good heavens!
What was going on?
Li Xian, the chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, who was treated with respect even by the patriarchs of the lesser houses of Qingshan Town, was bowing to Zhou Donghuang?
Moreover, the humility which Li Xian was showing was something they could not have imagined.
Could this Zhou Donghuang have some secret ident.i.ty they did not know about?
If he was merely the son of Lin Lan, the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Li Xian would have no reason to treat him this way, would he?
Qin Fei and the three Zhong siblings were utterly confused. At this moment Qin Xiaoyu was stunned as well, looking dumbly at the scene before her.
“Li Xian, tell them… when I eat at Yunxuan Restaurant, can I have the bill waived?” Zhou Donghuang said mildly.
“Young Master Donghuang must be kidding,” Li Xian smiled bitterly. “You are now the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant. If you eat at your own restaurant, who would dare charge you?”
As Zhou Donghuang was speaking to Li Xian, the hearts of Qin Fei and the three Zhong siblings skipped a beat in unison and left them with a hunch that disaster was imminent.
Indeed, what Li Xian said confirmed that hunch.
“Big Brother Donghuang… is the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant?”
Qin Xiaoyu’s mouth was hanging open in shock, and it took sometime before she closed it. Qin Fei and the three Zhong siblings were also stunned motionless to the extent that they wondered if they were dreaming, and pinched themselves in unison.
The sharp pain told them that they were not dreaming.
In that instant, the four of them exchanged glances and saw panic and disbelief in each other’s eyes.
Zhou Donghuang, the son of Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild, a martial invalid who could not manifest his qi…
How did he become the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant?
Was not the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant Zhao San, the wealthiest man in Qingshan Town?
“Chief Steward Li Xian… you… are you mistaken? Isn’t Elder Zhao San the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant?” Zhong Xiu asked, swallowing hard, as though clutching at the last straw that would save her life.
“Hmmmph!”
Li Xian looked Zhong Xiu once over and replied coldly, “Elder San returned to the prefecture capital two days ago… before he left, he gave Yunxuan Restaurant to Young Master Donghuang. Since then, Young Master Donghuang has fully accepted the owners.h.i.+p of Yunxuan Restaurant and is the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant.”
Li Xian’s reply shattered the final hope deep in Zhong Xiu’s heart.
In that instant, not only Zhong Xiu but also Zhong Gang and Zhong Yi all felt their faces burn…
Zhou Donghuang had not been exaggerating after all; he could eat without being charged at Yunxuan Restaurant because he really was the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant!
“What kind of devil’s luck could Zhou Donghuang have? How could Elder Zhao San have given him Yunxuan Restaurant?”
When Qin Fei returned his gaze to Zhou Donghuang, it was with a look of hatred and envy.
What kind of character and abilities does Zhou Donghuang have? he roared in his heart.
“Young Master Donghuang, let me escort you to the heavenly dining booth,” Li Xian offered.
“No thank you, I’ve eaten my fill.”
Zhou Donghuang shook his head and glanced at Qin Xiaoyu beside him, smiling. “Xiaoyu, if you are still hungry, please feel free to follow Chief Steward Li to the heavenly dining booth to continue your meal.”
“From this day on, whenever you come to Yunxuan Restaurant for a meal, you may go directly to the heavenly dining booth… all expenditures will be waived! I have matters to attend to, I will be taking my leave.”
Zhou Donghuang stood up as he finished speaking.
He had not intended to come in the first place, and now that he had drunk and eaten his fill, it was time to go back and continue practicing.
After all, his top priority at the moment was to practice. Anything else was not important.
Before leaving, Zhou Donghuang glanced casually at Li Xian.
“Chief Steward Li Xian, did you hear what I just said?”
“Yes I did. Will do.”
Li Xian nodded hurriedly in reply and looked at Qin Xiaoyu.
“From this day on, this young lady may come to Yunxuan Restaurant, go directly to the heavenly dining booth, and all expenditures will be waived.”
“Hm!” Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction and strode freely out of the earthly dining booth, leaving everyone staring at his back.
“Big Brother Donghuang…”
Qin Xiaoyu took a long while to regain her composure after Zhou Donghuang had left, as though she were in a dream.
As for Qin Fei and the three Zhong Siblings, their expressions were terrible to behold, extremely terrible…
That day, they had intended for Zhou Donghuang to join them so they could thoroughly humiliate him and make him lose face completely.
Now, they were the ones who had lost face.
…
Not long after Zhou Donghuang had returned to the Magnolia Guild and continued practicing, the news began spreading around Qingshan Town: Zhao San, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, had left Qingshan Town two days ago. Before leaving, he had given Yunxuan Restaurant to Zhou Donghuang, the son of Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild!
Consequently, Qingshan Town was in an uproar.
Yunxuan Restaurant was the most profitable business in Qingshan Town, raking in money daily. Even the combined earnings of the Magnolia Guild and Sunset Guild, which were the two major guilds, could not equal Yunxuan Restaurant.
And now this restaurant had a new owner, and that was the famous martial arts invalid of Qingshan Town, Zhou Donghuang.
That Elder Zhao San… actually gave Yunxuan Restaurant to that little swine?
A look of dread flashed across the eyes of Red Crane w.a.n.g, the patriarch of the w.a.n.g family, as he got wind of this news.
What kind of connection to Elder Zhao San does that little swine have?