"Welcome, honored guests. How many?"
When Chen Ze and Zhao Ling'er entered Tongfu Restaurant, a waiter immediately came over to greet them.
Only after greeting them did the waiter notice Zhao Ling'er beside Chen Ze.
The moment he saw Zhao Ling'er's face clearly, his gaze was instantly drawn to her.
Even the female disciples of Qingyun Sect could probably not compare to the Zhao Ling'er before him.
He had never seen such a pure and innocent girl before. She was simply like a little fairy.
When will I ever find a girl like that? Probably not in this lifetime. Better hope for a good rebirth in the next!
If only I could cultivate immortality.
Chen Ze had already noticed the waiter's gaze. There was no need to guess—he had clearly been captivated by Zhao Ling'er's beauty.
"Ahem!" Chen Ze coughed twice and said blandly, "Two."
Only then did the waiter realize he had lost himself just now. Fortunately, these two guests did not seem to mind.
He hurriedly said, "Would you two honored guests like to sit upstairs or downstairs?"
"Are there seats upstairs?" The last time Chen Ze had come to Tongfu Restaurant, he had only been there to repay a debt and had not paid any attention to the restaurant's layout.
"Yes, honored guest. The upstairs rooms are all private rooms."
"Oh." Chen Ze pondered for a moment. "Then we'll sit downstairs."
"Certainly, honored guests. This way, please."
With that, the waiter led Chen Ze and Zhao Ling'er to a table on the first floor.
Following behind the waiter, Chen Ze surveyed Tongfu Restaurant as it was now.
"Didn't expect Tongfu Restaurant's service to be so much better than before."
Back then, the waiters at Tongfu Restaurant had a habit of serving people according to the clothes they wore.
Still, Ling'er's looks are a bit too exaggerated. We'll have to be more careful in the future, lest someone set their sights on her, Chen Ze thought.
"Please sit, honored guests. Have a look and see what you'd like to eat."
"Do you have a menu?"
"Yes, I'll bring it over right away."
The waiter immediately handed over a menu.
Chen Ze passed the menu to Zhao Ling'er. "Take a look. Is there anything you want to eat?"
"Master, you decide." The Doppelganger Zhao Ling'er did not need to eat in the first place.
What food tasted like was not important to her.
After looking through the menu, Chen Ze still had no idea what to order. The main reason was that the dish names on the menu were far too flowery, and he could not tell what any of them actually were.
So Chen Ze simply returned the menu to the waiter. "There are only two of us. Just bring out two or three of your signature dishes."
"Certainly, honored guest. Please wait a moment."
With that, the waiter went off to arrange the dishes.
Chen Ze looked over the diners in the restaurant. Those eating on the first floor were all seated two or three to a table.
Some tables held ordinary people, while others held cultivators, though their cultivation levels were not particularly high.
A moment later, the waiter returned. "Honored guest, your meal has been arranged. Would you like some wine as well? The wine at our Tongfu Restaurant is quite famous throughout Wannan City."
"Heh, no need."
The mention of drinking irritated Chen Ze. In his previous life, he had drunk a little whenever he had nothing to do.
But in this life, the original owner had drunk himself to death in this very Tongfu Restaurant, and had even left him with a debt.
Forget about wine. He could drink it in his next life!
Before long, the waiter began carrying the dishes to their table.
Chen Ze took a look. Not bad. He had asked for a few signature dishes, and the waiter had not tried to fleece them.
"Honored guests, all the dishes have been served. Please enjoy."
"Mhm." Chen Ze nodded in acknowledgment.
"Master, these dishes don't seem to taste as good as Ling'er's cooking."
Although Zhao Ling'er did not need to eat, she could still taste the food. Otherwise, how could she cook for Chen Ze?
"Of course. These dishes naturally can't compare to what you make."
Chen Ze's words praised Zhao Ling'er, but they also praised himself.
After all, who did Zhao Ling'er learn her cooking from?
"Just eat a little. We didn't come out mainly to eat. It's only because we haven't gone out in so long—we came out mainly to stroll around."
"Yes, Master."
Although the food did not taste as good as Zhao Ling'er's cooking, it was still edible. Otherwise, Tongfu Restaurant would not have been able to stay open.
"Waiter, the bill."
"Coming, honored guest. The total is ten taels of silver."
"Not bad, not expensive." As he spoke, Chen Ze took out ten taels of silver and placed them on the table.
Then he and Zhao Ling'er walked out of the restaurant together.
"Take care, honored guests. We welcome you to visit again."
After the waiter saw Chen Ze off at the entrance, he kept staring at Zhao Ling'er's departing figure.
"Beautiful."
At that moment, another voice calling for the bill came from inside the restaurant. "Waiter, the bill. Keep the change."
"Ah, thank you, honored guest."
The waiter hurriedly went to collect the silver from the table. Part of the extra money was his tip.
"Master, after the Ye Family took over Tongfu Restaurant, it seems they've managed it quite well."
"With such a good location, even opening a shop at random would bring decent business. As long as they aren't deliberately fleecing customers, they can keep it running."
"That's true. The Ye Family's businesses in Wannan City are all aboveboard. No one would ever imagine they would do such filthy things."
"Master, the Ye Family truly makes money while earning a good reputation at the same time."
"That is what makes the Ye Family frightening. They do not show the mountains or reveal the waters, yet they secretly control Wannan City, like an invisible hand manipulating everything from behind the scenes."
At that moment, Zhao Ling'er suddenly said, "Master, it seems someone is following us?"
"Mhm, I noticed long ago. They probably saw that we haven't revealed our cultivation and developed ill intentions."
Naturally, Chen Ze would not tell Zhao Ling'er that it was her appearance that had attracted those people following them.
After all, Zhao Ling'er's appearance had been created by him. She looked exactly like Fairy Sister.
Even back at Tongfu Restaurant, Chen Ze had noticed several malicious gazes constantly directed at the Doppelganger Zhao Ling'er.
"Don't mind them. They're only three Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivators."
"Yes."
Chen Ze did not take the people following them to heart at all and continued strolling as he pleased.
But after wandering around for an entire day, he did not find anything that caught his eye. Everything was something that could be bought at Myriad Things Shop.
Chen Ze had originally hoped that he could find some treasure among the stalls of wandering cultivators, but unfortunately, he discovered nothing.
"Let's go back. There's nothing worth looking at."
"Yes." The Doppelganger Zhao Ling'er also found it rather dull. Chen Ze had given her a hairpin, and she was already very satisfied.
Rather than heading toward the residence where he lived, Chen Ze led Zhao Ling'er toward the commoner housing area he had rented in before.
Since someone was plotting against him, they naturally needed to be dealt with.
There were too many Patrol Teams around the residence near the City Lord's Mansion, making it inconvenient to act.
The commoner housing area was different. Patrol Teams rarely came there, and as long as he moved quickly enough, it would be useless even if the Patrol Team arrived.
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