Ao Di? Your Brother Is Called Ao Tuo, Right?

At noon, sunlight shone through the window of Xiao Zhan's study.

At this moment, Xiao Zhan was reading something in his study.

Suddenly, the study door was pushed open, and the First Elder walked in.

Xiao Zhan looked up at the First Elder in confusion and asked,

"First Elder, did you come to see me about something?"

"Jia Lie Bi's son, Jia Lie'ao, went to Xiao Family Market. I suspect Jia Lie'ao went to Ruyi Zhai."

The moment the First Elder spoke those words, Xiao Zhan frowned.

Jia Lie Bi was considered an old rival of his. They often had minor conflicts, but this time, he had actually sent his son to win over Shop Owner Xiao. That was rather strange.

"First Elder, I think that old fellow Jia Lie Bi may have learned about the effects of Ruyi Zhai's pastries. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent his son to win over Shop Owner Xiao Cheng."

The First Elder quite agreed with Xiao Zhan's analysis.

"I heard it from my grandson, Xiao Ning. This is what happened..."

The First Elder then recounted, in full detail, everything Xiao Ning had told him about encountering Jia Lie'ao.

Finally, he added,

"But my grandson said that when he ran into Jia Lie'ao, his expression was terrible. I think Shop Owner Xiao must have thrown him out. Hehe."

The First Elder smiled mysteriously.

After pondering for a while, Xiao Zhan also broke into a smile.

"It seems Shop Owner Xiao doesn't think much of Jia Lie Bi either. Hahaha."

Although Xiao Zhan's relationship with the Three Elders had not been particularly good because of Xiao Yan, their relationship had eased considerably recently due to their cooperation with Ruyi Zhai.

"Now that our Xiao Clan is the first to cooperate with Ruyi Zhai, we must seize this opportunity to raise the clan's overall strength. I suspect that Jia Lie Bi has definitely joined forces with that old bastard Ao Ba Pa to pull some kind of stunt."

The First Elder reminded Xiao Zhan.

"I know. Jia Lie Bi has always wanted to swallow up the Xiao Clan and its businesses to strengthen himself. It won't be that easy."

Xiao Zhan snorted coldly.

"Alright, I have nothing else to say. By the way, security at the market needs to be strengthened. Jia Lie Bi must have already sent people to infiltrate the market. We need to investigate thoroughly."

The First Elder said this as he was leaving.

After the First Elder left the study, Xiao Zhan rubbed his brow and sighed helplessly.

"Truly troubled times."

After returning to the Jia Lie Family, Jia Lie'ao went straight to the room where his father lived.

The moment he pushed open the door, he said with a gloomy expression,

"Father, that shop owner of Ruyi Zhai is far too ungrateful. He actually dared to throw me out."

Jia Lie'ao spoke indignantly.

"Oh."

Jia Lie Bi did not show much emotional change. He had anticipated this outcome long ago, so he was not particularly angry.

"Father, what should we do next?"

Jia Lie Bi thought for a moment before speaking to his son.

"Behave yourself for now. After some time, I'll make a move against the Xiao Clan. Once we swallow the Xiao Clan and obtain Ruyi Zhai, we can find an opportunity to get rid of Ao Ba Pa. Then our Jia Lie Family will become the overlord of Wutan City. Hehe."

After saying that, Jia Lie Bi revealed a scheming smile.

Jia Lie'ao also nodded with a cold smile.

Xiao Cheng was still sitting bored in a chair in the shop, staring at the decorations around him and wondering what he could do.

"I'm saying, Xiao Dian, can't you give me something to pass the time when you issue quests?"

Host, please remember that this system is the God-Tier Pastry System. It does not handle anything else.

"Xiao Dian, I have to say, you're too rigid. Can't you change the Quest Reward into something like Chess-Piece Cake or Number Rice? At least I could play with them before eating them."

Host's suggestion has been accepted. Future quests will undergo certain adjustments.

"Now that's more like it. Being willing to correct yourself makes you a good kid."

Just as Xiao Cheng was chatting with Xiao Dian, a stranger entered from outside—more precisely, someone who had never appeared in the original plot.

However, when this man's expressionless face saw Xiao Cheng, it instantly broke into a warm smile.

"Hello, Shop Owner Xiao Cheng. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm from the Ao Ba Pa Family. My name is Ao Di, and I'm Ao Ba Pa's son."

Xiao Cheng nearly burst out laughing at that name. There was actually someone with such a hilarious name.

He forced back his laughter and subconsciously asked Ao Di,

"Don't you have an older brother named Ao Tuo?"

"Oh, Shop Owner Xiao, you really are no ordinary person. You actually know my brother Ao Tuo. Do you know each other?"

Seeing Ao Di's surprised expression and hearing him admit that he really had a brother named Ao Tuo completely shattered Xiao Cheng's worldview.

My god, there really is someone called Ao Tuo. The difference between Ao Di and Ao Tuo is pretty obvious, though.

He really did not look like much.

"What exactly do you want with me?"

Ao Di returned to the main topic.

"My Ao Ba Pa Family wishes to cooperate with Shop Owner Xiao Cheng. I wonder if that would be possible?"

Ao Di was very polite, but there was a faintly irresistible undertone in his voice.

"Sigh, why do all of you keep coming to disturb my business? I will not cooperate with you."

Ao Di was stunned by such a decisive attitude.

After a while, once he recovered, Ao Di kept his smile and said,

"That's alright. We can discuss it further."

"No, no. I will not cooperate with you. I don't want to say it a second time. Turn left when you go out and leave."

He was clearly seeing him off now.

A trace of coldness flashed deep in Ao Di's eyes, but it vanished in an instant. He smiled.

"Sorry to disturb you, Shop Owner Xiao Cheng."

As Ao Di turned to leave, a cold smile appeared on his lips, revealing a fleeting look of disdain.

After sitting back down, Xiao Cheng sighed helplessly.

"The Ao Ba Pa Family and the Jia Lie Family... if I remember correctly, these two families seemed to have joined forces against the Xiao Clan in the original plot. Should I cripple one of them in advance?"

In the end, out of respect for the plot's development and so as not to alter the journey of Xiao Yan, the Son of the Plane, he abandoned this impractical idea.

"Brother Xiao Yan, I'll leave these two families to you as training for yourself. I won't interfere."

Although Xiao Cheng thought he would not get involved, if they dared to drag him into it, he would deal with them first.

"It's so deserted now. It was so lively this morning, but now no one is coming to buy pastries. Business is truly awful."

Suddenly, Xiao Cheng looked up and saw a cheerful Xiao Mei walk into the shop and greet him.

"Shop Owner Xiao, my strength has improved quite a bit again."

"You're improving quickly, and you're still as beautiful as ever."

Xiao Cheng could not help complimenting Xiao Mei, making her blush slightly.

"Oh, right. Did you come to buy pastries? The newly introduced Honeyed Shortbread costs one hundred Gold Coins per jin, and its effects are excellent. Do you want to buy some and try it?"

He had just complimented her, so why had he turned into a pastry salesman in the blink of an eye?

Xiao Mei felt like crying, but she still waved her hand and shook her head in refusal.

"One hundred Gold Coins is too expensive. I can't afford it. I'll just buy some Peach Pastry and Peanut Candy instead. Give me five pieces of each."

"Alas, you simply don't know the terror of Honeyed Shortbread. What a pity, what a pity."

Xiao Mei's mouth twitched at that.

Watching Xiao Mei leave, Xiao Cheng sighed helplessly.

"Why is no one buying Honeyed Shortbread? Why?"

"The truth is only one: Xiao Dian, it's because of the terrible price you set."