"Huh? How could you forget an important festival like the Moonchase Festival?"
"I've been staying at Yelan's house lately and haven't gone out. I've been so busy writing my book that I haven't paid much attention to what's happening outside. If you hadn't mentioned it, I still wouldn't have remembered."
"I see."
Lan Yan nodded, then asked:
"Then why are you staying at Yelan's house? She didn't tell me, and what's going on with your own home?"
Shen Luolun told her about the mysterious woman in black stockings.
After hearing him out, Lan Yan actually agreed with Yelan:
"Yelan's right. You can never be too careful around people."
"Besides, if that person really knew how to be grateful, she wouldn't have stayed away all this time without so much as a thank-you."
Wait, why do you think that too?
Shen Luolun wondered if this world was hostile to pretty young women with white hair and black stockings.
Isn't a hero saving a beauty perfectly reasonable? Why does it have to be some conspiracy to rob and murder me?
What if she just didn't want to drag me into trouble and left on her own?
That's how it always goes in xianxia novels. She's different from everyone else!
Having immersed himself in novels on a certain site in his previous life, Shen Luolun spoke up for the mysterious beauty in black stockings.
But clearly, the opinion of someone with a combat power of five didn't matter.
The decision rested with the strong!
-A certain Heavenly Queen Ye.
"If Yelan's doing this for your safety, won't she be angry if she finds out I helped you sneak out? Should we go tell her?" Lan Yan asked softly.
Shen Luolun thought it over seriously and decided she had a point.
He'd better let someone know. Otherwise, if Yelan came back and found him gone, who knew what she might do?
"Yelan isn't here right now, but my godmother is. Telling her will be the same."
"You mean Madam Xiao?"
"That's right."
Lan Yan had met Madam Xiao before. She was a dignified, composed noblewoman who looked trustworthy.
"Then let's go find her."
"No need. Stay safe on the way. I'll tell Little Lan about this."
Just as the two were about to leave, a voice tinged with laughter sounded in front of them.
They looked up and saw the stunningly beautiful Madam Xiao in a white dress, sitting gracefully atop the high wall Shen Luolun had climbed over. She watched them with a smile.
"Godmother?"
"Auntie Xiao?"
Shen Luolun and Lan Yan were astonished.
How had Madam Xiao appeared here without either of them noticing?
As if she'd guessed what they were thinking, Madam Xiao smiled and said:
"I knew Lan Yan came to the Ye Residence looking for you today. I also knew that, given your relationship, she wouldn't obediently leave."
"So I kept you company with a game of chess to pass the time, and waited to see when this young lady would come."
I see.
No wonder she dared to keep playing against me when she was so bad at chess.
"I noticed the young lady had arrived just now, so I made an excuse to leave. And just as I expected, you really did climb down the rope and over the wall. Little Shen, you could have just told me. I would have let you leave through the front gate. Climbing walls is dangerous."
Shen Luolun was about to touch his nose awkwardly.
Then he suddenly remembered that was a protagonist's signature move, so he hurriedly scratched his head instead.
"Godmother, I was afraid you wouldn't agree."
Madam Xiao rolled her eyes at him.
"If you'd asked me, would I have refused?"
"Little Lan may be my daughter, but I'm the mother."
Huh? Why does that sound strange?
Shen Luolun didn't correct her and listened as she continued:
"She never objects to my decisions."
"Besides, with Lan Yan by your side, I can rest easy."
It was worth mentioning that Lan Yan was a young genius of the Lan Family. Despite her age, her mastery of the arts was already on par with her uncles', and she was widely known among Liyue's prominent families.
As the wife of the Ye Family's head, Madam Xiao naturally knew all about Lan Yan.
Only with such an expert accompanying him could she feel at ease letting Shen Luolun go out.
With Madam Xiao's assurance, Shen Luolun was completely reassured.
"Then, Godmother, Lan Yan and I will be going."
"Go on, go on."
Madam Xiao smiled and waved.
After leaving the Ye Residence,
Lan Yan and Shen Luolun went to Wanmin Restaurant.
But Master Mao told them Xiangling had already gone to Yilong Wharf to take part in the Cuisine Machine Test.
Before leaving, however, she had asked him to pass on a message:
If that guy dared to forget and didn't come to cheer her on at the competition, she would never cook a special meal for him again!
Shen Luolun was a little embarrassed to hear that.
If not for Lan Yan, he really would have forgotten and missed Xiangling's competition.
"Ahem, Uncle Mao, Lan Yan and I will head to Yilong Wharf now."
"All right. Give Xiangling my encouragement while you're at it."
"We will, we will."
Suddenly, Shen Luolun noticed a shop next to Wanmin Restaurant that he'd never seen before.
Huh? A... restaurant called Sea Overlord?
Whoa!
What brave soul dares pull a tiger's whiskers? Don't they know Wanmin Restaurant is right next door?
If a certain famous shop-reviewing blogger from my previous life saw this, he'd tear the owner to shreds.
"Uncle Mao, why did a new restaurant open next door?"
At Shen Luolun's question, dissatisfaction and helplessness appeared on Master Mao's face.
"A Snezhnayan bought the shop next to Wanmin Restaurant and turned it into a restaurant."
"Since we're neighbors and in the same business, I paid him a visit. I didn't expect the owner to be rude as soon as he heard I was from Wanmin Restaurant. He even declared that Sea Overlord would one day knock Wanmin Restaurant off its pedestal as Liyue's number one restaurant and dominate Liyue's culinary world."
"Ha, the nerve of him! I'm telling you, I nearly came to blows with him. Now they're open every day, trying to steal Wanmin Restaurant's customers."
"From Snezhnaya? Could it be some rich kid from Northland Bank with too much money to burn?"
"I don't know. The owner's around forty or fifty, with a thin, drooping mustache and a very arrogant attitude. He makes everyone call him the honorable Mr. Tsarevich. Really strange."
Tsarevich?!
Hearing the name, Shen Luolun found it strangely familiar.
He thought hard and finally remembered!
Isn't that the middle-aged Snezhnayan merchant I had a dispute with a few days ago?
Wow!
This guy's that bold?
So he's holding a grudge and wants to bring down Wanmin Restaurant?
The more Shen Luolun thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was the reason.
"Uncle Mao, I know this guy."
"Oh?" Master Mao was taken aback.
"Let's hear it."
Shen Luolun told him what had happened that day.
"So that's what happened. No wonder he's targeting Wanmin Restaurant."
When Master Mao heard it had to do with Xiangling, his expression immediately turned cold.
"Looks like Wanmin Restaurant really does need to settle things with Sea Overlord."
"I'm sorry for the trouble, Uncle Mao. If it weren't for me, Wanmin Restaurant wouldn't have attracted someone like that."
Master Mao waved a hand.
"Little Shen, you don't need to blame yourself."
"Come to think of it, all you did was light the fuse between Wanmin Restaurant and Sea Overlord a little early."
"I could tell from what Tsarevich said that he's an ambitious man. His claim that Sea Overlord will dominate Liyue's culinary world might not just be empty boasting. He may really have something to back it up."
"Even without you, I think he still would have opened his shop next to Wanmin Restaurant, or even across the street, to compete with us. You just happened to have a conflict with him. Don't take it to heart."
After hearing Master Mao's words, most of Shen Luolun's guilt disappeared.
"All right, thank you, Uncle Mao. Is there anything I can help Wanmin Restaurant with right now? Just say the word."
"There is one thing I need you to keep an eye out for."
"Rumor has it that Sea Overlord hired a master chef. They say the noodles he makes are so addictive that people can't get enough. I've never met the man, but the rumors about him always strike me as familiar. Tsarevich took him to the Cuisine Machine Test yesterday. When you get there, look into his background. I hope it isn't what I think."
"What do you think it is?" Shen Luolun asked curiously.
But Master Mao refused to say more.
It was as if it were some kind of taboo that couldn't be spoken of.
Shen Luolun understood and didn't press him.
"All right, Uncle Mao. I'll tell you as soon as I come back with news."
"Good. Be careful on the road."