The Second Story

On the second floor of the restaurant.

One after another, restaurant proprietors dressed in splendid clothes and sporting great bellies walked in, each as big as two men put together.

All wore broad smiles.

It was as though seeing Jun Jingyi had brought eight generations of their ancestors back to life.

Soon, faced with a room packed full of people,

Jun Jingyi got straight to the point.

Put simply, whether it was steamed buns or Dukang Liquor, he could sell them both at a low price.

"Really?"

The restaurant owners sprang to their feet in excitement.

Their enormous bodies made Jun Jingyi's heart pound with fear.

It was as though another twitch from them would bring his little restaurant crashing down.

Jun Jingyi nodded slightly, calming everyone down, then continued, "Really, but every one of you must join my Journey to the West Merchant Alliance!"

"A merchant alliance?"

The men frowned, unsure what Jun Jingyi meant.

"That's right, a merchant alliance. As long as you join, you'll have the right to purchase steamed buns, Dukang Liquor, and even all the Journey to the West Restaurant's future new products at a low price."

"And I promise I'll sell these things only to those of you in the merchant alliance."

"This..."

The proprietors broke into discussion, whispering among themselves.

They were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of joining the merchant alliance.

After a long while, someone asked quietly, "Young Master Jun, does our merchant alliance have any rules?"

"Of course. We prosper together and stand united against outsiders!"

"At the same time, if someone with no eyes dares to target a member of our merchant alliance, the others must lend a helping hand. Of course, the person who receives help must naturally give up some benefits in return."

Jun Jingyi chuckled.

Some of the proprietors frowned, while others were delighted.

Those who frowned were the ones backed by great clans.

Those who rejoiced were the ones who had no real backing to begin with and were eager to find some.

Jun Jingyi understood all of this perfectly well.

In truth, he didn't have a big enough appetite to recruit every restaurant in Tianfu City.

No one would allow him to do that.

For now, his targets were only the independent proprietors.

Sure enough, the independents soon joined, one after another, all smiles.

Although this was only a newly formed merchant alliance,

they couldn't forget Jun Jingyi's identity!

"Phew..."

Everything had gone smoothly.

Jun Jingyi looked again at the ugly expressions on the faces of the proprietors who hadn't joined. With a faint smile, he continued, "Everyone, although you haven't joined my merchant alliance, there are still opportunities for us to cooperate."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

The proprietors' eyes lit up.

Steamed buns and Dukang Liquor-anyone who had spent this period in Tianfu City and had even a little business sense could see the enormous profits to be made from them.

If they could get even a small share, then...

"It's simple. I have one condition!"

Jun Jingyi smiled. "Let me tell you a story."

The men looked at one another, wondering what Young Master Jun was doing at such a serious occasion.

But for the sake of cooperation, they all listened attentively.

The story was simple.

It was about a young master from the capital who spent his journey enjoying the mountains and rivers, and soon ran through all his travel money.

And he still hadn't reached his destination.

Before long, he was going to go hungry.

Just then, he happened to meet a young woman, a kindhearted young woman.

Seeing his pitiful plight, she helped him.

She gave him a full meal and some travel money, allowing him to reach his destination.

But the young master was very young, after all. Though he was grateful, he soon forgot about the matter.

As ill luck would have it, he had seen the young woman again in Tianfu City not long ago.

And then...

A human tragedy unfolded before everyone's eyes.

The moment Jun Jingyi finished speaking, the entire room fell deathly silent.

Many of the proprietors even deliberately kept their breathing quiet, afraid of offending the elegant young master before them, whose face wore a smile and a kindly expression.

A story?

They smiled bitterly to themselves.

What a... true story!

If they still didn't understand what was going on after hearing that, they weren't qualified to be sitting here.

They watched Jun Jingyi cautiously.

Although he was smiling, all they could feel was the earthshaking fury hidden beneath it.

Some of the more perceptive ones even thought of the poem from the Yunying Poetry Gathering some time ago.

They had been curious about it all along.

They had never heard of Young Master Jun being close to any woman.

Now they seemed to understand. He hadn't been writing about a woman he fancied, but about the young woman he wanted to repay for her kindness.

No wonder he had described her as a fairy from the heavens.

Wasn't that just how it was? A green youth who had only just left home encountered what could be called his greatest difficulty, and a young woman descended from the heavens to save him.

To be fair, even they would have thought her a fairy.

"..."

Everyone fell silent, watching Jun Jingyi cautiously.

Only Sikong Ye, standing to one side, blinked and stared at Jun Jingyi in surprise.

That young woman had actually done this fellow a kindness?

This fellow was really good at hiding his feelings. Sikong Ye hadn't known a thing about it before!

Sikong Ye shook his head speechlessly.

And to think the fellow had kept saying he was doing it to help him. So he had been fooled?