Chapter 7: The Exquisite Beauty

  Under the vermilion-painted gate of "Yishui Studio", a woman in a blue cheongsam with white skin and delicate features stood, her hair blown back by the autumn wind, revealing her bright eyes. Her left hand waved a red handkerchief, while her right hand leaned against the wooden door, the hem of her cheongsam blown up by the wind, exposing half of her lotus-root-like calf.

  A woman's beauty is not something that can be measured, it depends on the angle of appreciation. Shen Qingyang was not someone who was good at appreciating women, but in an instant, he was stunned! She didn't have that elegant and luxurious aura, but gave off a sense of elegance and nobility: her figure was tall and proportionate, her chest was upright without being flirtatious, her temperament was pure and not pretentious.

  Such a woman is hard to come by, one in ten thousand!

  "Uncle! How did you bring another guest again? Didn't Father instruct us not to do this?"

  The voice was soft and the tone was pure. The woman gave a reproachful glance at Yu Bo, then her eyes swept over Shen Qingyang, revealing a barely perceptible apology.

  Shen Qing's face stiffened for a moment, and then an unnatural smile floated up: I felt my skin tightening, hot blood rushing up, and I'm guessing it was red!

  "You little scamp! I went to great lengths to bring the guests here, how can you speak like this?! Old Man Yu touched his oily face and stepped up onto the stairs, his expression somewhat unusual as he pointed at the "Temporarily Out of Business" sign on the door: 'What kind of nonsense is this?'"

  The woman's expression changed, and a hint of panic appeared on her face: "Several days in a row being eaten away by white, can't do anything about it!"

  What's the point of eating here? Shen Qingyang flicked his lighter and took another look at the facade of Yi Shui Zhai. This place wasn't suitable for opening a restaurant, it was too far from the suburbs, and the grade wasn't high enough to attract those rich people to come and dine. If they also had to provide free meals for the tyrants, they would basically be operating at a loss.

  Shen Qingyang's powers of observation were exceptional, and with a bit of analysis, he was able to figure things out. However, as soon as his mind turned, he immediately understood the identity of the mute servant: a matchmaker!

  There are many scammers in this world, and scams are endless. There is a special kind of scammer: scamming food and drink, the purpose is not just to fill their stomachs, but to get rebates from restaurants, commonly known as "meal cheats"!

  Shen Qingyang had seen many swindlers and knew some of their tricks, but today's encounter was a first. If the beauty hadn't been by his side, he would have punched that mute fellow's eating utensils away! He wasn't the kind of person who pitied beauties or cherished jade, cold-blooded mercenaries didn't have extra emotions, but now he had to change this, at least make others think he was a normal person and not some abnormal mercenary.

  Yu Bogang smiled and glanced at Shen Qingyang with the corner of his eye, finding that he was absent-mindedly looking at the scenery of Yishui Zhai. A sly smile immediately floated onto his old face: "Young brother, this is exactly where you invited me to have a big meal!"

  Shen Qingyang nodded and pointed at the notice board with a faint smile, but didn't say anything.

  "Sorry! We really can't open for business today!" The beautiful woman smiled apologetically: "I've caused you a lot of trouble!"

  "What? Not giving face to an old man? Don't pay me today, consider it a favor!"

  Hehe! Shen Qingyang sneered inwardly, this old guy not only cheated on food and drink, but also got a rebate from the store owner. If he did this all day, or if he monopolized several restaurants, his commission would be considerable. No wonder he said he couldn't afford to pay him for one day's work!

  "Haha!" Yu Bo chuckled and turned around, pulling Shen Qingyang's arm: "Don't think I'm making a living off this! If it weren't for Spring Brother's skills, I wouldn't be taking care of his business. So many Chinese restaurants need customers, old thing, I don't have any other skills, but finding customers is something I'm good at!"

  As expected! Shen Qingyang smiled and nodded: "The environment here is pretty good!"

  "Isn't the environment great? And you get served by a foxy girl, no, this is a ghostly niece, Spring Brother's precious daughter, take a look and it'll cost you 10 bucks - just order another dish!"

  Yabo is simply a rascal! The beautiful woman's face suddenly turned red, and her delicate face blushed with anger: "Yabo, stop talking nonsense, first go inside and drink a cup of tea to shut your mouth."

  The old man was talking nonsense, if it wasn't for the beautiful woman being polite, she might have gotten angry with him. Shen Qingyang nodded: "Alright, I'll pay for the tea!"

  The facade of "Yishui Zhai" is not large, and the interior is not very spacious, but it's very clean. There are three to five wooden tables, a few dark chairs, and a statue of Guan Gong on the north wall, with incense burning in the censer. The beauty led the two men to the table and hurried off to prepare tea utensils. Shen Qingyang leaned back in his chair, listlessly observing the situation in the shop.

  The woman climbed the wooden spiral staircase, which led to the second floor. The second-floor corridor had soft curtains hanging down in blue and white stripes, and the woman slipped away with a swaying waist.

  "Four dishes and a pot of wine, it's not expensive!" said Yaobo with a smile, narrowing his eyes.

  Shen Qingyang hung his head, his eyes almost seeing his own face, and he didn't hear what the old man said at all. The Yishui Restaurant was obviously run by Chinese people, the beautiful woman was the daughter of the boss "Spring Brother", and the little kid was her younger brother.

  These basic pieces of information flashed through Shen Qingyang's mind, and he involuntarily glanced at the soft curtains on the second floor. That should be the owner's private residence; otherwise, there would be no need to set up a curtain to block it off.

  "She's called Xiang'er, Spring Brother's treasured daughter!" Dumb Uncle apparently knew Shen Qingyang's subtle changes very well, guessing he was quite familiar with this place.

  Shen Qingyang nodded, what a special name: Xiner?! Such a delicate name, perfectly matching that pretty face.

  "Who is Chun Ge?" Shen Qing Yang asked with feigned ignorance.

  "He's a Sichuan cuisine chef!"

  "Oh?" Shen Qingyang opened his eyes and looked at Lao Ba's old face, Sichuan cuisine was his favorite, it was really a reunion with an old friend in a foreign land, today he could enjoy the authentic Sichuan cuisine. Shen Qingyang remembered that the last time he had Sichuan cuisine was three years ago in his hometown, all the details were still vivid in his mind.

  Chen Chen returned to his hometown to visit relatives, unfortunately, his father had already passed away and he couldn't see him for the last time. From then on, he became a carefree person. Three years passed too quickly, everything changed. His brother was no longer there, leaving only lingering regret.

  "I love Sichuan cuisine!" Shen Qingyang finally said a complete sentence.

  A beautiful woman carried a tea tray down the stairs, Shen Qingyang's eyes inadvertently swept across the woman's exposed neck and chest, his heart suddenly sank, he lowered his head in silence, but then saw the woman's white slender legs and the blue cheongsam wrapped around her buttocks!

  Good heavens! If she were in the Bambusan Forest, such a woman would be snapped up. Those mercenaries with their mouths full of foul language, who have been to all the brothels in the area and are used to seeing low-class prostitutes dressed up like flowers, would have all sorts of fantasies just from looking at this pure and innocent woman.

  Men are beasts, some men are even more beastly! Shen Qingyang is a monster, he's naturally uninterested in women!

  "Little sister, bring the usual dishes - lamp shadow beef, boiled meat slices, husband and wife lung slices, Dongpo steamed pig head, and add a pot of bamboo leaf green tea!" The mute old man ordered after taking a sip of fragrant tea.

  Damn! Dongpo steamed pig head - can you eat a whole pig head? Shen Qingyang remained calm, but cursed inwardly. The skill of being a "meal pusher" lies in how to make the most profit for the boss, and the more profit, the more kickbacks he gets. Dumb uncle obviously knows this principle. These dishes are absolutely top-notch Sichuan cuisine, and I estimate they don't come cheap.

  The woman's expression hesitated for a moment, and then her face turned bright red: "Uncle, we're closed for business today, you know..."

  "Chun Ge's fourth brother is the most authentic - why don't you see your dad coming out?"

  Xinger lowered her eyelids, and her delicate face turned pale: "Father has been taken away!"

  "What?" Old Man Teng suddenly stood up, his hunched back shaking slightly, his voice somewhat unusual: "Who invited him to leave?"

  "A cripple!"

  Shen Qingyang's facial nerves suddenly tightened, another cripple!

  "Which cripple?" Yu Bo suddenly walked up to Xiang Er: "When was he invited away, what does he look like? Where did he go?"

  Xiang'er was clearly startled, taking two steps back, her left hand grasping the square table, a hint of moisture glistening in her eyes.

  "Last night at midnight, a lame man came to invite Father! The boss of Tianze Garden is celebrating his birthday and they want Father to help with the cooking!"

  A restaurant owner, a famous Sichuan chef wants to help out the owner of Tianze Garden? Haha! In this world, nothing is impossible, just like yesterday when I was stolen from by a cripple, although it's unbelievable, but it still really happened.

  Shen Qingyang could tell from the behavior and conversation of Ya Bo and Xin'er that "Yishui Zhai"'s chef and boss, "Chun Ge", had been asked to help with cooking! There must be some unmentionable reason behind this. However, these things have nothing to do with him, but the lame man who invited Chun Ge away sparked Shen Qingyang's interest.

  "Where to help with cooking? Tianze Garden?"

  "No... I don't know!" Before Xiang Er's words had even faded, her tears were already streaming down like a small brook. There were two things that Shen Qing Yang couldn't bear to see: one was his brother's blood, and the other was a woman's tears!

  Yu Bo's spirit seemed to flag at the mention of "Tian Ze Garden", his old face fell and he sat back down at the table, picking up his tea cup and draining it in one gulp.

  "In Zhonghai City, there should be many famous chefs. Why did they need the boss of Yishuizhai to help with cooking?" Shen Qingyang sat up straight, smiling slightly as he looked at Yaobo: "Also, guess who the cripple was that asked Chun Ge to leave?"

  Yu Bo furrowed his brow and glared at Shen Qingyang: "No explanation, figure it out yourself!"

  Shen Qingyang shrugged and said indifferently, "It seems like today is not our lucky day, Ah Yu's big meal is going to be ruined! But you have to keep your promise!"

  Xinger stared blankly at the two people. This seemingly lazy guest was a bit special, with a jacket and black cylindrical package, a familiar feeling.

  "Uncle, I'm really sorry about this. Here's the change..." Xiang'er handed a few banknotes to Uncle Deaf and then turned her pretty face towards Shen Qingyang: "Mister, there's a better restaurant across the street, you can go consume there!"

  Shen Qingyang's face turned red, and his soft voice seemed to have some kind of magic power, his throat was a bit dry.

  "Is Spring Brother's lame man drunk?"

  "Hmm!" Xīn'ér's pretty face turned red as she smoothed out her hair: "It should be that kind of strong liquor, like vodka!"

  "Can you smell the brand of wine?" Shen Qingyang suddenly stood up and looked at Xiang'er with a strange gaze.

  Xinger took two steps back, her plump body wrapped in the cheongsam dress trembling, a layer of smile floating on her face, it was that kind of uncontrollable laughter.

  "Can you smell the brand of wine?" Yu Bo turned his head and glared at Shen Qingyang, asking in a displeased tone.

  Hehe! Different wines have different aromas, and the same wine has different flavors due to different years. Shen Qingyang's understanding of wine is second only to guns! Special forces training includes everything, not just physical training, including many clever tricks, as for identifying wine labels, it's just Shen Qingyang's personal hobby.

  "Impossible!" Shen Qingyang sighed: "I'm only interested in that cripple!"

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