CHAPTER 791: CHAPTER 791: CAME UP EMPTY-HANDED

"Uh-huh." Qin San Lang nodded and asked, "What were you saying? Have you finished speaking?"

Feng Jin recounted everything he had discussed earlier to Qin San Lang without missing a single detail.

Qin San Lang nodded as he listened, "Do as Xiao Yu suggested, and you may leave if there’s nothing else."

Feng Jin immediately bowed with clasped hands: "Yes," and then turned to leave.

Gu Jinli glanced at Feng Jin’s departing figure, then looked at Qin San Lang, "What exactly did you do to him? Why does he listen to you so much, even calling you ’Master’?"

He added, "He is a servant from my family, yet now you almost seem to be his master."

Qin San Lang chuckled, "Nothing much, just fought a few rounds with him and added some difficulty during night trainings in the mountains; after he acknowledged my strength, he started to respect me more."

Gu Jinli looked at him suspiciously, "Really? It sounds like you’ve set many traps for Feng Jin, almost the dangerous kinds that could have killed him."

Qin San Lang’s lips curved slightly, "Xiao Yu is overthinking it; the methods I used were all perfectly fair and square."

Feng Jin is quite proud and highly skilled; if I had not exerted some effort to break his pride, he would never willingly serve the Xiao Yu family as a servant for life.

Gu Jinli looked at his shining smile, "Why do I feel a chill?"

Qin San Lang was taken aback, took a few steps closer, and lowered his head, "Xiao Yu, don’t be afraid, I won’t be harsh on you."

His gaze was too soft at that moment; Gu Jinli couldn’t stand it and took a few steps back, unfortunately bumping into the corner of the table, which caused her to wince and hiss in pain.

Seeing this, Qin San Lang quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, looking at her waist and asking, "How is it? Does it hurt a lot?"

It must be extremely painful.

Gu Jinli shook her head, "It’s fine, it just hurt for a moment."

Then, she happily said to him, "I made a lot of Silver today. Young Master Dou from the Dou family bought twelve hams at a high price."

This auction had more hams than the last one, a total of twenty, and Young Master Dou, richer than before, bought twelve hams at a price of two thousand eight hundred taels each. Boss An was enviously commenting that Young Master Dou must have been reincarnated into an Imperial Merchant’s family, spending such large sums without even blinking an eye.

Young Master Dou was unhappy upon hearing this, saying, "Young Master of my family earns money through his own abilities."

Boss An scoffed at this, but didn’t dare to offend Young Master Dou and did not retort further. Instead, he complimented, "Young Master Dou is a pillar of talent for our Great Chu, I truly admire him."

But Young Master Dou, not thinking like most people, was once again displeased at the comment, "What pillar of talent? Who wants to be that? I just want to make money."

Boss An chuckled and no longer spoke to Young Master Dou but went to speak with Master Qi and find Master Ouyang.

Gu Jinli arranged a dining table for them. After the auction, they ate in the main hall.

Gu Dashan and Qi Kangping accompanied them, along with Master Ouyang who brought Brother Cheng and Brother Qing. The meal was harmonious and joyful.

Boss An tentatively said, "This is already the second time we are bidding for hams together; if it’s always us bidding in the future, it would indeed be perfect."

When finished, he looked towards Boss Dong, Young Master Dou, and Gu Dashan.

Gu Dashan had no say in the ham business at all; it was all controlled by Xiao Yu, and he was merely representing Xiao Yu in hosting.

Young Master Dou said, "Don’t look at me, my family has money, I’m not afraid of competing with anyone."

Boss An really wanted to twist Young Master Dou’s head off, this brat was really tactless; he was almost driven mad by him!

Young Master Dou sipped on pine mushroom chicken soup and looked upstairs, inquiring of Gu Dashan, "Uncle Gu, are there any other guests in the restaurant? Meeting like this is fate, why not call them to join us for a meal?"

Gu Dashan replied, "They aren’t guests, just our families’ children helping out at the restaurant. We can just eat; they have their food."

Young Master Dou frowned but did not say anything further.

Upstairs, Gu Jinli had Lu Guang prepare a whole table of dishes for Qin San Lang, "Eat quickly and head back to the Military Office, you can’t let others accuse you of negligence."

Although she was happy that Qin San Lang came back to help, he still had duties at the Military Office, and she did not want him to be reprimanded because of her.

Qin San Lang assured, "Don’t worry, I have good control over the Military Office. Nothing will go wrong by me stepping out for half a day."

If he couldn’t handle even this much, then his past three years would have been in vain.

"It’s good you’re aware, now eat up." Gu Jinli served him some stir-fried beef and sweet and sour pork, also filling a bowl of soup for him, feeding him like one would feed a pig.

Qin San Lang would eat whatever she served him, always finishing his meal, and even consuming two fish that she specifically roasted for him.

Gu Jinli leaned slightly, glancing at his stomach, relieved to see it still flat.

Qin San Lang, seeing her relaxed, smiled, "Xiao Yu, don’t worry, I won’t throw up, I have a big appetite."

Gu Jinli bit on her chopstick, "Yeah, I know your appetite is big, which is why it’s hard feeding you."

Qin San Lang responded, "Then I’ll eat less, so as not to waste too much of your Silver."

Gu Jinli paused, narrowing her eyes at him, "You really seize every opportunity, I never said I’d feed you."

Qin San Lang seemed a bit disappointed, but quickly smiled, "No worries, I can take care of Xiao Yu all the same."

Slap, Gu Jinli smacked his forehead, "Dare to talk such cheesy foolishness again, and I’ll sever ties with you."

Qin San Lang didn’t understand what cheesy foolishness meant, but not wanting to upset Xiao Yu, he obediently stopped speaking and continued eating.

After finishing, he helped Gu Jinli clear the table.

"I’ll pack some jerky and fried fish for you to take to the Military Office." Gu Jinli spoke, then suddenly stopped, staring at Qin San Lang accusingly, "Weren’t you supposed to come back and help today? How did you end up doing nothing but eating all my good dishes?"

What a loss!

Qin San Lang paused, then burst into laughter, not expecting her to bring this up, "Let’s consider it a debt. When Xiao Yu needs my help in the future, I’ll help out. Life is long, there will be times you need me, it won’t be a loss for this meal."

Gu Jinli: "..."

Why did she feel like she was taken advantage of?

Qin San Lang really enjoyed seeing her dumbfounded and sulking, grinning as he looked at her for a while before continuing to clean up.

After tidying up, they went downstairs together.

They didn’t use the main hall but another staircase, directly reaching the restaurant’s back kitchen, where they placed the dishes before heading to the back house.

Gu Jinli handed a cloth bag filled with jerky and fried fish to Qin San Lang, seeing him out, "Off you go, come back another day when you have time off."

"Okay." Qin San Lang responded, took his things, mounted his horse, and after looking at Gu Jinli for a while, much to her annoyance, he laughed and galloped away, leaving Young Master Dou to miss his chance.