Chapter 45: Draining the Last Drop
Inside the Listen Rain Pavilion, Qin Feng walked up to Cang Feilan with an apologetic expression. “Miss Cang, I still need to borrow the Spatial Ring for a bit longer. Don’t worry, once I have enough money to buy the Space Jade Pendant, I will definitely return the Spatial Ring to you.”
“No need,” Cang Feilan said, glancing sideways. “Consider the Spatial Ring a gift from me.”
“A gift to me?” Qin Feng’s eyes widened in surprise.
Such a priceless treasure, and she was just giving it away? Even if she had the money, it didn’t seem right to be so extravagant.
Qin Feng swallowed hard. Although a voice inside him kept tempting him to accept, his rationality won over his desires. “It’s still not appropriate; this item is too valuable.”
Cang Feilan picked up a book and casually flipped through it. “I really liked the poem you gave me last time, ‘The Hero’s Journey.’ Consider the Spatial Ring as my return gift.”
“But wasn’t that poem a reward for your escort?” Qin Feng looked puzzled.
Cang Feilan furrowed her delicate eyebrows. “Just a mere escort; how could it compare to that poem? Even if I exchanged the Spatial Ring for it, I would still consider it a gain. Moreover, there are plenty of Spatial Rings in my family. Consider this matter settled, no need to say more.”
Qin Feng opened his mouth, feeling amazed. Rich women were really generous! If he could marry her, he wouldn’t have to struggle for at least a couple of hundred years!
At this moment, Qin Feng thought of the Dragon Saliva again, and his cunning thoughts resurfaced.
Cang Feilan herself said that exchanging ‘The Hero’s Journey’ for the Spatial Ring was a gain for her. So, asking her for a few drops of Dragon Saliva shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Of course, this was mainly due to his curiosity as a scholar of the Dao, not any nefarious intentions.
Qin Feng cleared his throat. “Miss Cang, I wonder if you could give me some Dragon Saliva.”
“Get lost!” Before she could finish her sentence, Cang Feilan interrupted him, glaring fiercely.
She glared at him fiercely and then walked away, strolling through the attic as usual.
Qin Feng was dumbfounded. Why did Cang Feilan react so strongly every time he mentioned Dragon Saliva? She was willing to give away the Spatial Ring but seemed incredibly protective of those few drops of saliva?
The way rich people thought, poor people could never understand. Qin Feng shook his head and started reading the books again.
Time passed, and Qin Feng’s knowledge grew. He had gone through many medical books but found no information on how to repair damaged meridians.
There were only a few books left on the third floor of the Listen To Rain Pavilion. To find a solution, he had to check the upper floors, but Bai Li, the old man at the door, had mentioned that they were only allowed to browse the lower three levels. What should he do now?
Qin Feng looked conflicted and thought it was time to ask the old rascal what conditions were required to access the upper levels.
Just then, he heard Miss Lan’s voice from the entrance.
Normally, Miss Lan wouldn’t disturb him while he was reading, unless there was something urgent.
Frowning, Qin Feng hurried downstairs. There, he saw a worried Manager Peng.
“What’s going on?” The inn’s business was booming, with daily earnings matching the previous three months’ profits. There shouldn’t be any problems. But judging by Peng’s anxious expression, something serious had happened at the inn.
Peng cast a glance at the surrounding people and whispered a few words to Qin Feng.
Qin Feng furrowed his brows, and he immediately headed towards the Moonlit Pavilion with Miss Lan and Peng in tow.
Coincidentally, a middle-aged man in patched clothes, leaning on a crutch, approached slowly, holding a jug of wine.
The two groups brushed past each other, and Qin Feng glanced at the man, surprised by the numerous wounds on his body. However, he didn’t pay too much attention and hurriedly left.
“Old man, here’s your wine,” the middle-aged man said.
“Mmm.” Bai Li took the wine and handed over a string of copper coins, still thirty wen.
“Same time tomorrow?”
“I’m afraid you’ll be busy tomorrow,” Bai Li said mysteriously.
“What could I be busy with?” the middle-aged man asked curiously.
Bai Li didn’t respond, lying on the bamboo chair, fanning himself.
The middle-aged man glanced at him, muttered, “Weird,” and limped away.
Qin Feng and the others arrived at the Moonlit Pavilion. Despite the inn’s bustling business, complaints from customers and apologies from the waiters could be heard intermittently.
“How can such a large inn run out of alcohol?”
“Oh my, dear customer, we’re truly sorry. As you can see, there are just too many people, and all the stocked alcohol has been sold out. We haven’t had a chance to replenish it yet.”
“Today, let’s substitute tea for wine. Next time you come, I will definitely serve you good wine,” the host said.
“That’s the only option now,” the guest replied helplessly.
Qin Feng scanned the room, noticing that every table had tea but no wine. He whispered, “Manager Peng, what’s going on?”
Manager Peng’s face darkened. “Our Moonlit Inn gets its wine supply from the Hundred Miles Fragrance Wine House in the city every month. Today was supposed to be the restocking day. Who could have expected that they would collude with the city lord’s mansion and cut off our wine supply?”
“Can’t you buy wine from other wine houses?” Qin Feng furrowed his brow.
“Young Master, you might not know. After I learned about this, I immediately sent people to other wine houses, but they all came back empty-handed. It seems they are also involved with the city lord’s mansion. Now, in order to ensure the continuous supply of alcohol for the VIPs on the third floor, we had to cut off the supply for the first and second floors. But even so, considering the current customer flow, we can only sustain it for another three days at most. Young Master, what do you think we should do now?” manager Peng explained anxiously.
Qin Feng closed his eyes in contemplation. Even though Moonlit Pavilion’s current reputation was mainly due to its hotpot, a restaurant without alcohol would undoubtedly suffer significant consequences, leading to customer loss. The city lord’s mansion’s move was like cutting off the branch they were sitting on.
“It seems we have to accelerate our plan to start brewing our own alcohol,” Qin Feng murmured.
At night, the city lord’s mansion was brightly lit.
Ye Luoting clasped his fists and said, “Father, your strategy worked. By cutting off their wine supply, it won’t be long before Moonlit Pavilion’s business is affected.”
“Young Qin might have some skills, but he’s still inexperienced. In this small city of Jinyang, there’s nothing I can’t do,” Ye Heng said with a self-satisfied smirk.
At that moment, two servants brought a pot of red soup and placed it in front of Ye Heng and Ye Luoting.
Ye Heng dipped his chopsticks in and tasted a bit. He then shouted in anger, “Useless! Is this the broth you’ve prepared? It lacks flavor. How can it compare to Moonlit Pavilion’s hotpot?!”
The two servants trembled in fear. “City Lord, we have tasted Moonlit Pavilion’s hotpot. The red soup is indeed exceptional. Without knowing the recipe, it’s impossible to replicate its taste.”
“Then, what’s the use of keeping useless people like you?” Ye Heng kicked the table, knocking over the red soup.
The two servants who brought the soup were splashed with hot soup, causing them to scream in pain.
At that moment, a cold voice echoed from an unknown corner of the hall, “City Lord Ye, you are quite ruthless to your subordinates. But dogs that can’t complete their tasks should indeed be punished.”
“Who’s there?” Ye Heng exclaimed in shock.
Before he could react, the heads of the two servants flew up, blood spraying everywhere.
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