Chapter 363: Chapter 362: Is Love Truly Blind?
The last comment made Gu Zhao pause. He picked up the file on the table again and flipped through it until he found the explanation of the matter.
Fang Yaohui, male, 42, divorced.
Director of XX Group and an investor in the XX International Fund.
While seeking spiritual guidance and medical treatment on Feiyun Mountain recently, he encountered Mr. Gu and Taoist Yu Zhang, who were returning to the mountain to recruit. He received a cup of medicinal tea from Mr. Gu. The condition was that if he remained celibate for three years, he would maintain his virility until he was eighty. If he broke the vow, he would become permanently impotent, but the woman he slept with would have her youthful appearance preserved forever.
Fang Yaohui couldn’t resist the temptation and drank the medicinal tea, but three days later, he had intercourse with the woman who had accompanied him that day. This resulted in impotence, so he filed a lawsuit against the Feiyun Mountain Taoist Temple, demanding that its Daoists provide "after-sales service."
"’Provide after-sales service’—holy crap!" Gu Zhao roared with laughter. "This guy’s a real piece of work! Isn’t he afraid at all?"
Taoist Yan Song, who had also read the file, shook his head and smiled. "After all, the domestic legal system reigns supreme here. What he’s doing is understandable."
"The problem is, he doesn’t actually respect our domestic system," Gu Zhao scoffed, then went on to tell Taoist Yan Song about how Fang Yaohui had behaved on Feiyun Mountain that day.
Taoist Yan Song nodded in understanding. "I see."
He had been wondering why Gu Zhao gave the man that particular cup of medicinal tea. After hearing the explanation, he understood. It was another one of those types who earn their fortune domestically, but their hearts lie elsewhere.
"Doesn’t he know about the Berkeley video?" Taoist Yan Song asked curiously.
"Obviously, he isn’t well-regarded abroad either," Gu Zhao said nonchalantly. "Sometimes I really wonder how people like that manage to build such fortunes."
Taoist Yan Song smiled faintly. "When a person’s knowledge doesn’t match their wealth, Hayek’s great hand comes into play, using the market to bring the two back into alignment."
"Well, well! You’re into economics?" Gu Zhao teased with a grin.
Taoist Yan Song blinked. "It’s a line from an overbearing CEO in one of those short video dramas."
Gu Zhao wagged his finger. "You’re pulling my leg. The overbearing CEOs in those short dramas would never use a technical term like that!"
The two of them looked at each other and burst into laughter. Gu Zhao turned a page in the file he was holding and saw the resolution of the case.
The plaintiff’s claim was rejected and the case dismissed due to a lack of primary evidence.
...
「Yangcheng Folk Orchestra.」
Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi were walking with a tall, blonde, blue-eyed foreign woman, drawing a great deal of attention.
"Do you two have plans this weekend? Want to go shopping together?" Erin asked. "Or how about we get hot pot again? Those spicy rabbit heads are so good!"
Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi: "..."
Ever since she’d laid her cards on the table with them, Erin had really let herself go. Aside from discussing music, all she did was eat and have fun all over Celestial Xia, never making any deliberate effort to pry for information.
And it was as if she had discovered a whole new world.
"The Celestial Xia food in Huaqi Country is delicious, but the food here in Celestial Xia is even better!"
"Wow! Roast Duck! Wow! Hot Pot! Wow! Guo Bao Rou! Wow! Squirrel-shaped fish! Wow! Braised pork! Wow! Husband and Wife Lung... wait, why is this dish called ’Husband and Wife Lung Slices’?"
"You’re exaggerating a little, aren’t you?" Jiang Shishi said doubtfully. "Gaulish cuisine is world-famous, too, right?"
"Gaulish cuisine is famous, of course, and delicious. I personally think it’s better than Shenluo and Sakura Paste food. Along with Celestial Xia cuisine, they’re considered the great cuisines of the world."
Erin explained, "But objectively speaking, all other cuisines besides Celestial Xia’s are actually overrated."
"Why?" Xiao Ya asked, not understanding.
As a citizen of Celestial Xia, she naturally felt her own country’s food was the best, but she wouldn’t go so far as to dismiss the cuisines of other nations. After all, the high-end Sakura Paste and European restaurants in the country were very well-known.
"Because the country is so vast!" Erin sighed. "Within Celestial Xia, you have the Eight Great Cuisines, all with vastly different flavors, and all of them are delicious.
"Gaul, Shenluo, and Sakura Paste... at best, each of those countries is only about the size of a single Celestial Xia province. So what they call ’Gaulish cuisine’ or ’Shenluo cuisine’ is really just the equivalent of a regional Celestial Xia style, like Lu, Chuan, or Huaiyang cuisine."
"What’s more, besides the Eight Great Cuisines, Celestial Xia has countless other smaller regional styles, each with its own specialties, like the Guo Bao Rou from the Northeast, the Dapanji from the Northwest, or the Roast Duck from Yandu."
"So strictly speaking, Sakura Paste cuisine is practically a branch of Celestial Xia cuisine. The only real equivalent to ’Celestial Xia Cuisine’ would be ’European Cuisine’ as a whole, encompassing Gaulish, Shenluo, Weimar, Iberian, and all the other national foods."
Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi looked at each other. It was the first time they had heard this theory, but it seemed to make a lot of sense.
"It’s just that people now prefer to categorize by country, which is how the ’great cuisines of the world’ concept came about," Erin said with a shrug. "But really, the existence of Celestial Xia cuisine elevates the status of all the others.
"If you were to actually rank them based on variety, style, and the sheer number of dishes, Celestial Xia cuisine would be in a league of its own. All the others would come after it, with Gaulish cuisine holding a solid second place, and the rest, like Shenluo and Sakura Paste, fighting over third."
Jiang Shishi clicked her tongue. "You’re making me feel proud."
"But she’s not wrong," a nearby voice chimed in.
"Hubby!" Jiang Shishi whipped her head around to see Gu Zhao standing not far from them.
"You’re free?" Xiao Ya asked, pleasantly surprised. She couldn’t help but glance over at Erin.
Even though Erin had laid her cards on the table and Gu Zhao had said he didn’t mind, Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi had a tacit agreement to never discuss him in her presence.
"I’m free," Gu Zhao said with a smile. He then looked toward Erin and gave a nod. "Hello."
"Hello!" Erin replied politely, taking a small step back. She glanced at Jiang Shishi, then shot a surprised look at Xiao Ya.
’Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi have boyfriends. I know that, and so does the entire orchestra, because they’ve both clearly turned down every man who’s ever expressed interest.’
’But at the same time, no one in the orchestra had ever met these boyfriends. All we knew was that they had a male friend in Yangcheng who sometimes picked them up for meals and get-togethers.’
’I’d heard about this guy, too. They said he knew traditional Celestial Xia Martial Arts and that a video he made with them went viral, turning them into major influencers in the traditional music scene.’
’But none of us knew if he was actually one of their boyfriends.’
’But now, thanks to Jiang Shishi’s excited outburst, I know he must be her boyfriend. So why does Xiao Ya look just as happy to see him?’
’It can’t be... can it?’
’Jiang Shishi is one thing, but Xiao Ya has an incredibly powerful Daoist for a relative. And this guy... he’s a little handsome, I guess, but...’
’Is love really blind?’
And with that, Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi politely declined Erin’s weekend shopping invitation, hopped into an SUV parked by the road, and sped away.
Erin: "..."
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