Volume 1 Chapter 83 The Curtain Falls

  Deng Shoucai let out a deep sigh, his expression heavy with emotion, and gazed in the direction of Xingyue Tower with a look of great entanglement.

  I thought that after all these years had passed, no matter how much he hated me back then, he should have let it go by now, but I didn't expect that even until now, he still hates me so much.

  Because of the guilt he felt towards him back then, he had never taken to heart some of the business setbacks he suffered at his hands. After all, no matter what, it was he who had done something wrong to him in the past and ultimately betrayed their brotherly bond. Even if he wanted to make amends, he couldn't blame him for it.

  After a long time, it slowly came faintly.

  "My wife, whom you've met before, was actually once engaged to Wang Yi. Since our three families were all in business together, my wife grew up with us from a young age. However, not long after they got engaged, Wang Yi changed and would often physically abuse her over trivial matters that seemed insignificant to us. In a fit of rage, my wife broke off the engagement despite everyone's objections."

  "When I broke off the engagement, the reason was that she wanted to marry me. At that time, I originally just wanted to help her get away from Wang Yi's side, so I agreed to play along with her, but as we spent more time together, I gradually fell in love with her straightforward personality. So I went to her house to propose, and also because of that incident, I felt guilty towards Wang Yi and didn't dare visit him again. As time passed, the two of us hadn't had any contact for many years until he opened Xing Yue Lou across from my Ming Yue Lou. I took a gift to congratulate him, but was driven out by him. It wasn't until then that I suddenly felt that perhaps he had been resentful towards me all those years."

  Deng Shoucai finished speaking, with a guilty look on his face, hanging his head low, and perhaps because of this reason, he had never thought of responding to his various provocations.

  "It's better this way." Xiao Yimiao supported her head with her hand, thinking about how to solve the problem this time.

  "Where's Mo Er and Xiao Fan?"

  When Huā Fēi Chén's figure suddenly appeared, Xiāo Yí Mò was still somewhat stunned, but only for a moment, and then he followed him into the kitchen.

  "Master, how did you get here?" Su Xiaofan was currently quickly chopping a roasted duck with both hands.

  "The person you're looking for has arrived, are you going back now?" Huā Fēi Chén walked up to her and picked up a small piece of meat from the chopping board.

  "Master, you can't eat without washing your hands, and don't just take the customer's food at will." Su Xiaofan quickly reached out to grab it back before he could put it in his mouth, then pulled over Ji Yun and said: "Ji Yun Master, I'll leave things here to you for now, I'm going to head back first."

  "Alright, Xiaofang, slow down." Ji Yun was somewhat perplexed, but at this moment she hastily took off the apron around her waist and ran out with the two of them.

  "You stay here so those troublemakers won't come back."

  Xiao Yuanfeng was about to follow up, but when he heard Xiao Yimò's words, he retracted his foot and sat down inside the counter.

  Qili Xiang Wine House

  Xiao Fu had already invited the guest to a private room on the third floor before several others arrived.

  "Hello." After entering, Su Xiaofan patted her chest, trying hard to calm down the panting caused by running quickly.

  "Oh......hello." The people inside the house were clearly at a loss for how to react, that day was just casually mentioning a few things they saw while drinking with friends, why would it be heard and taken seriously, and judging from their reaction, it seemed to be extremely mindful of this matter.

  "That's not good, I wanted to ask you something, so I told the shopkeeper. If you come to the wine tower again, please let me know." Su Xiaofan finally calmed down and walked over to sit in front of the man, pouring him a full cup of tea.

  The person inside the house finally calmed down and said to Su Xiaofan: "I am Chu Huai, Miss. What questions do you have, feel free to ask directly."

  "Hmm, then I'll ask directly. I want to know, on that day when you saw Wang Yi feeding the grandson of the owner of Mingyue Building, did you see anyone else? Su Xiaofan thought that in this era, a single witness might not be enough to prove anything. If he could find many people to testify against Wang Yi at the same time, perhaps they could threaten him and make him dare not to take action against Deng's family again."

  Chu Huai furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before shaking his head and saying: "This, I really didn't notice."

  Su Xiaofan replied somewhat disappointedly: "Is that so? In that case, I'll have to trouble you."

  "It's nothing, if there's nothing else, I'll go down first, my friend is still waiting for me downstairs." Chu Huai stood up and bid farewell.

  Su Xiaofan nodded slightly and stood up to see him out the door.

  Xiao Yimeng sat in the house staring at her, and after a while slowly said: "In my opinion, your idea of going to tell him is not practical."

  "Why? And I didn't even plan to report him, isn't he supposed to have connections in the yamen?" Su Xiaofan furrowed her brow. Even if officials protected each other, if it was related to human life and there was sufficient evidence, shouldn't she be able to bring him down?

  "That yamen doesn't have much power at all, he can only occasionally bully those weak common people." Xiao Yimeng had previously asked Fengdi to investigate the yamen's affairs and found that he wasn't a very influential person, and the county magistrate didn't have a good relationship with him either.

  "That's it, no past warnings or actual evidence, you see now, even Old Deng's little grandson has recovered, even if we have witnesses, it won't prove anything, they won't believe our one-sided words." Su Xiaofan furrowed her brow in frustration, originally when Fu Shu mentioned the eyewitness, she thought there was a chance to investigate something, and then they could take him down with one blow, but it seemed she had thought too simply.

  Xiao Yimochen was silent for a while before telling Su Xiaofan some things that Deng Shoucai had told him earlier.

  Su Xiaofan also fell silent after listening, although it was some old news, but suddenly felt that even if he found some evidence, Deng Shou and his wife might not go to report Wang Yi.

  But men who beat women can never be good guys.

  "Alright, let's go. There are still things to be taken care of over there." Xiao Yimiao stood up and walked downstairs, remembering that when he came up earlier, the entire hall was filled with a strong bamboo fragrance. It seems that many people bought their trial-made bamboo tube rice today.

  "Ah, just right, I'll go down and ask about the situation." Su Xiaofan stood up, although he was in a hurry when he came up earlier, he still paid some attention to his surroundings.

  At the counter, Su Xiaofan asked Xiao Fu about the sales of bamboo tube rice today.

  "This morning, although there weren't many customers, because this young master wanted to eat, he took one to the counter and ate it. After that, more and more people started trying them out. One reason was that they were fresh and had never been seen before, and another reason was that the aroma was really enticing. I couldn't help but eat a whole tube myself," said Xiao Fu with a slightly embarrassed smile.

  "Uncle Fu, if you want to eat something, just let the kitchen staff make it for you. Otherwise, working hard every day will exhaust you." Su Xiaofan glanced around the hall and continued, "Has anyone asked about the bamboo matter?"

  "Hmm, I asked around and found out that in the mountainous area of Lin County, there's a place where people grow various types of bamboo, each with different uses and prices aren't high either. However, it takes some time to transport them here. Then there are also several villages in Mo City that have large tracts of bamboo forests, but their prices are slightly higher than those in Lin County." Xiao Fu spoke enthusiastically about the information he had gathered.

  Su Xiaofan pulled Xiao Yimeng over after hearing this, and the two of them huddled together behind the counter.

  Su Xiaofan recited, Xiao Yimiao held a pen and wrote.

  A moment later, Su Xiaofan handed over the things he had written to Xiao Fu: "Send someone to buy bamboo according to the types on this, don't be too expensive, in order to ensure the freshness of the bamboo, it's best to transport them back in sections and soak them in water."

  "Alright, I see." Xiao Fu took it over and scanned it carefully. It turned out that bamboo was divided into so many categories.

  "Let's go first, after buying it back, let them use the most common bamboo first, and I'll come back to study the rest of the varieties later." Su Xiaofan pulled up Xiao Yimeng's hand and walked out together.

  When they were about to leave, Xiao Yimeng also called Huafei Chen to go with them.

  Xiao Yuanqiu fanned herself with a feather fan, calmly watching them leave in the distance. What did Mo Di mean by "be careful of the safety of the wine house" when he left just now?

  Isn't someone going to make trouble for the wine house?

  In the evening, Xiao Fu sent someone to deliver the bamboo he had bought back to Mingyue Building. Deng Neng received it with a puzzled expression, and vaguely felt that Xiaofang must be studying something new again, just like the tools she had accepted last time.

  After spending an hour or so, Su Xiaofan and Ji Yun carefully explained the production method to them. By evening when there were many guests, they almost started selling.

  Xiao Yimo's expression was grave as he led Xiao Yuanfeng and Hua Feichen to Deng Shoucai's room upstairs.

  "Three people looking for me?"

  Deng Shoucai's expression was somewhat off, and before they knocked on the door, he had been standing in front of the window, staring at the Star Moon Building across the way, constantly guessing what their next move would be.

  "Yes, tonight he will return with you to the manor, and you can arrange a place for him to stay." Xiao Yuanfeng said as he pointed at Xiao Yuanfeng.

  Xiao Yuanfeng was surprised and pointed at himself, asking: "Why should I go live with him?"

  Deng Shoucai also looked puzzled: "Yes, arranging accommodation is fine, but he seems unwilling to go."

  "The Wang Yijue of Xingyuelou may do something even more severe than before, so we must take preventive measures. At present, you are the cooperative object of that woman, so we have an obligation to protect your safety and that of your family." Xiao Yimeng gave a very faint glance at Xiao Yuanfeng, as if using his eyes to tell him that what had been decided was not up for discussion.

  Xiao Yuanfeng looked up at the ceiling with a sigh of extreme depression, and his hand, which was originally pointing to himself, pointed down at the floor: "Does someone need to come and guard here too?"

  "Ah, Master is staying here tonight." Xiao Yimiao replied in a low voice.

  Huā Fēi Chén qīng diǎn le yī xià tóu: "Zhǐ shì jǐ gè wǎnshàng de huà, dào shì wú suǒ wèi, Mò ér nǐ jué dé tā huì zài shén me shí hou dòng shǒu."

  Translation:

  Huā Fēi Chén nodded lightly: "It's just a few nights' talk, it doesn't matter, Mo Er, when do you think he will make his move?"

  Xiao Yimao shook his head slightly, although from Wang Yi's gaze, he could see that it was highly likely that he would do something, but he still couldn't guess what exactly he wanted to do.

  "Hey, Master is always Master, can't you stop giving him orders all the time?" Xiao Yuanfeng was somewhat dissatisfied with this. Since he was a child, he had always let his master handle various matters for him.

  "You can understand it as me asking Master to do it." Xiao Yimiao raised an eyebrow, and didn't think that his behavior was as commanding as he said.

  Xiao Yuanfeng was silent.

  In your heart you are resentful, I have never seen anyone like you who asks others to do things for them.

  That night, Su Xiaofan slept very soundly, perhaps because the bamboo tube rice sold extremely well yesterday, although it was still the first day of trial sales, and the price was relatively high, but the profit was considerable.

  After waking up fully in the morning, I didn't see Xiao Yi Mo's figure when I went out of the yard. According to usual, if he wasn't on the bed after I woke up, he would definitely be waiting in the yard.

  "Madam, you're up. Young master said that after you get up, just go straight to Mingyue Building. He has some things to attend to with Master Qiu and the others today." Xiao Fu smiled and greeted Su Xiaofan as she walked out of the backyard.

  "Oh, I see." Su Xiao Fan scratched his head, although he was curious about what they were up to.

  In the kitchen, Su Xiaofan dove into a pile of different types of bamboo and in the blink of an eye, one or two hours had passed. During this time, she made various types of bamboo tube rice, all of which were placed on the kitchen counter.

  Then he gave each of them a small spoon in the kitchen: "You go and taste one spoonful of each dish, and choose several of the most delicious ones."

  After a moment, Su Xiaofan raised an eyebrow and looked at the group of people in front of her with very tangled expressions, asking: "What's wrong? Can't eat any of it?"

  Everyone shook their heads in unison.

  One of them, biting on a spoon in his hand, frowned and replied: "These all seem to be delicious, can't tell which ones are better."

  Su Xiaofan gazed at the full tray of dishes with a worried expression, finally deciding to include all of them on the menu: "Leave the rest to Fu Shu to handle, I've written the prices on each bamboo tube, as for what each dish is made of, I trust you can tell them apart."

  It was almost noon when I arrived at Mingyuelou.

  As he passed by the Star and Moon Building, Su Xiao Fan looked inside with a puzzled expression. At this time of day, they should have already opened for business, so why were they still closed today? It couldn't be that they had given up and didn't plan to continue operating anymore, could it?

  "Shopkeeper, haven't the people from Xingyuelou come today?" Su Xiaofan asked as soon as she entered.

  "Hmm, they haven't come, I'm getting a bit worried too. Originally, I was concerned that they would do something strange again today." Deng poked his head out to take a look, and this morning he had been staring in the direction of Xing Yue Building, his neck was sore from it.

  "Has Mr. Deng arrived?" Su Xiaofan scanned the situation in the hall, although it was not yet noon, there were already people drinking in twos and threes in the wine building.

  Deng Nai shook his head: "Not yet, I was just wondering why neither of you two came today."

  Su Xiaofan smiled and said: "Then I'll go in and get busy. Today there are several new varieties that I need to tell them about."

  At noon, Su Xiaofan probably felt tired and walked to the outer counter to rest. Usually, as soon as he came out, he would see Xiao Bao'er here, but today he couldn't see him, which was really unusual. Moreover, he hadn't seen him since morning.

  "Shopkeeper, want to eat something?" Su Xiaofan yawned and tidied up her clothes, the past two days had been getting cooler, seemingly on the verge of entering winter.

  "No need, I had breakfast when I came this morning. Later, when it's not busy, I'll go eat lunch." Deng Nai was a bit busy today, usually there was that young master helping out, but today he was alone, and didn't know if it was because Xing Yue Building wasn't open today, the customers were especially many, occasionally even bursting full.

  "Is everything okay at your boss's home?"

  Upon hearing a hoarse old man's voice, the two people behind the counter both lifted their heads and looked at the old man standing outside the counter, smiling with a kind face.

  "What's up?" Su Xiaofan's eyes rolled around, could it be that he knew about Deng Lao's grandson being ill earlier?

  "You don't know? All the officials rushed to his house early this morning, and last night their backyard was on fire. Fortunately, the neighbors nearby called for help in time, and there was no major harm." The old man was quite surprised, and the smile on his face froze, not expecting that they were unaware of it.

  Su Xiaofan hesitated for a moment, turned around and walked out of the counter, saying to the old man: "Sir, are you also living near Mr. Deng's house? Is anyone in their family injured?"

  The old man thought for a moment and said: "It should be that no one was injured. After all, the official went away after a while."

  "Alright, thank you. Are you here for a meal?" Su Xiaofan scanned the hall and it seemed like there were no more seats available.

  "Hmm, I've heard that the food here is very good, so I wanted to come and try it out. As one gets older, everything seems to lose its flavor." The old man stroked his beard, smiling.

  Su Xiaofan also smiled and pulled over a nearby shop assistant, saying: "Take this old man to the kitchen and have someone give him a light meal of bamboo tube rice, accompanied by some clear soup. Put it on my account."

  The old man waved his hand hastily after hearing this: "This can't be done."

  "Just take it as a thank you for your concern about our boss, don't be polite, please." Su Xiaofan stepped aside and winked at Xiao Er.

  The young shopkeeper understood the implication, pulled him and walked inside: "Sir, just follow me, our Xiaofang girl rarely invites people to eat, you're really lucky."

  Su Xiaofan heard what the shopkeeper said and puckered up her mouth in displeasure, wondering why she rarely invited others to dinner.

  But to say that, over here, I occasionally make something for the little treasure to eat, and no one else has really taken care of it.

  "Shopkeeper, if you're worried, why don't you go take a look at the situation?" Su Xiaofan saw that Deng Nai was somewhat uneasy.

  Deng Nai shook his head: "If something really happens, I won't be of much help even if I go. Let's wait until closing time tonight and then I'll go take a look."

  Su Xiaofan thought so too, and nodded her head saying: "Tonight I'll go with you."

  In the evening, the two were discussing whether to close up early today and go to Deng Shoucai's house to see the situation, when Xiao Yimeng and three others walked in.

  "Little treasure, what did you guys do today?" Su Xiaofan leaned on the counter, leisurely cracking melon seeds.

  "Do you like melon seeds?" Xiao Yimeng walked in and took a glance at the large pile of shells beside her.

  "It's not that I like it, but I just want to find something to do for myself, so I won't be distracted." Su Xiaofan felt that she had been thinking about the Deng Shoucai family all day today, and all the recipes in her mind had become a mess.

  "Xiao Fan, don't worry, Deng's family is fine now, and Wang Yi has also been caught and thrown into prison." Xiao Yuanfeng stretched his neck a few times and leaned lazily against the counter.

  Su Xiaofan was shocked by the words, and in a moment of carelessness, she didn't bite the melon seeds on her lips, but instead bit her own tongue, instantly feeling a sharp pain that brought tears to her eyes.

  Xiao Yimeng smiled and handed over a blue handkerchief: "You can even bite yourself when eating melon seeds, from now on, you'd better not eat them." As he spoke, he took the half plate of melon seeds in front of her to his own face.

  "It's not... wasn't it because he suddenly said something like that..." Su Xiaofan rolled her tongue, unclear in her rebuttal, as if to say she wasn't stupid enough to bite her own tongue while eating a melon seed.

  "Alright, I'll tell you about Mr. Deng's family later." Xiao Yimiao also started snacking on melon seeds and saw that she still wanted to say something, so he said first: "I'm hungry."

  "Alright, you wait a moment, I'll go get some food."

  Xiao Yuanfeng stared blankly as Su Xiaofan trotted into the kitchen, his mouth agape. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "You just sent her away because she was hungry?"

  "Otherwise?" Xiao Yimiao raised an eyebrow.

  "I thought she would definitely come to us soon to make things clear." Xiao Yimeng shook his head, women are indeed a difficult species to understand, how can they change so quickly.

  Huā fēi chén dào shì jué de méi shén me.

  Translation:

  It doesn't matter at all.

  Xiao Yuanqiu felt that the jealousy in his heart was getting stronger and stronger at this moment.

  Deng Nai had been worried after hearing some people's words, and after thinking about it several times, he decided to close the shop door half an hour earlier today. Taking advantage of the fact that there were not many customers in the store, he ordered someone to close the doors and windows, leaving only a small door open.

  After all the guests had left, Su Xiaofan couldn't wait to ask: "What's going on with Deng Lao's family? What about the fire? And what about Wang Yi being taken away and put in prison?"

  Xiao Yuanqiu smiled shallowly and gently shook her jade fan: "Xiaofan, don't be impatient."

  Su Xiaofan gave him a white eye: "I've been waiting for so long, can't I be anxious? And another thing, winter is coming soon, what are you fanning yourself for, just looking at it makes me feel cold."

  Xiao Yuanqiu smiled and closed the fan in his hand.

  "Yesterday, I saw that Wang Yi's expression was somewhat off, so I had him go to Old Master Deng's house to keep watch at night. Sure enough, in the middle of the night, someone went to try and kill Old Master Deng, but those two assassins were caught on the spot." Xiao Yimeng spoke calmly, originally not thinking that Wang Yi could do something like this.

  "Hmm... what's going on with the fire?" Su Xiaofan listened, seemingly understanding but not quite getting it. How did Little Treasure manage to make such arrangements just from Wang Yi's expression being off?

  "It was just a miscalculation, I didn't expect them to come with so many people. A few were in charge of assassination, and the others were responsible for setting fire in the backyard. They probably wanted to kill everyone in the mansion and then pretend it was an accidental fire." Xiao Yimiao furrowed his brow, if this had happened in the past, he would have never made such a mistake. If he had thought more carefully, perhaps the fire wouldn't have happened.

  Su Xiaofan felt that there were still many doubts in her mind, such as why those catchers would appear at Old Deng's house...

  "Is there anything else you'd like to ask?" Xiao Yimiao calmly glanced at her, seeing the doubt in her eyes, but didn't plan on explaining further.

  Su Xiaofan nodded vigorously, wanting to ask too many questions, and for a moment, she hadn't figured out what to ask first.

  "But I'm sleepy." Xiao Yimò stretched out his hand to cover his mouth and yawned.

  "Then go back to sleep, and ask again another day." Su Xiaofan immediately stood up, held Xiao Yimeng's hand, and bid farewell to everyone.

  Xiao Yuanfeng clicked his tongue again...

  The people in Mingyuelou were still a bit uneasy, so they left some people to guard the store and the rest went to Deng Shoucai's home.

  "How did you get here?" Deng Shoucai asked after seeing a group of people brought into the mansion by the butler.

  "I heard about the situation at your house and everyone was worried, so I came to take a look." Deng Nai smiled and took a glance around, the front yard seemed to be fine, apparently the fire wasn't too big.

  "Is that it, everything's settled then? Everyone can go back and rest now. It must have been another busy day." Deng Shoucai's expression was solemn, although the matter had already come to an end, he still couldn't shake off the feeling in his heart.

  Although I also knew that Wang Yi might have hated me, I didn't expect his hatred for me to reach the point where he wanted to kill my whole family.

  Deng saw the situation and didn't think it was convenient to ask more questions. He sat for a moment before leading everyone away together.

  "Alright, now tell me what's going on."

  Every other morning, Su Xiaofan got up early before Xiao Mo woke up, washed and dressed neatly, and waited by the window for him to wake up. As soon as he opened his eyes, she asked questions with her mouth open.

  Xiao Yimò slightly raised his lips and smiled.

  Getting up calmly and slowly, after dressing and washing up, he sat down at the table to eat some snacks, filling his stomach, before slowly opening his mouth: "When I had Far Peak investigate Wang Yi's brother-in-law who was a yamen runner previously, Far Peak had established good relations with some of the constables in the yamen, so naturally they also gave those people quite a few benefits. Yesterday he was originally supposed to come alone to Old Master Deng's house to keep watch, but he felt bored and called over several constables to accompany him, the group drank wine and kept watch through the night, and then coincidentally encountered you at this moment."

  "Is it really like that?" Su Xiaofan was somewhat skeptical of his words.

  "Uh-huh, of course." Xiao Yimiao stood up, stretched her waist, and walked out.

  Su Xiaofan didn't want to ask any more questions and just let it go, as long as the matter was settled.

  While in Mingyuelou, Deng Shoucai had already gone early and then faced everyone's doubts, patiently doing explanations.

  Yesterday, the young master was worried that the people from Xing Yue Tower would do something even more outrageous, so he had his master stay in the wine tower to keep watch. Originally, it was agreed that only Xiao Yuanfeng would go to my house, but he seemed to think it wasn't suitable, so he gave some silver to the captors ahead of time and had them stake out my house all night. This just happened to catch all the assassins, and after interrogating them for a short while, they confessed that it was Wang Yi.

  Deng Shoucai stopped talking here and didn't continue to say anything else. What happened afterwards, I suppose everyone knows. After Wang was taken away, the Xing Yue Building lost its boss for a while, and the shopkeeper didn't know whether to continue operating or not.

  Xiao Yimò and Su Xiaofan stepped into the building, feeling a bit strange. Everyone's gaze towards Xiao Yimò was filled with admiration.

  Su Xiaofan frowned and spoke in a displeased tone: "What's wrong? What is this?"

  "The young master is too formidable, and everyone really admires him." Deng Nai and several shop assistants almost simultaneously gave a thumbs up.

  Su Xiaofan smiled and said: "Our little treasure was originally very powerful, did you just discover it today?" After finishing speaking, she entered the kitchen.

  A few days later, Deng Shoucai solemnly called Su Xiaofan upstairs with a serious expression.

  "Boss Deng, looking for me about something?" Su Xiaofan felt that he had been worried about something these past few days, and his mood was always unstable.

  "Ah, there's something I'd like to discuss with Xiao Fan." Deng Shoucai poured her a cup of tea and handed it over.

  "Just say it, you don't have to be polite with me," Su Xiaofan said with a smile.

  "Uh, it's about the Xing Yue Building. It's been closed for several days now. I want to acquire it and of course we'll split the profits 50/50. However... in a few years, when Wang Yi is released from prison, I hope to return the Xing Yue Building to him." Deng Shoucai poured out all his thoughts over the past few days.

  Su Xiaofan thought for a moment before responding: "It's so close, taking it over isn't impossible. The store has been packed lately, but if that happens, we'll need to find more chefs and shop assistants. Not a single person from Xingyuelou can stay."

  Deng Shoucai nodded: "Yes, I think so too."

  "But isn't Wang guilty of hiring someone to commit murder? Although it was attempted murder in the end, he shouldn't be released that quickly, right?" Su Xiaofan didn't quite understand the laws here and only knew a few phrases from Xiaobao.

  "Hmm, but I sent some gifts to the county magistrate, ensuring his safety in prison while also allowing him to get out a few years early." Deng Shoucai smiled wryly, thinking that if he hadn't betrayed him back then and chosen to stand by his wife's side, they would have annulled their engagement.

  If they hadn't done so, perhaps they would have become a couple, and perhaps he wouldn't be the same person after becoming a couple as he was before.

  Thinking of this, I feel that he has become what he is today, all because of his own doing.

  "Mr. Deng is really a good person." Su Xiaofan's dislike for Wang Yi was only because he used despicable means to steal his formula, or maybe he did so many things just to bring down Mingyuelou, but even with such despicable means, he ultimately failed to achieve his goal.

  It was because of his own intervention between the two wine houses, enraged by his actions, that led to his ultimate failure.

  "I'm not a good person either, I just remember Wang Yi's younger brother being good to me when he was young. He wasn't like that back then." Deng Shoucai stood up with a sigh, picked up a box of food prepared beside him and said: "I'm going to the prison for a trip, Xiao Fan you go busy yourself."

  "Hmm." Su Xiao Fan sat stupidly in her original position watching him walk out.

  Deng Shoucai, who had just returned from prison, no longer had the solemn expression of the past on his face, but instead wore a relaxed smile.

  Deng was relieved and smiled, everything had finally passed and was returning to calm.

  Without the Star Moon Building as a competitor, some of the promotional activities in the wine house were also cancelled. The roasted chicken and duck have returned to their original prices. Only the promotion period for the wine has not expired yet. Originally thought that after restoring the original price, business would be affected, but there was no significant impact. People who like it will still come to eat.

  After business got on the right track, Su Xiaofan told everyone in the store that from then on, they would take turns working at Qili Xiang and Mingyue Building every other day.

  Deng Shoucai didn't have any opinion on this, actually as long as she had some new dishes or ideas, coming to the wine house and saying a few words would be enough, there was no need to come often, after all, he himself wasn't going to the wine house every day either. Similarly, as one of the bosses, she could also do the same, occasionally go to the wine house to take a look at the situation.

  In the Qili Xiang wine house.

  Su Xiaofan was in a great mood and lay on the stone table in the backyard.

  "Don't you think the stone table is cool?" Xiao Yimiao sat across from her flipping through books with a relaxed expression.

  "It's still acceptable, and I added another piece of clothing today." Su Xiaofan raised her hand to let him see her sleeves.

  "Your face is bare and you're not even wearing clothes, okay, stop leaning on me. It's rare for us to have a day off like today, do you want to go take a look at Yu Xiaoxi and Su Binghe? I heard their wedding day is approaching." Xiao Yimeng continued to flip through the book in her hand as she spoke, without stopping.

  Su Xiaofan stood up and said, "Right, I also heard it from Master Ji Yun. I've been busy lately and haven't gone there for several days. But speaking of which, since they're getting married, what should I give them as a gift?"

  Xiao Yimo's hand paused slightly as he turned the page: "What else can be sent? Send silver then."

  "Don't you think giving silver is too common?" Su Xiaofan thought hard, hoping to come up with a better gift, but no matter what, she couldn't think of one.

  "This world, everyone likes vulgar things." Xiao Yimiao smiled extremely faintly. After winter passed, it would be almost time to return to the valley, and her business was also stabilizing, so she should be able to take time off to go to the valley together with him.

  "This is really true." Su Xiaofan nodded, and then felt that something was not quite right. He leaned forward and asked Xiao Yuemu: "I'll ask you again, are you really not a child with dwarfism? I feel like you're very capable in all aspects."

  Xiao Yi Mo's mouth twitched, although he didn't know if such a disease really existed in the world, but he understood the literal meaning: "Didn't you say I'm a genius? Isn't it normal for geniuses to do these things?"

  Su Xiaofan replied: "That's right."

  "Good fellow!"

  "Daughter, how did you come?" Su Xiaofan looked up at Jia Shi standing at the gate and walked over in big strides.

  "I happened to come into the city to buy some things, so I came over to see you. You haven't been home for several days either. How have you been lately?" Mrs. Jia lovingly reached out and tidied up a few strands of hair in front of her forehead.

  "Ah, I was just about to head back today, I've finished all the work and there's nothing left to do." Su Xiao Fan helped her walk over to sit down at the stone table.

  Jia smiled and said, "Well, that's good. I also wanted to come over and talk to you, to tell you not to work too hard."

  Su Xiaofan smiled and said: "Mother, what are we going to buy in the city today? If there's anything you want to buy in the future, just ask Su Bing and the others to tell me."

  "It's not me buying things, it's just that Xi'er's wedding day is approaching soon, Xiao He wants to go into the city to prepare some dowry for her, so I came along with him to take a look. Only after seeing it did I realize that getting married requires preparing so many things." There was still some excitement on Mrs. Jia's face.

  Su Xiaofan exclaimed in surprise: "Didn't Mother arrange for those things when she married Father back then?"

  "Years ago, when I married your father, it was extremely simple. We just wore a red veil, lit two red candles at home and hastily worshipped heaven and earth."

  "So, Father really got a great bargain, to marry such a wonderful woman like Mother with such ease." Su Xiao Fan also gently brushed her hair in front of her chest, just as she had done earlier when she tidied up her own hair.

  "No, it was I who picked up the treasure when I met your father." Now that Jia Shi recalled him who had passed away, she no longer felt sad. Even though he was gone, he still lived in her heart, and this thought of him would continue until the day she died.

  "Heh heh, Mother likes those things for getting married so much. When I get married in the future, you have to help me pick them out and buy everything back, and send me off with a flourish." Su Xiaofan said as she batted her eyelashes at Xiao Yimeng.

  Xiao Yimeng's black eyes spun around in confusion, and her deliberate wink at herself was meant to convey what?

  Jia's pinched her cheek and said: "Those things, are just superficial things, can't you get married without those things in the future?"

  "This saying goes, if you don't buy it, then don't buy it. Aren't all the things for the wedding bought by the man's side? Of course, they would try to squeeze as much as possible." Su Xiaofan suddenly remembered some news articles she had read before about couples who broke up due to disagreements over betrothal gifts.

  "Silly girl, dowry is something that the bride's family brings to the groom's family, so it's only natural that the bride's family prepares it." Mrs. Jia shook her head helplessly, realizing that she had never actually discussed this with her before, no wonder she was unclear about it.

  "Huh? Didn't we use the betrothal gifts sent by the groom's family to prepare the dowry?" Su Xiaofan was slightly surprised.

  "The betrothal gifts brought by the man's family, of course, should also be taken along with the dowry, otherwise, after the woman gets married, she will be ostracized by the man's family." said Mrs. Jia.

  "Is that so?" Su Xiaofan looked at Xiao Yimeng and asked, he's a genius, maybe he also knows about this aspect of knowledge.

  Xiao Yimao shook his head and replied, "I'm not clear about this, and the customs of getting married are different everywhere, why do you need to worry about it? In the future, no matter what you think, just speak up, I'll make sure everything is ready for you."