Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 277 : Wicked Scheme (2)

Chapter 277: Chapter 277 : Wicked Scheme (2)

Time flew by like a fleeting breeze. Before they knew it, a week had passed since Xie Jianyu and Mingyu arrived in Rainbell Town.

Xie Jianyu was slowly adjusting to his new life, but he couldn’t help but think about his husband, whom he had left behind in the Heavenly Realm. To distract himself from his longing, he often asked Madam Chen, the owner of the restaurant where they were staying, if he could help out.

However, Madam Chen was hesitant to let him help, especially when she saw Mingyu hovering protectively around Xie Jianyu and taking over any task that he was assigned.

One afternoon, Mingyu pulled Madam Chen aside and discreetly told her, "Madam Chen, my master’s health is very delicate at the moment. He must not lift heavy loads or get too tired."

Madam Chen nodded sympathetically. She had noticed that Xie Jianyu did indeed seem to be unwell. He threw up every morning and had a peculiar habit of buying random snacks every day.

If Madam Chen didn’t know better, she would have suspected that Xie Jianyu was pregnant!

Xie Jianyu’s new task at the restaurant was to take care of the balance sheets and manage the money flow. While he was good with numbers, he knew nothing about material prices and quality. In this sense, Madam Chen, who was in charge of greeting vegetable, meat, and fruit vendors every day, became his invaluable mentor.

One afternoon, Madam Chen received three boxes of tomatoes from Old Hao, a regular vendor. She furrowed her brows when she saw the less-than-perfect tomatoes underneath.

"What’s this?" she demanded. "Old Hao, are you trying to cheat me by selling rotten tomatoes to my restaurant?"

Old Hao wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Aiyah, Sister Chen, please don’t be so strict with friends. They’re not rotten, just a little bruised. What about this, you take these tomatoes, remove all the unsightly parts, and pay me ten gold coins per box?"

"Ten???"

Madam Chen crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Five."

"B-but... Sister Chen, look at the tomatoes! Not all of them are bruised!"

Madam Chen glowered at Old Hao.

"That’s because I am not checking all of them. Would you rather I check all the tomatoes one by one?"

Old Hao gulped. In his head, he was calculating the profit loss against the hassle of dragging the tomatoes around to find other buyers. It was never a good idea to keep vegetables around for too long, especially on a hot day like this. The sun was beating down mercilessly, and the tomatoes were already starting to wilt.

"Never mind, never mind. Five coins, five coins. Take them all."

Ah Yan dragged the crates into the kitchen, and Madam Chen stood at the door with a self-sufficient smile hanging from her lips.

"Big Sister, you seem to enjoy owning a restaurant," Xie Jianyu remarked.

Madam Chen gasped.

"Young Master, please do not mistake me! Even now, I see you and the other young master as the real owners of this shop!"

"..."

"I am just helping you run it! Look, in fact I saved up all the profits to give back to you later!"

Madam Chen grabbed a book to show Xie Jianyu the bookkeeping records over the months. It was filled with meticulous records of all the restaurant’s income and expenses.

"Big Sister, the restaurant is yours," Xie Jianyu waved away the records without even taking a look at them.

"No, no! When the other young master left with his servants, he told us to take good care of the restaurant!"

Xie Jianyu knew that Zhang Fengxi was not planning on returning to claim ownership of the restaurant. He had essentially gifted it to Madam Chen and Ah Yan.

Nevertheless, Madam Chen remained adamant in her conviction.

"Young Master, the both of you have given us a new life. I cannot possibly be greedy and claim the restaurant as mine! Young Master, if you are willing, why don’t you stay here forever? I will continue to help you run the restaurant!"

Stay forever in the Human Realm?

He could not.

He was the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Empire and the Fuxi Palace Master. And the child in his belly was the future Longjing Palace Master. Zhang Fengxi’s child.

He had to return to the Heavenly Realm eventually.

After Madam Chen left to do something in the restaurant, Xie Jianyu discreetly rubbed his stomach.

"My child," he whispered.

The fetus was now almost a month old.

He had only eight more months left, and he had to plan out everything meticulously.

"Pssst! Master! Master!"

Xie Jianyu removed his hand from his stomach and turned around.

Ah Yan stood at the doorway.

"Master, can we continue the training this evening?"

Xie Jianyu started giving Ah Yan basic training in swordsmanship yesterday. The young man insisted on calling him "Master", although he told him not to.

"I have always wanted to have a master," Ah Yan insisted. "Besides, Young Master, you are teaching me how to use the sword. Please let me at least call you with proper honorifics."

Xie Jianyu closed the bookkeeping records and stowed them back into a drawer.

"Sure. Do you have your weapon with you?"

Ah Yan whipped up a bald branch that Xie Jianyu cleaned up for him the previous day.

"Good, let’s go."

The master and student headed toward a small clearing in a nearby forest.

One thing that Xie Jianyu did not have the heart to say was that Ah Yan possessed no natural talent for swordsmanship.

It did not mean that he was entirely hopeless. As long as someone was able to hold a sword, he had the chance to improve. And this was what Xie Jianyu tried to achieve -- make Ah Yan compensate for his lack of talents with hard work.

Ah Yan had been practicing the same move for an hour when Xie Jianyu sensed some murderous intent.

He immediately grabbed Ah Yan’s branch to make him stop.

Gripping his own sword, the omega looked around warily.

"Master?"

"Sssh."

He waited for a long time for the unknown person to make his appearance, but nothing happened.

The murderous intent eventually disappeared, and the clearing fell silent once more.