Mu Anxiao listened to Song Xu’s grating laughter opposite her, raised her head, and frowned, “What are you laughing at?” Her tone was cold.
Song Xu: “I’m laughing at you,” he pointed at Mu Anxiao, then withdrew his hand and pointed at himself, “Ignoring me, truly a friend of Brother Shen.”
“I am friends with Shen Moyun, what does that have to do with your inexplicable laughter?” Mu Anxiao retorted.
“Of course it has something to do with it. Brother Shen usually likes to treat me like this, and so do you,” Song Xu said, glancing at the teapot Mu Anxiao was guarding, “He used to stop me from drinking water like this, and you are now too. Do you know what this means?” He tilted his chin up.
Mu Anxiao looked at the eccentric Song Xu with a helpless expression, remaining silent, and stood up.
Seeing this, Song Xu looked puzzled, “What are you doing?” he asked, tilting his face up to stare at Mu Anxiao.
At this moment, Mu Anxiao realized that Song Xu was a chatterbox. Thinking about her mission, if she stayed here any longer, this Song Xu would definitely not let her go, and would even follow her and reveal more about ‘Shen Moyun’.
Not only that, but Song Xu would also definitely discover her secret instantly. And Ouyang Ye had made it clear that the money in this money pouch only lasted three days. This meant she would have to come here again tomorrow and the day after.
If Song Xu discovered anything now, what would she do in the future? This mission would surely fail.
Therefore, for her own sake, she had to ditch Song Xu.
“Nothing,” Mu Anxiao said, her mind suddenly turning, she reached out, picked up the teapot, opened her mouth, and drank all the remaining tea in front of Song Xu.
Song Xu stared at Mu Anxiao’s actions, stunned.
Immediately, Mu Anxiao put down the teapot, raised her arm to wipe away the residual water from the corner of her mouth, and said, “I drank too much water, I need to go to the privy.” With that, she left.
Song Xu stared blankly at Mu Anxiao’s receding back, swallowed, and muttered, “That fellow has really gone mad.” As he said this, he fixed his gaze back on the teapot.
Meanwhile.
Under the cover of the crowd, Mu Anxiao found a waiter preparing food boxes, “Is it ready yet?” she asked directly.
The waiter stood by the table, placing the food boxes one by one for packing, and said, “Everything you ordered are our specialties, and these specialties are usually favored by young masters. Most importantly, we only have one chef who can prepare the signature dishes, so,” he smiled at Mu Anxiao, “it will be a bit slow.”
“There aren’t that many people in your main hall.”
“They are all in the private rooms.”
“Private rooms?” Mu Anxiao repeated, then suddenly smelled the fragrance of roses. She paused for a few seconds, turned to look towards the stairs, and saw a woman in a red dress walking down. Looking at the woman, she frowned and asked, “Which noble family’s daughter is that?”
Upon hearing this, the waiter followed Mu Anxiao’s gaze towards the woman in the red dress and smiled, “That’s no one’s daughter.”
“Not someone’s daughter?” Mu Anxiao asked, turning back to the waiter, “Then who is she? She’s so rich and can still visit here.”
“She’s one of our dishes,” the waiter said in a low voice.
Mu Anxiao frowned.
The waiter smiled, “She’s a dish called ‘Xiuse Kecan’ (Beautiful Enough to Be Eaten).” As he spoke, he stared at Mu Anxiao’s face.
Mu Anxiao’s expression froze.
Seeing Mu Anxiao like this, the waiter smiled, “Young master, you didn’t understand what I said?”
“I didn’t understand. That’s a person, what does ‘Xiuse Kecan’ have to do with it? If you ask me,” Mu Anxiao said, glancing again at the woman over there, and shaking her head slightly, “it has absolutely nothing to do with it.”
The waiter smiled.
Mu Anxiao was confused, “No, what are you laughing at? Is what I said that funny?” she asked, reaching out and hitting the waiter’s shoulder.
Hearing Mu Anxiao’s words, the waiter promptly withdrew the smile from his face and said indifferently, “Every room has this dish, but our dish…”
“What do you mean?” Mu Anxiao was completely bewildered.
The waiter looked at Mu Anxiao’s foolish expression, then glanced at the woman in the red dress walking towards Song Xu, and patiently explained, “It means that in every private room, there is a woman, and we name those women ‘Xiuse Kecan’.”
“Xiuse Kecan,” Mu Anxiao finally understood what the waiter meant. She then looked around and said, “So this place is a brothel after all.”
“What do you mean brothel? Young master, watch your words, we are very high-class here.”
“Yes, high-class, with ‘Xiuse Kecan’.”
“Do you want to book a private room?” the waiter tried to recommend.
Unexpectedly, Mu Anxiao reached out and forcefully hit the waiter’s head, saying, “I don’t have time for such boring things, and I prefer to eat alone, I don’t like people watching me eat, because then,” she lowered her hand, “I lose my appetite.”
“You are truly unconventional.”
“I suppose so,” Mu Anxiao said, taking out her money pouch from her sleeve, “How much silver?”
“Five taels,” the waiter said, his eyes lighting up as he focused on the money pouch in Mu Anxiao’s hand.
Mu Anxiao: “As expected of delicacies, five taels for this small amount of food, it’s really a rip-off.” Saying this, she opened the money pouch, took out five taels of silver, and handed them to the waiter.
The waiter happily took the silver and said, “I’ll go settle the bill for you right away.” With that, he walked around Mu Anxiao towards the counter.
Mu Anxiao put away her money pouch and, by chance, looked at the woman in the red dress who had stopped beside Song Xu. A smile curled the corner of her lips, “I didn’t expect Shen the Madman to know people like that.” Saying this, she looked up towards the second floor, suddenly remembered Zhao Xiang’s parents, then she glanced left and right, and walked towards the stairs.
In an instant.
Mu Anxiao searched all the rooms on the second floor and finally found that Zhao Xiang’s parents were not there.
“Strange, they’re not here.” Saying this, she stood by the railing and looked down, just as her eyes met Song Xu’s.
Song Xu looked at Mu Anxiao and waved.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao’s eyes darted away, and she muttered, “This is truly bad luck.” Saying this, she intentionally put her hands behind her back and turned away as if pretending.
Song Xu frowned upon seeing this.
Mu Anxiao tilted her face, turned to the steps, hesitated, and then went down.
Immediately, the waiter appeared within Mu Anxiao’s line of sight with the food boxes, “Young master, why did you go up?”
Hearing the voice, Mu Anxiao, afraid Song Xu would hear, quickened her pace towards the waiter and said, “I went to take a look, I might want to book a private room next time.” She pointed at the food boxes, “Is it packed?”
“It’s ready. Oh, right,” the waiter smiled slightly and handed the mission paper back to Mu Anxiao, “Here you go.”
“Okay.” Mu Anxiao agreed, taking the mission paper while also taking the food boxes, and said, “It’s quite heavy.” After saying this, she quickly put away the mission paper, held the food boxes with both hands, and left.
The waiter softly said, “Guest, please take care.”
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao responded without looking back, “Leaving,” and then quickened her pace.