Chapter 144: The Goal
Almost as if Liu Shun thought he had heard wrong, he asked once again for clarification, “What did you say?”
“It is hard to refuse such hospitality, so if young master Liu is so passionate in inviting me, then I won’t be refusing it. Without discord, there is no concord. You are Tianming’s friend as well, so if we all eat together, we will be able to become closer friends faster.”
Bai Yunfei’s attitude had made a complete change, making him seem extremely willing to eat a meal with him.
“I….” Liu Shun was about to choke on his own words in a fit of depression. To himself, he thought, “I want nothing to do with you. You said you’d only be here for a few days before leaving, so what’s the point of making friends now?”
But he had already invited him before, and now Bai Yunfei had accepted. He couldn’t exactly say, “Actually, I don’t want to invite you.” either. Right now, Liu Shun wanted to slap himself hard in the face twice. But instead, he managed to force out a smile, “Yes, very well then. Thank you lord Bai for doing me this honor. Today afternoon we’ll….”
“I’ve heard that there is an especially grand restaurant in Gaoyi City?” Just before Liu Shun could offer a restaurant, Bai Yunfei had interjected first.
“Eh? Are you talking about ‘Aroma Delicacy’?”
“Yes, I believe that was the name of it. Why not eat there?”
“Oh….well, very well. That will be no problem. I’ll have the finest foods and drink prepared for lord Bai then….” Liu Shun had been skeptical. Aroma Delicacy was indeed the finest restaurant in Gaoyi City and was also a restaurant where the finest foods were had, but that meant the price of it was very expensive as well. Did Bai Yunfei want to make the best out of the situation? Liu Shun didn’t exactly know the answer to that, but the restaurant didn’t really matter to him. He just wanted to deal with this current headache in a way that he would escape the reprimands of his father.
“Ah, I’ve a friend that came with me to Gaoyi City to sightsee. I hope young master Liu won’t mind if I bring him along?”
“Of course, lord Bai’s friend is also an honored guest of mine. He should be treated to this meal as well.”
“Tianming was troubled today to bring me here, would he be allowed to come as well?”
“Ye Tianming was never a problem to worry about, I’ll be sure to let everyone eat their fill!” Liu Shun spoke, but inside his mind, he was ranting, “How annoying can you get! How many people do you plan to bring with you to eat?”
“Haha, then I thank young master Liu for your hospitality. I’ll be returning first to find my friend. We’ll meet again at Aroma Delicacy then.”
Bai Yunfei had looked quite pleased as he rose up to speak to Liu Kun, “Lord Liu, then I’ll be taking my leave. If lord Liu happens to see senior You in the future, please forward my thanks to him.”
“Oh…yes yes! Take care then, lord Bai! If there is ever help that you need, you only need to ask!”
……
After Tianming and Bai Yunfei left, Liu Shun had finally let out a sigh in relief. But when he turned around to see the strange expression on his face, he couldn’t help but ask, “Father, what’s wrong? I’ve already invited them as guests to eat this lunch, was that the wrong thing to do?”
“No, no. You did well. This Bai Yunfei is someone we cannot afford to make enemies with. Don’t let him be displeased with you. If lord You were to learn about this, then your older brother may experience difficulties.” Liu Kun shook his head with a grave expression.
“Lord You? That lord You! Ah! Don’t tell me….”
“Correct. It is the very same You Qingfeng that helped your older brother enter the Wood School. The head apprentice of the elder and a genius at his craft. You Qingfeng has even the chance to become the next elder of the Wood School.”
“Then this Bai fellow is….”
“Yes, lord You wrote a letter saying that should Bai Yunfei ever require anything, we are to offer up assistance to the best of our ability. From the letter, lord You holds Bai Yunfei in very high regards. But that isn’t strange, this youth is an extremely talented figure as well and is without a doubt someone that would easily gain lord You’s eye. We should do our best to do as lord You instructed, but….ai! What he’s asking for is a bit hard to do! Should our household even help him or not….”
“Father, what are you saying? What was his request? I didn’t see him say anything….” Liu Shun asked in confusion.
“He didn’t ask for anything, but his intentions are very clear to see!”
“Intensions? What intentions?”
“…..” Liu Kun stared at Liu Shun in confusion for a moment before shaking his head, “He is currently living with the Ye, and today he had Ye Tianming bring him here. This is clearly telling us that he has a good relationship with the house of Ye. With how the situation is between the Ye and the Zhao, the Zhao has the support of the Beast Taming School. If nothing out of the ordinary happens, then the Ye will have to ultimately surrender to the Zhao. But with the arrival of this person, he changes everything! Although he’s a Middle-stage Soul Sprite, he cannot hope to intimidate the Zhao. But as someone that managed to earn the eye of lord You, I cannot see him as any regular Soul Sprite then….”
Pausing for a brief moment, Liu Kun then continued, “Furthermore, he mentioned the Aroma Delicacy. That too has a deeper meaning to it.”
“Doesn’t he just want to eat a meal? What deeper meaning is there?”
“You….idiot! Don’t tell me you forgot who owns the Aroma Delicacy! It’s the second son of the Zhao! The Zhao owns the Aroma Delicacy! If the third son of the Liu and the second son of the Ye were to eat a banquet at an establishment that is owned by the Zhao, what would the Zhao think?!”
“That Bai Yunfei. He’s silently helping out the Ye while borrowing the power of the Liu to confuse the Zhao. At the same time, he’s probing our reaction and attitude towards this….”
Liu Shun’s eyes grew wide at that, “Was there so many goals in a single meal? This Bai person is using us then? How arrogant! Why should we help him?! We might as well cancel the feast then!”
“We should respond, but how could we go back on our words?! The boy hadn’t asked for anything, but then it was you that requested a banquet to be had to repay him! It was you that invited him to eat a meal! While it might do nothing to affect our relationship with Bai Yunfei, but to the Zhao, they’ll see it as us trying to improve relationships with Bai Yunfei. With all that’s done, the best that we can do is to keep calm and observe the situation.”
“Remember now, if during the meal….”
……
On the other side, Tianming had begun to inquire to Bai Yunfei about just how he had knocked Liu Shun unconscious. Bai Yunfei had hid nothing from him and simply told him what had happened yesterday, causing Tianming’s eyes to widen wide open. “Goddamn! Brother Liu was that bold?! Haha, how unlucky he was to come across brother Bai! If he was knocked out, that’s his fault then. But still….I wanted to see him take out his penis to take a piss right in front of everyone….haha!”
After traveling with Jing Mingfeng for a long enough time, even his catchphrases had managed to infect Tianming.
“But….brother Bai, I know that you aren’t the type to hold a grudge over this, so what was the point of accepting that meal? And the Aroma Delicacy is the territory of that fatass Zhao Liang, if something were to happen while the Ye and the Zhao are in such a delicate situation….”
“We’re just eating a meal and to allow our differences with the Liu to be resolved. Don’t worry, if that fatass really doesn’t know any better and tries to make trouble with us, we’ll teach him a lesson.” Bai Yunfei spoke carelessly.
“Oh….” Tianming nodded his head as if he understood and said nothing more.
When Jing Mingfeng had heard about the afternoon meal, he had been very excited. From his expression, he had looked as if he was waiting for something great to happen. This had caused Tianming to be skeptical–Was a free meal like this really something to be that excited about?
