Free Web NovelChapter 26: Chapter 26: Shengchang Fragrance House
Fu Juemin walked out of the training room. Two servants were waiting at the door. He pointed inside and casually ordered, "Clean up in there."
The servants acknowledged the order. He had only taken a few steps down the corridor when he came across Li Tong, who was standing under the portico with his hands behind his back, head tilted up to watch a flock of birds fly by.
He called out, "Uncle Tong." Li Tong turned and smiled at him. But after Fu Juemin had showered, changed, and come back downstairs, Li Tong was nowhere to be seen.
Ever since Fu Juemin had advanced to Bone Forging, Li Tong no longer spent all day watching him practice his martial arts.
Fu Juemin had always felt that Li Tong was reluctant to teach him. Their relationship had always been strictly professional, devoid of any real affection.
’The only reason he taught me martial arts was out of respect for my old man, Fu Guosheng...’
Five minutes later, Fu Juemin got into the car that the butler, Uncle Chen, had prepared. After a word to the driver, the car slowly pulled out of the Fu Family’s main gate.
"Young Master, where are we headed today?"
Qian Fei, pedaling his bicycle alongside the car, leaned in to speak with Fu Juemin.
After the trip to Taohuang Village, it seemed Qian Fei and Ma Dakui had completely accepted Fu Juemin as one of their own. They even dropped the "Fu" from his name, calling him "Young Master" directly.
"Saint’s Achievement Street."
Fu Juemin replied before rolling up the window. Qian Fei took the hint and deliberately slowed down, careful not to block Fu Juemin’s view of the scenery outside.
Sitting in the car, Fu Juemin fiddled with the Jade Button on his sleeve as the image of a person surfaced in his mind. freёwebnovel.com
Zhou Yunzhi.
He had almost forgotten about her.
His second uncle, Fu Guoping, had told him to keep seeing her when he had time, in order to draw out the mastermind who had previously tried to have him killed. He planned to start doing just that today.
The Saint Gong Girls’ School was located in the west of Luan River City, founded years ago with funding from a Western priest.
After the founding of the Great Xin Republic, the school was taken over by the government and became a semi-public girls’ middle school, sustained primarily by government subsidies and donations from all sectors of society.
The Fu Family also donated a large sum of money to the Saint Gong Girls’ School every year. Strictly speaking, Fu Guosheng could be considered a director of the school.
It wasn’t long before the car arrived.
Rickshaws and vendors gathered in twos and threes at the school gate. To the right, under an apricot tree, stood a simple lean-to where, on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, the teachers and students of Saint Gong Academy would distribute congee.
Through the car window, Fu Juemin saw the school’s freshly whitewashed Western-style church steeple gleaming in the sun. A few white doves were flying around its peak.
There was still some time before the school’s lunch break. The driver in the front seat turned his head and asked, "Young Master, should I drive in?"
’Clearly, his predecessor had done this plenty of times before.’
But Fu Juemin shook his head. After a moment of thought, he said, "Forget it. Head to the main street first."
"Yes, Young Master." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
The car rumbled back to life, turned around, and headed toward the east side of the city.
"The main street" wasn’t the name of a specific street, but a district.
It was the liveliest and most prosperous area in Luan River County.
In a relatively small area were over a hundred silk shops, tailor shops, general stores, apothecaries, and gambling dens, as well as tea houses, restaurants, barbershops, foreign trading companies, and photo studios.
The streets were crowded with all sorts of vendors. Storytellers, fortune-tellers, rickshaw pullers, market-goers, shoppers, and errand boys... it was a perfect microcosm of life in the Republic.
The car could go no further once it reached the crossroads. Qian Fei and Ma Dakui had to dismount and push their bicycles. Fu Juemin decided to get out and walk slowly down the street.
In his expensive, handmade Western suit, he looked completely out of place on the bustling, crude street.
Most of the surrounding pedestrians were dressed in coarse-cloth jackets, and they sized him up with looks of curiosity and awe. Fu Juemin had originally wanted to soak in the street-level atmosphere of the era. However, every few steps, his path was blocked by vendors hawking snacks and by insistent rickshaw pullers.
When, for the third time, Qian Fei and Ma Dakui—who were trailing him—cursed under their breath while vigorously scraping their shit-stained soles on the green bricks of the roadside, Fu Juemin finally gave up with a sigh. "To New Street."
New Street was right next to the main street district. New Street had more gold shops and banks, along with various high-end restaurants and tea houses.
After turning onto New Street, the number of pedestrians dropped significantly. The din ceased, and even the air seemed to grow fresher.
"That Snake Demon from Taohuang Village last time, did Second Uncle manage to sell it?"
Fu Juemin took out a silk handkerchief to wipe his hands, asking the two men beside him as he walked.
"It was loaded onto a ship last week.
This time it was sent to Jinhai..."
Qian Fei suddenly added, "Oh, there’s something I almost forgot to tell you, Young Master. Second Master said you should visit him when you have time. He has something good prepared for you."
"Oh?!"
Fu Juemin blinked, just then remembering that Fu Guoping had indeed mentioned giving him a gift last time.
"Young Master."
Qian Fei looked up at the increasingly oppressive sun and suggested quietly to Fu Juemin, "How about we find a place to sit down? The weather is stifling, and we just worked up a sweat squeezing through that crowd..."
"Alright."
Fu Juemin glanced up and happened to see a sign across the street. It was a strange mix of Chinese and Western styles, bearing the large words, "Shengchang Fragrance House," with a smaller line of Western text below it.
"Let’s go there."
Fu Juemin said casually, pointing to the rare glass door beneath the sign and the various flowerpots arranged under the portico.
This Shengchang Fragrance House was considered the only high-end Western restaurant in Luan River County. The chef was rumored to have studied abroad and specialized in Western cuisine.
His predecessor had been there a few times, and Fu Juemin recalled the food being mediocre. He wanted to go in now mainly because the restaurant also served coffee, and he was curious what coffee from the Republic era tasted like.
"Looks like it’s our lucky day! We get to go into a Western restaurant with the Young Master."
Qian Fei grinned, rubbing his hands together in eager anticipation. Beside him, Ma Dakui remained silent.
Fu Juemin smiled and led the two men toward the restaurant.
Just as they were about to cross the street, a car pulled up and stopped right at the restaurant’s entrance.
Fu Juemin glanced casually at the car, but the next second, he froze.
Three people got out of the car.
One was a blond, bearded Westerner. A man with slicked-back hair, a powdered face, and round glasses followed behind the Westerner like a lapdog. As for the last person...
It was Xu Leyi, dressed in a sharp, competent-looking outfit!
The bearded, blond Westerner got out and offered a hand to help Xu Leyi out, but she ignored it and got out on her own.
After getting out of the car, her eyes met Fu Juemin’s gaze from a short distance away, and she was clearly taken aback for a moment.
But her expression quickly returned to normal. She turned her head away nonchalantly, as if she hadn’t seen him at all.
Fu Juemin narrowed his eyes, watching as Xu Leyi conversed fluently in Victorian with the blond, bearded Westerner while they walked into the restaurant. The sycophantic translator, now useless, followed behind them with a frustrated look on his face.
"Young Master..."
Qian Fei seemed to notice the change in Fu Juemin’s expression and asked cautiously, "Are we still going in?"
"Forget it."
Fu Juemin pulled his gaze away from the restaurant and gestured to another tea house on the street. "We’ll go there."
Five minutes later, on the second floor of a tea house directly across from Shengchang Fragrance House, Fu Juemin sat alone at a table by the window, sipping his tea and watching the glass door on the other side of the street.
