12dz Chapter 81 Begonia Shopkeeper
Chapter 81 Begonia Shopkeeper
As dusk settled and the setting sun dipped below the horizon, the shadows of the mountains swallowed most of the market town.
Fan Zhou walked along the streets of the East Market, heading towards the Hundred Flowers Pavilion.
Because of the influence of the Gumi tribe, many new shops have opened in the market, and more cultivators are coming here to buy and sell. It is no longer as deserted as before, and all businesses are doing much better.
For example, when he passed by that corpse-refining shop, he saw a man in black robes holding a silver bell, leading four armored corpses behind him slowly away and disappearing into the darkness.
The pale-skinned, effeminate-looking male innkeeper stood at the door, waving goodbye and saying in a sweet voice, "Come again next time!"
Fan Zhou felt a strange unease and quickly walked past with his head down.
Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up when he saw him, and he immediately swayed gracefully as he trotted over, calling out:
"Brother Fan, please wait."
Fan Zhou ignored him and walked past quickly.
But as a strong, fragrant breeze blew by, the effeminate man stood in front of him.
Fan Zhou quickly stopped to avoid bumping into the person.
His face darkened, and he said bluntly:
"Manager Liu, why are you stopping me?"
With her face made up and her mannerisms indistinguishable from those of a woman, Liu Ruyi covered her mouth and smiled:
"Brother Fan, why are you walking so fast? They just wanted to congratulate you on becoming Doctor Lou's apprentice, not eat you."
Thank you, goodbye.
Fan Zhou quickly replied, walked past Liu Ruyi, and continued walking forward.
Liu Ruyi remained still, her figure moving as gracefully as a ghost as she retreated, gently blocking Fan Zhou's path.
"Brother Fan, don't be in such a hurry. I actually prepared a small gift for you."
He took out a jade bottle from his pocket and handed it to Fan Zhou with a wronged expression:
"This bottle of Yinzhi pills can prolong life, nourish Yin and tonify the kidneys, and will be of great benefit to your practice of the Longevity Technique. It is just a small token of my appreciation."
Fan Zhou frowned. Yinzhi is a rare medicinal herb, and its longevity-promoting properties make it extremely valuable. This Manager Liu has no connection with him, so sending such a generous gift is probably for ulterior motives.
"I appreciate Manager Liu's kindness, but as for the pills, let's skip that."
Fan Zhou refused with a cold face and quickly walked past Liu Ruyi.
Seeing that Liu Ruyi's shoulders twitched slightly, indicating an intention to stop him again, he immediately turned around and shouted angrily:
"If you dare to cause any more trouble, I'll beat you up!"
Liu Ruyi's eyes lit up; instead of being angry, she was delighted and seemed quite interested.
Fan Zhou was terrified and rushed into the Hundred Flowers Pavilion in a few leaps.
Liu Ruyi stood still, watching his figure disappear, and snorted coldly:
"What's so good about those filthy bastards?"
He stuffed the jade bottle back into his chest and stormed back to the shop.
"Thank goodness they didn't follow, they really gave me a fright."
Fan Zhou rushed into the Hundred Flowers Pavilion as if fleeing, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Give."
A small, fair hand handed over a handkerchief from the side.
Thanks.
Fan Zhou took the handkerchief and then realized that the person standing next to him was dressed in a plain dress; it was Qingju.
Qingju blushed, turned her face away from him, and said in a voice barely above a whisper:
"Give the handkerchief back to me when you're done using it."
Fan Zhou was slightly surprised. This girl had cried and ignored him last time, but now she was suddenly fine again. She really had the mentality of a child.
Dressed in pink, Zhiruo walked gracefully over and asked with a smile:
"Why is Brother Fan so panicked? Has he been bewitched by some vixen?"
She joked, but she was secretly shocked.
In just ten days, the young man before them seemed like a completely different person. Not only was he much more handsome, but he also had a more dignified air about him, giving off a subtle sense of pressure.
Considering that the other party became Lou Zhenqing's disciple, defeated two direct descendants of the Gumi tribe, and was awarded a golden crown by Princess Changming, it was truly remarkable.
Zhiruo was somewhat impressed with herself. She had seen early on that Fan Zhou was a rare commodity and had built a relationship with him. Now it seemed that she had truly had excellent foresight.
"There's no vixen, but there is a sarcastic bird."
Fan Zhou rolled his eyes and made a joke.
He returned the handkerchief to Qingju, walked among the display cases of various elixirs with his hands behind his back, and asked:
"I'm here to buy health-preserving elixirs, and I also wanted to ask Sister Zhiruo, given my current status, shouldn't my discount level be upgraded?"
Zhiruo walked to his side, affectionately took his arm, and said gently:
"Brother Fan, you don't know this, I'm just a manager. The 10% discount I gave you before was already the maximum I could go."
"So that makes things difficult?"
Fan Zhou remained expressionless and made a move to pull his arm away.
"But!" Zhiruo changed the subject, "but I can try to negotiate with Manager Haitang for you; at least we can get you a 20% discount."
"Only 20% off?"
Fan Zhou deliberately snorted coldly and turned to walk outside.
"Don't worry, we can talk about this again, and I'm sure I can give you a satisfactory result."
Zhi Ruo smiled charmingly, pulling hard on Fan Zhou to prevent him from leaving.
Fan Zhou stopped in his tracks, deciding to test her, and made a hand gesture:
"40% off".
Zhiruo almost couldn't help but open her mouth and curse at him:
"You might as well just rob someone!"
She rolled her eyes in annoyance, thinking she should just tell Fan Zhou to get lost.
"Zhiruo, how can you lose your temper with a guest?"
A soft, charming voice came from above.
Fan Zhou turned his head and saw a beautiful woman in a colorful long dress walking down the stairs. She looked to be in her early thirties, with fair skin, a pretty face, and a voluptuous figure that exuded a mature charm.
It was none other than Haitang, the manager of Baihualou.
Zhi Ruo bowed and said, "Senior Sister Hai Tang."
Shopkeeper Haitang walked up to the two of them and chuckled:
"I heard what you were saying. I'll handle this. Zhiruo, you can go and do other things."
"Yes."
Zhiruo stepped aside.
Shopkeeper Haitang then took Fan Zhou's hand and said softly, "Brother Fan, let's go upstairs and have a heart-to-heart talk."
"Does such a small matter really require such a detailed discussion?"
Fan Zhou smelled the fragrance of the flowers beside him and followed her up the stairs.
"Could it be that Shopkeeper Haitang also has feelings for me?"
The moment that thought crossed his mind, he felt a delicate, tingling sensation on his palm.
He glanced down and saw that it was Shopkeeper Haitang touching his hand.
Are you trying to take advantage of me?
Fan Zhou raised an eyebrow, grabbed her hand, and began to stroke it in the opposite direction.
I must say, it feels smooth and soft to the touch, and it's quite comfortable to feel.
Shopkeeper Haitang paused slightly, her gaze falling on his face. Her expression was a mixture of joy and reproach, her eyes brimming with irresistible charm that could melt a man's bones.
Fan Zhou pretended not to see it, and followed the shopkeeper Haitang to an elegantly decorated reception room, where the two sat facing each other at the tea table.
Shopkeeper Haitang poured him tea, her expression unchanged, seemingly unconcerned about what had just happened.
"Manager Haitang, could you give me a 40% discount?"
Fan Zhou politely took a sip of tea and got straight to the point.
Shopkeeper Haitang smiled gently and said:
"If you don't mind, you can call me 'sister' if you like."
Fan Zhou smiled slightly, "If you can give me a 40% discount, I'll call you godmother."
"My brother is such a chatterbox."
Shopkeeper Haitang gave a reproachful look, poked Fan Zhou's face with her jade finger, stared intently at him, her gaze gradually sweeping up and down until it finally landed on his lower abdomen.
She only looked away after Fan Zhou had become uneasy under her gaze, and asked a completely unrelated question:
"Brother Fan, how much Yang energy have you accumulated in your Guanyuan acupoint since you started practicing the Everlasting Spring Technique?"
Fan Zhou felt completely baffled:
"Manager Haitang, why are you asking this?"
Haitang rested her cheek on her hand and whispered:
"The key to the long-term effect of delaying aging and maintaining a peak state is to gather the excess yang energy in the body into the Guanyuan acupoint, so that the essence is not depleted."
Fan Zhou nodded slightly; of course he knew about this.
Shopkeeper Haitang continued, "Then do you know that when the Everlasting Spring Technique is cultivated to its perfect state, one can actively release all the yang energy stored in the Guanyuan acupoint, achieving a state of complete transformation?"