Zhuang Hao looked at Yi Fan with an ambiguous expression and said, "How was it!"
Yi Fan looked at Zhuang Hao and said puzzledly, "How was what?"
"I heard everything, why are you still acting like nothing happened?" Zhuang Hao said unhappily.
"You eavesdropped on our conversation?" Yi Fan said, looking at Zhuang Hao with contempt.
Zhuang Hao cleared his throat and said, "Don't say it like that. I just wanted to tell you to go back and eat, but when I got there, I felt that you probably weren't hungry anymore, so I left. Really, you should thank me for not disturbing you guys."
Yi Fan's face sank and he looked at Zhuang Hao without saying a word.
"Looking at your expression, could it be, you didn't succeed in rolling in the sheets? Is it possible that… You couldn't get it up? Aiya, aiya [1], failing at the critical moment, how embarrassing." Zhuang Hao said sympathetically.
Yi Fan rolled his eyes and glared at Zhuang Hao fiercely, "You're the one who can't get it up."
Zhuang Hao looked at Yi Fan and said, "There's no need to be so agitated! If you're this agitated, it's like you're trying to hide something [2]."
Yi Fan stared at Zhuang Hao and said, "Zhuang Hao, you idiot…"
Zhuang Hao, "…It's only because you don't look so happy right now!" If something good had actually happened last night, then Yi Fan wouldn't have this kind of expression on his face!
Yi Fan took a deep breath and said, "I'm not upset, I'm just feeling a little regretful. Tingxuan didn't accept me because he actually likes me, maybe he was feeling too lonely, or sad, so he made that decision without really thinking things through."
[T/n: YF, my dude, you know you could've just turned MTX's proposition down, right?]
Yi Fan lowered his head. Of course he's happy that he was able to hold his beloved in his arms, but just because they became closer physically, didn't mean that the distance between their hearts became any closer.
Zhuang Hao rolled his eyes and said, "You shouldn't be too greedy." Everytime he kisses Shaorong, he'd receive a slap to the face in return. Yi Fan has already reached the next level, what more does he want?
Yi Fan nodded and said, "You're right! I am too greedy, but in any case, the probability of me successfully wooing Tingxuan is still much higher than your chances of getting together with the Young Master. Young Master Zhuang Hao, don't you agree?"
Zhuang Hao: "…" Agree, your sister! [3]
Zhuang Hao tilted his head, looked at Yi Fan, and said, "It's just by a stroke of luck that you got the chance to climb into Mu Tingxuan's bed. Don't get carried away."
Yi Fan, "…I'm not in the mood to argue with you."
Yi Fan gace Zhuang Hao a sideways glance, then turned around and left.
Zhuang Hao looked at Yi Fan's back, and was in a daze for quite a while.
Chen Yuan walked over to Zhuang Hao, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Zhuang Hao, what's wrong?"
Zhuang Hao glanced at Chen Yuan and said, "It's nothing."
Chen Yuan looked at Zhuang Hao suspiciously and said, "Are you okay? Why do you keep looking at Yi Fan! Have you taken a fancy to him?"
Zhuang Hao glanced at Chen Yuan and said, "What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I'm sick, why would I like Yi Fan?"
Chen Yuan laughed hollowly and shook his head, saying, "I'm just kidding."
"That guy has such good luck! He directly skipped over the kissing stage of the relationship and rolled right into bed. Even so, that guy's still not satisfied. He should be struck by lightning [4]!" Zhuang Hao said enviously.
Chen Yuan: "…"
"Why can't I be as lucky as Yi Fan." Zhuang Hao complained.
Chen Yuan coughed lightly, looked at Zhuang Hao, and said, "A-Hao! You shouldn't be too anxious about these kinds of things. After all, hasty men don't get to eat hot tofu, you should take it slow, take it slow." Qi Shaorong's not some kind of saint, if Zhuang Hao tries to rush things, it'd easy to mess up and completely ruin everything [5].
Yi Fan walked into the hall and saw Mu Tingxuan serving some food.
"Why are you up already?" Yi Fan asked, looking at Mu Tingxuan.
Mu Tingxuan glanced at Yi Fan and said, "It's late so I got up. Is there something wrong with that?"
Yi Fan smiled awkwardly and said, "No, of course not."
Zhuang Hao looked back and forth between Mu Tingxuan and Yi Fan, pondering over something.
Qi Shaorong placed his hand on Zhuang Hao's shoulder and said, "Why are you staring at Yi Fan so affectionately?"
Zhuang Hao: "…"
"I'm not, I'm just observing them. It seems like Yi Fan's not that skilled! Mu Tingxuan doesn't look any different from usual." Zhuang Hao said.
Qi Shaorong: "…"
"Either that guy's not really good at it, or I've gotten their positions wrong, and Yi Fan's the one on the bottom! You really can't judge a person by their appearance! Yi Fan looks so fierce and unruly, but he's actually the bottom."
Qi Shaorong: "…"
Chen Yuan rubbed his nose, lowered his head, and thought to himself: After all this time, how has he never noticed that Zhuang Hao's actually such a gossipmonger!
Qi Shaorong stared at Zhuang Hao and said, "Enough already. Besides, it's not like he'll ever sleep with you. Why do you care so much about whether someone's on the top or bottom?"
Zhuang Hao smiled and said, "You're right!"
Qi Shaorong: "…"
"Young Master, you can eat now." Mu Tingxuan said.
Qi Shaorong looked at Mu Tingxuan and said, "Tingxuan, some Allure Cosmetics shops are going to be opening for business today in Li Country. I'm going to go check it out, do you want to come with me?"
Mu Tingxuan nodded and said, "Sure."
Zhuang Hao placed his chin in his hand, and there was a slight smile at the corner of his lips. Qi Shaorong was actually a very lazy person. When he had more work than he could deal with, he'd always ask Zhuang Hao for help. Although Qi Shaorong never gave him any compensation for it, Zhuang Hao was still very happy. At least he was no longer completely excluded from Qi Shaorong's world. Qi Shaorong handing over some matters regarding Allure Cosmetics for him to handle probably meant that, to some extent, he's received Qi Shaorong's approval.
Qi Shaorong walked on the streets and couldn't help feeling a little proud of his success.
Qi Shaorong had gone to see three Allure Cosmetic shops, and all the products in the three stores were sold out.
"The Allure Cosmetics shops are doing better than I expected!" Qi Shaorong said.
Chen Yuan said with envy, "Young Master Qi, your net worth is going to rise again [6]."
Qi Shaorong smiled and said, "You flatter me."
"Gongzi, I didn't expect to meet you again." Hua Jinyue was full of excitement as she ran towards Zhuang Hao.
"Gongzi left in such a hurry, you didn't even let us know beforehand." Hua Jinyue said.
The person who ran towards Zhuang Hao was the girl who Zhuang Hao had rescued before on their journey to Li Country, that brother and sister pair.
Qi Shaorong looked at Hua Jinyue and couldn't help but curl his lips. Last time, Zhuang Hao had changed his appearance and gave this girl a fright. Now that Zhuang Hao's face was back to normal, the girl was back again.
"Miss, why are you here?" Zhuang Hao asked.
"I'm from Li Country, of course I'd be here! Gongzi isn't from around here, right! Is Gongzi currently staying at an inn? Those inns contain all sorts of people, good and bad, it's not that pleasant there. Actually, my father gave me my own courtyard, although it's a little small, it's still better than living in an inn. Gongzi, how about you go live in my courtyard instead?" Hua Jinyue said, looking at Zhuang Hao eagerly.
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and thought: Zhuang Hao, this guy, really has the potential to be a gigolo! Does this girl want to keep Zhuang Hao or something?
[T/n: "Keep" as in keeping a mistress.]
Zhuang Hao smiled and said, "There's no need, we're already living in another courtyard. It has five entrances and exits, is very spacious and has a nice view." The place where Zhuang Hao and others were currently living was given by Feng Yuan. The Business Alliance was extremely wealthy, so Feng Yuan was very generous with his money.
Hua Jinyue smiled awkwardly and said, "I worried too much. How could such a remarkable person like yourself not have a place to live?"
"He really has nowhere to live, he's actually living with me. He sold himself to me." Qi Shaorong said.
Zhuang Hao: "…"
Hua Jinyue glanced at Qi Shaorong and said, "Gongzi, you really know how to joke!"
Qi Shaorong smoothed his hair and said, "Tsk tsk, I'm telling the truth, but no one believes me. How tragic."
Hua Jinyue fixed her expression, looked at Zhuang Hao with expectatant eyes, and said, "Gongzi, you probably haven't had the chance to go sightseeing yet. How about I act as a guide and show you all around."
Zhuang Hao, "No need."
Yi Fan, "Okay!"
Zhuang Hao looked at Yi Fan, lowered his voice, and said, "What are you doing?"
Yi Fan shrugged and said, "I want a guide."
"Can't you just walk around by yourself! Why do you need a guide! Do you not have eyes or legs!" Zhuang Hao said angrily.
Yi Fan patted Zhuang Hao on the shoulder and said, "If there's someone who's willing to show us around, it would be a waste not to accept it!"
Hua Jinyue smiled and began pointing out their surroundings.
"Over here is Yulong Hall [7], this is one of the most famous restaurants in Li Country. They serve a great variety of dishes, and eating there will give you a very memorable experience. The country's monarch also frequently visits Yulong Hall to enjoy the food. Yulong Hall is well-known for their famous jade lotus soup."
"This is Jinhua House [8]. The clothes produced by Jinhua House are very popular among nobles. Jinhua House also sells clothes made from shark silk. It's said that Jinhua House has a relationship with the mermaids [9], and their shark silk has a warming effect in the winter and a cooling effect in the summer. It's really magical, but unfortunately, most common citizens will never get a chance to experience it because it's just too expensive."
"This is the Allure Cosmetics shop, it just opened recently. It's said that this is Qi Shaorong's handiwork. Qi Shaorong, this guy, has been very popular these days! Did you know? Rumour has it that he's a madman, and he's very sick. He won Feng Yuan's favor but didn't ask for money or power, instead he decided to use this opportunity to help out one of his subordinates. He seems to be a little muddle-headed."
Qi Shaorong looked at Hua Jinyue and said, "This Qi Shaorong guy isn't that bad though! Isn't he quite good at making money, at least? I also heard that he's very handsome."
Chen Yuan: "…" Young Master Qi, where did you hear that?
Hua Jinyue nodded and said, "True! That guy is pretty good at making money, but all his money is earned through black-hearted, wicked means. As for whether he's handsome or not, I don't know."
Chen Yuan lowered his head, rubbed his nose, and thought to himself: The eyes of the masses sure were sharp. So he's not the only one who thought that Qi Shaorong, this guy, was black-hearted.
"What's wrong with that shop over there!" Qi Shaorong said.
"That's the Mu Family's shop, their business didn't do so well and it closed down," said Hua Jinyue. "Under the Business Alliance's suppression, the Mu Family has had really bad luck lately!"
Qi Shaorong crossed his arms and said,"The Mu Family has done many evil deeds, they deserve it!"
Hua Jinyue looked around and said, "There are some rumours about Mu Huai circulating around. Some people are saying that the two wood-spirit cores in Mu Huai's body aren't his, but were stolen from someone else. If this is really the case, then Mu Huai is just too cruel. Many people used to admire and look up to Mu Huai, but there are much less people now."
Qi Shaorong: "…" Of the two wood-spirit cores in Mu Huai's body, one of them actually was his own, and the other one was Mu Tingxuan's. He didn't expect the rumors to be so exaggerated, claiming that both the wood-spirit hearts were stolen.
However, it's not that unexpected. Everyone looks up to the angels in the sky, but once they fall off their altars, anyone can step all over them. Mu Huai was originally someone whom the gods favored, and had a great reputation in Li Country. Now that there were some bad rumours being spread around, those who were jealous of Mu Huai would naturally begin embellishing and fabricating the rumours about him [10].
Footnotes:
Aiya: Interjection of wonder, shock, amazement, or for expressing complaint or impatience.
Trying to hide something: The more one tries to hide, the more is exposed; trying to hide it makes it more conspicuous.
Your sister: Bringing up someone else's family member in a conversation/argument can be used as an insult. In this case, it's kind of like using the phrase "my foot" sarcastically in response to something that someone said.
Struck by lightning: Be punished by heaven; receive divine punishment.
Mess up and completely ruin everything: An idiom was used that actually means something that's lost forever; beyond redemption; with no hope of reprieve, etc.
Net worth: Can either mean social status, value of a person, or worth.
Yulong Hall: The "yu" used in this context means "royal/imperial", and "long" is "dragon". Probably could've gone with "Royal Dragon Hall" but "Yulong Hall" sounds better.
Jinhua House: "Jin" can mean "brocade" or "bright and beautiful", and "hua" means "magnificent/splendid��. Also, it should probably be called "Jinhua Shop" instead, but I don't like the way that sounds. I was thinking along the lines of "teahouse" or "fashion house" (which is an establishment in which fashionable clothes are designed, made, and sold), so yeah, "Jinhua House" it is lol.
Mermaids: This may or may not be translated correctly lol. The original words used here are "shark women", which I think could refer to "shark people" in Chinese mythology, which are similar to mermaids in Western mythology. I'm not even sure if it's "shark" or "fish", I'm pretty sure the word by itself means "shark"? Anyway, it's said that these shark people are good at weaving and their tears can turn into pearls.
Embellishing and fabricating: "To add oil and vinegar"一Add colour and emphasis (to a narration); adding details while telling a story.