"Now... where is my payment?" s.h.i.+ Fu came back to his childish nature. The wise man from before was gone in a heartbeat. Yao Ying was a bit taken aback by the sudden change of s.h.i.+ Fu"s behavior.

Lin Jian rolled his eyes, knowing that his s.h.i.+ Fu had thousands of different personalities. "What kind of payment do you want, s.h.i.+ Fu? Didn"t you say that your divine skill always comes on a whim? How can you charge Yao Ying for it?"

s.h.i.+ Fu childishly pouted. Then he pulled out something out of his sleeve --- a white jade porcelain bottle. "Of course, I will give him something more! The divination that I"ve said before... just take it as a gift for my new disciple!"

"What is that, s.h.i.+ Fu?" Yao Ying asked curiously. It seemed like it was an expensive and rare bottle, so the things inside that bottle should also be precious, right?

"A medicine suitable for your headache," s.h.i.+ Fu smiled mischievously. Yao Ying"s eyes exuded happiness when he heard that. His s.h.i.+ Fu was really amazing, he indeed knew that he was still having a subtle headache every now and then. It didn"t hinder him from doing activities, but still bothering him nonetheless.

Yao Ying wanted to grab and take the bottle from s.h.i.+ Fu, but the old man quickly pulled his hand back along with the bottle in a fast movement that couldn"t be seen by naked eyes. He quickly put it back inside his sleeve once again. "There"s no free medicine in this world. I will wait for my payment first and after I receive it, this medicine will become yours," s.h.i.+ Fu said happily to Yao Ying.

"That"s why I asked you what kind of payment do you want?" Lin Jian asked for Yao Ying"s behalf.

"You know my favorite thing."

"Wine?"

s.h.i.+ Fu snorted. "Of course! What else?"

"No good wine, no medicine. As simple as that." s.h.i.+ Fu smiled wickedly, knowing that by doing this... he would get a good wine to drink.

Yao Ying smiled. "Don"t worry, s.h.i.+ Fu! The wine is already on the way."

True enough... not too long after Yao Ying saying that Xiu came back with a jug of wine. Xiu whispered to Yao Ying, "Young Master, this is the best wine that Master has. He said this is the wine that General Lin is looking for. Previously, it has been bought by Master so not a jug left can be found in the market."

Yao Ying laughed out loud because of that. So, this was what Father meant that he would get a good show at Lin Fu. He must have predicted that the old man, who loved wine so much, would demand his most favorite wine to General Lin. w.a.n.g Luo Hai bought it all just to spite his beloved best friend, General Lin. When General Lin went to buy it, it was already too late --- the wine had sold out everywhere. General Lin only had two choices... being punished by his s.h.i.+ Xiong or begged w.a.n.g Luo Hai for a jug of wine. What a sly fox!

Father probably knew that General Lin was too proud to beg him for a mere wine, so he would choose to receive a punishment. Yao Ying sometimes wondered whether both of them were really best friends or not!

Yao Ying quickly presented s.h.i.+ Fu with the wine and the latter received it happily. He opened the lid and the heavenly smell of his favorite wine burst into his nostril. s.h.i.+ Fu asked Yao Ying curiously, "My favorite wine! How do you get it? Even my useless s.h.i.+ Di couldn"t get it for me!"

"s.h.i.+ Fu, this is given by my father," Yao Ying said. He didn"t want to get all the credits, besides it would be a lie if he said that he was the one who got it.

"Little w.a.n.g?"

Yao Ying nodded. s.h.i.+ Fu laughed heartily. "No wonder that Lin Zheng couldn"t find my favorite wine. It seems like Little w.a.n.g did something first behind Lin Zheng"s back! Little w.a.n.g is really mischievous."

After that, s.h.i.+ Fu threw the bottle at Yao Ying which was caught just in time by Yao Ying. "Drink it once a day before sleeping at night. It will have a better effect if you brew it with hot water. You need to finish it all the pills in there and there will be no more headache."

"Thank you, s.h.i.+ Fu." Yao Ying thanked him gratefully.

"Tomorrow... you can start your lessons, but of course, as long as you bring this wine as a payment," s.h.i.+ Fu grinned. "Little w.a.n.g is really clever at bargaining things, huh? He never takes a loss. He knows that I won"t teach you without good wine as payment."

Yao Ying was a little surprised. Why did s.h.i.+ Fu seem really close with his father too? Probably, he should ask Lin Jian later. "Yes, s.h.i.+ Fu," Yao Ying said happily.

"Go... Let me enjoy my wine! Lin Jian... you should also come tomorrow. I see that your foundation is worse than before. It seems that you"ve been slacking off," s.h.i.+ Fu gave his thorough a.s.sessment toward Lin Jian.

Lin Jian blanched at what s.h.i.+ Fu said, but he couldn"t deny it. He had been slacking off ever since he came back from the border. After all, he had been having fun a lot and he also made a new best friend. It seemed like he had to start training diligently again, otherwise, he would receive a crazy training schedule from s.h.i.+ Fu. "Yes, s.h.i.+ Fu!" Lin Jian answered in a low voice.

After that, they both left s.h.i.+ Fu alone to enjoy his wine. Yao Ying decided to ask Lin Jian, "Why is s.h.i.+ Fu seem so familiar with my father?"

"Our father used to play around together, so whenever Father had a lesson, Uncle w.a.n.g was always loitering around and bothering my father until my father got angry and beat him up. s.h.i.+ Fu was there too. To be honest, they are quite close to each other, because s.h.i.+ Fu also loves bullying my father," Lin Jian answered, laughing at his father"s bad luck for meeting such a mischievous friend and s.h.i.+ Xiong.

Lin Jian asked Yao Ying, "Do you have any plan for the rest of the day?"

"I"m probably going home and rest. Wife"s order. She"s worried about my headache," Yao Ying explain.

"Tsk! Having a henpecked friend isn"t fun!" Lin Jian mocked Yao Ying jokingly.

"Haiyahhh~ it"s better than a single dog who is jealous of us," Yao Ying mocked him back.

Lin Jian felt like vomiting blood. This man was simply too annoying! "Don"t you want to visit our hua lou?" Lin Jian asked curiously.

"Why?" Yao Ying furrowed his eyebrows. Why did Lin Jian want to take him to the hua lou again? He barely survived the last time he went there. If he went to the hua lou once again without any reasons, Yao Ling would probably kick him out of their bedroom again -- or worse... didn"t let him touch her ever again!

"I only want you to familiarize yourself with the way our hua lou works, after all, you are already a part of us. Uncle w.a.n.g should already have this thought in mind. Usually, I"m the one who manages the pieces of information that we collected from the hua lou. Before me, it was Uncle w.a.n.g"s job because sometimes I have to go to the border. I think you should learn about this too just in case I"m not stationed in An Yang City," Lin Jian explained.

Yao Ying pondered over it and thought that it was reasonable. Yao Ling probably would understand, but it was better for him to tell her about it first. He was afraid that she would hear about this from someone else and it would backfire at him.

"Xiu... do Father and Young Mistress at home?" Yao Ying asked Xiu about their whereabouts because he seemed to meet with Father back at w.a.n.g Fu when he went to retrieve the wine.

"No, Young Master. They are both at Fu Rong," Xiu answered. "After I got the wine, Master and Young Mistress were heading out to Fu Rong together. They should have arrived there by now."

Yao Ying decided to take Lin Jian to Fu Rong and asked for w.a.n.g Luo Hai and Yao Ling"s permission. w.a.n.g Luo Hai never told him that he should learn about their network intelligence at hua lou and he didn"t want to overstep his boundaries, so he should probably ask w.a.n.g Luo Hai about it first. Lin Jian agreed to his reasoning and followed docilely behind him.

When they arrived at Fu Rong, w.a.n.g Luo Hai and Yao Ling were in their office on the second floor together. One was doing the accounting while the other one was doing special custom embroidery. They worked in harmony despite the silent atmosphere. Xiao Yu and w.a.n.g Luo Hai"s personal servant stood behind their masters, just in case they needed help.

w.a.n.g Luo Hai and Yao Ling heard the footsteps and they looked up to see Yao Ying and Lin Jian stood in front of them. Both of the youngsters didn"t forget the courtesy, they greeted w.a.n.g Luo Hai first and then Yao Ling.

"What are you doing here?" Yao Ling was the one who asked. "Didn"t I say that you should rest?"

"There"s something important that Lin Jian wants to ask Father." Yao Ying explained when he saw the displeasure expression on his wife"s face.

Yao Ying could only helplessly look at Lin Jian. He didn"t want to be the one who told him that he wanted to go to the hua lou --- even though it was strictly only for business matter. He made an eye contact with Lin Jian, telling him that he should start the conversation first.

Lin Jian sighed and knew that he should be the one who asked for their permission. It was his idea, to begin with. Besides, his henpecked best friend didn"t even have the gut to ask his own wife for permission!

"Uncle w.a.n.g, I already told Yao Ying about the hua lou"s matter. I wonder if I can start teaching Yao Ying the way the hua lou works and operates. After all, I can"t always take care of it, especially when I"m away from An Yang City or when I am a.s.signed to the border," Lin Jian went straight to the main point.

He deliberately didn"t ask for Yao Ling"s permission, but by telling w.a.n.g Luo Hai about this in front of her, she should already understand that they didn"t want to play around there, but strictly for business purpose only.