46: Chapter 46 Revealing One's Identity

"Rice seeds?" Upon hearing this, Ye Jing felt deeply vigilant.

Zhang He, fearing Ye Jing might regret it, said, "The rice from your Ye Family is so high-yielding; I imagine the quality of these rice seeds must be excellent. Why not sell these seeds to me? How about I offer five taels of silver?"

"Not for sale!"

Ye Jing refused without a second thought. The rice seeds in a farmer's hands were basically cultivated over a long period of time for their own farming; how could they be easily given to others? Not to mention, this rice was golden spirit rice.

Zhang He's Face immediately darkened: "Old Man Ye, don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! I'm asking for your rice seeds to give you Face. Besides, five taels of silver is such a good deal! It won't even delay your farming."

"Landlord Zhang, say no more. No matter what, I will not sell these rice seeds!"

Ye Jing also firmly refused.

"Old Man Ye, it's just a few rice seeds, why make things so ugly?" Zhang Youqiang, on the side, still wanted to smooth things over.

But Ye Jing would no longer indulge him, retorting sharply: "Wealthy Man Zhang, I said I won't sell, so I won't. You can get lost!"

"You!" As a landlord, this was the first time Zhang He had been treated this way by a farmer, and he was instantly furious. Previously, Zhang Youqiang often told him that the Ye Family had been continuously harvesting rice over the past few months, and that the grains were plump, far superior to his own.

Zhang He had been tempted and wanted the rice seeds in Ye Jing's hands.

But he didn't expect this old man to refuse like this, which made Zhang He lose Face.

After saying "You" several times, he angrily said, "Fine! Ye Jing, you're something else!"

Zhang Youqiang also looked at Ye Jing with suspicious eyes, then followed Zhang He away.

Seeing this, Ye Xuan was speechless: "This Wealthy Man Zhang, since his own rice doesn't sell well, he's eyeing our family's rice seeds. He scared me to death; I thought our family's golden spirit rice had been discovered!"

Ye Xuan smoked, watching their retreating figures. He said, "Our family's rice fields are very close to Zhang He's. Because of the early maturity of the golden spirit rice, we've basically had a harvest every month. Zhang Youqiang and the others must have noticed something."

"Then, Dad, what should we do?" Ye Xuan asked hurriedly. They had to know that their family's golden spirit rice was already being targeted by the Tang Family. If Zhang He and the others discovered the Ye Family was growing golden spirit rice, who knows if they would spread the word.

Ye Jing smoked, his expression somewhat heavy. They had earned quite a bit of money relying on the golden spirit rice, and they were already very conspicuous in Liu Village.

Every household in the village was close to one another; if anything happened, it would easily leak out.

He said in a deep voice, "Xuaner, Yier, it seems that hiding and keeping things secret won't work anymore. Tomorrow I will go to the city to find Guo Zhengning to discuss a partnership. Our family's business needs to be brought out into the open!"

"Brought out into the open?" Ye Xuan was startled, "Dad, are you planning to let Guo Zhengning know our identity?"

Ye Jing nodded and said, "Yes! I want him to know that it is our Ye Family cooperating with him! This way, with Guo Zhengning supporting us openly, even if the likes of Zhang Youqiang figure something out, they won't dare to harass us easily again!"

He was now a Second-Stage Martial Artist, the same Rank as Guo Zhengning. Plus, since everyone in his family was basically a Martial Artist, they already had the ability to protect themselves. Ye Jing also wanted to connect with Guo Zhengning's line of cooperation with the powerful and influential.

The next day. Yanggu County.

The county city walls were towering, and soldiers often patrolled and guarded them. Ye Jing wore a straw hat and coarse clothing, and one hand carried a cage wrapped in black cloth. To others, he looked just like an old man of some age.

He gave the official three wen as an entry fee and entered the city.

As soon as he stepped into Yanggu County, the bustling noise rushed toward him.

The streets were paved with marble slabs, worn smooth and bright by the passing carriages and pedestrians; when the sunlight hit them, they shimmered with a gentle glow.

Both sides of the street were lined with shops—cloth stores, pharmacies, taverns, and banks were all bustling with business.

Ye Jing pressed his straw hat down to cover half his Face, slowly walking while blending into the bustling crowd. This Yanggu County was more than ten times livelier than Yuanhe Town.

Along the way, Ye Jing walked and stopped, finally arriving at the largest restaurant. This restaurant was called "Zhenxiu Restaurant".

The restaurant was towering and magnificent, built from ebony wood. The door plaque was engraved with golden patterns, looking extremely spectacular. The owner behind this restaurant could not be an ordinary person.

As soon as Ye Jing approached, the waiter soliciting customers at the entrance immediately came up to shoo him away: "Go away... where did this beggar come from? This is not a place for you to beg for food!"

Seeing this, Ye Jing took out a silver ingot directly from his pouch. The waiter's originally fierce-looking Face instantly froze, and his hands, which were shooing him away, also stopped.

His previous arrogance vanished completely, and a smile quickly piled up on his Face: "Oh my, customer, please forgive me! This little one failed to recognize a great person; please, come inside!"

Ye Jing flicked a bit of dust off his hem and walked in.

Inside the restaurant, he lifted his eyes to scan the ebony-constructed building. Under the eaves hung octagonal palace lanterns with tassels, and the window lattices were carved with patterns of rare and exotic beasts. Indeed, it was not something an ordinary wealthy family could afford to open.

The waiter diligently led Ye Jing to a seat by the window and poured him a cup of hot tea: "Customer, what would you like to order?"

Ye Jing, unhurried, held the teacup and asked, "What are your most famous dishes?"

The waiter hurriedly replied, "Replying to the customer, our Zhenxiu Restaurant's most famous dish is the First-Class Stewed Mountain Delicacy.

It is our shop's signature dish. It uses Mountain Delicacy Chicken that has run wild for a full three years, paired with old ginseng and poria collected from Cloud Deep Valley, along with ten-year-aged Huadiao wine, slow-stewed for a full three hours. The soup base is thick enough to cling to the side of the bowl, and the chicken meat is tender enough to fall off the bone. It melts in your mouth—it's incredibly fragrant!"

He spoke with spittle flying. Seeing Ye Jing listening intently, he lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "To be honest, customer, this Mountain Delicacy Chicken is a rare item. It's not like the local chickens elsewhere; it grows up eating Spiritual Plant seeds in the mountains. Ordinary families can't buy them even if they want to! Only our restaurant has the connections to provide a few of them daily!"

Ye Jing rubbed the wall of the warm teacup with his fingertips, a faint smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

Unexpectedly, there was an unexpected gain.

Hearing the waiter speak so eloquently, Ye Jing put down the teacup and spoke calmly.

"Then bring me one."

The waiter was delighted, rubbing his hands together and saying, "Alright! Customer, please wait!"

Ye Jing nodded and asked again, "Let me ask you, what kind of person is the owner of this Zhenxiu Restaurant?"

The smile on the waiter's Face paused, then he lowered his voice and leaned over to the table: "Customer, you must be from out of town. This is not something that's easy to talk about!"

Ye Jing took out one tael of silver from his sleeve. The waiter's refusal immediately stopped. He hurriedly smiled: "Our boss is a big shot from the Imperial City, very powerful. I really can't say any more than that!"

As he spoke, he didn't forget to look at the silver in Ye Jing's hand.

Seeing that the waiter could only say this much after all that talk, Ye Jing gave the silver in his hand to the waiter.

It seems he can only ask Guo Zhengning for the specifics.

While waiting for the food to be served, a man wearing brocade clothes walked in swaggeringly, followed by a few servants with the word "Tang" written on their clothes.

At this moment, the bustling restaurant became a bit quieter due to the appearance of this man.

The waiter immediately greeted him with a smile, fawning: "Second Master Tang, you've arrived. Please, take a seat!"

As soon as the man in brocade entered the door, he immediately shouted: "Waiter! Bring up the First-Class Stewed Mountain Delicacy from your Zhenxiu Restaurant!"