Chapter 110: Contentment Brings Happiness

"Sir, you really don't need to pay this much..."

The vendor immediately regretted his outburst, but since the words were already out, he decided not to dwell on it. Despite his regret, he felt a certain satisfaction.

However, seeing that the gentleman in white was only looking at him from twenty paces away and not coming back, the vendor had no choice but to say something to the old man selling persimmons at the next stall.

"Uncle Chen, could you please watch my stall? I'm going to catch that customer; I'll be right back!"

"Haha, go on, go on!"

The old man had just been feeling a bit envious, as this was a profit of more than one tael for nothing. Now, however, he rather admired the young man.

Seeing the old man agree, the vendor quickly went around his stall and hurried after Ji Yuan.

Due to the shouts, some onlookers had stopped or turned around to look, chatting amongst themselves about what had happened. Some bystanders who had witnessed the entire incident quietly explained, while others, who had only caught the end, joined in the speculation.

On his end, Ji Yuan did not move. He stood there as if waiting for the vendor to catch up. When he saw the man actually leave his stall and pursue him, his eyes opened slightly wider.

The vendor took long strides, quickly reached Ji Yuan, and handed him the silver.

"Sir... to be honest with you, this black jade hairpin is carved from rough material. At most, it's worth twenty or thirty coppers. More than one tael... it feels too hot to hold onto for me. If you gave me fifty coppers, I'd take it... If you truly like it, just give me copper coins; I can't make change for such a large silver amount!"

After saying all this in one breath, the vendor felt much more at ease, but he noticed that the gentleman in white opposite him, who had remained silent, was simply looking him up and down.

'Could it be that I spoke too quickly for him to understand?'

Just as he was thinking this, Ji Yuan finally spoke, but his words had nothing to do with the hairpin or the silver.

"May I ask your name, young man?"

"Huh?"

The vendor was somewhat bewildered. The other person wasn't taking the silver; instead, he was asking for his name?

"My name is Lin Tian. I've always set up my stall here. Sir, please take the silver... or what, are you saying I shouldn't sell this jade hairpin?"

"No hurry, no hurry. I am very fond of this jade hairpin, and I'm definitely buying it today. However, I have a small doubt I'd like to ask you, young Lin. If I had given you one tael of gold this time, would you still have chased me to return it?"

This question was truly baffling, yet it prompted speculation. After a moment's hesitation, Lin Tian answered honestly:

"Sir, you're joking. I've never even seen one tael of gold in my life, so I can't answer that. But with so much money, who knows, maybe I would have just taken it and run, haha..."

Ji Yuan's brow relaxed, and only then did he reach out and take the broken silver from the vendor's hand.

"Very well, I asked poorly. Come, let's go back and look at your stall. Oh, by the way, I hear the Zui Xiang Restaurant in Juntian Prefecture has excellent dishes. Have you ever been there, young Lin?"

"Huh?"

Hearing this, the vendor became even more confused.

...

By noon, the vendor Lin Tian didn't quite know how it happened, but he had inexplicably found himself at Zui Xiang Restaurant with the white-robed gentleman named Ji.

Lin Tian and Ji Yuan were now seated face-to-face on the third floor of Zui Xiang Restaurant, Lin Tian looking around at the surroundings and the view outside the window, appearing a bit reserved.

"Mr. Ji, this is really too extravagant! I just gave you a jade hairpin made from rough material... I heard this place is terribly expensive!"

Seeing Lin Tian's hesitant, quiet manner of speaking, Ji Yuan was amused.

"No matter how expensive, can it compare to three years' worth of food?"

This was another baffling remark from Ji Yuan, leaving the vendor at a loss for how to respond.

"Fish head soup and poached chicken, coming right up! Braised cabbage and steamed meatloaf, coming right up!"

The waiter, dragging out the names of the dishes, arrived at Ji Yuan's window-side table with two trays, one in each hand, moving with small, quick steps. Such balance clearly came from extensive practice.

Without waiting for the waiter to speak, Lin Tian and Ji Yuan quickly offered to help, assisting him in setting down the trays and taking out the six dishes.

"This is fish head soup, this is poached chicken, this is the soy sauce and vinegar dip, this is braised cabbage, steamed meatloaf, and stir-fried 'Three Delicacies', this is Furong Geng, which should be drunk while hot, and this is homemade orange syrup. Oh, and this plate of persimmons is a complimentary after-meal fruit. Sirs, all your dishes are served. Just call if you need anything!"

The waiter, nimble with his hands and quick with his words, swiftly introduced all the dishes.

"Good, thank you, waiter!"

Ji Yuan cupped his hands to the waiter in thanks, while Lin Tian awkwardly mimicked the gesture beside him.

"Oh, oh, please enjoy your meal, please enjoy!"

Seeing the waiter nod and leave, Ji Yuan gestured for the already salivating Lin Tian to start eating, and was the first to pick up a piece of poached chicken, dip it in sauce, and eat.

As soon as Lin Tian saw Mr. Ji begin eating, he couldn't hold back and started eating too. Dishes from such grand restaurants were a rare treat, not even eaten once a year.

After several rounds of drinks and numerous dishes, Lin Tian was already full and burping. Ji Yuan, after drinking a little more fish head soup, stopped and looked at Lin Tian, who was patting his stomach, and asked:

"Young Lin, I truly like this jade hairpin, and I'm afraid one meal might not be enough..."

"No, no, please, Sir, I'm truly intimidated by you. Are you perhaps some prosperous relative of our Lin family...? Or how about you have a persimmon first? These persimmons are sweet!"

Hearing Ji Yuan begin again, Lin Tian was genuinely flustered.

"Hahaha... I don't think I want any more persimmons for now... Young Lin, please allow me, Ji, to have a few more abstract words with you."

"Mm, this persimmon is really sweet... *tsk*... Please, Sir, speak!"

Ji Yuan tapped a rhythm on the table with two fingers, while looking out the window, his ears attuned to the clamor of the market.

"If I were to give you a choice, young Lin, would you choose to bravely navigate the rapids to great wealth and prominence, or would you prefer a modest life, content with what you have, and live out your days in peace?"

After speaking, Ji Yuan widened his eyes and turned to look at Lin Tian. Although his eyes were veiled by an illusion, they made Lin Tian stop both his hands and his mouth.

The surrounding clamor seemed to diminish considerably. Lin Tian didn't notice this, but he instinctively put down the half-eaten persimmon, wiped his mouth with his hand, and had a vague sensation as if he were facing an important turning point in his life.

"Mr. Ji, I don't have much education or ambition. All I want is to marry a wife, have two children, live out my life peacefully, be able to care for my parents in their old age until their passing, and have someone care for me in my old age until my passing... I would be very content with that!"

Hearing this, Ji Yuan sighed, and his eyes closed slightly further.

"However, people change... the more one gains, the more one desires. Of course, it's good to be content and happy with what one has. All right, young Lin, you have a loud voice, so would you mind calling the waiter and telling him we're ready to pay the bill here?"

"Alrighty!"

Lin Tian picked up the half-eaten persimmon again and hurried to the third-floor staircase entrance, shouting downwards.

"Waiter! Third floor, by the east window, checking out!"

"Coming right up!"

The waiter downstairs seemed to be competing with Lin Tian's loud voice, both of them calling out with a theatrical flourish.

Seeing Lin Tian run off, Ji Yuan dipped his right hand into the cup of syrup, used it to write the character "遂" (suì) on the table, and then, with a tap of his middle finger on the surface, the character formed by the syrup mark was drawn into the air along with his fingertip.

He interlocked his middle and thumb fingers, then flicked his hand.

The watery character "遂" swiftly flew towards the staircase entrance. Lin Tian happened to turn around at that exact moment.

*Tap*! The character "遂" landed squarely on his forehead.

Lin Tian only felt a coolness on his forehead. He reached up and touched it but felt nothing. After instinctively looking up at the ceiling, he returned to the table.

'Those persimmons are even tastier than the ones old man Chen sells. I should eat a few more.'

Ji Yuan smiled, looking towards the sky outside the window. In his ears, he occasionally heard a few scholars downstairs discussing the prefectural imperial examinations with a hint of excitement.

"It is already the time when the Gui Ranking will be announced..."

With a flick of his sleeve, the white piece appeared. Compared to three years ago, its solidity was now only slightly less than that of the tiger demon Lu Shan Jun, who had nearly two hundred years of cultivation.