Chapter 172 – Soul-stirring self-heating rice


“Ah!”

With a scream, Hu Jiu fell directly from his chair onto the ground.

He looked at the newcomer with a face full of fear, his heart pounding wildly, and his mind went blank in an instant.

He had never expected that the person who came would be from the Gate of No Return, and even more so, the elder of the Gate of No Return.

Hu Jiu relied on his uncle, who was a congenital martial artist, to act recklessly in this city of No Return, causing trouble everywhere. Others either respected his uncle’s face or feared his uncle’s strength, so they wouldn’t bother with him.

But would the Gate of No Return care about that?

His uncle was nothing in front of the Gate of No Return.

“Elder, it’s a misunderstanding, I didn’t mean you. Please be magnanimous and don’t bother with me.” Hu Jiu quickly knelt down and kowtowed to the elder of the Gate of No Return.

However, the elder of the Gate of No Return just glanced at him coldly, didn’t even look at him, and walked straight over. The many disciples of the Gate of No Return behind him just looked at Hu Jiu coldly.

“Shopkeeper Bai, business is booming.”

The elder of the Gate of No Return came up, smiled and said with a fist, “The master has something to do and can’t come, so I represent the Gate of No Return to congratulate the Changqing Trading Company on its grand opening.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the eight disciples behind him also congratulated in unison, “Congratulations to the Changqing Trading Company on its grand opening!”

“You are all too kind, we didn’t greet you at the door, we really lack manners.”

Bai Linwan also smiled and said with a fist. On the opening day, the Gate of No Return would come, Bai Linwan obviously knew.

“A small gift, just a token of respect.” At this time, the elder of the Gate of No Return waved his hand, and Chen Guan came up from behind, holding a box in his hand, and handed it to the elder of the Gate of No Return.

The elder of the Gate of No Return also handed the gift to Bai Linwan.

This scene directly stunned everyone present.

What is the background of the Changqing Trading Company?

At the opening, the elder of the Gate of No Return actually came to congratulate on behalf of the Gate of No Return? And they even brought gifts for the Changqing Trading Company?

Even the Fenglin Trading Company didn’t receive such treatment, right?

This scared Hu Jiu so much that he almost stopped breathing. He stared at this scene with his mouth agape, even doubting if he was dreaming.

What’s going on with the Changqing Trading Company?

Did he kick an iron plate?

Not to mention Hu Jiu, even Zheng Yu was dumbfounded on the side. He also didn’t expect the Changqing Trading Company to have such a strong background!

Even the Gate of No Return had to come and curry favor.

No wonder just now when he told Bai Linwan that someone was coming to make trouble, Bai Linwan didn’t even bother to deal with him.

With the Gate of No Return covering them in this city, what is there to be afraid of?

Who dares to provoke them?

Previously, the Changqing Trading Company was only famous among various sects and families because of the Ghost Devil trial, which made them famous, and also took advantage of the influence of the Qinglian Sword Sovereign.

But ordinary people still didn’t know about it. For the people of the city of No Return, the influence of the Qinglian Sword Sovereign was not as great as that of the Gate of No Return.

Bai Linwan accepted the gift and also smiled and said, “Today is the grand opening, the hospitality is not good, I have prepared some snacks and new tea, please come in.”

“Sure.” The elder of the Gate of No Return said with a smile.

After all, the Changqing Trading Company was backed by the Qinglian Sword Sovereign, even if they didn’t prepare anything, they wouldn’t dare to say anything.

“Elder, what should we do with this guy?” At this time, Chen Guan asked the elder of the Gate of No Return, pointing at Hu Jiu who was sitting on the ground with weak legs.

The elder of the Gate of No Return looked back at Hu Jiu, Hu Jiu was so scared that his face turned pale, and he quickly knelt down and kowtowed, “Elder, Shopkeeper Bai, I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, I won’t dare to do it again, please spare my life, I will leave immediately and never come to the Changqing Trading Company again.”

Hu Jiu knew very well that it was no different for the Gate of No Return to kill him than to kill a chicken, and his uncle wouldn’t dare to fart.

If he died, he would just die in vain.

“What does Shopkeeper Bai think?” The elder of the Gate of No Return looked at Bai Linwan. After all, this was the matter of the Changqing Trading Company. The elder of the Gate of No Return gave the initiative to Bai Linwan, so as not to appear to be stealing the limelight.

“Me?”

Bai Linwan pondered for a moment and said, “Today is the grand opening of my Changqing Trading Company, such a good day, it’s not suitable to see blood, so as not to affect the wealth of my Changqing Trading Company.”

“Thank you, Shopkeeper Bai!” Hu Jiu breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that Bai Linwan wouldn’t kill him, so he quickly kowtowed to thank him.

“Then I’ll trouble the brothers of the Gate of No Return to drag him out and slaughter him in a faraway place.” Bai Linwan said with a smile.

With that sentence, Hu Jiu was dumbfounded.

The elder of the Gate of No Return was also taken aback, then laughed heartily, “Shopkeeper Bai is a humorous person, then, Zhuang He, Lin Tao, you two, take him out, and then bury him ten miles outside the city by the river, far away, so as not to dirty the wealth of the Changqing Trading Company.”

“Yes, elder!” Two young disciples came up and said.

“Spare me, spare me, elder!” Hu Jiu screamed in agony, “My uncle is Hu Wansheng, you can’t kill me……”

The voice gradually faded away. As for the name Hu Wansheng, no one cared. A mere congenital, in front of the Gate of No Return, was nothing at all.

“Please come in.” Bai Linwan made a gesture of invitation to everyone.

“Please.” The elder also said politely.

“By the way, Shopkeeper Zheng.” At this time, Bai Linwan looked at Zheng Yu.

“Huh?” Zheng Yu was still in shock. Hu Jiu just died like that? And Bai Linwan, who seemed polite on the surface, turned out to be a ruthless person.

Hearing Bai Linwan calling him, Zheng Yu came back to his senses.

“Take good care of the guests. Today is the grand opening, there will be more guests, the things below will trouble you.” Bai Linwan instructed.

“Don’t worry, Shopkeeper Bai, you greet the distinguished guests of the Gate of No Return, leave the other things to me.” Zheng Yu quickly said.

Watching Bai Linwan lead the crowd upstairs, Zheng Yu looked down, his heart gradually calming down.

At this time, a hint of excitement appeared in Zheng Yu’s eyes.

Stabilized!Before, Zheng Yu was worried about the difficulties he might encounter in his early days working at the Changqing Trading Company, such as being ostracized and harassed by his peers, or the endless extortion from hooligans like Hu Jiu.

But now, it seemed like he had hit the jackpot right from the start, sweeping away all obstacles. There was no trouble at all.

Once today’s events got out, the whole Gate of No Return City would know not to mess with the Changqing Trading Company!

As long as he worked hard and did well, he was sure to have a bright future!

The news that the Gate of No Return had sent gifts to the Changqing Trading Company quickly spread under Zheng Yu’s arrangement.

The other trading companies in the Gate of No Return City were all shocked when they heard the news.

Even the Gate of No Return was covering for the Changqing Trading Company.

Why?

What kind of background did the Changqing Trading Company have?

So they all sent people to investigate.

Fenglin Trading Company.

This was the largest trading company in the Gate of No Return City, and behind it was a powerful force.

The Linhai Zuo Family.

Although it was just a worldly family, the old ancestor of the Zuo family was a Grandmaster at the peak of the Innate Realm!

Therefore, the Fenglin Trading Company was fearless of anything, even the Gate of No Return had to give them face on normal days.

Now, a Changqing Trading Company had emerged, and even the people from the Gate of No Return had come to congratulate them. This made Zuo Qingyang, the person in charge of the Fenglin Trading Company, a bit unhappy. The Gate of No Return had never been so polite to their Zuo family.

So he immediately sent a message to the Zuo family, asking them to investigate the background of the Changqing Trading Company.

The result came back in less than a morning.

“So fast?” Zuo Qingyang looked at the urgent intelligence and opened it, but the more he read, the worse his face looked.

“President, what’s the matter?” The shopkeeper next to Zuo Qingyang asked curiously, “What did the Zuo family say?”

“The Zuo family said not to provoke the Changqing Trading Company, and absolutely not to offend them, otherwise they will expel me from the Zuo family!” Zuo Qingyang said with a trembling heart.

“That serious!” The shopkeeper was surprised, “Our old ancestor is a Grandmaster, who dares not to give face!”

“The Changqing Trading Company has a Sword Venerate behind it.” Zuo Qingyang said coldly.

“Sword Venerate…” The shopkeeper might not understand the concept. In the eyes of ordinary people, all Grandmasters should be about the same.

“In any case, we can’t provoke this Changqing Trading Company, otherwise, our Zuo family will fall into an irreparable situation, and even the old ancestor won’t be able to help.”

Although Zuo Qingyang was only an ordinary Innate, he understood.

Those who could be called Sword Venerate in swordsmanship were top experts even among Grandmasters.

His own old ancestor was just an ordinary Grandmaster, and it was hard to say whether he could withstand a single sword strike from the other party. How could he compare with them?

Although Zuo Qingyang was unhappy, he could only accept his bad luck and decided to make way for the Changqing Trading Company in the Gate of No Return City.

On the second floor of the Changqing Trading Company.

Bai Linwan had brought a lot of delicious food from Changting Town to entertain the people from the Gate of No Return.

The elder of the Gate of No Return was eating very happily, whether it was shrimp dumplings, siu mai, or rice noodle rolls, these were all things that were not available in the Gate of No Return City.

The elder of the Gate of No Return had also learned a lot.

Bai Linwan and the elder of the Gate of No Return were drinking and chatting happily.

But suddenly, he noticed that the disciples of the Gate of No Return at the dining table seemed to lack interest. Facing the table full of delicious food, they didn’t move their chopsticks much.

“Young brothers, is the food not to your taste?” Bai Linwan was a bit surprised. The delicacies from Changting Town should be very popular.

“No, no, it’s delicious.” The disciples hurriedly said with a smile.

Bai Linwan still felt something was wrong. In the future, they would all be in the Gate of No Return City, and they would definitely need to get along well.

“If you young brothers have anything you want to eat, just say it. It’s a rare visit to my place, and I can’t let you go back disappointed.” Bai Linwan quickly said.

“This…”

Everyone looked at each other with complex expressions in their eyes, and finally turned to Chen Guan.

Chen Guan was taken aback, but seeing his fellow disciples looking at him, he plucked up the courage to say, “Shopkeeper Bai, then I’ll just say it.”

“Go ahead.”

Bai Linwan smiled, “Whatever you want to eat, just say it. Whether it’s exotic delicacies from the mountains and seas, our Changqing Trading Company can afford to treat you to a meal.”

“We want to eat self-heating rice!” Chen Guan said with certainty.

“Yes, yes!” The other disciples also looked at Bai Linwan with eager faces.

The smile on Bai Linwan’s face froze.

Want to…

Want to eat what?

Self-heating rice?

“Ah ha?” Bai Linwan doubted if he had heard wrong. They had been struggling for so long just to eat self-heating rice?

There was self-heating rice in the Changqing Trading Company, but wasn’t that something you ate when you were on a long journey and couldn’t get a hot meal?

That stuff couldn’t be as good as freshly cooked food.

“Young brothers, that self-heating rice is actually just leftover rice and dishes, made with a special heating method, this…” Bai Linwan said, “It’s actually more suitable for eating when you can’t get a meal outside. If you like any dishes, I can have the chef make them fresh for you. It’s definitely better than self-heating rice.”

“No, we just want to eat self-heating rice. We hope Shopkeeper Bai can fulfill our wish.” The disciples said in unison, their eyes full of determination.

It seemed that even if Bai Linwan learned to bray like a donkey today, they would still want to eat self-heating rice.

This really baffled Bai Linwan.

What’s wrong with these people?

They don’t want fresh food, they want to eat self-heating rice.

“Shopkeeper Bai, if it’s convenient, just let them try some.” The elder of the Gate of No Return laughed, “During the Ghost Devil trial, the people from Dao Mountain Ancient Land and Zhanhe Residence ate self-heating rice, and they could only gnaw on cold steamed buns. They were really envious, and they’ve been longing for this taste.”

“Now, when they heard that the Changqing Trading Company was opening, I came to congratulate on behalf of the sect master, and they insisted on coming, just for this taste of self-heating rice.”

“So that’s how it is.”

“I’ll have someone fetch it for you,” Bai Linwan said, somewhat amused.

They were really craving it.

Upon hearing that Bai Linwan was going to get self-heating meals, everyone’s eyes lit up, like hungry wolves in the dead of night.

“I want the stir-fried pork.”

“I want the Mapo tofu.”

“I want the fish-flavored shredded pork.”

“……”

Everyone was talking at once.

“Alright, alright, we have everything,” Bai Linwan had someone bring the self-heating meals over.

When they saw the self-heating meal boxes, everyone’s breath became heavy, and their mouths started to salivate uncontrollably.

This was the self-heating meal they had been dreaming about!

They had been longing to eat it even in their dreams.

Having watched the disciples from Dao Mountain Ancient Land and Zhanhe Residence eat it many times before, they were familiar with the process.

Once everything was set up, the self-heating meal started to steam.

Everyone was eagerly waiting.

The dining table became incredibly silent. They stared at the meal boxes, counting the time in their hearts. No one spoke, as if they were performing some strange ritual.

When the time came, everyone couldn’t wait to lift the lids.

Seeing the meal in front of them, many disciples, including Chen Guan, were moved to tears.

Damn it, this is it!

Bai Linwan was taken aback by this scene.

Was it really that exciting?

Why were they crying?

“Disgraceful,” the elder of the Gate of No Return felt embarrassed and couldn’t help but curse.

However, the disciples didn’t care.

One by one, they started to eat heartily.

They didn’t care if it was hot.

Once they tasted it, they felt that the self-heating meal was simply the ultimate delicacy!

Watching everyone wolfing down their food, Bai Linwan wondered if they hadn’t eaten for a long time.

Were the conditions at the Gate of No Return really that bad?

Some people had died, but not completely…


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