Severed ties and living in a dilapidated house? No worries, the poor thing has a space.

The land in the neighboring village had been planted for two days, and there was still some left, but Fang Yu didn't need to worry about it.

The restaurant opened, and a family of three stood at the entrance to cut the ribbon amidst the sounds of firecrackers and drums.

Li covered her ears, watching the firecrackers explode into dust and smoke. Even though the smoke was far away, she couldn't help but feel a stinging sensation in her eyes.

After the firecrackers stopped, Fang Yu stood at the door and announced loudly, "Today is the grand opening of our new store. Everyone who enters will have their drinks free and receive a complimentary plate of snacks."

"Qingshan Malatang." Someone read out the sign above their head and asked, "Hey lady, what kind of Malatang is this?"

Fang Yu smiled and said, "If you're curious, why not come in and try it for yourself? We will draw three lucky guests who dine in later to receive a jar of Tianxianglou Liuliangye liquor."

"Liuliangye, I heard that it's hard to buy at Tianxianglou now, but they're giving it away for free here. I want to go in and try it."

With the gimmick of three jars of wine, onlookers flocked into the restaurant.

Li also helped Fang Yu greet the guests. Although she rarely went out, she did it with ease.

Fang Xin was busy in the kitchen, but she was having a great time.

After greeting the guests, Fang Yu turned around and saw the person coming in through the door. She pursed her lips slightly, but when she saw the person behind her, her eyebrows twitched involuntarily.

She went over to greet them: "Lord Xiao, please come upstairs. A private room has been reserved for you."

Xiao Jingqi gestured to Mo Jiu behind him to hand over the congratulatory gift. When the small box was opened, it contained a pair of exquisitely crafted crimson Pixiu, which were obviously very valuable.

Xiao Lanzhi presented a calligraphy piece depicting a beautiful landscape, symbolizing that the restaurant's business would be as enduring and prosperous as the mountains and rivers.

"Thank you both, Lord Xiao. I won't stand on ceremony."

Fang Yu's voice wasn't loud, but it was just loud enough for the person who had just come in and sat down in the corner of the lobby, and who looked a bit strangely dressed, to hear.

The man pressed his cheeks down, picked up his wine glass, and took a sip of wine.

Fang Yu led Xiao Jingqi and Xiao Lanzhi upstairs, poured tea, and then went out.

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't notice for a moment. Let me wipe it for you."

A waiter accidentally spilled hot tea on the sleeve of the somewhat strange man. The waiter hurriedly helped him wipe it off, but the man's hostile aura was emanating from him. The waiter seemed to sense this, and his hands began to tremble involuntarily as he kept apologizing.

At this moment, Li walked over, took the handkerchief from the waiter, and apologized to him: "I'm sorry, the waiter is new, let me do it."

Li was about to wipe the man's sleeves when, unbeknownst to her, the waiter's clumsy movements had pulled up the man's cuffs, revealing a strange-looking totem on his wrist. For some reason, Li felt a sense of fear.

The man, who had been motionless, suddenly turned sinister, as if Li had noticed the totem on his wrist.

Li pretended not to see, and boldly and quickly straightened his cuffs, continuing to apologize: "I'm so sorry..."

Before Li could finish speaking, Fang Yu came over, holding a jar of wine in his hand: "This is our shop's new wine. The waiter offended you earlier, young master. This is to apologize on his behalf."

Fang Yu gently pulled Li away with one hand and poured wine for the man with the other. The man glanced at the totem on his wrist that was covered by his sleeve, remained silent for a while, and finally picked up the wine that Fang Yu had poured and drank it.

Li retreated behind the counter, still shaken. When Fang Yu returned, she whispered, "Yu'er, is the customer no longer angry?"

Fang Yu comforted her, "It's alright, Mother. Why don't you go to the back and see if Xin'er needs any help?"

Li went into the kitchen, unaware that the man had been staring at her back the whole time, but he didn't know that it was Fang Yu who had been watching him.

Upstairs in a private room, Xiao Jingqi sipped his tea, but his eyes remained fixed on the door, a hint of anticipation in them.

Xiao Lanzhi propped his head up and looked at him, deliberately teasing, "Didn't you see how many guests were downstairs just now? Miss Fang is very busy, so she naturally doesn't have time to personally entertain us."

As he spoke, Xiao Lanzhi took a breath of air: "This smells so good, it's even better than the food at the Prince's Mansion."

Xiao Jingqi ignored him until he saw the door open again and the person he wanted to see, at which point his expression relaxed.

Fang Yu and her waiters came to serve the dishes.

"Spicy hot pot, with meat and vegetables, Lord Xiao, please enjoy it."

She was clearly speaking to Xiao Lanzhi, but her eyes were fixed on Xiao Jingqi.

She opened the prepared wine and poured it for the two of them: "Today is supposed to be a joyous occasion for the opening of a new store, but today you two can only drink fruit wine."

Xiao Lanzhi's gaze faltered for a moment, and he asked, "Miss Fang, are you perhaps reluctant to part with such fine wine? I've heard that the Six Grains Liquor at Tianxiang Tower is also made by you. I wonder if I'll have the honor of drinking it today?"

Fang Yu shook his head and handed him the fruit wine: "Since Lord Xiao has spoken, there's plenty of Liuliangye to drink whenever you want, but..."

She shifted her gaze to Xiao Jingqi's face: "Lord Xiao, I may have seen the murderer you told me about before."

Xiao Jingqi and Xiao Lanzhi exchanged a glance, their gazes instantly turning stern. Fang Yu got up and walked to the window, opening a crack to look down, where he saw the strange man downstairs.

"Look, is it him? The waiter accidentally spilled some wine on him. I saw the totem on his wrist, and my mother saw it too."

Looking down from upstairs, only half of the face could be seen. Xiao Jingqi hadn't seen the person's face that day and couldn't be sure, but judging from the figure, there was a certain resemblance.

He nodded: "It's not wise to act rashly now. I'll have someone follow him after he leaves the restaurant."

Fang Yu wasn't worried about anything else, but she was afraid that this person had already set his sights on Li Shi. She had only seen the totem by accident while standing behind, and that person didn't know it, but Li Shi was looking directly at it.

Fang Yu closed the window and sat with them for a while before leaving.

Xiao Lanzhi ate without saying a word, wiped his mouth with satisfaction, and said to Xiao Jingqi, "Zizhao, you said this mala tang looks very ordinary, but it tastes so satisfying. How did you meet Miss Fang?"

Speaking of this, Xiao Jingqi suddenly recalled that the former governor had asked his daughter to drug him. He ran out and met Fang Yu, who domineeringly gave him two choices: either the dog next to him or take the drug.

I guess only a woman like her would dare to say such a thing.

Xiao Jingqi did not respond, but the smile on his lips grew deeper and deeper.

"Hiss." Xiao Lanzhi frowned and said, "Zizhao, why do you look so lovestruck? Could it be that the way you met was... indescribable?"

Xiao Jingqi snapped out of his daze, glared at him, and warned, "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll ask my father for permission to send you back home, and then have my aunt find you a good marriage."

"..." Xiao Lanzhi looked annoyed: "No, we're brothers, don't get me into trouble, I won't say anything more."

More and more guests came in, and Fang Yu and her two daughters were so busy that they barely had time to breathe. The waiters were also running back and forth between the front hall and the back courtyard.

Lying in bed, Yun Xiao listened to the commotion outside. Granny Liu had gone to help, and she wanted to go out and see what was going on, even fantasizing that she could help out herself.

With this idea in mind, she glanced at her legs and slowly shuffled off the bed.