CH 109

The moment they stepped into the restaurant, a waiter ran forward to greet them.

“Good evening, Masters. please come in.”

As he spoke, he led Shen Huan and Shen Shijiu into the main lobbey.

When Pei Zheng walked in behind them, the waiter’s eyes widened.

“Young Master Pei is here as well. So you two are with Young Master Pei, come with me, we’ll be going upstairs.”

The waiter smiled and led the group toward the staircase.

Shen Huan and Shen Shijiu had come to Yi Pin Xiang before, but they had been seated in the main hall along with the other customers; how could they have afforded a private room?

Shen Huan straightened her back. Under the gaze of the other guests in the restaurant, she proudly walked up the stairs.

Upon entering the private room on the second floor, the interior was elegant and sumptuously decorated, and there was a large mahogany table placed in the center of the room.

Shen Huan made herself at home and plopped into a seat, before she pulled Shen Shijiu to sit down as well.

Pei Zheng could have sat across from the two of them, but he circled the table, and walked straight to the seat beside Shen Shijiu.

Cheng Feng pulled the chair out for him, and Pei Zheng sat down.

It was such a large table, yet all three of them were squished together; Cheng Feng and Li Yu were both standing behind Pei Zheng and Shen Shijiu.

Shen Huan suddenly felt like a third wheel.

She instructed the waiter, “Tell me about your restaurant’s specialties.”

The waiter immediately listed over twenty different dishes.

Shen Huan nodded and named three dishes.

The waiter wrote them down, “So you’ll only be ordering these three?”

Shen Huan shot a glance at the waiter, “What do you mean, ‘only these three’, I don’t want those dishes, I’ll take one plate each of the others.”

The waiter was so shocked that his eyes widened, “Three people, seventeen dishes, can you finish them all?”

Shen Huan raised her voice, and said snobbishly, “Whether we can finish it or not, what’s that got to do with you? If we can’t finish it, we’ll just take it with us!”

The waiter sensibly shut up and left.

Shen Huan snorted and stroked her beard without saying a word.

Shen Shijiu was very quiet. He was sitting between his shifu and Pei Zheng, with his arms folded over the table; it looked as though he was waiting for a class to start.

After a little bit, the waiter from earlier came back, bearing a plate of soaked handkerchiefs, which were for guests to use to wash their hands before a meal.

Shen Huan wiped her hands with that cool, slightly fragrant handkerchief, and sighed inwardly. These rich people really love to fuss about this kind of thing.

After wiping her hands, she tossed the handkerchief back onto the plate, and turned to see if her little disciple had finished or not.

Shen Shijiu was obediently sitting in his chair with his body slightly tilted in Pei Zheng’s direction, and his arms were outstretched.

And Pei Zheng was holding a handkerchief, carefully wiping Shen Shijiu’s hands. Every slender, snow-white finger was wiped, as well as the gaps between them; he was being quite diligent.

Shen Huan was a bit shocked; she never thought that Pei Zheng could be so meticulous.

She peeked at the two people standing behind them. Of course, they had their heads bowed, and had turned a blind eye to the scene in front of them.

But those two were probably used to it by now; what was something like this to them? If Shen Huan knew about the things those two had done in the past, it was possible that she would faint from anger on the spot.

After Pei Zheng finished wiping Shen Shijiu’s hands, he took another handkerchief, and wiped his own hands as well.

In just a few moments, the dishes they ordered were brought to the table.

Although every meal at the Prime Minister’s Manor was filled with nourishing food, it wasn’t the same as eating at a restaurant; when people went out to eat, they went for the atmosphere.

Shen Huan passed a pair of chopsticks to her disciple, before she began to shovel food into her mouth. She was famished; faced with such enticing food, she no longer cared about her manners. Pei Zheng already knew who she was anyway.

Shen Shijiu immediately passed that pair of chopsticks to Pei Zheng, “My Lord, it’s time to eat.”

Pei Zheng didn’t take them, and instead pushed them back into his hand, “You eat first.”

Shen Shijiu nodded, and was about to pick up some food with his chopsticks. But his sleeves were too wide, and they were about to fall into the soup.

Pei Zheng quickly lifted Shen Shijiu’s arm, to prevent his sleeve from dipping into the soup.

“Don’t’ move.”

Then, Pei Zheng reached out and wrapped Shen Shijiu’s sleeve around his arm, and his cool fingertips accidentally brushed Shen Shijiu’s skin.

“Done.”

Pei Zheng retracted his hand.

Shen Shijiu secretly took a few deep breaths. He had felt his heart racing just moments before.

Shen Huan looked content as she ate, and hadn’t noticed the shuffling movements of the people beside her at all.

Plates of warm and elegant delicacies were served one after another. Shen Huan and Shen Shijiu ate a lot, but there was no way that the two of them could finish over a dozen dishes.

During the meal, Pei Zheng sat at the side, staring fixedly at Shen Shijiu the whole time without touching his chopsticks.

He watched as Shen Shijiu’s mouth was stuffed full, and he would smack his mouth. Then, his little throat would bob, and he would swallow, before his mouth was stuffed once again…

It was such an infinitely repetitive, monotonous and boring action, but Pei Zheng continued to watch, and he couldn’t get enough of it.

The more he watched, the more he adored that small man.

If he liked the dishes here, Pei Zheng would buy the entire restaurant, and bring him here whenever he wanted.

The pair of master and disciple were still eating when they heard the noise outside the window gradually grow louder; it seemed like a crowd of people had gathered on the street.

Shen Huan just so happened to be finishing her meal, so she walked over to the window to see what was going on.

The sky had already darkened. A bunch of stalls were crammed along both sides of the street; it seemed that they were only open for business in the evening.

The stalls were all lit with lanterns, brightening the entire street. The Imperial City was glowing with light and liveliness, stretching into the distance.

“Is today some kind of holiday? Why are there so many people?”

Li Yu explained, “I guess you could call it a holiday. Every year, there will be a street light parade in the Imperial City. Everyone will carry a lantern and join the parade. You can also go to the river and place lanterns there; it’s said that it can make wishes come true.”

This piqued Shen Huan’s interest, “That sounds fun, let’s go and join in!”

She looked toward Pei Zheng to gauge his opinion. Unexpectedly, Pei Zheng’s head was still turned to Shen Shijiu; it was as though he hadn’t even heard her.

“My God, Lord Pei, can you even see me? Can you hear what I’m saying?”

Pei Zheng finally tore his gaze away from Shen Shijiu. He looked at Shen Huan and nodded lightly.

In truth, Pei Zheng had already planned to take Shen Shijiu to attend the street light parade today; he just hadn’t told anyone. But who would have guessed that Shen Huan would tag along?

Shen Huan was impatient; she wanted to hurry out and take a look, but Shen Shijiu was still drinking a bowl of soup at a leisurely pace.

Shen Huan wanted to walk over and tell him to hurry up, but she looked over at Pei Zheng, and finally gave up.

Under the gaze of four people, Shen Shijiu slowly sipped his soup until it was all gone, smacked his lips, and smiled in contentment.

“Wipe your mouth, it’s covered in grease.” Shen Huan tossed him a clean handkerchief.

Shen Shijiu “oh”d, and was about to pick up the handkerchief to wipe his mouth.

But the handkerchief was grabbed by another hand. Shen Shijiu blankly turned his head, before his chin was grasped by gentle fingers.

“Close your mouth.”

Shen Shijiu complied and closed his mouth. The handkerchief was gently rubbed against his lips, wiping away the grease that stained his mouth.

After he finished wiping, Pei Zheng brushed his fingertips over those red lips. Once he made sure that they were clean, he retracted his hand.

His movements were fluid and natural. Pei Zheng let go of his chin and stood up, before he held his hand out to Shen Shijiu.

Shen Shijiu looked at that slender, beautiful hand with distinct knuckles, and slowly extended his own small, soft palm.

Pei Zheng clutched his hand. With a slight tug, he pulled Shen Shijiu up from his chair, and helped him stand properly, before leading him toward the door.

Shen Huan was dumbfounded at the sight of this. Earlier, she had seen how careful Pei Zheng had been as he wiped Shen Shijiu’s hands. Now, it seemed like Pei Zheng was so meticulous that it was outrageous!

It was terrifying!

Why were the housekeeper and the guard acting like everything was fine?!

Was she really the only one who didn’t think this was normal?!

Four people exited the private room one after the other, leaving only Shen Huan standing inside, her beard flying, her eyes wide.

Shen Shijiu was being dragged out of the room by Pei Zheng. He had started to feel dizzy earlier; it was the same feeling he had when he had gotten drunk that time. Only, he hadn’t drunk any alcohol today.

As they walked down the stairs, Shen Shijiu’s footsteps were weak and unsteady. His foot suddenly slipped, and he was about to roll right down the stairs.

Fortunately, Pei Zheng, who was beside him, had fast reflexes. He reached out, caught Shen Shijiu’s waist, and pulled him against his chest.

However, Shen Shijiu’s body weight had pressed against the wound on Pei Zheng’s chest; he grunted in pain.

Shen Shijiu struggled to open his eyes, saw Pei Zheng’s knitted brows, and reached out to touch them.

“My Lord, don’t scrunch your eyebrows… It won’t be good, if you get creases in your forehead…”

Pei Zheng suddenly lowered his head, leaned into his neck, and sniffed; sure enough, the faint scent of alcohol hung on his skin.

It was likely that one of the dishes earlier was flavored with a bit of wine; the small man had gotten drunk off of a few bites.

“Stand by yourself,” Pei Zheng whispered in his ear, “Be good.”

There were still many people around them who were watching. The guests would only need to lift their heads, and they would see the two people stuck together on the staircase in the center of the hall.

Shen Shijiu nodded, “I can, I can stand by myself…”

With great effort, he extricated himself from Pei Zheng’s arms. He blinked, and tried his best to stand properly. Then, he smiled happily, and looked toward Pei Zheng.

“My Lord, look, I stood by myself…”

Although that little face was covered by a mask, his features were clear and delicate, and his smile was quite lovely. With the addition of his crescent-shaped eyes, his entire face became brilliant and vivid.

Pei Zheng’s brows also unknitted themselves, and the corners of his lips hooked. He clasped Shen Shijiu’s hand again, and lead him down the stairs toward the door of the restaurant.

They had just stepped out the door, and the lively noisiness filled their ears. The street was flooded with people, and the colorful lanterns made the night sky look bright as day.

“Stop!”

An extremely angry roar came from behind them. Shen Huan charged out of the restaurant, and rushed toward the two of them,

Shen Huan grabbed Shen Shijiu’s hand and yanked it out of Pei Zheng’s gasp, before she pulled Shen Shijiu to her side.

“Lord Pei, a man and a woman shouldn’t be engaging in intimate exchanges with one another, and the same can be said about the relations between two men. There are so many people here, so you should be a bit more careful, don’t you think?”