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That day, Li Deqin, the head chef of Yixianglou Restaurant, rushed to Fan's butcher shop and shouted to Fan Changyu, who was cutting meat, "Changyu, stop working and quickly change into clean clothes. Our boss wants to see you!"

Fan Changyu's heart skipped a beat when he heard this.

Yixianglou is the number one restaurant in Lin'an Town. It's a place frequented by important people, and it's always packed with customers.

How could a farm girl who sells meat be noticed by the owner there?
Li Deqin was an impatient man, and without explaining, he pulled Changyu into the carriage and headed straight for the backyard of Yixianglou.

Upon entering the backyard, Fan Changyu's heart pounded, and his palms were sweaty.

She thought to herself that the owner was probably a very imposing old tycoon, or a lean shopkeeper whose eyes could pierce through a layer of skin.

When the curtain was lifted, a young woman dressed in silk and as pretty as a scallion came out.

This girl is Yu Qianqian, the owner of Yixianglou.

Fan Changyu was stunned, thinking to himself: This...this is the boss?
She looked no older than me, with fair skin and delicate features. How could she possibly manage such a large restaurant?

Could it be that the owner's daughter is making fun of me?

Yu Qianqian looked Changyu up and down, then said with a smile, "This must be Changyu, right? I heard your family's braised meat is exceptional, even Chef Li praised it highly."

Fan Changyu felt a little awkward, rubbing his hands together. He was still uneasy, but he didn't dare to be negligent: "Master Yu, you're too kind. It's just a skill I came up with on my own."

Yu Qianqian didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "Changyu, then I'll get straight to the point. I want to do business with you. You can supply braised meat to my Yixianglou restaurant. I need a large quantity, and the price is negotiable."

Upon hearing this, Fan Changyu shook his head vigorously, saying, "Master Yu, I can't make that decision. My parents are the ones who run my shop, and they happen to be away from home these days, so I really can't agree to your request."

Yu Qianqian seemed to have anticipated Fan Changyu's response, and instead of rushing, she picked up her teacup, took a sip, and then slowly said, "Sister, your parents aren't here, so why don't you just agree? Think about it, how much braised meat does Yixianglou use every day? This one deal is equivalent to how many pigs your Fan family sells! If you earn more money, when your parents come back, they'll be so surprised when they slam it on the table! Do you think your parents are afraid of money?"

Fan Changyu's heart skipped a beat, but he still hesitated. Then he said in a low voice, "Master Yu, it's not that I'm unwilling. It's just that the recipe for this braised meat was passed down from my mother. The ingredients and the cooking time are very particular. If the quantity is too large, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it well and ruin your reputation."

Yu Qianqian smiled and put down her teacup: "Don't worry about that. Chef Li told me that your skills are very reliable. Besides, I don't need you to supply a large quantity all at once. We can start with fifty catties a day, and increase the supply later as needed. What do you think?"

"Fifty catties?" Fan Changyu gasped. "This...this is too much! Our family's pot can only braise about ten or eight catties at a time."

Yu Qianqian leaned forward slightly, her tone somewhat coaxing: "If there aren't enough pots, we can add more; if there aren't enough people, we can hire more. Changyu, doing business requires boldness. Think about it, if you can sell fifty catties of braised meat a day, how much money would that be? Your parents work hard raising pigs, slaughtering pigs, and selling meat. How much do they earn in a year? As long as you supply braised meat to Yixianglou, you can earn more than half a year's profit in a month."

Fan Changyu was completely persuaded.

She suddenly remembered her parents working from dawn till dusk every day, haggling over a few coins, and felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

If things really turn out as Yu Qianqian said, then life at home...

Fan Changyu gritted his teeth, raised his head, and his eyes hardened: "Mr. Yu, you're right. It's just the price..."

"Don't worry about the price," Yu Qianqian interrupted her dismissively. "I'll give you a purchase price that's 20% higher than the market price. And it'll be cash on delivery, no delays. Look, this is the deposit."

As she spoke, she took a heavy purse out of her sleeve and placed it on the table.

Looking at the purse, Fan Changyu's last lingering concerns vanished.

Fan Changyu took a deep breath and said, "Alright! Boss Yu, since you think so highly of me, Fan Changyu, I'll take this business! Let's try it out first. I'll deliver the goods to you tomorrow. However, if my parents come back and stop us, I can only apologize to you, Boss Yu."

Yu Qianqian laughed even more happily and pushed the purse in front of her: "Hehe, that's right! You can take this deposit first, consider it a small token of my appreciation. I'll be waiting for your braised pork tomorrow."

Just as the two were having a pleasant conversation, a commotion suddenly erupted from the front hall, followed by a hoarse voice shouting, "Yu Qianqian! You get the hell out here!"

Li Deqin's expression changed: "Oh no! The boss is that butcher Guo from the next street."

Yu Qianqian led Li Deqin and Fan Changyu quickly toward the front hall.

A burly man with a fierce face, carrying a large cleaver, was slamming his fist on the table and cursing: "You, Yixianglou, have always used my Guo family's meat, and now you just tear up the contract like that? You turn around and give the business to that poor Fan family's shop? You look down on me, Guo the butcher, don't you?"

The surrounding customers all ran away in fright, and the waiter huddled to one side, not daring to utter a sound.

When Butcher Guo saw Fan Changyu, he became even angrier and pointed at her nose, cursing, "It must be you, you brat, who used some kind of seductive trick! If I don't smash this shop today, I'm not a Guo!"

As he spoke, he raised his knife to chop at the counter.

Yu Qianqian was not afraid at all. Instead, she sneered and stopped Li Deqin from rushing forward.

She looked at Butcher Guo and said in a light tone, "Butcher Guo, you think the contract wasn't torn up properly? Fine, let's go to the backyard, and I'll show you a more authentic one."

Guo the butcher was taken aback, wondering if the woman had been scared out of her wits.
Then, carrying the knife, he followed Yu Qianqian to the backyard, cursing under his breath: "What are you looking at? Let's see how you beg for mercy on your knees! Just don't end up crying your eyes out!"

As soon as she entered the backyard, the smile on Yu Qianqian's face vanished instantly.

She clapped her hands and said coldly, "Make your move."

Four or five burly men who had been lying in ambush nearby grabbed sticks and rushed out.

Before Guo the butcher could react, he was struck hard on the back with a club, letting out a howl of pain and stumbling forward, almost falling flat on his face.

"Ouch! You dare hit me? I'm Butcher Guo! I..."

"It was you who hit!"

Several people surrounded them, and sticks rained down on them.

Guo the butcher rolled on the ground, clutching his head, still yelling, "You lackeys! If you've got the guts, fight me one-on-one! I'll slap you all to death!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a burly man kicked him in the butcher's backside, sending Guo the butcher rolling forward twice until he landed right at Yu Qianqian's feet.

Guo the butcher looked up; his face was covered in ash, and his hair was a mess, making him look like a chicken coop.

He looked up at Yu Qianqian, still wanting to say something harsh: "You...you just wait! I..."

"Snapped!"

A burly man smacked Guo the butcher on the head with a stick, silencing him completely.

Butcher Guo's eyes rolled back, and he almost fainted. He groaned and groaned like a pig whose tail had been stepped on, "Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! Master Yu, spare my life! I'll never cause trouble again!"

Yu Qianqian stood aside, straightened her cuffs, and without even glancing at him, turned to Fan Changyu beside her and smiled, "Sister, don't be afraid, this is how you deal with a scoundrel. Let's continue our business."

"..."

……

In the stillness of the night, a few very faint clattering sounds suddenly came from the Fan family's courtyard.

Su Ning's ears twitched, and his eyes instantly turned cold.

He grabbed Fan Changyu, who was about to get up to pour out the foot-washing water, and then whispered, "Don't move! Someone's here."

Fan Changyu turned pale with fright, and Fan Changning, who was next to her, also stared wide-eyed.

Su Ning quickly shoved the two sisters into the hidden compartment under the bed and said in a deep voice, "No matter what noise you hear, you are not allowed to make a sound, and you are not allowed to come out!"

"Yes, my husband, you must be careful too."

"Don't worry!" The reason Su Ning had Changyu and Changning hide was simply because she was afraid that the sisters would be frightened if they saw blood later.

Even if Changyu is good at slaughtering pigs, it won't work, since killing a person and slaughtering a pig feel completely different.

After settling the two in, Su Ning turned and walked to the door of the main room, a gleaming dagger appearing in her hand.

With a loud bang, the courtyard gate was kicked open, and seven or eight burly men dressed in black and masked rushed in, wielding sharp knives.

Upon seeing the lights on in the main room, the leader gestured, and two men went to block the windows, while the rest swung their knives at the door frame.

"Who?" Su Ning pretended to be startled awake, pushed open the door and came out with a look of fear on her face, but her hands were empty.

"Kill!" The leader of the men in black didn't waste any words. He pushed off the ground and charged forward like a bull, his long sword whistling through the air as he aimed straight for Su Ning's heart.

That strike was swift and ruthless, clearly the work of a trained martial artist.

Su Ning stood still until the tip of the knife was about to touch his chest, at which point his body shifted slightly to the side like a willow catkin.

The knife grazed past his clothes, but didn't even touch the hem.

Immediately afterwards, Su Ning moved with lightning speed, his left hand gripping the man's wrist like an iron clamp, while his right hand, in a palm strike, slashed hard at the man's elbow joint.

With a sharp crack, the leader of the men in black screamed as his right arm twisted into a bizarre angle, and his long sword clattered to the ground.

"This is tough, let's go side by side!" The remaining men in black roared and surrounded them, brandishing their swords, spears, and halberds.

A tall, thin man in black attacked from the side, his long sword aimed straight for Su Ning's back.

Without turning his head, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Su Ning kicked backward with his left foot, hitting the back of the opponent's knee.

The tall, thin man's legs buckled and he collapsed to his knees. Su Ning then delivered a powerful elbow strike to the back of his neck, and the man slumped down without uttering a sound.

The other two men in black attacked from the left and right, their broadswords whistling as they slashed down at his head.

Instead of retreating, Su Ning advanced, ducked down, and squeezed through the gap between the two men's blades. He grabbed a handful of sand from the ground with each hand and flung it fiercely at their faces.

"Ah! My eyes!" the two screamed, covering their faces.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Su Ning kicked each of them squarely in the chest, sending them flying backward and crashing into the wall, spitting blood.

The remaining men in black, seeing that things were going badly, tried to run away.

Su Ning snorted coldly: "You think you can just leave now that you've come?"

He flashed by, as fast as a ghost, and instantly blocked the courtyard gate.

With several muffled thuds, before the men in black could even see his movements, their ribs were broken or their arms were dislocated, and they screamed and rolled on the ground.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the courtyard was littered with people lying on the ground.

Su Ning dusted off his hands and looked at the leader of the men in black.

The man wasn't quite dead yet; he struggled to get up and grab the knife.

Su Ning walked over, stepped on his chest, and looked down at him: "Don't bother. Tell me, who sent you?"

The man in black gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "Kill me if you want, I'll never..."

"Pretty stubborn." Su Ning sneered, then suddenly stomped her foot.

"Crack!" That was the sound of a rib breaking.

"Ah—!" The man in black let out a pig-like scream, sweating profusely from the pain.

“I’ll give you one more chance,” Su Ning said slowly, toying with the dagger in his hand. “My patience is limited. If you don’t talk, I’ll crush every bone in your body.”

The man in black convulsed in pain, his mental defenses collapsing instantly.

He looked at Su Ning in terror and said in a trembling voice, "I'll talk! I'll talk! It was Prime Minister Wei Yan! It was the eldest master of the Wei family who sent us!"

"Wei Yan?" Su Ning raised an eyebrow. "Then who are you people?"

"We are the Black Iron Death Squads raised by the Wei family!" To save his life, the man in black spilled the beans. "Prime Minister Wei has been keeping a close eye on Lord He Jingyuan's every move, but the spy by Lord He's side sent word that Lord He was frightened by a mysterious immortal who possesses a golden body and dared not lay a hand on Wei Qilin and his wife Meng Lihua. Prime Minister Wei doesn't believe this nonsense and thinks that Lord He is deliberately making excuses because of his sworn brotherhood with Wei Qilin back then. That's why he sent us to Lin'an Town to make sure we eliminate them completely!"

After hearing this, Su Ning's eyes grew even colder.

It turned out to be the case.

Although He Jingyuan was frightened, he had Wei Yan's spies by his side, who still managed to reveal the whereabouts of Meng Lihua and Wei Qilin.

Wei Yan, that old fox, didn't believe in any divine means at all. He just took it as an excuse from He Jingyuan, so he went straight for the kill.

"Alright! Go down and join your brothers!" Su Ning didn't hesitate at all, and the dagger in his hand flashed coldly.

The man in black stared wide-eyed, made a "hoho" sound in his throat, and then fell completely silent.

After dealing with the survivors, Su Ning looked at the corpses scattered on the ground and frowned in disgust.

Then, with a thought, he activated his spatial abilities.

"receive."

A flash of light appeared, and the seven or eight corpses in the courtyard vanished without a trace, even the bloodstains on the ground disappeared.

With another thought, Su Ning vanished from his spot and entered the spatial world.

Inside the space, the corpses lay scattered haphazardly beside the spirit field.

Looking at the corpses of these Xuan Tie assassins, Su Ning sneered, "Xuan Tie assassins? Their physical fitness is not bad, they should be much stronger than ordinary people."

He walked to the body, squatted down, and pressed his hand on the corpse of the leader in black.

An invisible force surged from his palm, and the corpse began to decompose and melt at a visible speed, eventually turning into a pool of black liquid that seeped into the soil.

"Hmm, the fertility is excellent." Su Ning nodded in satisfaction, sensing the feedback from the spirit field. "These assassins have practiced martial arts for many years, so their blood and energy are vigorous. The nutrients produced after their decomposition are much stronger than those from ordinary corpses. It just so happens that this spirit field has recently been planted with high-grade spiritual herbs, which require a lot of nutrients."

Then, Su Ning followed the same method and disposed of the other corpses one by one.

Each time a body was processed, the spirit field would tremble slightly, as if it were happily absorbing nutrients.

After dealing with the last corpse, Su Ning stood up, patted the dirt off his hands, and muttered to himself, "Wei Yan, Wei Yan, these assassins you sent have died a worthy death. They were your blades when they were alive, and now they can be fertilizer for my spirit fields. This deal really made me a fortune."

After doing all this, Su Ning turned around, left the space, returned to the main room, and opened the hidden compartment.

Seeing the trembling Fan Changyu and Fan Changning sisters, he explained with a relaxed smile, "It's alright, come out! Everyone's been taken care of."

"..."

...(End of this chapter)