Cao Fuli had already arrived in Yanjing and was immediately peckish. He couldn't help but say, "Mr. Yue, it's already noon. Isn't it time to eat?"
Yue Hengyi thought about it and agreed. He quickly said, "Then please wait a moment. I'll steam some buns. Brother Feng and I are on our way back. I haven't learned much else, but I've learned how to steam buns. Should I add sugar? I heard you Southerners like sweet buns."
"Oh, Mr. Yue, that's where you're wrong. Since we've finally arrived in Yanjing, shouldn't you treat me to something good? What's the point of eating buns? Peking duck, blood sausage, stir-fried liver, fried sauce noodles – if we don't try these, what's the fun?" Cao Fuli said with a smile.
In China, there's a cultural phenomenon: when you go to a place, the first thing you should do is taste the local specialty cuisine. Food represents the culture of a place. Even on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, there's yak meat and butter tea. In places with abundant resources, the delicacies are even more numerous.
Cao Fuli thought the same way. Having finally arrived in Yuzhou, it would be a shame to just eat buns. Since he was here, he definitely wanted to try the local cuisine.
Although Yue Hengyi wasn't from Yanjing, he had lived there for two years and was familiar with the local food. It wasn't that he was stingy with money, but he was worried about exposing himself.
"I don't think that's appropriate. Please bear with it. I've made a brief appearance in Yanjing before, and many people know I'm back. Especially in Yanjing now, most ability users are our enemies. It won't be good if we're exposed!" Yue Hengyi said earnestly.
"It's alright. We can order delivery. You stay at home, and I'll order the food. It'll be delivered right to our door!" Cao Fuli said quickly.
To persuade Yue Hengyi to have a big meal, Cao Fuli had already chosen a method. Since going out to eat would easily attract attention, it was better to stay at home. He would go out to order food, and once the delicacies were delivered, they wouldn't be exposed. As long as Yue Hengyi stayed quietly in the room, he definitely wouldn't be discovered.
Yue Hengyi was suddenly at a loss for words. After all, Cao Fuli had already said so much. If he continued to object, he would seem like he truly didn't want to entertain guests.
"Alright, then I'll do as you say. Hurry back," Yue Hengyi said helplessly.
Cao Fuli acted immediately. He put on a mask and went out, finding a hotel that looked quite luxurious. He stated his purpose: "Do you have a delivery service here?"
"What are you saying? Other small shops might not have delivery services, but now that we're such a large restaurant, wouldn't it be damaging our reputation if we didn't have one?" the waiter replied enthusiastically, half-jokingly.
After receiving this answer, Cao Fuli was immediately relieved and said, "In that case, I'll order, and you can deliver the food to us later. Do you understand?"
"Understood. We are an authentic century-old shop, and we are absolutely honest with everyone. Please rest assured. However, there's one thing: we don't offer credit. You need to pay us first," the waiter said enthusiastically.
Cao Fuli didn't think much of it and immediately started ordering. It was just a matter of paying, which could be easily done.
There was no longer a food delivery platform, as ordinary people couldn't afford to order takeout. Instead of ordering takeout, it was more cost-effective to cook for themselves. If they wanted to eat ready-made meals at home, they had to order from restaurants. Only large restaurants could do this. Large restaurants could hire a few dedicated delivery personnel to deliver food, and they wouldn't deliver to distant places. This was much more troublesome than before.
Of course, the truly wealthy wouldn't care about this. The wealthy were always the least affected, no matter the time, as they could have their own chefs. Whatever they wanted to eat, they just had to ask the chef to prepare it. Why bother ordering takeout? By the time the delivery person arrived, the food would have long gone cold, and the taste would definitely not be as good as freshly cooked food.
While ordering, Cao Fuli's eyes suddenly caught a familiar figure. He immediately looked over and saw Lin Yue walking on the street. Beside him was a young girl, who didn't seem very old. Her clothes were tattered, with patches upon patches. There were also bruises on her body, indicating she had been beaten recently.
Seeing Lin Yue walking on the street with a strange woman, Cao Fuli was immediately curious. He thought to himself, "This kid Lin Yue has always been a gentleman, never indulging in sensual pleasures, a typical moral guardian. How could he be interested in women now? Strange."
Out of curiosity, Cao Fuli had the idea to investigate. He quickly paid the bill and wanted to find out what Lin Yue was thinking, to secretly find a woman behind his back. This was truly strange, especially in a place like Yanjing, where exposing one's identity would be equivalent to a death sentence.
Moreover, in Cao Fuli's eyes, Lin Yue was not a person who was easily swayed by lust. Yet, he was now doing something so irrational, which made people pay attention.
Afterward, Cao Fuli explained the delivery order and then followed Lin Yue. At this moment, Lin Yue inadvertently looked back and discovered Cao Fuli following him. Cao Fuli turned his head and pretended to be looking at the scenery, but both of them knew they had been exposed.
At this moment, Lin Yue suddenly took out the remaining gold beans from his person and handed them to the ragged girl, asking her to leave.
The girl thanked Lin Yue profusely, bowing repeatedly. Lin Yue just waved his hand and said nothing more.
Soon, the girl left. Before leaving, she almost kowtowed to Lin Yue, showing how grateful she was to him.
Cao Fuli was still pretending to look at the scenery. Lin Yue, however, walked over and said calmly, "Stop pretending. Is someone following me? I can tell by the footsteps. You've been following me all this way, did you think I wouldn't know?"
Cao Fuli quickly said, "I'm not deliberately following you. I'm just curious. Haven't you always been a monk, preparing to live out the rest of your life? Why are you suddenly interested in women today?"
Lin Yue shrugged and said, "Perhaps it's fate. She looks exactly like my deceased girlfriend, so I'm more interested."
"I see. Then why didn't you just take her back to Yuzhou? The City Lord has been urging you to get married. Since she looks exactly the same, why not just marry her?" Cao Fuli continued to ask.
However, regarding this question, Lin Yue said with a wry smile, "Self-deception is not effective. Even if her face is exactly the same as my girlfriend's, she's not the real person. If I married her, it would be like finding a replacement to keep by my side, which would be a tragedy for both of us."
"Then why did you give her money? If you don't want to get involved, wouldn't it be better to just pretend you never saw her?" Cao Fuli said as they walked back.
"She has a scumbag father who is a gambler. Whenever he's unhappy, he curses her, and even when he's short of money, he sells her directly. I really couldn't stand it, so I could only give her some money to help her escape this unfortunate family. This is just helping the weak when you see injustice," Lin Yue replied calmly.
Hearing this answer, Cao Fuli shrugged and said, "Now I know why the prices in Yanjing are so high. It seems like you're spending Yue Hengyi's money on good deeds."
Lin Yue also knew that the scene of him giving gold beans just now had been seen, but he wasn't worried about Cao Fuli spreading the word. After all, they were both from Yuzhou, and they were all on the same side. They would never do anything to betray their brothers.
Cao Fuli and Lin Yue returned to their residence. Lin Yue took out the information he had obtained. Before he could open it, Yue Hengyi snatched it away and began to read it seriously. The more he read, the more he frowned, and his expression gradually became grim.
Cao Fuli and Lin Yue looked on. They found that the content recorded in the intelligence was indeed exaggerated. He Kaman, who had become an ability user, not only failed to complete various difficult missions but also began to enjoy himself openly. The headquarters treated ability users very generously. Even though He Kaman's ability had no combat power, he was still being supported with a lot of money.
He Kaman had not joined any ability user organizations, but as long as one was an ability user, they would be valued. After all, it was unlikely that even one in ten thousand people would appear as an ability user. He Kaman became an ability user because he drank the ability potion given to him by Qin Kewei.
According to the information, He Kaman frequently went to pleasure quarters to indulge himself. Relying on his status as an ability user, he befriended many young masters in Yanjing. Under the guidance of these young masters, He Kaman became even more unrestrained, often indulging in revelry outside.
Originally, in Yue Hengyi's mind, if Qin Kewei could find happiness, then even if she married someone else, it would be fine. But now, he realized that the person Qin Kewei married was a complete scumbag. He was philandering outside while having a wife, and he knew that Qin Kewei didn't like this.
Looking at the intelligence he had just obtained, Yue Hengyi was filled with anger, his teeth grinding.
Cao Fuli also saw the news and continued, "Mr. Yue, I still maintain my previous suggestion. You don't need to investigate Miss Qin's changes too much. Just kill this scumbag, and you continue to accompany Miss Qin. All problems will be solved."
Lin Yue also said seriously at this moment, "If the person you like marries a scumbag, you should find a way to help her escape the fiery pit. Mr. Yue, you don't need to do it yourself. You just need to nod, and we can go kill that scumbag."
Yue Hengyi was silent for a moment and said, "Let's observe for the next two days. Let's see if Qin Kewei has been tampered with. She seemed to say that she couldn't remember many things. I suspect she might have been ambushed."
Even now, Yue Hengyi had not made up his mind to kill. This was because he couldn't understand what had happened to Qin Kewei. The way she looked before was not right. If he killed an important person around her at this time, she might not be able to bear the blow.
Cao Fuli and Lin Yue exchanged glances, both seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes. They didn't understand why, if he was so angry now, he didn't vent it directly. A problem that could be solved by killing a scumbag, why did he need to consider so much?
"Wait, someone is coming to the door, carrying heavy things. The footsteps are heavy!" At this moment, Lin Yue heard footsteps outside the door and reacted. The other party was specifically coming to find them.
"Knock, knock, knock," the door was knocked, and then a voice came from outside: "Sir, your ordered meal has arrived. Please open the door."
"Lin Yue, you're too nervous. This is the home delivery service I ordered from the restaurant. Coincidentally, let's eat together. After eating, we should also observe He Kaman, this scumbag!" Cao Fuli quickly said.
Cao Fuli went to open the door and indeed saw a delivery person carrying many bags of food. Cao Fuli had ordered a lot of food, as they were all ability users and had large appetites. If he didn't order more, it wouldn't be enough to eat.
As the delivery person unloaded the items, he said, "Sir, you must be stocking up on food, right? This much food should be enough for a week!"
"Yes, yes, yes, you're right. I am stocking up on food!" Cao Fuli replied casually. He was still worried that this wasn't enough food, because Lin Yue had also returned. Originally, it was lunch for two people, but now three people would be eating together, so it was likely not enough.