At the second watch, request for pink.
**...****
The first person to rein in his horse was Shen Liu, who saw Lian Manman.
Although Shen Liu reined in his horse, he didn’t say anything; he rely glanced around briefly, his gaze not lingering on Lian Manman. It seed, he had only paused inadvertently.
As soon as Shen Liu stopped, the wagons and horses behind him naturally halted as well. No one gave an order, but the horse team leading the way also stopped abruptly. If one were not paying attention, one might think they had stopped in tandem with Shen Liu.
"Sixth Master, there’s a shop here. Do you want to have a cup of tea, or shall we find a place to rest?" soone from his retinue asked, bowing to Shen Liu.
Shen Liu had just co down from a mountain and had tea. How could a small rural shop have tea or food that could et his standards?
But the one who asked this question was clearly one of the most observant retainers by Shen Liu’s side.
Those who could stay close to a big shot were naturally exceptional. Other skills aside, their ability to read situations had to be top-notch. At all tis, they had to pay attention to every action, every glance—even the slightest movent of the big shot’s fingertips—and imdiately interpret it.
Shen Liu had stopped, and in these people’s eyes, it was certainly not by chance. Even if it was, they would never treat it as such.
So why had Shen Liu stopped? What was around him? Although Shen Liu’s gaze did not seem to rest on anything in particular, several possibilities had already been listed in their minds.
In the blink of an eye, a smart retainer made a judgnt and built a ladder for the situation.
"Let’s have a cup of tea, then." Shen Liu said leisurely.
At Shen Liu’s words, soone imdiately dismounted and hurried over to Lian Manman.
"Girl, whose shop is this? Our Sixth Master wants to have a cup of tea, so hurry and go fetch soone."
Lian Manman had already looked up by this ti, having heard their conversation. She was a bit surprised, but she imdiately regained her composure.
"This is our shop." Lian Manman spoke, quickly turning to call out to Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang, "Dad, Mom, we have guests."
Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang ca out of the house upon hearing her. By this ti, Shen Liu and his company had dismounted.
"These are honored guests. Oh dear, our house has just been built, and it’s not ..." Lian Shouxin said nervously. It’s no wonder he was nervous; anyone from Thirty Mile Camp would be in such a situation.
"Why not go over there?" Lady Zhang suggested, pointing toward their breakfast shop. The new house wasn’t fully organized with tables and benches yet, and while the old shop was well-equipped, it was too cramped to entertain soone like Shen Liu.
"Please co this way, right here." Lian Manman quickly intervened, setting down her bucket and ladle to stop her parents mid-sentence.
To entertain Shen Liu, it had to be in the new shop, even though it had not yet opened.
The old shop was rented and their lease would expire at the end of the year. The new shop was entirely their property. A man of Shen Liu’s stature visiting their shop would be an honor indeed, fulfilling the saying, "A guest brings light to the room."
The new shop hadn’t opened yet, but this was the perfect opportunity to leverage Shen Liu’s celebrity. They couldn’t afford to send such a respected figure to the old shop—it could inadvertently benefit soone else!
"Mom, quickly bring the water boiling on our stove, and the snack box I prepared earlier, the one for Mr. Loo— bring it quickly so we can entertain the guests," said Lian Manman. Seeing Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang both sowhat anxious, she took charge of the preparations.
"Dad, let’s invite the guests inside quickly." Lian Manman reminded Lian Shouxin.
So, Lady Zhang went to fetch the items, and Lian Shouxin and Lian Manman welcod Shen Liu and his party into the house.
"The house is newly built, and the furniture hasn’t been..." Lian Shouxin started to explain honestly.
"It’s a new house, freshly cleaned, and no one has lived here before," Lian Manman quickly took over, knowing that the way sothing is said can make a big difference. "We just received a set of fine tables and chairs, Sixth Master, please have a seat."
As she said this, Lian Manman thought to herself how lucky they were. It was fortunate that the set of tables and chairs she had ordered for Mr. Loo and his group to use for reading and writing had been delivered that morning. Otherwise, inviting Shen Liu and his n into the house, they wouldn’t even have had a place to sit.
Shen Liu only took a few close attendants inside and looked around. Seeing the spotless room with a set of neat furniture in the center, while simple, it was clean and tidy, so he sat down by the table.
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