Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 759 Old Friend in Green
People were watching with great interest as Dr. Qu was carefully introducing himself on the stage, when suddenly the young woman's expression froze, her mouth stopped halfway open, and then she lowered her head, clattering all the silver in front of her into her bag before turning around and quickly walking off the stage.

"Thief, don't run away!!"

A moment of silence fell over the room, then a young man's angry shout came from the window. Everyone turned around abruptly, watching with surprise and astonishment as Pei Ye, the young hero, nimbly slipped out of the window and leaped across several meters, like an eagle reaching down with its talons.

Doctor Qu carried the heavy bag of silver on his shoulder, and after stepping off the stage, he glanced back—still with that indifferent expression—bend down like a slippery mouse and darted under the table.

But the next moment, Young Master Pei Ye landed heavily on the table. Just as Doctor Qu jumped out from under the table, Young Master Pei Ye reached out and grabbed her by the back of her collar, causing Doctor Qu's feet to stick out three feet away, but her upper body to lean back.

Qu Xin looked up at the boy's face, while Pei Ye stared down at her with an icy gaze.

“It’s over,” Qu Xinping said in a flat voice.

Pei Ye jumped off the table, slammed her against the wall, then pinned her hands behind her back, one on each side, and tied them tightly with her hair ribbon.

Qu Xin pressed half her face against the wall and calmly said, "You're going to rape me in public."

"I'm going to send you to the authorities!" Pei Ye shouted angrily.

"Why are you back again?"

Pei Ye was even angrier: "I thought I couldn't accept your money without doing anything in return, so I was embarrassed to accept it. I was going to return it to you, but who knew you were Jiang Shan... Jiang Shan... a leopard can't change its spots!"

Qu Xin paused for a moment, then said, "I didn't expect you to have such a conscience."

Pei Ye tightened the knot sharply: "I must have made your share longer too!"

Qu Xin said, "You know what, Pei Ye? Actually, perhaps when I misjudged your character, my defeat was already destined. Just like in storybooks, good people always win because of their kindness and integrity, while evil people always fail because of their carelessness. Pei Ye, have you ever read any storybooks?"

Pei Ye lowered his eyes coldly.

Qu Xin calmly advised, "In storybooks, good people are all kind and magnanimous, and in the end they will spare the lives of the wicked who have excusable reasons, and persuade them to repent and reform."

Pei Ye sneered, grabbed her by the back of her collar, and strode upstairs.

Qu Xin slumped down, her collar being pulled up, her heels dragging on the ground. She looked at the more than twenty pairs of shocked eyes staring at her and calmly nodded to them: "Once things calm down, I'll bring you all new Pei Ye Young Hero products."

Pei Ye turned around, opened her hand, and lashed out with the sword hilt.

"what!"

Pei Ye walked up the stairs, pushed open the balcony door, and carried Qu Xin inside.

Cui Zhaoye and Changsun Jue, who had just been leaning on the railing watching in fear, suddenly sat up straight in their chairs with a few hurried footsteps.

Pei Ye threw Qu Xin against the wall, turned around and angrily took a swig of tea: "Stand up! Stand against the wall!"

Qu Xin leaned against the wall.

"What's with that painting?!" Pei Ye was both ashamed and indignant.

"The painting depicts you lying naked in bed, emphasizing your exposed skin, wounds, and lip line to evoke pity, admiration, and desire," Qu Xin said. "I made some minor modifications, making you a bit more handsome."

"..." Pei Ye took a deep breath, "How many paintings did you sell!"

"There are only five of these paintings today. The first one was just sold for 160 taels of silver. The buyer is the daughter of Zhang Tao, a wealthy merchant from the capital."

"One hundred and sixty taels!"

“The great painter Zhang Qiuwan charges between eighty and two hundred taels for a portrait, which is quite a fair price.” Qu Xin thought for a moment, “It’s a small business, I don’t make much profit.”

"You're making a business with no capital!"

Qu Xin looked up at the roof beam.

What else have you sold to me?

Qu Xin thought for a moment: "As for portraits, besides this one, I have sold three other types of portraits of you. 'Pei Ye in Full Body Portrait' is a print of the full-body portrait I copied before. It cost three taels of silver and I sold one hundred and thirty copies. 'Pei Ye Sleeping After Surgery' cost twelve taels of silver and I sold fifty-three copies. And then there is this 'Pei Ye's Sword Wound at Night' portrait, which I just sold one copy of."

"..." Pei Ye was shocked as he calculated the amount, and was almost speechless for a moment. "How much did you sell it for...? Why would someone spend so much money to buy my portrait!"

Qu Xin thought for a moment: "The prices are really fair. For example, the printing cost of each of the 'Pei Ye's Portrait' is 200 wen, and the mounting cost is 100 wen. Add to that the mental burden of 1 liang and the risk of 1 liang, and the profit is only 700 wen. The others are about the same."

What does "risk-taking" mean?

Qu Xin paused for a moment, then turned to look at his bound hands.

"...What mental burdens do you have?"

"I originally drew your full-body diagram to analyze your musculoskeletal structure."

"That's what you told me when you were drawing it."

“Your body was originally only visible to me, but now that we’re short of money, I have to sell it to them. I’m very unhappy about that.” Qu Xin thought for a moment and said seriously, “This kind of feeling is only natural, and it’s normal for me to have it too.”

“If you keep making up lies to argue your point, I’ll shove this twenty-tael silver ingot into your mouth.”

"..."

"Besides paintings, what else have you sold me?"

“Puppets.” Qu Xin looked up at the roof beam. “There are three types: wooden puppets, five taels; bronze puppets, fifteen taels; and pull-string puppets, eighty taels.”

"I'll ask you again, what's the story behind those people you just showed me?"

"They want to see you alone."

"Do you take money?" Pei Ye stared at her.

"A little bit of money."

"How much is 'a little bit'?"

"Twelve taels."

For a moment, Pei Ye actually felt that it wasn't much.

Cui Zhaoye, who had been watching closely, suddenly stood up and glared at them, scolding, "You actually accepted money from members to see Pei Ye! No wonder you were so eager to do it!"

Changsun Jue's eyes widened: "Doctor Qu, how could you do this!"

Qu Xin explained, "I'm not charging them for seeing Pei Ye, I'm charging them for each person to see Pei Ye. They were very willing, and I satisfied them, so I'm charging them a little. Besides, if I do this, Little Duck might hate me, which is very dangerous."

Cui Zhaoye said sternly, "It is you who have ruined the atmosphere of our hobby club!"

Pei Ye turned her head and stared at her and Changsun Jue: "What hobby club did you say?"

"..."

Qu Xin looked up and muttered to himself, "Chairman Cui bought a copy of every version of the painting and the puppet, and the bookworm also bought a puppet."

Pei Ye turned around, walked up to Cui Zhaoye and Changsun Jue, and looked at the two of them.

"Your hobby club has become like this?" His voice trembled slightly.

Cui Zhaoye first lowered her head, then turned her head to look outside the railing.

"She's faking it," Qu Xin calmly accused.

"What do you mean by 'Pei Ye's Fan Club'! How could you do this!" Pei Ye's face turned red. "If this gets out, how am I supposed to face Yang Zhenbing and Yan Feiqing! I thought it was just a bunch of people playing around!"

Changsun Jue lowered his head in shame: "Classmate Pei... I'm sorry, I... I didn't, I was coerced by Sister Cui."

"Then why did you buy my little wooden figure!" Pei Ye glared at her, like a father seeing his most well-behaved child become naughty.

Changsun Jue lowered his head even further and whispered, "That...that carving is really beautiful...I'm sorry, classmate Pei."

"Then what kind of coercion is this? You were only half-heartedly complying!" Changsun Jue blushed so much he was about to cry.

Pei Ye scolded the three people, then turned around, sat down in a chair, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it to calm his nerves.

The three people stood silently in the room, trembling with fear.

Pei Ye thought for a moment: "Qu Xin, write down everything you've done from beginning to end! And you, Cui Zhaoye, disband your so-called hobby group immediately!"

He glanced at them: "Are the three of you the masterminds? Who else was involved—Yin'er wouldn't be among them, would she?"

The thought that Shi Mei also watches such obscene things every day makes Pei Ye feel a flush of heat spreading from her neck all the way to her ears.

“Jiang Yin’er refuses to join,” Cui Zhaoye said, “but there’s another one…”

“Classmate Pei, can I be an accomplice…” Changsun Jue whispered.

"Who else?" Pei Ye breathed a sigh of relief and pressed for an answer.

"And Chairman Li."

"Who is Chairman Li?" Pei Ye frowned.

Cui Zhaoye lowered his head and said, "Changsun, go and call Chairman Li."

Pei Ye was also annoyed: "Call her over here!"

He thought to himself that he did not know a president surnamed Li. If they were really strangers, he should be more polite, but he should not lack the necessary cold and hard attitude. These girls were really too capable. They had become so powerful in just two months since he left.

So he took a deep breath, lay back on the chair, and looked at the intricately carved beams.

A moment later, two footsteps sounded outside the door behind them, accompanied by the girl's faint female voice.

"...Pei Tongxue is very angry, please take a look." Changsun Jue's weak voice.

"I'm also afraid of him. What if he gets angry with me too?" The girl chuckled softly.

Pei Ye was taken aback for a moment.

"He specifically asked you to come, so he'll definitely give you a scolding... It's alright, just apologize obediently. Pei is a very kind person... It's all because Sister Cui and the others went too far..."

Pei Ye hurriedly put down his teacup, ignoring the yellow liquid that had spilled out. He braced himself against the armrest of the chair, but his legs forgot to cooperate and he couldn't stand up for a moment.

Just then, the door behind him creaked open. Pei Ye first smelled the long-lost and refreshing fragrance, and then hurriedly stood up. He turned his head before his body and saw that pretty face with a clear and smiling expression, as well as that familiar and eye-catching green dress.

Like the mountain scenery in spring.

The room fell silent for several breaths.

Pei Ye moved her lips and whispered, "You... why are you joining in their nonsense?"

"Why are you angry?" Li Piaoqing looked at him with a smile. "You scared Miss Changsun so much that she almost cried."

Even when he first saw the large painting hanging in the hall, Pei Ye had never experienced this awkward feeling—back then it was a turbulent and reckless superficial emotion, but now it truly touched the strings of his stable heart.

He suddenly became serious for no apparent reason, blushing with embarrassment at being caught fooling around, but at the same time, he felt a long-lost sense of intimacy because of being 'exposed'.

“…I deliberately scared them.” Pei Ye raised his hand to touch his head—he hadn’t done this in a long time—and pulled over a chair. “Were you in Tianshan Garden the whole time?”

Li Piaoqing walked to the table, first splashing the remaining tea from his cup, then touching the slightly cool teapot, and taking some more tea leaves: "I've been on this terrace the whole time."

"Ok?"

"We're all watching you perform your swordplay together, young hero Pei Ye. You're so handsome and dashing."

Pei Ye said awkwardly, "Please stop talking."

Li Piaoqing smiled, washed the teapot, and placed it on the small stove: "I think this hobby group is great. Everyone here genuinely likes you, which is why we've gathered together."

“I wasn’t angry with those girls downstairs either.” Pei Ye turned her head and stared at the gray-skirted woman standing against the wall. “I just didn’t expect Qu Xin to be so audacious.”

Li Piaoqing narrowed her eyes and turned to look. Qu Xin, being stared at by these two pairs of eyes, shifted uncomfortably for the first time.

"...What are you going to do?"

Li Piaoqing turned around, calmly prepared the tea in her hand, and said, "First, report the amount of silver received, without missing a single penny."

Qu Xin looked up at the roof beam: "The painting is worth 1,186 taels, the doll is worth 560 taels. Today, the meeting fee is 220 taels, and the donation is 200 taels."

Pei Ye was speechless with shock.

"Report to the authorities!" he said decisively.

Qu Xin paused for a moment: "How will the government punish us?"

"Those who commit fraud or theft, involving a large sum of money, shall be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane and a fine of three times the amount of the stolen money!"

“I didn’t cheat or steal. I was selling things, and the prices were fair.” Qu Xin thought for a moment. “The most I’ve paid is two hundred taels of silver, which I haven’t had a chance to give you yet.”

"You'll give it to me again?"

"I plan to use the money to buy medicinal herbs and make you a pill."

"What kind of meatballs?"

"Eating this will help your bones and muscles recover faster, making you more resilient to cuts." Qu Xin thought for a moment, "I haven't decided on a name yet."

"...You figured it out yourself."

"Well, it hasn't been refined yet. You're the first one to eat it." Qu Xin looked at him and reassured him, "Don't worry, it won't kill you."

"I didn't want to eat it."

Qu Xin paused for a moment: "If I report this to the authorities, could you please not confiscate my property, but instead give me an extra three hundred strokes of the cane?"

"No."

Li Piaoqing poured the tea and smiled, "Don't report it to the authorities. Let me handle her."

Qu Xin said, "Little male duck, quickly report this to the authorities!"

Pei Ye snorted coldly.

He walked over, picked up the heavy bundle at Qu Xin's feet, and opened it.

"First, return all this silver—" Pei Ye looked down at the bag, startled by the gleaming silver light, paused, and then said decisively, "—it's all gone!"

"I don't need to pay back the painting fee, right..." Qu Xin struggled like a cornered beast.

“Everyone will feel uneasy if we return everything,” Li Piaoqing laughed. “These are all minor matters; leave them to me to handle.”

Pei Ye lowered her head: "To trouble you with these things... Have you been quite busy these days?"

"I've been so busy I haven't been able to get away. Otherwise, why would we only meet today? I have things to do this afternoon, and I was hoping you could show me the way," Li Piaoqing said, then smiled, "—Let's not talk about that now, let's go downstairs. We finally managed to get Young Hero Pei Ye here, so we should make sure he meets everyone properly."

She tugged at the boy's sleeve.

Pei Ye froze for a moment, seemingly wanting to say something, but her feet had already obediently taken a step.

The two men walked out of the room, leaving Qu Xin and the two girls on the terrace.

Changsun Jue turned to look at Cui Zhaoye in silence and surprise. Cui Zhaoye turned to look at her in equal shock, her eyes full of respect for the new president.

(End of this chapter)