Bai Hanyan couldn't detect the hidden meaning in my words, but Bai Zhujing was no fool.
"Young Master Xiang's luck seems to be quite good too," he said, looking at Sister Ying.
Sister Ying smiled and replied, "Mr. Bai, it's quite a bother for you to have us here at Yipin Zhai. How about I treat you all to dinner at Zuixian Lou later?"
I knew Sister Ying was just being polite, but to my surprise, Bai Zhujing accepted: "There's no need for Zuixian Lou. If Madam An doesn't mind, perhaps you could sit with me for a while? I happen to have an acquaintance here who you might know."
"Oh?" Sister Ying asked. "Who is visiting Mr. Bai?"
Bai Zhujing smiled, with a knowing look, and said, "Mr. Yan."
As soon as these three words were spoken, Sister Ying's expression immediately turned serious.
Before I could figure out what was going on, Sister Ying told me to go back first.
As I left Yipin Zhai, I couldn't help but wonder who this Mr. Yan was.
Why did Sister Ying react like that upon hearing his name…
"Hey!"
A voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned to see Bai Hanyan walking towards me.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"What's your name?"
"Xiang Fei."
"I didn't realize you had some real skill."
I smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliment."
Bai Hanyan said dismissively, "But working for An Ying, you can't be a good person yourself."
I took offense at that. You can say what you want about me, but why mention Sister Ying?
I retorted, "Has your father never taught you about manners?"
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like!" I said bluntly.
"You!" Bai Hanyan's eyes widened, and she clenched her teeth. "Xiang Fei, is it? I'll remember you, and we'll see about this!"
I couldn't help but chuckle, "What? Are you planning to ambush me?"
"This young lady wouldn't stoop to such tactics!" With that, she turned and threw over her shoulder, "Birds of a feather!"
I shook my head helplessly. While Bai Zhujing was annoying, his words were always measured.
I just didn't expect his daughter to be so willful and uncouth.
When I returned to Anyuan Tang, I planned to ask Hong Yunpeng to drive me home. However, Uncle Hong called me into a room in the inner hall.
As I entered, Hong Yunpeng was already sitting inside, looking glum.
"Uncle Hong? What's wrong?" I asked.
Uncle Hong took out a bank card and asked, "This card is yours, isn't it?"
I nodded. This was the card I had given to Hong Yunpeng earlier.
"I've already sold the inkstone you bought last time. Fifty thousand, it's all in here," Uncle Hong said.
Hearing this, I couldn't help but say, "Uncle Hong, shouldn't it be twenty thousand? We agreed with Brother Yunpeng earlier that you'd take twenty percent, and he and I would split the rest equally…"
Seeing Uncle Hong's strange expression, I didn't dare to continue.
He shoved the card into my hand and pointed at Hong Yunpeng, scolding him, "Is this what you told Xiang?"
Hong Yunpeng flinched, too afraid to speak.
I was quite confused. Uncle Hong was furious and raised his hand to slap Hong Yunpeng on the head.
"Dad! What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? What did you tell me? You said that inkstone belonged to your friend? If I hadn't overheard Boss Feng talking yesterday, I would never have known that Xiang bought it!"
"I…"
"What 'I'? What did the young lady say? She said Xiang is one of us. Since he's one of us, you shouldn't try to swindle him out of his money!" Uncle Hong said sternly.
Hearing this, I finally understood.
It turned out Hong Yunpeng hadn't dared to tell Uncle Hong that the inkstone was mine. When Uncle Hong found out, he thought Hong Yunpeng was trying to cheat me.
I quickly said, "Uncle Hong, you've misunderstood. I was the one who said I wanted to split it with Brother Yunpeng…"
"Xiang, don't defend him. I know this kid's character all too well."
Knowing that further explanation would be useless, I simply said, "Uncle Hong, I have the money now, so please don't blame Yunpeng anymore."
"You scoundrel," Uncle Hong cursed, pointing at Hong Yunpeng's nose. "I'll let you off this time. If I ever find out you're trying to cheat one of our own again, we're not done!"
Seeing that Uncle Hong had calmed down considerably, I quickly pulled Hong Yunpeng up and said, "Brother Yunpeng, it's getting late. Could you drive me back first… Uncle Hong, we're leaving now, goodbye…"
With that, we both quickly left Anyuan Tang.
Outside, sitting in the Santana, Hong Yunpeng gave me a wry smile and said, "Xiang, thank you."
"Brother Hong, what are you saying?" I glanced at my watch. "Let's go to the bank first, they'll close soon."
"What for, the bank?"
"I'm going to transfer your share of the money to you."
"Ah?" Hong Yunpeng said, "Xiang…"
"Brother Hong, we agreed to split it fifty-fifty. A man's word is his bond. If you don't take it, you don't consider me a friend."
After I said that, Hong Yunpeng had no choice.
We ended up going to the bank, and I transferred twenty thousand to him.
After that, he insisted on treating me to dinner and took me to a rather upscale restaurant.
This restaurant couldn't compare to Zuixian Lou, but it was still decent.
We went to a private room, where he ordered a table full of dishes and asked for two bottles of Kinmen Kaoliang.
"Brother Hong, why do you like this kind of liquor?" I couldn't help but ask.
"You know Kinmen Kaoliang too?" Hong Yunpeng asked, surprised.
I nodded.
My father also liked to drink Kinmen Kaoliang. When I was young, he would drink alone whenever he was in a bad mood.
He would get drunk and pass out every year on the anniversaries of my grandparents' and mother's deaths.
Later, when I was a bit older, I would sometimes join him for a few drinks.
I still remember him talking about drinking culture whenever we drank together.
"The food here is average, but this liquor is good," Hong Yunpeng said. "My father and I have been here a few times before, and I fell in love with this liquor the first time I tried it."
I smiled and asked, "Brother Hong, do you know where Kinmen Kaoliang comes from?"
"I actually don't know. I haven't seen this liquor sold anywhere else," Hong Yunpeng replied.
I said, "This is liquor from Taiwan province… Chinese white liquors are generally divided into four categories. Kinmen Kaoliang belongs to a special aroma category, not falling into these four."
"Oh? There's such a classification?" Hong Yunpeng asked curiously. "Xiang, what are the four categories of white liquor you mentioned?"
I smiled and said, "The first category is sauce-aroma, represented by Maotai and Langjiu. The second is strong-aroma, represented by Wuliangye and Jianlan Chun. Then there's light-aroma, represented by Fenjiu. The last category is rice-aroma, which is mainly popular in Guangdong and Hunan provinces and is also known as small-qu rice-aroma distilled liquor."