Chapter Thirty: The Young Proprietor

They thought Fang Yuan had come deliberately to retaliate. For restaurant owners like them, nothing was more terrifying than being reported. If Fang Yuan could prove there was something like croton in their food, then this little eatery would be finished.

Fang Yuan listened for a while, but couldn’t quite grasp what the owner was saying. Hearing the owner apologizing repeatedly, Fang Yuan assumed he must be referring to the matter with his own mouth.

Thanks to Chong Chong’s capriciousness and little tricks, Fang Yuan’s sense of taste had become dulled. In the end, after eating more super-spicy food than his body could bear, his mouth felt swollen like a sausage. The owner had even come over to ask about it, and Fang Yuan had thought the owner was referring to that incident. He felt the owner was genuinely considerate—clearly it was his own fault, yet the owner had kept it in mind and was still feeling guilty about it.

“It was my own greed, not your fault. You don’t need to feel guilty,” Fang Yuan sincerely comforted the owner, thinking to himself that this was a truly good man. If he ever needed a place to eat, this would be a fine choice—prices were reasonable, and it wasn’t far from where he lived.

“It wasn’t your fault, it was mine. But yesterday, all that happened because someone forced me to do it. If you want to retaliate, go find those people.” The owner, perhaps imagining things, felt a strength in this polite young man’s eyes that he’d never sensed before.

Worried that the young man might hold a grudge, the owner spilled everything about what had happened the previous day. After all, the ones who look the most gentle are often the most ruthless. The owner, though his business was small, had enough experience to know that the young man before him was not someone to be trifled with. Better to clear his own name as soon as possible and point out the real mastermind.

It was only after hearing the owner’s words that Fang Yuan realized he must have missed something yesterday.

“Chong Chong, I remember you once said my body can handle things that are harmful. Does that include things like laxatives?”

The owner’s account made Fang Yuan recall Pei Xi’s ordeal from the day before. Pei Xi had claimed she got diarrhea after eating Fang Yuan’s bowl of noodles. At the time, Fang Yuan hadn’t thought much of it, assuming it was just an excuse for Pei Xi to drag him down with her.

But now, Fang Yuan realized he might have wronged Pei Xi.

“Yes, Master, medicines like croton that cause severe diarrhea pose no threat to your body at all,” Chong Chong replied lazily, as if his master eating croton was as harmless as eating jellybeans.

“Oh, Master, I forgot to tell you—yesterday, there really was croton in your food. It’s my fault, I forgot to mention it. But it doesn’t matter, your body wouldn’t be affected,” Chong Chong added nonchalantly.

“So, Pei Xi really did get sick from eating my noodles yesterday?” Even if he didn’t believe the owner, he had to believe Chong Chong.

“Of course. I meant to tell you this morning, but seeing how pitiful Miss Pei Xi looked, I decided not to. Actually, I had my own reasons,” Chong Chong said shamelessly.

Fang Yuan immediately caught the flaw in Chong Chong’s logic and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me because you saw Pei Xi looking pitiful?”

“You see, this is where I’m superior—I just wanted to watch Miss Pei Xi act all cute and spoiled a bit longer. Besides, if I’d told you right away that she was hospitalized because of your noodles, would you still have had the heart to take her home, knowing your personality?”

Though Chong Chong hadn’t been with Fang Yuan long, he understood his master’s temperament well. If Fang Yuan knew the truth, he would have immediately confronted the fat owner, never mind escorting Pei Xi home.

“Well, you’re certainly good at making excuses for yourself. When you’re wrong, you’re wrong. Own up to it instead of making excuses,” Fang Yuan chided, finding Chong Chong’s attitude a bit too casual. No matter how powerful the creature was, it was still living inside Fang Yuan’s body and ultimately dependent on him.

He was just considering how to punish Chong Chong so it would learn its lesson, when Chong Chong hurriedly confessed, “Master, I was wrong.” Its attitude was as sincere as could be.

Seeing Chong Chong admit fault so readily, Fang Yuan decided not to hold a grudge—it would make him seem petty.

While Fang Yuan and Chong Chong had been conversing silently in his mind, the owner, seeing Fang Yuan standing there in silence, assumed he was plotting revenge.

Though the owner looked burly, it was just for show; if he’d had more courage and presence, his restaurant wouldn’t be struggling under pressure from the neighboring eateries. Seeing Fang Yuan staring at him in silence, the owner lost all composure and spilled everything he could.

It turned out the restaurant had a back door. The night before, just after Fang Yuan ordered, someone had barged into the kitchen through the back. That person, holding a knife, had forced the owner to add croton to Fang Yuan’s food.

But this wasn’t just any croton—it had been specially refined by Old Master Pei, making its effect more than ten times stronger than the usual. It was no wonder Pei Xi ended up in the hospital; the croton worked all too well.

“Did you know that person?” Fang Yuan, who had just thought the owner honest and reliable, now found him somewhat untrustworthy.

“No, I was too nervous to remember much—just that they were dressed all in black. Looked like some underworld type,” the owner replied. He might be timid, but his judgment of people was accurate.

After all that, Fang Yuan completely lost his appetite. He was just about to leave when Chong Chong began pleading with him.

“Master, you’re wonderful, you’re amazing, your figure is just perfect. Please, Master, let me eat the crayfish before we go. Look how beautiful they are!” Chong Chong even started rhyming to persuade him.

“Chong Chong, where did you learn all these nonsense phrases? From now on, stop with the nonsense—speak properly,” Fang Yuan admonished, feeling it was now his duty to educate Chong Chong. Heaven knows where Chong Chong picked up all these odd ideas; if this went on, he’d be leading it astray.