Chapter 14: 14014 Zhao Qingyun

The waiter couldn't bear to see Li Menglan looking so dejected. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Uh... little girl, how about... you wait here for a moment? Although our manager isn't in, you're in luck today—our Young Master happens to be in the teahouse. How about... I go in and ask for you first?"

"Really?" Li Menglan's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and her entire face became much more animated because of that smile. "Big brother, you are truly a good person. Then I'll have to trouble you." Li Menglan bent down and gave him a full one-hundred-and-eighty-degree bow.

Uh... this actually made the other party feel embarrassed instead. "No... no need to be so polite! Little girl, please wait a moment! I'll go in and invite the Young Master out." The young-faced waiter fled in quite a hurry, overwhelmed by Li Menglan's gesture.

Hahaha... after the waiter left, a clear burst of laughter came from behind.

"Little girl, Uncle, this is our employer's Young Master." Soon, the waiter emerged from the back hall leading a youth dressed in white, introducing him to Li Menglan and Li Dazhu.

"Greetings, Young Master." Li Dazhu merely raised his head slightly to glance at him before quickly lowering his head in shame, not daring to look him in the eye.

Li Menglan, however, was different... instead, she gazed at him openly with a face full of wonder. *Wow... so beautiful, he's so cute it's killing me...* Li Menglan had never dreamed that in a small place like Qingshui Town, she would encounter such a stunning, top-tier beautiful youth.

*Ah... such a beautiful and gentle boy...* A pair of clear eyes, so gentle they seemed as if they might drip water, were set within a perfect, handsome face. Fine, short hair covered his smooth forehead and fell over his thick, long eyelashes. Beneath his white robes was skin so delicate it was incomparable to anyone else, showing no hint of redness even under the sunlight. A slight, sickly pallor touched his delicate face, exuding an air of noble elegance; combined with his tall and slender build, he was so perfect it created an unrealistic illusion...

"Heavens!" Li Menglan couldn't help but exclaim in amazement. "Good heavens, can such a perfect person actually exist in this world? Uh... is he real?"

"Haha..." Perhaps amused by Li Menglan's words, the youth couldn't help but laugh. "Little girl, you are also very cute!" Despite his slender, girl-like build, his laughter was very hearty and bright, not matching his appearance at all.

"Cute." Upon hearing this, black lines immediately appeared on Li Menglan's forehead as she grumbled, "Uh... 'cute' means 'pitiful and unloved.' Big brother—aren't you mocking me?" *Cute... cute my foot!*

"Little girl, what are you saying? Could you speak a bit louder? I didn't quite catch that just now." The youth in white had hearing that was unusual for a normal person, so he had naturally heard everything Li Menglan said clearly; in his heart, he found it even more amusing. *Hehe... what an interesting little girl.*

To tell the truth, although Li Menglan's small body was thin, weak, and severely malnourished when she first transmigrated, she had once caught a glimpse of the original owner's appearance in the water while washing her face. While it couldn't be described as "world-toppling beauty," she was quite delicate and quite pretty—a very cute little girl.

She had a round, oval face, dark eyes, and flushed cheeks; her whole being radiated an aura of youthful vitality, though her complexion was slightly pale and sallow due to a recent serious illness. There was a small dimple on her oval face, which gave her a very sweet look when she smiled.

"Oh... it's nothing?" Li Menglan was certainly not stupid enough to repeat her exact words. She blinked her eyes and gave a sweet smile. "Young Master, my father brought some special food today; I wonder if you have any interest in it here at the 'Xianke Residence'?" Li Menglan was still not quite used to speaking in a flowery, literary manner, and it had taken quite an effort to get her intended meaning out.

"Uncle, my surname is Zhao Qingyun; you can just call me by my name." The youth in white knew that people from the countryside didn't like to beat around the bush, so he spoke very directly. *Hehe... this fellow actually thought the person coming to do business was Li Dazhu; he didn't realize at all that the main party was the Li Menglan standing right in front of him.*

Li Dazhu's honest face turned slightly red. "Young Master Zhao, that... the one who wants to do business with you is my daughter." Li Dazhu spoke with a bit of awkwardness, grinning sheepishly. This was something Li Dazhu and Li Menglan had discussed before leaving the house; Li Menglan was worried her father was too honest and might be cheated.

Li Menglan didn't mind these things. What she cared about most right now was... whether the sugar-roasted chestnuts would sell or not? Taking advantage of the moment her father was talking to the other party, Li Menglan had already brought out the sugar-roasted chestnuts intended for free sampling. "Big brother, could you help me with those small plates?" Li Menglan asked the waiter with a sweet smile.

"Young Master." The waiter turned his gaze toward his master, Zhao Qingyun.

"Go ahead!" Zhao Qingyun waved his hand casually. A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy acting so mature; *Uh... he's not cute at all,* Li Menglan slandered him silently in her heart.

The efficiency of a large teahouse was indeed different. Soon, the waiter returned with about a dozen small, white plates. "Little girl, is this enough? If not, I'll go get more."

"It's enough, thank you, big brother." Another sweet smile.

Li Menglan moved quickly, and the dozen or so small plates were soon filled with sugar-roasted chestnuts. "Big brother, Young Master Zhao, please try some; see how they taste?" Li Menglan handed a full plate of sugar-roasted chestnuts toward Zhao Qingyun, and a faint, sweet aroma filled the air.

Zhao Qingyun hesitated slightly. "Uh... how do you eat this?" Zhao Qingyun considered himself a man of some learning, but he truly had never seen the food in this plate before.

"Here... it's like this..." Li Menglan took the initiative to pick up a sugar-roasted chestnut to demonstrate. "Like this... like this... and then like this..." A perfectly peeled sugar-roasted chestnut sat in the palm of Li Menglan's hand.

Zhao Qingyun quickly followed suit, peeling a chestnut, and then imitated Li Menglan by putting it into his mouth. "Mmm... delicious! It's sweet, soft, and has a faint fragrance." After swallowing a chestnut, Zhao Qingyun couldn't help but praise, "What is this called?"

"Sugar-roasted chestnuts."