Chapter 28

Chu Lingyue walked in ahead, her expression relatively calm.

Chu Shaoyang followed behind her, her face holding up decently too. It was just that her eyes were red, as if she had been crying.

What was going on?

Tang Jin eyed them both, unable to stop the gossip brewing in her mind. Could Chu Shaoyang have confessed her feelings and gotten rejected?

“Please bring us a couple of dishes—whatever you have,” Chu Shaoyang said as she found a table and sat down, clearly planning to eat before leaving.

Tang Jin replied calmly, “Miss Chu, you arrived too late. All the dishes for today are sold out.”

Her eyes were so red—it was rather pitiful.

But pitiful or not, no food meant no food.

These were her own rules, after all, and she had to stick to them.

Chu Shaoyang blinked in surprise and instinctively glanced toward Chu Lingyue.

Chu Lingyue gave her a gentle smile. “Since the dishes are sold out, Miss Chu, please head back. Come earlier tomorrow.”

“Ah, alright.” Chu Shaoyang jumped to her feet at once, obedient as could be, as if she followed Chu Lingyue’s every word without question.

Tang Jin arched a brow. She had a sneaking suspicion her guess had been off. Judging by Chu Shaoyang’s demeanor, it didn’t look like a confession gone wrong.

No, she desperately wanted to know what had happened—whatever should she do?

Just then, Grandmother Tang walked into the main hall.

“Laidi’s rice came out too hard, and the tea wasn’t brewed quite right. From now on, this old lady will handle it. You three can just focus on serving customers in the hall.”

They were her own granddaughters, but she couldn’t just sit around doing nothing all day.

After mulling it over for a while, the old madam had given herself a job.

Tang Laidi lit up with delight at the news. “Grandmother Tang, you truly are my own flesh and blood! All I can manage is steaming rice without burning it. You’re the reliable one.”

Perfect. From now on, she could be a hands-off boss and skip all the work. Ha ha.

Tang Jin had no objections. Seeing that the sky was growing dark, she brought out a plate of pepper numb saliva chicken.

“Just one dish for the four of us?” Tang Laidi stared wide-eyed. Her little sisters were getting stingier by the day.

Tang Jin rolled her eyes at her and produced four salted preserved eggs. “We’ve used up all the ingredients for today. Make do with this.”

The old madam’s salted preserved eggs were on the verge of going bad if they didn’t eat them soon, and they paired perfectly with rice.

Seeing that neither Grandma Tang nor Chu Lingyue had any complaints, Tang Laidi felt relieved. The eggs weren’t much, but that mala chicken had crispy skin, tender meat, and a spicy, numbing, fresh, and fragrant flavor that paired perfectly with rice. It was more than enough to make a satisfying meal.

Tang Jin watched as Chu Lingyue barely touched her chopsticks before claiming she was full. What on earth had Chu Shaoyang chatted about with this woman? Why wasn’t she eating?

Her curiosity piqued, Tang Jin set down her own chopsticks early. “Wife, let’s go to the kitchen and discuss tomorrow’s menu.”

If she wanted to know, she’d just ask. She wasn’t one to hold it in—especially with the Lie Reward System around. What was there to fear about not hearing the truth?

Chu Lingyue nodded faintly and rose to her feet obediently.

Seeing the two of them leave the hall after hardly eating, Tang Laidi stirred her rice with some of the sauce. “This food is so delicious. Why do they both act like they have no appetite?”

Was it because of Chu Shaoyang? Or maybe that chef from Tower Beyond Towers who had come sniffing around for information?

Grandmother Tang glanced at their retreating backs but said nothing. Good things took time, and this was business between the young couple—she’d best stay out of it.

In the kitchen, Tang Jin didn’t dive straight into her questions. Instead, she brought up Tower Beyond Towers first. “…Wife, what do you make of Tower Beyond Towers?”

Chu Lingyue answered almost without thinking. “You’re overthinking it, A-Jin. Tower Beyond Towers is one of the top two imperial merchants. Every leader they’ve had has been upstanding and honorable. They shouldn’t mean any harm.”

Tang Jin’s eyes flickered as she feigned worry. “Is that so? Tower Beyond Towers’s branch in Ping’an County is just one of many. As the saying goes, ‘the emperor is far away.’ Even if the main owners are paragons of virtue, who knows if every branch manager is as upright?”

Chu Lingyue didn’t hesitate. “You wouldn’t know this, A-Jin, but the managers at each county branch are regularly inspected and reined in by higher-ups from the prefecture city. Those prefecture managers, in turn, have to go to the Imperial Capital periodically to meet the owners of Tower Beyond Towers. And the current owner of Tower Beyond Towers is a person who…”

Her words cut off abruptly midway.

Chu Lingyue clamped her mouth shut, a dark shadow pooling in her eyes.

Tang Jin smiled. “What kind of person is Tower Beyond Towers’s current owner, Wife? Why stop there?”

Chu Lingyue keenly sensed the probing in Tang Jin’s words. Realizing her slip, she fell silent for a moment.

She was a person without a past. She remembered nothing. Before opening the restaurant, she hadn’t even left Tang Village. How could she know Tower Beyond Towers’s rules, or what their current owner was like?

Tang Jin chuckled and exposed her without mercy. “Your memory has returned, hasn’t it?”

Her tone brimmed with certainty.

She had known it—Chu Shaoyang and the old Chu Lingyue must have known each other. Quite well, even.

Chu Lingyue remained silent. She had only just recalled her past, and her mind was still unsteady. She wasn’t sure what to say.

Tang Jin chuckled again. “Is Chu Shaoyang an old acquaintance of yours?”

Chu Lingyue let out a soft sigh and nodded.

Tang Jin pressed on. “You hail from the Imperial Capital, yet you know Chu Shaoyang from a thousand miles away. Are you here to join family?”

Chu Lingyue nodded again, saying nothing.

Seeing her just nod without speaking, Tang Jin wasn’t impatient. She kept at it patiently. “Is your status anything out of the ordinary?”

This time, Chu Lingyue spoke.

“You’re thinking too much, A-Jin. I’m just a daughter from an ordinary family.”

Tang Jin’s first instinct was disbelief. Women in the Hundred Blades Dynasty fared better than in many historical eras—not only could they study and take imperial exams, but they thrived in business too.

An ordinary person who didn’t shy from the spotlight or public dealings?

【Ding, rewarded one plate of sweet and sour pork】

As expected—people lied, but the system never cheated.

Tang Jin laughed. “Even with your amnesia, Wife, your bearing is extraordinary. How could you be ordinary? Are you perhaps of noble birth and worried I’ll cling to you?”

She wasn’t the original host. She wouldn’t stoop that low.

If Chu Lingyue came from a good family and had regained her memories, that was great news. Tang Jin would be thrilled.

They could part ways amicably then, no strings attached, no responsibilities on either side.

Who knew Chu Lingyue would give a wry smile, self-deprecating. “You really are thinking too much, A-Jin. I’m just an everyday person. Where would noble status come from?”

Far from noble—in fact, she had no control over her own fate, and no one cared.

Tang Jin didn’t believe a word of it. She eagerly awaited the system’s next reward. What dish would it be this time?

A moment later, she stared at Chu Lingyue in disbelief. No lie?

Otherwise, why no reaction from the system?

That couldn’t be right. It had just rewarded sweet and sour pork, meaning Chu Lingyue wasn’t from an ordinary family. So how was she suddenly just “everyday” now?

Had the system glitched?

Tang Jin’s heart sank. After a moment’s thought, she said, “Then are you going to seek out your family? Don’t worry, I’ll write up the divorce papers myself. From then on, we’ll go our separate ways under the open sky. I won’t trouble you.”

What had gone wrong? Why were the system’s judgments inconsistent?