Chapter 180: Farming: Saving the Substitute Husband 23

Uncle Zhang saw this person buying a house, such a major matter, and also asked about his own husband, thus knowing he was a fine fellow of the Gu Family; the smile on his face grew a bit wider.

"If you take a liking to it, go to the landlord's place to sign the contract; once the authorities approve it, you can move in within three days."

"Will the two of you sign the contract first, or look at the shop first?"

Jin Chen: "Let's just look at the shop together today, thank you, Uncle Zhang."

"Eh, fine, not far from this street is the market, bustling; there are a few vacant shops there, perfect for running a food business."

Uncle Zhang led the two out, locked the door, and eagerly hurried to another shopfront.

As they walked, Jin Chen suddenly glanced sideways and happened to see a person hiding at the alley entrance.

It seemed to be the person from that day's fighting arena.

His eyes turned a bit colder, he pulled Yelin closer into his embrace, protecting her as they walked forward.

The person in yellow leaned against the wall, panting heavily, eyes full of panic.

"Goodness, this person is so observant, spotting me so quickly."

"I said I couldn't do it! The boss insisted I come!"

"I've been investigating in the town for several days; he's just an ordinary farmer—where did all these mysterious identities come from?"

The person in yellow poked his head out again, saw Jin Chen walking away, thought it over, and for the sake of his own life, still didn't follow.

The shop looked not bad either; Jin Chen chose a slightly larger one that could seat dozens of people.

Finally, they went to the landlord to sign the contract; the courtyard and shopfront together came to six hundred taels, much cheaper than Jin Chen and Yelin had expected.

The landlord stamped the contract seal, had Jin Chen sign, and after payment the purchase was complete; they only needed to wait three days for the authorities' approval before moving in.

The landlord, perhaps not having handled such a large deal in a long time, was overjoyed, gave the remaining share to Uncle Zhang, and then pulled Jin Chen aside to say.

"I still have servants for sale here, sir—would you like to take a look?"

Upon hearing that, Jin Chen pinched Yelin's fingers and asked, "Are you tired?"

"Not tired, husband, don't worry."

Yelin lifted a smile at him, shook her head, behaving very obediently.

"All right, let's go buy people together, and we'll have lunch in town at noon."

Jin Chen brushed the hair from Yelin's cheek, his tone gentle, "You've worked hard, our Linlin."

Yelin, under the gaze of the landlord and several other merchants, felt a bit shy, hid behind Jin Chen, and said, "Not hard, husband, you're just talking nonsense."

"Then let's go, thank you, landlord." Jin Chen said.

"Eh, this way."

The two of them didn't need many servants in their daily life; Jin Chen looked at a few and first selected an elderly, kind-looking grandmother.

"Can you cook?" he asked.

"Yes, yes! I used to be in charge of the kitchen; my cooking is excellent!"

The grandmother hurriedly said.

In the future, Jin Chen will have to divide his attention managing the shop, so he won't have time to cook three meals a day, and he's reluctant to let Yelin cook; therefore finding a cook grandmother is of utmost importance.

The landlord also praised her in two sentences: "This grandmother is nimble, formerly from the capital; her cooking won't be bad."

Jin Chen nodded in satisfaction, then selected two guards for the gate, and had Yelin personally pick a personal attendant maid.

The landlord recorded everything, then settled the accounts.

"Sir, these three servants together are fifteen taels, the grandmother is a bit more expensive at eight taels, making a total of twenty-three taels of silver."

Jin Chen then pulled out the money on the spot and instructed, "Have them all sent to the courtyard three days from now."

"Eh, sure, I'll make sure everything is arranged properly!"

Apart from those wealthy families, the landlord rarely encountered someone who paid money so readily; he immediately broke into a grin that showed his teeth but not his eyes.

At noon, Yelin finally felt somewhat fatigued; fortunately there was no sun today, otherwise she would have been more tired.

Seeing Yelin's expression, Jin Chen shook the hand he was holding and said, "Let's go to Wansheng Restaurant for lunch, then head home."

0731 also seemed to comfort, rubbing against Yelin's leg.

"All right." Yelin lifted her spirits.

The two of them and the wolf entered the restaurant.

The waiter recognized him as the hunter who had come last time to force-sell a wolf, hesitated, glanced at the shopkeeper, then looked back at Jin Chen.

"This time, are you here to do business, or to have a meal?"

"To have a meal."

Jin Chen found a clean table by the window, sat down, and listened as the waiter rattled off the dish names.

He looked at Yelin and asked, "Linlin, what would you like to eat?"

"Just let the husband decide."

This was Yelin's first time coming to a restaurant, so she inevitably felt a bit timid.

"Then let's have a plate of braised beef, a plate of steamed goose-duck ribs, a plate of lychee kidneys, a vegetable dish as we like, and the wine will be plum wine."

Jin Chen picked several dishes that Yelin loves to eat.

"Eh, sure!"

The waiter flicked the towel onto his shoulder, called out the dish names to the back kitchen, and went back to work.

The dishes arrived quickly; with the delicious food in her stomach, Yelin's fatigue dissipated considerably, and she occasionally picked out some meat bones to feed 0731.

Jin Chen poured a small cup of plum wine for Yelin, saying, "This wine is mellow, not harsh on the throat—have a taste."

Suddenly, his motion paused, his gaze sharp as a sword's gleam, and he looked toward the few newcomers at the neighboring table.

Those few were all men, seemingly sitting casually and ordering dishes, but their glances occasionally flicked this way.

Again it's that bunch; why won't they disperse?

Jin Chen restrained the darkness in his eyes, and also gave Yelin a chopstickful of meat.

【Host, I'll go scare them away!】

0731 naturally also noticed, raising its wolf head and staring intently at those few people.

【No need, there are too many civilians here; let's just watch and see.】

Jin Chen's expression unchanged, he ate this meal with Yelin in a lovey-dovey manner, not paying the slightest attention to the gazes from the neighboring tables.

He could sense that those few people had no killing intent; at most they were sent by that boss to investigate and follow him, possibly also with thoughts of recruiting him.

Yelin didn't notice the undercurrents, only knowing that the restaurant's flavor was indeed different from outside; the vegetables each had a unique taste, very delicious, so he greedily ate a bit more.

After putting down his chopsticks, he only then felt a bit full, lowering his head to rub his stomach.

"Husband, I'm a bit full."

Yelin blinked at Jin Chen twice, his eyes full of innocence.

"It's fine; later we'll take a walk to aid digestion."

Jin Chen brushed the rice grains from his mouth, smiling as he said, "If you move to live in the town later, whenever you want to eat here, you can come over anytime."

"Mm! I want you to accompany me over." Yelin narrowed his eyes like a little cat, feeling very satisfied.

"Waiter, the check." Jin Chen called out.

After leaving the restaurant, Jin Chen indeed saw those few people following him again.

Jin Chen put his arm around Yelin's shoulder, not hiding it from him.

"The five people behind are from that day's underground fighting arena; I'll go deal with them, Linlin, wait for me to return."

Yelin startled, suppressing his curiosity and not looking back, he nodded slightly, his voice much softer: "Husband, be careful, don't let yourself get hurt."

"Don't worry."

Jin Chen patted 0731's head, "Protect Linlin."

"Whoo!"

He had Yelin continue walking down the street ahead, while he himself turned a corner into the alley, coldly glanced at the few people following, gesturing for them to come along.