Second Flame Of Romance

Chapter 6 - To stare at the landlord

WT 6 - To stare at the landlord
 
A sharp chortle came from the other table and Huang Qian, without looking or breaking her gaze on Owner Yu, said, "Go away, Huang Tao."
 
Huang Tao was a young boy with fair skin, except for the dark red spot on a side of his forehead. It looked like a birthmark. "Owner Yu will fire you once he notices your dirty gaze."
 
"I'm looking at him with reverence. What do you even understand anyway?" Huang Qian snorted.
 
"My co-workers are saying you gave them a creepy feeling when you keep looking at them."
 
Huang Qian ignored what Huang Tao said and finally removed her eyes from Owner Yu. "Wan Ting, this is Huang Tao, my cousin. He works in the pill testing department."
 
"Greetings, Sir Huang Tao," Wan Ting greeted politely, despite the other party being much younger than her. She was told by her father not to be stubborn and be more flexible when she came to work.
 
Stay low and do not stand out too much, least she will be bullied for her talent and confidence. 
 
"No need for the 'sir'. I'm younger than you and you did not call Huang Qian other than her name, right?"
 
Wan Ting smiled, since Huang Qian had quickly dissuaded her when she called her 'Miss' before her name as well. "Wan Ting is my name. Please call me so without formalities as well. I'm a pill forger and today is my first day."
 
Huang Tao was not surprised. Wan Ting’s arrival had actually caused a small frenzy among his co-workers earlier. "We only got you as the first pill forger that the store hired on a permanent basis."
 
Wan Ting was surprised to hear that. "I'm the first? Could it be that Fruity Herb only buys pills from outside?" She had sold her pills to Fruity Herb and her pills were good enough to be brought, which was a special case. She had always assumed they had a long term pill forger under their employment. 
 
"No. The store has their own pill forger, but it's from a sect, the one that opens this store."
 
"A sect?" Wan Ting gasped. She had heard of sects where people with potential to cultivate would either be invited to join or willingly sign up. But once they joined, they were no longer allowed to meddle with the non-cultivator society, and secretly being called mortal realm by cultivators with longer lifespan.   
 
Wan Ting was a first rank cultivator, but she was only able to start cultivating after a life threatening event. The one that rescued her only taught her some basics before leaving her with a book that taught a beginner how to forge pills. After that, she just went on with her life as usual, other than learning how to forge pills. Hence her cultivation had not increased much for years. 
 
"I'm so glad I could still work here after Owner Yu took over the management," Huang Qian sighed happily. 
 
"You are just here to stare at good looking men," Huang Tao mocked.
 
"Of course!" Huang Qian openly admitted. "Especially since Owner Yu came along with a group of handsome looking staff!"
 
"When the previous owner left, many of the staff left as well?" Wan Ting felt strange. 
 
Huang Tao shook his head. "They were forced to leave. They had been sloppy with their work and not up to standard, so they were requested to leave."
 
Most of their staff now were new, and only a selected few were the old employees that had proven their worth to be kept.
 
"Luckily, Huang Tao and I got to stay," Huang Qian chimed in and started to eat now that her eyes were free from temptation.
 
But Huang Tao spoke the realistic truth. "It's only because our family knew someone close to Owner Yu and spoke some good words for us."
 
Wan Ting felt a little uncomfortable hearing that. This was the first time she worked for a store and does not know many things. But to hear such news on her first day, it gave her a feeling of insecurity. She was confident with her ability with her forging, mostly thanks to her Flame Spirit, but Owner Yu seems to be a man that demands a certain level of standard from his employees?
 
She will make sure to give more effort when she forges!
 
A worker hurried into the dining hall and whispered something to Owner Yu. After hearing it, the owner stood up and went out with the staff trailing behind. Their movement naturally was caught by the employees in the hall and everyone wondered what was going on. Some even think hard whether they had ruined their previous work or not. 
 
A staff member from outside entered the dining hall and everyone's eyes went to him. Quick to pick up everyone's eye signal, he willingly volunteered to share what he found out.
 
"It's the landlord. He came over for a visit."
 
"I'm done!" Huang Qian quickly stood up and picked her half eaten meal to be placed away. "Wan Ting, do you want to come with me?"
 
"Where to?"
 
"To stare at the landlord," Huang Tao answered for his hopeless cousin. 
 
"Why?" Wan Ting asked blankly. Why does Huang Qian like to stare at men?
 
"She is crazy about good looking men."
 
"The landlord is very good looking!" Huang Qian returned after leaving the plates at the right place. "Prince Heng is at the top of my list! Our once again prime minister is also Fruity Herb's landlord. Shocking, right? When I first heard it, I had to hear it again for me to finally accept how fortunate I am for being able to work here." Huang Qian sighed blissfully. 
 
"Is that so? I will not be joining you. I still need to continue making pills to meet the daily quota." Wan Ting does not want to meet Prince Heng if possible.
 
Huang Qian was not bothered by Wan Ting's rejection. Her hobby was rarely shared with others. But Wan Ting had not scorned her, which made Huang Qian feel she was not a bad person to befriend with. "Do you know how to get back to your room?"
 
"That…" She does not know. Wan Ting's memory on the pathway had never been tested before as there was always someone leading the way. This was the first time she realized that maybe she was not that good at memorizing the pathway she took. 
 
"I know the way," Huang Tao said. "My workstation is just a little further away from yours."
 
Wan Ting smiled. "I will have to trouble you, Huang Tao."
 
"It's the same way, no trouble at all."
 
"Then I will count on you, Huang Tao! I will see you later, Wan Ting!" With that, Huang Qian hurriedly left the hall. 
 
Wan Ting had thought she managed to escape meeting Prince Heng, but he had actually come here for her. 
 
"Prince Heng is rather attentive to Miss Wan." Owner Yu serves tea for both of them with a playful smile.
 
"It is by someone's request that I'm here to see how Miss Wan is doing on her first day."
 
Owner Yu chuckled and guessed that person behind Prince Heng was the Empress Dowager. He may have only arrived at Guilin Capital for five months, but he had heard quite a number of rumors, including Miss Wan that had saved the Empress Dowager's life and formed a good relationship. 
 
He could sense a skilled guard lingering around his store, who had appeared the moment Miss Wan arrived and stayed there without moving. Owner Yu guessed that must be Miss Wan's hidden guard from Prince Heng. 
 
"It's not even a day yet, so I dare not make any judgment. But from what I could see, Miss Wan has a good attitude towards work and would stay in Fruity Herb for a long time."
 
"That's good to hear. A reliable pill forger would be a good asset to your store."
 
Owner Yu smiled rather helplessly. He could never underestimate Prince Heng's information gathering. His sect has faced some difficulty and most of their ingredients were lost. They would need a long time to refill their stock so they needed a refiner that could produce pills with very little mistakes. 
 
And Miss Wan Ting fulfilled the requirement. 
 
"We will not wrong Miss Wan. Fruity Herb will not make the same mistake again," Owner Yu vowed.
 
It was because the previous owner of this store's misconduct that stained the sect's name. Then, Owner Yu was picked to be the next shop owner on behalf of the sect. He had also heard Miss Wan’s cooperation was rejected by the previous owner for an unknown pill forger’s matter as well.
 
"You are a trustworthy person, Owner Yu."
 
"I will make sure to continue maintaining your positive view of me." Owner Yu laughed. "Do you wish to have a look at Miss Wan's work station? She should have finished her lunch and back there already."
 
Prince Heng was indeed interested. 
 
He held a great respect for Miss Wan for willing to step out of the norm for lower rank nobility that required her to marry and choose to work to support her parents. She could easily marry a rich family and secure her family's living, but she chose a hard but dignifying way instead.

She was truly brave to step out of the norm for the greater good.