Chapter 5

The kitchen was very clean, with various fresh ingredients stored in the freezer. Xu Yun thought for a moment, then took out a loach, a stalk of celery, and two green peppers. Ginger and garlic were definitely indispensable.

Ruan Qingshuang had already curiously followed Xu Yun into the kitchen. She watched as Xu Yun skillfully cleaned the loach, removed its bones, and cut it into segments. Then he cut the green peppers into chunks, the celery into strips, the ginger into threads, and the garlic into slices. He heated the pan with oil, sautéed the ginger and garlic, stir-fried the loach segments until the meat changed color, and then added the green peppers and celery, stir-frying for a minute. He added soy sauce and fermented black beans, and mixed everything evenly.

As soon as this dish was ready, Xu Yun quickly cracked an egg into a bowl, beat it, and quickly poured it into a bowl of boiling water to form egg flowers. He then added a spoonful of honey, completing a simple yet very cooling honey egg tea.

"Come, Guo Guo, Sister Shuang, try my cooking," Xu Yun quickly placed a dish and a bowl of soup in front of Guo Guo. "Eat it while it's hot, it won't be as good when it cools down."

Ruan Qingshuang had never heard a stranger call her this way before, but she only blushed slightly and did not feel repulsed. It seemed she accepted that Xu Yun could call her this way.

Guo Guo picked up a piece of loach and ate it with relish, nodding as she ate. "Mm... Not bad, keep it up, and do even better."

Ruan Qingshuang also picked up a piece with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth. After tasting it, she drank a spoonful of the simple honey egg tea. She could only marvel at how much more skilled Xu Yun was than she had imagined. The stir-fried loach with celery and fermented black beans was tender and not greasy, and the honey egg tea had no raw or fishy taste at all! It was truly the level of a professional chef!

"How about it? Is the thousand yuan salary worth it?" Xu Yun asked with a confident smile. He wasn't boasting; with his level of medicinal cuisine, even the Dubai eight-star hotel would offer him a ten million yuan annual salary to be their head chef!

Guo Guo nodded frequently and finally said, "If it were eight hundred, it would be even more worth it."

Damn... This girl is really hard to please.

Xu Yun clearly got along well with Ruan Qingshuang and Guo Guo. The three of them chatted and ate together, and it felt like a harmonious trio. Guo Guo even asked Xu Yun to teach her a few moves he used against the bad guys earlier. Xu Yun casually taught her a few military boxing moves, and Guo Guo followed along, looking very cute.

Ruan Qingshuang also chatted with Xu Yun about promotions and advertising, but unfortunately, she was short on funds and had no money to spend on advertising. Xu Yun knew very well that in this day and age, it was almost impossible to advertise without spending money.

Hearing this, Guo Guo yawned and said she wanted to go upstairs to sleep. Xu Yun saw this and got up to say goodbye: "It's not early, you should rest early. I'll go back first."

"Daddy, aren't you staying to sleep with Guo Guo?" Guo Guo said with sleepy eyes.

"Guo Guo, isn't it enough to have Mom sleep with you?" Ruan Qingshuang glared at the mischievous Guo Guo.

"The bed is so big, it's safer with more people. What if I fall off?"

"..." Ruan Qingshuang and Xu Yun were almost petrified.

Fortunately, Guo Guo didn't dwell on the topic and turned to go upstairs.

Ruan Qingshuang's face was awkward, and she hesitated to speak: "You... that..."

"Uh, I appreciate Guo Guo's kindness, but I'll go back to sleep... " Xu Yun could only laugh dryly. Ruan Qingshuang, blushing, saw Xu Yun out and closed the door.

Xu Yun didn't go straight home after leaving the medicinal cuisine shop. Instead, he turned a corner and came to the most famous barbecue street in Wenhui District, the busiest place in Wenhui at night, with a sea of people and a bustling atmosphere. There were plenty of thugs and hooligans drinking beer and eating skewers here at night.

Eight or nine hooligans, full and drunk, were humming a tune and getting up to go to the small forest across the street to urinate.

"Qiangzi." Xu Yun called out.

"Damn..." One hooligan was so startled that he almost couldn't hold his urine. He turned around with a look of anger on his face.

When he saw Xu Yun standing not far away with a smile, the hooligan was instantly startled, "Oh, it's Brother Yun, you scared me."

Qiangzi and his gang had caused trouble for Xu Yun when he first arrived in Hedong City, but Xu Yun easily subdued them. Now, they were like rats seeing a cat when they saw Xu Yun.

"I need your help with something." Xu Yun didn't intend to be polite; in his eyes, Qiangzi and his gang weren't inherently bad.

Qiangzi was slightly taken aback, quickly sizing up Xu Yun's appearance, and then said with some embarrassment, "Brother Yun, were the Four Wolves Gang members you beat up near Yihé Square today?"

There weren't many people in Wenhui District who dared to mess with the Four Wolves Gang, so the news had spread quickly. Xu Yun's appearance in flip-flops, a tank top, and shorts had made him famous in the hooligan world. Qiangzi immediately understood when he saw Xu Yun's outfit!

"Wow, the news spreads fast." Xu Yun admitted it easily, but Qiangzi and his gang's expressions turned grim.

Qiangzi couldn't even manage a dry laugh. Xu Yun had just said he needed his help, and now it involved the Four Wolves Gang, making him uneasy. Qiangzi, though a seasoned hooligan since middle school, didn't dare to oppose the Four Wolves Gang: "Brother Yun, the Four Wolves Gang is ruthless. I advise you not to oppose them... As the saying goes, two fists can't fight four hands, and the Four Wolves Gang has over a thousand members!"

"I don't intend to fight. I just need a small favor." Xu Yun understood Qiangzi's concerns.

"Brother Yun, as long as it has nothing to do with the Four Wolves Gang, I'll do it for you, even if it means climbing a mountain of knives or diving into a sea of fire!" Qiangzi made a solemn promise.

Xu Yun nodded, "Come, follow me to a place."

They arrived at Yihé Square, and Xu Yun pointed to the medicinal cuisine shop across the street: "Help me print ten thousand color flyers for this shop and distribute them to the nearby residential areas, office buildings, and schools."

"Done!" Qiangzi nodded and agreed, but he was a bit pained by the cost of ten thousand flyers.

Xu Yun took out several thousand yuan from his pocket and handed it to Qiangzi, "The rest is for your trouble. Treat your brothers to some food and drinks, don't let them go hungry."

Qiangzi didn't dare to take Xu Yun's money and quickly refused, "No, no, no, Brother Yun, talking about money hurts our friendship!"

"One thing at a time." Xu Yun insisted on giving the money to Qiangzi.

Qiangzi, seeing this, was willing to follow Xu Yun's orders and promised, "Brother Yun, you can count on me. I'll cover all the office buildings and residential areas in Wenhui District. I guarantee to complete the task!"

"Once it's done, I'll treat you!" Xu Yun patted Qiangzi's shoulder and smiled.

After Qiangzi and his gang left, Xu Yun also planned to leave. But as he turned around, he suddenly noticed a figure flash in the alley opposite. The figure then leaped lightly onto the second-floor window sill of the medicinal cuisine shop, silently pushed open the balcony window, and slipped inside.

"Hmm?" Xu Yun frowned. The figure had moved extremely fast, and the leap up to the second floor was done with incredible agility, something an ordinary person couldn't achieve.

"A master!" Xu Yun evaluated the figure's skills. But why would such a person come to Ruan Qingshuang's medicinal cuisine shop? Could it be someone from the Four Wolves Gang?

Thinking this, Xu Yun leaped to the bottom of the medicinal cuisine shop. With a light step, he soared like a soaring eagle and landed silently on the second-floor balcony.

Through the window, Xu Yun clearly saw that the intruder was a woman!

In the light of the street lamp, Xu Yun saw the woman's appearance, and his eyes widened.

The woman was tall and curvaceous, with long, smooth hair reaching her waist, giving her a classical beauty.

If compared in terms of figure and face, the woman was no less than Ruan Qingshuang. However, the faint aura of a celestial being, the sharp and decisive gaze, the sharp and cold beauty, and the overall aura of inviolability and inapproachability made her seem untouchable.

She was somewhat like a feline, appearing gentle and soft, but ready to pounce and reveal sharp claws at any moment...

"Damn, what's such a dangerous person doing here?" Xu Yun was puzzled but hid behind the balcony, watching the woman's every move silently.

The cold beauty moved like a ghost, her steps precise and swift. She walked quickly through the corridor, opening each door with her slender, white fingers, glancing inside, and then moving on to the next room, as if searching for something.

"Is she looking for someone?" Xu Yun narrowed his eyes, his brows furrowed, and his gaze sharp and fearless, giving the impression that he was ready to attack at any moment.

If Xu Yun's brothers were there, they would recognize this as a sign that Xu Yun was preparing to attack.

The cold beauty quickly found the room where Ruan Qingshuang and Guo Guo were staying, opened the door, and looked inside. Her face showed a look of relief.

"Hmm..." Xu Yun was puzzled by what the cold beauty was doing.

The woman looked at the door a few times, then slowly closed it and turned to the balcony.

Seeing this, Xu Yun quickly moved backward, then used his toes to push off the balcony floor, performing a graceful leap and landing in the shadow of the wall below.

Soon, the cold beauty also leaped down from the balcony.

However, as soon as she landed, she suddenly turned and looked in the direction where Xu Yun was hiding, her sharp eyes flashing with a killing intent.

"Come out!" The cold beauty spoke, and a soft sword suddenly appeared in her hand. The blade was as cold as autumn frost, gleaming with a greenish-blue light, and had a mystical aura.

"Damn, my hiding skills are pretty good, how did she find me?" Xu Yun cursed inwardly but stepped out boldly, "Heh, are you here for Guo Guo?"

"Who are you?" The cold beauty glared at Xu Yun, her soft sword gleaming with a terrifying light, as if ready to strike if Xu Yun's answer was unsatisfactory.