The waitress returned after a while to take the dirty plates away. Bai li yue ordered a bowl of cold wildfruit tea and looked at Ye zhian with hope in her eyes. Her meat refrain had stuck with him.

'M-miss, give me meat.' 

Bai li yue frowned. He quickly amended the order to two platters of twice baked red tailed fowl. He was relieved when she smiled at his effort. 

'How old are you, by the way?'

'Fifteen years.' 

He answered truthfully.

'I see. You look like you're twelve... are you really the best guide on chenyang or is that just something you say to your customers?'

'I -am. Have been for years.'

'How do you know you are the best? Does the best guide get crowned every year?'

'No.' 

He looked at her puzzled that she was focusing on such a trivial matter.

'The best guide is a level. Means I know the city l-like the back of my hand.'

'Ahh.' She now understood. 'Then how much does it cost to hire you?'

'One silver per errand.'

'For a best guide like you? Is that even enough? How about for a day? '

He did a quick calculation and quoted a price.

'One gold.' 

She asked him more random questions about the city while they waited. However, no matter how long he waited, she never brought up the issue of his eyes. The chicken was delivered fresh out of the oven and he devoured it with relish. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until he took a bite of thigh meat. He sat back and gave a satisfied sigh. 

Bai li yue chuckled and poured him a cup of fruit tea. 

There was an artistry to buffets that she had learned as a child watching her father in the restaurant. It felt good remembering him at a good time before his death. She didn't know why this boy's presence dredged up those memories when her memories were as precious as they were painful. 

'Do you want a guide? I'll give you a discount since you fed me.'

He added as an afterthought. Bai li yue smiled and accepted his token of gratitude. Her generosity did not preclude him also from being generous.

'Thank you.'

'Where do you want to go?'

'Mmm… Let's see. It's more of a thing I'm looking for. I would like to buy a house in the city. Preferably, in walking distance to the tournament site.'

'The national tournament?'

He asked for the purpose of clarification. There were many tournaments held in the capital city.

'Yes.'

'That will be the Amber river district. Houses there are very expensive.'

'I imagined so.'

'I could take you to an office. Where houses are sold.'

He said eagerly.

'Okay. We'll go there when we finish eating.'

Ye zhian nodded and waited for her to finish her food. His fingers tapped a staccato beat on the table. Bai li yue was distracted from her feast. The drumming was a subtle reminder for her to speed up. She was conflicted by his eagerness. The second she put down her chopsticks, he jumped to his feet, ready to leave. How could she tell him that she wasn't done eating? 

Sigh.

Ye zhian still has a lot to learn about buffet. It was an art not a science. It couldn't be forced.

She could tell that the very act of sitting for hours just to eat wasn't his idea of a good time.

'All in good time.' 

She motioned him to sit back down and pulled a bell to call their waitress and ordered four servings of twice baked red tailed fowl to go. The waitress stared at her for a minute, lost. She didn't understand what it meant. Realising the error, Bai li yue asked for each fowl to be wrapped in large leaves. 

If she focused on seeing the bright side, the buffet had been a partial success. She'd finally overcome her craving for seafood and could go back to a life of simplicity. They left the second floor in the company of the waitress who was sweating bullets by the time they reached the ground floor. 

After teasing the waitress, bai li yue paid the bill. She took extra delight in the waitress' shock as she dumped fifty gold coins on the counter. The burly guards behind the waitress quickly retreated when they saw the bill being paid in full. Ye zhian picked up their packages and followed Bai li yue outside.

They cut through a narrow street and took a side alley with many twists and turns until Bai li yue's inner compass was confused. In front, Ye zhian walked at a sure footed pace. Not more than ten minutes after leaving Wang's food house, Bai li yue found herself sitting in a chair across from a sweaty man in a small windowless office. He was showing her a catalogue of houses in the amber river district and dripping sweat while he did it. She wanted one with enough room for the sect members when they arrived. After poring over the catalogue and seeing nothing that suited to her needs, she closed the book. 

'I'm looking for a ten bedroom house. I'm willing to do business if you have something close to that. If not, we're just wasting both our time.'

Both Ye zhian and the man had looked at her like she was out of her mind.

'Are you looking to open an inn? If so, i have some inns i could show you. Unfortunately, they are not in the amber river district. Will it do?' 

The man casually asked. 

'I'll say it again: I'm not opening an inn. I just have a large family. They'll need a place to stay when they arrive in the city. And the district is not up for negotiation.'

The man wiped his forehead and opened a few catalogues. Bai li yue was about to complain about the sweltering heat in the office when he looked at her with bright eyes. 'Noble lady, i have found a place that suits very closely to your needs. It doesn't have as many rooms: four bedrooms but it has two large servant quarters. You could rebuild the servants quarters into extra bedrooms.'

'Hmm… i'd like to see it first.'

Ye zhian called for a carriage to take them to the amber river district. 

The house stood at the end of a cul-de-sac. The former owner had been a wealthy merchant who had fallen on hard times. He had put it on the market one year ago.  The house didn't need repairs, just a good cleaning. Bai li yue liked what she saw. She could already see herself drinking tea in the garden that wrapped around the main building, ending in a small path that led to the river. The servant quarters were bigger than she'd expected. It must have housed numerous servants at one time. She already had ideas for renovating the quarters into individual rooms. 

'I'll take it. How much is it?'

'Congratulations on the wise decision, noble lady!'

The sweaty man croaked, wiping his dripping forehead. He produced a folded deed from his sleeve.

'You have made the right decision, dear customer. This property is a great find, a precious jewel,... a miraculous elixir...'

He babbled until he had to pause for breath. It amused Bai li yue seeing the man praise the property after the decision had been made.

'Fifty thousand gold.'

She knew the price would be high considering the state and the location, but she was dumbfounded nonetheless.

'F-fifty thousand gold?!' Ye zhian blurted out and clapped his hand over his mouth. 

'The owner is desperate for money.'

He said grimacing as if he was in pain. She sneered in her mind. Did he take her for a spring chicken? 

'I hear you but you need to consider my position. You have to give a better price or... i'll have to walk away.'

She replied astutely. Haggling was a dance she didn't normally engage in, but when the thing she wanted cost an arm and a leg and an eye, she was ready to dance till daybreak. He sighed when she didn't budge.

'The owner won't like it but i can forego my commission and give you a two percent discount. I can't go lower than that. You understand?'

Bai li yue had enough experience with sales tricks, but she really felt that the house was worth it. The garden was large to house another house if she chose to build and the house didn't need repairs.

'Make it five percent and you'll have a deal.'

'Deal!' 

He said without pausing to think and mopped his forehead looking satisfied with himself. He cleared his throat quickly and presented her with the deed expecting payment. 

'Ehh! I don't have money at the moment.

'Eeeee!! What!'

He screeched and snatched the deed out of her hands.

'Relax! I just need to make a stop. You'll have your money after that. Ye zhian, show me the way to the Treasure pavilion. You're welcome to follow us, if you like. It will save me from going back to your office.'

She really didn't want to go back there.