"Why is this taking so long? I waved for you to come over ages ago!"

Madam Zhong could only bow her head. This woman was a customer of theirs, after all. "I’m very sorry."

The woman snorted but didn’t pursue the matter further. "Who is the owner of this place?"

"That … is my husband’s cousin." Madam Zhong had an increasingly bad feeling about this. Asking for the owner almost right after entering … This woman hadn’t even gotten her tea yet since Nie Huang was still preparing it. Just what did she want?

"Then where is he? Get him here for me!"

Madam Zhong looked at her worriedly. Zhong Gang normally wouldn’t come to the teahouse since there had been hardly any problems in the past years so he left everything to her and instead focused on running his restaurant. Now, she didn’t even know what this was about but still had to call him. It made her feel that she was making trouble without reason.

Madam Zhong still nodded though. "Of course. I’ll do so right away. He isn’t in the house though so —"

"Then you’d better hurry and get him to come here! What are you waiting for? Do I look like I have all the day to wait for you?"

Madam Zhong lowered her head and then went to the kitchen, telling one of the servants to go to the restaurant to get Zhong Gang. Then she went back to the woman. "I’ve sent somebody to get him. Please wait for a while."

The woman huffed again but didn’t bother talking to her. Instead, she turned to the young woman sitting next to her that was looking around the room. Madam Zhong waited for a spell but then turned away and instead helped with serving the other tables.

She could only hope that Zhong Gang would come over soon. Otherwise, the situation might get worse. From that woman’s attitude before, it was obvious that she wasn’t willing to wait for long and that she wouldn’t deal with anybody but Zhong Gang himself. It truly was a difficult situation.

Back in the kitchen, Qiu Ling narrowed his eyes and glanced at his hands. "So rude! Do you think I should go and deal with her?"

Jing Yi stared at him in a daze. "Deal with her?" Why was he looking like this? He couldn’t want to beat her, right? That was a woman!

Qiu Ling lowered his hand and sighed. "She was so horrible to your mother. How does she deserve to stay in this teahouse? Even if your mother isn’t the owner, she’s still the wife of his cousin! Somebody should tell your uncle to throw that woman out." He pursed his lips, wondering if he should go and do something himself.

Jing Yi looked over to the table as well. He didn’t like to see his mother being treated this way either but thinking back to how much the situation with that Li Bo had escalated back then, he felt that it wouldn’t be good either to confront this woman about her behavior. Who knew who she was? Maybe they would anger somebody they couldn’t bear to antagonize. Then what?

In the end, he could only shake his head and pat Qiu Ling’s arm to calm him down. "It’s alright. I’m happy that you care so much for us but … it’s better to leave this to my uncle. Anyway, she will have her reason why she wants to see him. Let’s just wait until she tells him. Maybe she’ll leave right afterward and we won’t hear from her again."

Qiu Ling pursed his lips but still nodded. "Oh. Then let’s just help in the kitchen. There really seems to be a lot to do."

Jing Yi nodded and turned back to the servant girl next to them that was putting the pastries on a plate. "Should I already bring something out?"

"Yes, here!" She handed him another plate and then motioned to a table in the corner. "It’s the one over there."

Jing Yi nodded again and then went over to the table, flashing the women sitting there a small smile while he served them.

Qiu Ling watched with a dark expression. He never would have thought that there would be a day when he would see Jing He serving people like this. That wasn’t right with his status! Then again …

His gaze became distant when he thought back to the time in the Nine Heavens. Back then, Jing He had served him tea with a smile when he came by to visit. He never looked like he minded and stayed polite all the time, always with that slight smile on his lips.

Back then … he had really liked these moments. It had made him feel that they were much closer even though they didn’t know each other for that long yet. After all, he couldn’t imagine Jing He serving just anyone. No, he would probably only do this for people that were close to him …

"Heh!" The servant girl slapped his arm, pulling Qiu Ling out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"The tray! Don’t you want to bring it out?" She pushed it at him, furrowing her brows. This guy! If he wasn’t friends with Madam Zhong’s son, she really would complain about him. How could he space out when there were so many people that needed to be served? Didn’t he care at all?!

Qiu Ling looked at the tray and his lips twitched. Other than Jing He serving people, he also never would have imagined that there might be a day when he would hold a tray with pastries and go serve them to some humans. Ah, life was strange …

He still turned around and went to the area with the customers, diligently smiling while he put the tray down on their table. Judging from their expressions, he had done it really well. Ah, he was awesome at everything he did.