The guard nodded as soon as he saw them and came running over, his expression a little taut.

Ao Jing smiled wryly. Never mind that they apparently wouldn’t be able to go home to have a break first, it might even be that there would be yet another part of this task that they would need to take care of. But why couldn’t they at least take some time off? Hadn’t they just solved one big part? A break should have been allowed.

Well, most likely, they had inadvertently triggered this next part when taking this road out of the city. Not that there was much of a choice. The town wasn’t that big so there was only this road and it was merely a question of which gate you’d leave through. So, this had almost been inevitable. Still, he couldn’t help but look at the guard begrudgingly.

Shangguan Yu’s expression also wasn’t happy. He had trusted Ao Jing that he would be able to solve the matter in a short amount of time so he had returned to the cell to make sure that him breaking out wouldn’t end up making trouble for them. He had been glad that he hadn’t needed to wait too long until his husband actually showed up since just waiting in jail really was boring.

Anyway, even though he loved playing this game, he also felt that it was time to finish this task. It was really taking way too long by now. Now, being presented with maybe another part of it, he felt a bit weary. Still, since they had already started, he didn’t want to just give up either. They had spent way too much time on this task to do that and risk not getting the reward at the end.

Since Ao Jing had already interacted with the man before, he was the one to speak up first. "Ah, what might you be doing here?" If it was obvious from his voice that he wasn’t happy to see this person, the guard didn’t show that he noticed.

"The Young Lady sent me. She would like to have a talk with you regarding this matter with Young Master Liangqiu."

Ao Jing and Shangguan Yu exchanged a glance, not quite understanding what this was about. But seeing that they didn’t really have another choice, they still nodded and motioned for him to lead the way even though they already knew where to go.

Shangguan Yu turned to Ao Jing while they were on the way, the same wry smile on his lips. "Well, I guess a few more minutes won’t make a difference. Maybe Zhou Ming will even come back while we’re there. At least we’d have something interesting to watch then."

Ao Jing nodded, even though he really would’ve liked to just leave and spend a bit more time together with Shangguan Yu alone. But since he had already been let out of the dungeon, it could be that they at least wouldn’t be separated for the rest of the task anymore. In that case, whatever those NPC threw at them wouldn’t be a problem at all.

When the two of them arrived at the estate of the Mo family, they were in for a surprise though. Not only Mo Ju An but her parents were also there, all of them looking at them as if they were their saviors. Well, maybe they were.

Mister Mo leaped to his feet as soon as he saw them and rushed over, taking Ao Jing’s hands first before switching to Shangguan Yu and then Zhou Ming, his eyes sparkling with gratitude. "The three of you, you have no idea how thankful we are!"

Ao Jing and Shangguan Yu exchanged a glance, both of them raising their brows at Mister Mo who finally circled back to the front at that.

"I’m sorry, but what might be the matter?"

Before he could explain, his daughter came rushing over, her eyes slightly reddened as if she had just cried. "Liangqiu Min sent a message explaining what had happened. I still can’t believe it! That merchant Wang actually plotted to kill him and then wanted our family to take the fall. Not only would I have lost my fiance if he managed to implement his plan, but I might’ve even lost my family if we were met with the wrath of the Liangqiu family. I can’t thank the two of you enough for saving us and also my fiance!"

Mister Mo hurriedly nodded. "Yes, yes, yes! Exactly that! We are really grateful. Without you, things would have been really bitter for my Mo family. There isn’t much that I can do but our family is quite knowledgeable about making jewelry. I would like to offer you a recipe that you can use to do so yourself and you can even sell it later on. Just have a look at the ones available. They are all yours to choose from."

Ao Jing and Shangguan Yu exchanged a glance, their expressions easing up. It seemed that this was not a new part of the task but instead the final sequence where they could decide on the reward.

Ao Jing smiled to himself, having predicted that this would be what the Mo family offered. He hadn’t thought too much about it before but now when the window popped open with a list of recipes, he started to ponder.

Naturally, they would be able to make jewelry with this recipe and sell it on the game’s marketplace. That would gain them quite a bit of gold. It was nice but the jewelry likely wouldn’t bring as much as the chocolate since there wasn’t a limit to how many people could attempt this mission while the recipe for the chocolate had been limited. Thus, he wasn’t that eager to get his hands on this recipe. Instead, there was something else that he would like more.

Since the game was supposed to work just like real life, Ao Jing decided to give it a try. He lightly cleared his throat and looked at Mister Mo. "Mister Mo, I’m glad that we could be of help. I’m also honored that you think we are worthy of receiving such a generous gift.

"But … contrary to your family, we are not knowledgeable at all in making jewelry. I think that this would be wasted on us. Furthermore, this is your family’s main business, isn’t it? Helping you just to take advantage of the situation and take some business from you … I don’t think that would be a good idea.

"If you really want to thank us, I think I would have something else in mind that might be a better idea. Would you be willing to give it a try?"

The NPC froze up for a moment, this response clearly not being the expected reaction. It seemed to take a moment before the inner process finished but he finally gave a nod. "If that is what our savior wants, then that is what we will do. Please tell me what it is that you thought of."

Ao Jing smiled and then turned to Shangguan Yu next to him, taking his hands. "We went through this together and even though we might have been mere strangers at first before we became friends, we are something much more by now. I feel like this is a turn for us so I would like something to always remember these days by.

"What would you think of a pair of unique rings?"

Shangguan Yu’s jaw dropped literally and he stared at Ao Jing, not even knowing how to respond. "Are … Are you asking me to marry you?!"