Yang Qing noted despite Zhi Da being unanimously branded a disloyal stingy braggart, the person in question seemed to wear all those insults as a badge of honor.
He even puffed out his chest a bit and donned a smug smile as he fired back as good as he got sparing no one. Zhi Luoran would occasionally step in defense of her brother; other times, she would stand on opposite sides against him like a sneaky diplomat.
Yang Qing detected the two kids clearly felt at home in this place as even their guards dropped the moment they stepped in while the regulars in the restaurant even if they were giving Zhi Da grief one could see the gentleness and care in their eyes and demeanor as they looked at the two siblings completely different to the experience they had at the Earthvine restaurant.
"It seems it's not just the food that makes them love this place so much," silently muttered Yang Qing.
Just as he was about to head up to the second floor, the doors to the kitchen opened as a spirited elderly man walked out with a ladle in his hand. He had an average build but despite his mildly wrinkled face his footsteps were firm and his back was ramrod straight like a spear with eyes that had an unquenchable youthful fire in them.
"Pipe down will you!!!! Even my aging ears are ringing from all the ruckus you all are causing," yelled the Old man as he threateningly waved his ladle around towards the guest however his gaze and demeanor turned softer the moment he saw Zhi Da and Zhi Luoran.
"Da'er, Luoran'er, you finally decided to come by after almost a week. If you'd waited any longer probably I and grandma Wang would have passed by then. You shouldn't stay long without passing by," said the old man he even faked back pain to try and draw sympathy which seemed to have worked on the two siblings who quickly rushed to his side. Meanwhile, the rest of the guests threw looks of disdain as they clicked their tongues under their breath at the old man's shamelessness.
In their eyes, there was a very high likelihood of the old man and his wife, outliving them all. The restaurant has been around for 70 years and in all that time not once had the old man fallen sick or tired or closed the restaurant.
Even when the customer numbers grew, the speed and quality of service didn't reduce and they never hired an extra hand either. It has always been the old man, grandma Wang and their two sons who took orders and delivered food.
The customers cursed the old man's antics under their breaths which drew a threatening glare from him before he hurriedly went back to pretending to be a frail old man.
….
"Grandpa we promise not to disappear, it's just work has been busy of late so we didn't get time.
As an apology, we even brought you a new guest. This is big brother Yang Qing. We are showing him around and he asked me to bring him to the best restaurant in Purple City so I obviously brought him here," Zhi Da smoothly said whilst pointing towards Yang Qing.
"Grandpa, it doesn't hurt anymore does it?" Zhi Luoran worriedly asked as she kept kneading his back much to the delight of the old man.
"No, it's much better now thanks to your quick and skillful action. Your massages are the best, better than what any vitality restoration pill could do. Thank you very much Luoran'er," said the old man as he exaggeratedly straightened his back and stretched it to show it was okay which drew giggles from Zhi Luoran.
"You must be young master Yang Qing? We may not be as great as little Zhi Da made us out to be but I can promise we put our sincerest effort and care into the food we serve. I hope you will enjoy it. There's a free table upstairs, you will also find one of my sons up there to take your order," said Grandpa Wang.
"Many thanks, Owner Wang for your hospitality, I couldn't ask for anything more. This type of restaurant suits my tastes more, good food and a good environment to enjoy it in," said Yang Qing as he cupped his fists.
There was a glint of interest that flashed in his eyes as he eyed the old man and the old woman he had detected behind the kitchen door secretly monitoring him.
"What an interesting pair of old folks," thought Yang Qing as he made his way up the stairs.
To the rest of the people here, the two seemed like simple elderly people in the middle stages of the foundation realm but that couldn't be further from the truth.
The moment Yang Qing entered the restaurant he detected the fluctuations of two top rank sky grade artifacts. Curious as to why two high-grade artifacts would be doing in a seemingly simple restaurant he discovered they were infact concealment artifacts worn by two people. After a deeper probe that's when he discovered they were used to hide the cultivation bases of the wearer.
Outwardly 'frail' grandpa Wang seemed like an old man in the fifth stage of the foundation establishment realm when in actual fact he was an old man in the peak of the core formation realm while the old lady cautiously eyeing him behind the kitchen door was someone at the 10th stage of the core formation realm.
While the old man seemed to have come out to quiet the ruckus, Yang Qing felt he had come because of him and there were a couple of reasons that fueled that guess other than the concealed artifact he had on. One was the seemingly ordinary ladle in his hand that was in fact another top rank sky grade artifact. And another was the way the old man carried himself from the look in his eyes to the situational awareness.
He had reflexively positioned the ladle in a way he could quickly defend himself while the old lady behind the door was on alert to back him up at the slightest sign of trouble.
This type of reaction and look could only be seen in someone who had been baptized by countless battles till its lessons were hard drilled into them to the point it was a natural reflex. Only seasoned generals or those exposed to constant dances with death could have that kind of look.
…
Other than outwardly finding their presence interesting like discovering a secret in the open that others didn't know and the person in question not knowing that he knew, he had no intention or care in digging further.
Whether they were spies or part of some organization or some old couple in retirement he had no interest in their affiliations or their agendas in Purple city. All he cared about was that they had the same skills in the kitchen as they did their situational awareness.
But if he were to guess about their origins it wouldn't be too hard. He had a few guesses in mind, from how well-equipped they were, their power levels, and the location they were in, those three clues gave out a lot. Only a few groups in Red Maple Empire could afford to give out three top-rank sky-grade artifacts and have peak-rank core formation experts in their ranks.
Then again the old couple could just be retired rogue cultivators with no affiliations which would perfectly fit their bill too.
Yang Qing decided to pay this matter no heed as he had given himself an hour to relax before he officially started on his evaluations and he wasn't going to waste it on guesses when he could be eating to his heart's content.
The upper floor's layout was just as similar to the ground floor except that it had a few balconies with a few tables and chairs in them.
Yang Qing chose one of them with the two siblings joining him. The moment he sat down, a stockily built young man that resembled the old man came up to his table to take his order. There was no menu so the young man just told him what was ready and he could choose from there.
"I'll have two of everything. What about you two? What do you want? I'm buying. Just think of it as me saying thank you for bringing me here," Yang Qing hurriedly added worried Zhi Da would refuse.
Zhi Da looked to his sister who nodded back before he finally nodded back in return.
"Many thanks, big brother Yang Qing. In exchange I'll make sure to give you the most in-depth tour of the city," said Zhi Da.
"I look forward to it," said Yang Qing as he smiled.
Though inwardly he sighed since he would be leaving immediately after the meal. His plan was to make a call to the nearest Order branch and have them transport the two siblings to the headquarters with his recommendation so they could be given accommodations until the entrance examinations started.
From their looks, he had thought they were having a hard time here so offering them a chance to start someplace else would be welcomed. But seeing their relationship with the Wang couple and the other customers he wasn't sure they would readily agree. This was without even putting their wary overcautious personalities into account. He had a feeling they would most likely doubt if his connections to the Order were real and not some scheme to kidnap seeing how they both doubted him when he said he knew Zhong Quan.
He decided to push the matter to the back of his mind. He would present the offer when the time came. If they accepted, it would be the best outcome but if they didn't it would be okay too. They may seem like they were struggling but they had one peak core formation expert and a late-stage core formation expert who genuinely cared for them and most likely secretly watched out for them. This finally answered the question in Yang Qing's mind of how the two siblings survived on their own. They may be smart and cautious but before overwhelming strength it meant nothing.
….
"Have you decided what you will have?"
"Pan-fried dumplings and blueberry cake," they both answered simultaneously with eagerness in their tone.
