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“Over five hundred of them,” Yuan Bao replied, looking at the shopkeeper. “This should be enough to sell for a while.”
The shopkeeper’s expression turned peculiar as he responded, “Do you have any misunderstandings about these watermelons? Among the people who’ve asked about them, more than four hundred people have already reserved theirs. With this number of watermelons, they’ll probably be sold out in just two days, and that’s not even accounting for the people who haven’t heard the news yet.”
Yuan Bao was surprised and found it quite fascinating. He asked, “Are these watermelons really in such high demand? It’s quite unexpected.”
The shopkeeper inquired, “Where are the watermelons? Did you bring them with you?”
“They’re here, but there’s one basket that I can’t give you. It’s reserved for the old lord and the family head,” Yuan Bao explained. He was worried the shopkeeper might take everything, which would cause some real trouble.
The shopkeeper looked at Yuan Bao with a heavy heart and said, “These watermelons represent a substantial sum of money. Do you realize how much that one basket could be worth?”
Snickering at the melodramatic shopkeeper, Yuan Bao said with disdain, “This basket was specifically reserved by the young master. If you dare to touch it, and he finds out, you can prepare to go to the North.”
The shopkeeper cleared his throat and seriously replied, “I believe the ones you brought are excellent. As for what the young master sent, I certainly won’t accept them.”
Arching an eyebrow at the shopkeeper, Yuan Bao asked, “Is it that you won’t accept them or that you dare not accept them?”
“I won’t argue with you. Let’s hurry and unload the watermelons,” the shopkeeper replied. He was not inclined to engage in further conversation, and his mind was solely focused on the watermelons.
Yuan Bao rolled his eyes at the shopkeeper’s lack of courage. Nevertheless, he led his crew to unload the watermelons. Yuan Bao didn’t dare to look at them too much, fearing that if he did, he might be tempted to keep them. If he were to actually do that, his good days would come to an end.
Once the watermelons were unloaded, Yuan Bao took them back to the Su family and went straight to visit Su Xi.
“Is there something you need to tell me, Yuan Bao?” Su Xi asked when he saw Yuan Bao enter. He raised an eyebrow curiously.
“Old Master, the young master has sent you a letter, along with these watermelons he personally selected,” Yuan Bao said, pointing to the watermelons with a smile.
As soon as Su Xi heard that his great-grandson had selected watermelons for him, his face lit up with joy. “Oh, my dear great-grandson, why are you so adorable? Has the young master mentioned when he’s bringing the mother and child back?”
“The young master won’t be returning for the time being. When I came back, the master instructed me to tell you that he’ll be spending most of his time over there. As for this letter, it was written by the young master and sent to me. After you read the contents of the letter, you’ll understand the details,” Yuan Bao explained, bowing his head.
Su Xi looked at Yuan Bao in surprise, opened the letter, and began reading it.
Once Su Xi had finished reading, his eyes widened with astonishment. “Xiao Yu is going to be betrothed to Xiao He?”
Yuan Bao nodded. “Yes, Young Miss Wang Jinhe has endured a lot of injustice, and even though the young master is over there, there are still many people who speak ill of Young Miss.”
Upon hearing Yuan Bao’s explanation, Su Xi furrowed his brow and asked, “What’s going on, Yuan Bao?”
Yuan Bao recounted the situation from that end to Su Xi. After hearing the whole story, Su Xi’s expression darkened considerably. “These people seem to have nothing better to do.”
“That’s why the young master is thinking about getting engaged to Young Miss as soon a possible. He doesn’t want Second Master and the others to know, so he decided to have you go there,” Yuan Bao explained.
Su Xi nodded. “Alright, I’ll definitely go. This is something I need to address.”
“I haven’t read about it yet, but if Xiao Yu is getting engaged, he’d probably need some time to make the arrangements. Maybe I’ll find out more once I get there,” Su Xi replied.
This situation was indeed a surprise, and he felt it was essential to show his support.
Yuan Bao shook his head, “I’m not entirely sure about the timing of this matter. When I left, they hadn’t finalized the date yet.”
Su Xi nodded in resignation, “That scoundrel Xiao Yu, when are you heading back?”
“Day after tomorrow.”
“Alright, I’ll go with you then. You leave first, and we’ll meet in Liaocheng. We don’t want to raise suspicions with Su Qin and the others,” Su Xi said to Yuan Bao.
“Okay.”
Yuan Bao was stopped by Su Qin as he was leaving Su Xi’s place. Su Qin stared at Yuan Bao with a cold expression and asked, “Second Young Master.”
“Where is Xiao Yu?” Su Qin inquired.
“I don’t know,” Yuan Bao replied, making it clear that he had no intention of sharing any information, especially since the Young Master himself had chosen to remain silent.
Su Qin gave Yuan Bao a cold look and said, “You have quite the audacity.”
Yuan Bao remained humble, “Second Young Master, I would never dare to stand in the way of the Young Master’s decisions. I was simply instructed to bring back the melons. As for anything else, I am not aware.”
Su Qin furrowed his brow and continued, “I need to find Xiao Yu for something. Where exactly is he?”
Yuan Bao stared at Su Qin and replied, “Second Young Master, if you wish to find the Young Master, you can go look for him yourself. There’s no need to make things difficult for me.”
“Are you really not going to tell me?” Su Qin coldly watched Yuan Bao and contemplated how to handle the situation.
Yuan Bao reiterated, “I genuinely don’t know where the Young Master is. What would you like me to say?”
Su Qin sneered, “Take Yuan Bao away.”
News of Su Qin taking Yuan Bao away quickly reached Su Xi. He immediately went to Su Qin’s location. However, he arrived too late, as Yuan Bao had already been brutally beaten by Yang Shanshan.
“What are you all doing?” Su Xi’s voice was filled with anger.
“Father, we didn’t do anything.”
Su Xi couldn’t help but chuckle, pointing at the injuries on Yuan Bao’s body. “This is what you mean by doing nothing? You both understand how much importance Xiao Yu places on Yuan Bao, and you know how many of Su Family’s personnel are his eyes and ears. If Xiao Yu were to find out about this, how do you think he would react?”
Su Qin and Yang Shanshan frowned. After a long pause, Yang Shanshan finally said, “He’s just a servant. What can he possibly do?”
“Father, we only wanted to know where Xiao Yu is.”
Su Xi gazed at this married couple who seemed unapologetic, his eyes filled with profound disappointment. “Su Qin, you have both disappointed me greatly. When did you become like this? Without me intervening today, were you planning to beat Yuan Bao to death?”
“Yang Shanshan, do you remember that when you nearly pushed Xiao Yu to death years ago, it was Yuan Bao who traveled tirelessly for seven days to find a divine healer to save Xiao Yu?” Su Xi stared at Yang Shanshan, enunciating each word.
“For Xiao Yu, Yuan Bao is not just a servant; he’s also Xiao Yu’s brother. I can tell you with certainty that if Xiao Yu had to choose, he’d pick Yuan Bao over you.” Su Xi continued with a mocking tone.
Yang Shanshan assumed Su Xi was lying to her. “Father, there’s no need for you to deceive me. Talking to me like this won’t work. If he doesn’t speak today, I’ll dare to beat him to death.”