Volume 6: Summer Chapter 40 Bayberry
After eating and drinking, Jiang You felt sleepy, so he carefully entrusted the task of forming a team to sweep the streets to Zhaocai, and called a taxi to go back.
He got off the car at the entrance of Wenhua Street, stretched himself, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a cart selling bayberries parked on the side. He walked over, picked one to taste it, and then bought two kilograms to take home.
As he staggered back to the store carrying the bayberries, he saw two customers in the store, leaning over the table and writing postcards.
After seeing Jiang You, Lin Yu stood up from behind the counter and said, "Little Jiang, you're back."
"I bought some bayberries," Jiang You raised the bag, "I'll go wash them."
He went to the kitchen, soaked the bayberries in salt water for a while, and then washed them with clean water. When he took the bayberries away, Lin Yu was the only one left in the store.
Jiang You put the bayberries on the long table and asked Lin Yu to sit down with him. He then asked, "How is business today?"
Lin Yu thought for a moment and said, "We sold twelve tickets, and someone ordered a drink. He wanted to sit on the terrace for a while. I looked in the kitchen and saw that we were short of ingredients, so I sold him a can of iced Coke for five dollars."
"I'll go get some more stock tomorrow."
“And I set up a Taobao store, took photos, and put new products on it.”
"Has anyone placed an order?" Jiang You asked.
"Yes, she is an old customer. She bought two and asked for a handwritten blessing."
"I'll check it out later," Jiang You said as he ate bayberries. "You've almost caught up with me in half a month in just half a day."
Lin Yu stuffed a bayberry in his mouth.
"How about you come and look after the store for me? 60% of the sales will be your salary?"
"What's going on with you recently?" Lin Yu asked.
" Yes," Jiang You said with a bitter face, "This is a task assigned by the higher-ups. Now, including recruiting, there are only seven people in the department who can breathe. We have to go through the entire Tangjiang City."
"I rejected the job introduced by my friend," said Lin Yu.
“Is the salary too low?”
"It's not about money. The personnel relations in that company are extremely complicated. I'm not afraid, but I think it's meaningless to waste my energy on it."
"With me, you can do whatever you want, and it's okay if you lose money."
Lin Yu spat the bayberry pit into his hand and said, "I'm afraid that if I stay with you for too long, I'll become lazy."
…
The next afternoon , Guan Qingtong went to the insect house.
Step into the yard and walk into the store.
"Take a look, get 20% off if you buy three."
Following the voice, Guan Qingtong saw Lin Yu behind the counter . She said, "I'm here to look for someone."
"Who are you looking for?" Lin Yu asked as he walked out.
"I'm looking for Jiang You. Is he not here?"
“No.”
Guan Qingtong asked again: "Can you contact him? I have something very important to tell him."
"Wait a minute, I'll make a call,"
"Tell him that Guan Qingtong wants to see him."
When Jiang You received Lin Yu's call , he was playing chess with a middle-aged man in the tea room.
When Jiang You arrived at the teahouse, the man had already won two games against Xu Lao. After Jiang You greeted Xu Lao, Xu Lao repeatedly said that he was not in good condition today and asked Jiang You to play for him. The man asked Jiang You how good he was at chess. After knowing that Jiang You was defeated by Xu Lao, he immediately became arrogant and was defeated by Jiang You on the chessboard.
Jiang You answered the phone.
"Okay, wait a minute, wait until I finish this round." After hanging up the phone, Jiang You picked up the cup and took a sip of the half-warm tea. He said to the man, "Just bet. It's no use holding on."
The man thought for a moment and admitted defeat.
"Xiao Jiang has become very good," Old Xu came close to Jiang You, "Did he practice secretly at home?"
"Right, right. I'm just waiting for the opportunity to use my ultimate move." Jiang You stood up and said, "I have something to do in the store, so I'll leave first. Mr. Xu, I'll see you next time."
"Okay, okay. My wife has been talking about your son recently. She has invented a lot of snacks. When you are free, take him to my house for dinner."
"I see. I was just worried that I couldn't find an excuse to come for a free meal." Jiang You stood up and waved to Old Xu. "I'm leaving now."
Jiang You walked slowly back to the insect house.
When he walked into the yard, he saw Guan Qingtong standing beside the camphor tree, seemingly studying something.
After hearing the noise, Guan Qingtong turned around.
Jiang You saw a few customers in the store, so he said, "Let's go to the terrace to chat. You go sit down first. What would you like to drink?"
"Clear water."
"OK."
Guan Qingtong watched Jiang You walk into the store. She glanced at the camphor tree and walked toward the greenhouse. She walked onto the terrace and to the fence.
"Isn't the view nice?" Jiang You came up with a bottle of mineral water and a bottle of Coke. He sat down under the parasol. "The Special Operations Department has moved to a new office on the top floor. It's pretty nice looking from the window."
Guan Qingtong walked over and sat down opposite Jiang You.
Jiang You pushed the bottle of mineral water in front of her and said, "Why did you come to see me? Did something happen?"
Guan Qingtong nodded.
She folded her right leg over her left leg, and the hem of her blue silk skirt with dark patterns slid down a bit. "After Old Sang disappeared, I couldn't figure out whether he was alive or dead."
Jiang You didn't respond. He waited for her to continue.
"Do you know that a big event happened thirty years ago?" Guan Qingtong asked.
"Thirty years ago I wasn't even a fertilized egg."
Guan Qingtong smiled. "I was less than 20 years old at that time. I had an elder brother named Guan Kang. He was very powerful and could even detect the movements of gods." She leaned forward slightly. "Not long after that, he died. He told me that he had no regrets. So I wanted to take over his responsibility. My talent and understanding were not worse than his. I always thought I was smarter than him, but I didn't work as hard as he did. As long as I practiced hard, sooner or later, I would reach his level or even surpass him. However, I couldn't even calculate the life and death of my husband."
"So what did you figure out?" Jiang You asked.
"Xiao Nuo sent me a few paintings."
"Jin Cheng's precognitive dream?"
Guan Qingtong nodded. "Although I couldn't figure out whether Lao Sang was alive or dead, or where he was, I did get a glimpse of some fragmented images. I couldn't understand them at the time, but some of those images were similar to what I saw back then."
"You should go talk to Zhuang Zekun and ask him to take it seriously, stop running around, and treat Tang Jiang well in fighting monsters."
"I want to understand the meaning of those images, so I want to ask you to borrow the core power of the 'yard'," Guan Qingtong finally said her purpose. "The divination method used by Guan Kang back then consumed too much energy, so I didn't teach it to Xiao Nuo."
"Do you want to help me find the bird?" Jiang You asked.
"You picked all the berries off the sacred tree." Guan Qingtong exposed Jiang You's lie.
"Zhuang Zekun should have asked you to come out of retirement."
Guan Qingtong smiled faintly and said nothing.
