Jiang Miao didn't feel awkward for too long. He was upset, so he naturally wanted to find the person who made him feel unhappy. Pei Mu followed him out in a daze, got on the carriage and came to the place he had been to a few days ago.
Outside the mountain gate, the person in charge of registering visitors was still Brother Fang. He saw Jiang Miao holding two jars in his hands like last time, and couldn't help but sigh: "Prince Pei is so lucky, you always think about him and send him some food from time to time." When Jiang Miao didn't come, he asked the coachman to bring it. The coachman couldn't enter the door, so Brother Fang would bring it in on his behalf.
Jiang Miao smiled and said, "There's nothing I can do. The food in the cafeteria is not very tasty. If I don't have enough to eat, how can I have the energy to study?"
Fang nodded and whispered, "The food cooked by the chef in the dining hall is indeed not tasty, but who can blame him for being a relative of the chief priest? Besides, the people who go to the dining hall to eat are generally students from very poor families. It's good enough to be able to eat for free, and no one dares to complain. I just didn't expect that Master Pei and his friends would also go to the dining hall to eat."
Jiang Miao felt something was wrong, and immediately pretended to be nonchalant and said, "They just change their appetite occasionally, and usually eat somewhere else."
"I think so," said Brother Fang, "The food at Jingcui Garden is pretty good, but it's a bit expensive. People from average families only eat there once a month, but people from better-off families go there almost every day."
Jiang Miao looked at the jar in his hand, and a surge of anger surged in his heart. He felt that the jar was a bit dazzling. Pei Che was here to play the victim to him? And his three friends were not good people either! They actually teamed up to deceive him. No wonder he was the only one eating the whole table of food last time!
"Really? I'll go over and try it today." Jiang Miao smiled brightly, but in his heart he was thinking about how he would teach Pei Che a lesson later.
"Ache, let's go!"
When the bell rang, Han Qin immediately stopped what he was doing, put his pen on the pen holder, and couldn't wait to call Pei Che beside him to go with him.
Pei Che agreed while he cleaned up the things on the table. When he finished, the other three were already waiting outside.
"Are we going to Jingcui Garden today?" He Chen asked.
"Where else can we go if not to the Jingcui Garden? Are we going to the canteen?" Han Qin looked disgusted. This was the only bad thing about the Imperial College. There were only two places to eat. But his father said that 20 years ago, the Imperial College did not even have a Jingcui Garden. All students had to eat in the canteen. Life was really unbearable.
"Alas, after eating this for so many years, I don't know when Jingcui Garden will change the chef and prepare some fresh dishes." He Chen sighed. They have to stay in this Imperial College for at least ten months a year, and they will get tired of eating three meals a day no matter how delicious they are.
"Alas!" Han Qin also sighed heavily, and then he poked Su Jin, signaling him to speak up as well. Su Jin glanced at him and walked away silently. Han Qin was furious. What a guy, he worked hard when eating, but he was silent when asking for it? In desperation, he could only fight with He Chen.
As a result, they sang the same tune for such a long time, but Pei Che seemed not to hear it and did not respond at all.
"Hey, A'che, bring the meat sauce made by your boyfriend and let's eat it in the private room." Since it wouldn't work in secret, they had to do it openly.
Pei Che was speechless. Using the same routine every day, isn't it boring
"No more." He said unhappily. The jar was not big and four people could share it. How could they expect to have it for every meal
"How is that possible?" Han Qin looked surprised. There were quite a lot of them underneath when he was digging yesterday.
"You ask Ah Jin, it was passed around last night, and when it came to me, there was nothing left."
Han Qin's peach blossom eyes widened in anger. Su Jin, no wonder he refused to say a word just now, it turns out he already knew that the meal was finished!
The four of them were arguing as they walked towards the Essence Garden. On the way, some students who had just returned from dinner had strange looks in their eyes when they saw Pei Che.
Pei Che just pretended not to see it and was too lazy to argue with them. It was only when he walked into the lobby that he regretted why he didn't ask them why they looked at him like that.
"Ah Che, come here quickly, and Brother Han, Brother He, and Brother Su. You have worked hard in your studies, so I will treat you all to a good meal today." Jiang Miao sat at a table in the middle of the lobby, smiling brightly. There were six or seven dishes in front of him, which looked quite sumptuous.
Pei Che's smile froze on his face. He walked over guiltily and whispered, "A Miao, listen to my explanation—"
"No need to explain. I know you've worked hard in your studies and don't eat well. I prepared this specially. Don't be polite with me. Sit down quickly." Jiang Miao interrupted him and warmly invited everyone to take a seat.
As soon as he sat down, Han Qin felt something was wrong. Although this was the Essence Garden, the dishes on the table looked like they came from a large dining hall.
"Brother Jiang, this dish..."
"Well, I wanted to treat you to the food from the Essence Garden, but then I remembered what A-Che said last time, that you are used to the food in the dining hall, and he also said that people who study must be able to resist the desire for food, otherwise they can't become talents. I thought so too, how can I break your rules as soon as I came, so I specially borrowed a lunch box and brought the food from the dining hall here. A-Che, are you touched?" Jiang Miao looked at Pei Che, as if to ask if I was sensible.
Pei Che laughed awkwardly twice: "I'm touched, I'm touched."
"That's good, eat." Jiang Miao pushed the bowl towards him, "Xiao Mu and I have already eaten, these are all yours."
Pei Mu nodded along, not understanding at all how sad his brother was feeling at the moment.
Pei Che sighed: "Then we will be disrespectful to refuse it."
Han Qin was planning to find an excuse to leave, but before he could open his mouth, he heard Pei Che say quietly, "Good things should be shared with brothers, right?"
With that being said, how could the other three dare to leave? They stared at each other for a while, then grabbed their chopsticks and began to eat in small bites, looking much more polite than young ladies in the boudoir.
Jiang Miao ignored these "accomplices" and focused on Pei Che. As soon as Pei Che's bowl was empty, he would immediately pick up some food for him, asking about his well-being, even more virtuous than a good wife and mother.
Pei Che, who was living in a blessed situation but didn't know how to appreciate it, was so full that he couldn't bear it anymore. Under the double torture of his taste buds and stomach, he finally begged for mercy in a low voice: "A Miao, I'm full."
Jiang Miao was surprised: "I'm full, there's still a lot left, it's a shame to waste it."
Pei Che quickly stood up, picked up the plate and distributed all the extra dishes to the bowls of the three people who were eating cat food.
"Okay, now no more waste."
Under Pei Che's gaze, the other three had no choice but to clear out the dishes in their bowls with the belief that they would stick together for their brothers.
Seeing that Jiang Miao was satisfied, Pei Che pulled him and Pei Mu over, said "Let's go first", and walked towards his residence.
As soon as they went out, Jiang Miao shook off his hand and put the jar in his hand with a sullen face.
Pei Che held two jars in one hand and held Pei Mu's hand in the other, moving closer to Jiang Miao.
"Ah Miao, I'm sorry. Believe me, I really didn't mean it last time. You suddenly sent me something that time, and I was really touched. I couldn't bear to disappoint you, but I was afraid that you would see through my lies, so I took you to the cafeteria. I really ate there!"
Pei Che finished speaking, and seeing that Jiang Miao didn't respond, he continued, "Although the food in the Essence Garden is better than that in the dining hall, in my heart, the food you sent is still tastier. We have relied on these meat sauces to eat happily for so many days."
Jiang Miao continued to walk forward. Pei Che had no choice but to say, "If you are angry, I promise not to go to the Essence Garden to eat again until you forgive me, okay?"
Jiang Miao finally responded. He glanced at Pei Che and said, "Don't do that. You, the Prince Pei, are so precious. If you don't eat well and have no energy to study, who will you rely on? But from now on, I won't ask anyone to send food up. Such a big Essence Garden is much more delicious than the food I have."
Just ask, Pei Che immediately said: "What are you talking about? The food you make is much better than that of Jingcui Garden. During the month I was out there, I ate more than ever before. By the way, Han Qin and the others said the same thing, and they even said they wanted to buy from you!"
Jiang Miao looked at him suspiciously, thinking he was making fun of him. They ate such good food every day, how could they still look down on his meat sauce? Maybe they were laughing at the things he brought to them every day!
"I really didn't lie to you. I had the jars cleaned and placed in the room. The time you sent them was also written on them." Seeing that Jiang Miao didn't believe him, Pei Che quickly opened his door.
Jiang Miao was shocked. On the previously empty bed, there were many jars with a piece of white paper with words written on it. It looked very much like the jars in horror movies. Why was it so creepy
He hurried forward, stacked up the jars and placed them in the corner.
"Why are you putting them on the bed?" He turned around and looked at Pei Che.
"No one sleeps on this bed, so wouldn't it be perfect to use it to place jars? When I take a day off, I'll ask people to move it back, and you won't have to buy another one then." Prince Pei, who is always generous, has learned how to save money without any instruction. It's really touching!
"Haha, if you buy one less shop, this jar will be enough for you to store vegetables for a lifetime." Jiang Miao was so angry when he arrived that he almost forgot the purpose of his visit. He took out the house deed from his arms and handed it to Pei Che.
Pei Che took it and frowned: "Is this house deed wrong?" Jiang Miao's name was written on it.
"No, why did you suddenly give me another shop? And it happened to be the one I liked."
Pei Che's heart skipped a beat. It was over. He immediately explained, "I did send someone to be with you, but the main purpose was to protect you. He didn't send me messages very often. It was only this time that he told me because he saw that you seemed to be worried!"
"Oh." Jiang Miao had guessed it before, but he didn't care about it. It was good to have someone to protect him. After all, Pei Mu was also here. It would be bad if some criminals wanted to catch Pei Mu and threaten the Duke Zhong's Mansion. Besides, he didn't do anything shameful, so he wasn't afraid of others following him.
Jiang Miao's reaction was so calm that Pei Che found it a little strange: "Isn't this what you are angry about?"
"I'm not angry." Jiang Miao muttered. How could he be angry when someone gave him money? "It's just that I don't want this shop. Ask someone to change the name back to yours."
"You said you're not angry. If you're not angry, why don't you want this shop? Don't you want to do business?" Pei Che felt that he was just sulking. He was obviously very happy when he received the house last time.
"I want to do business, but I have my own money." After he took over the house last time, Aunt Jiang's words woke him up. Even if the house was written in his name, others would only think that it was the Pei family's territory. He and Pei Che only agreed to a marriage contract. Did he want to let himself be branded by the Pei family for the rest of his life
Jiang Miao didn't want to be separated from Pei Che in the future, and let others say that he was the divorced male wife of the Pei family, and everything was given to him by the Pei family. He didn't have any other skills. In modern times, he relied on his cooking skills to do a small business. Here, he could only rely on his cooking skills. Everything else was up to him, but he wanted to rely on himself for this business.
Pei Che didn't know what he was thinking, so he just said, "Consider this money as an advance payment from me. You've helped me so much, so what's a mere 1,000 taels of silver worth?"
Pei Che's original intention was to let Jiang Miao take over the house without any burden, but to Jiang Miao, these words seemed to be talking about the gap between the two of them.
"I know you have a lot of money and don't care about this one thousand taels. But I can't take your things for no reason. The house you gave me is enough to pay me back. I don't want anything else. I'm not worth the price." He was an ordinary person who relied on small business in ancient times. He was afraid that he would never be able to buy such a big house in his lifetime.
Pei Che saw that he was getting more and more upset, and couldn't help but feel anxious: "That's not what I meant. Why do you have to belittle yourself? Whether you are worthy or not is up to me! I know you can make a name for yourself, and I don't want to interfere with your career, but I'm in the Imperial College now, and I can't give you any help except money. Aren't we friends? Isn't it normal for friends to help each other?"
Pei Che still remembered that when Jiang Miao gave him the lantern, he said, "Just treat it as making friends." Why did he want to cut ties with him so cleanly now
(End of this chapter)