Cui Zhi eagerly placed the teacup down and said:

"Madam Fu, could you tell me the truth now?"

"Hmm"

Liuu Meizhen pointed to a low stool forged from Quenching Autumn Stone beside her, motioning for Cui Zhi to sit. At that moment, Cui Zhi’s eyes were fixed intently on Liuu Meizhen.

Once she sat down.

Suddenly.

She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

Briefly falling into a swoon.

Liuu Meizhen looked at Cui Zhi, who was slumped over the Quenching Autumn Stone table, and murmured, "I’m sorry, Cui Zhi. In the future, when the time is ripe, you will surely know who your biological parents are."

When Cui Zhi woke up.

She had completely forgotten everything that had happened before.

As for how she fainted.

Liuu Meizhen made up an excuse and brushed it off, but she treated Cui Zhi as if they were long-lost friends, keeping her close at all times.

The other girls who came to help with work were very envious.

Positions at Madam Luo’s place were one in, one out.

The previous sisters were all loyal to Madam Luo, with no plans to marry or join other factions, and all the positions were filled. Thus, newcomers either had to earnestly work as a weaver at Madam Luo’s textile factory or find opportunities elsewhere.

Being affiliated with a noble family like the Fu family.

That was considered a pretty good path.

The Fu family was busily preparing for the shop opening.

.....

After the neighboring Eighth-Grade Jin Family’s Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion closed, an attendant, while helping Shopkeeper Jin with the accounts, couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity:

"Shopkeeper, the notice next door says they’ll open in three days, but it doesn’t say what they’re selling. Do you think they might open a shop just like ours?"

They had managed with great difficulty to drive out their old rival, the Tang Family.

They had only been rejoicing for a few days.

They didn’t want another new competitor.

Shopkeeper Jin snapped the ledger shut with a hint of satisfaction on his brow.

With the closure of the Tang Family’s shop.

During this period.

The business at their Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion seemed to be thriving again, naturally putting him in a good mood. He leisurely moved from the counter, took a sip of Lailong Tea, and smacked his lips:

"Sixth, do you know who owns the shop next door?"

"I heard it’s a Ninth-Grade Family Matriarch from Jingzhou in South Huai. Everyone calls her Madam Fu."

Someone from out of town.

It was uncertain if they could establish themselves in the Cloud Dragon Marketplace.

Yet they dared to imagine opening a shop; it was utterly fanciful.

Shopkeeper Jin put down the teacup.

Let out a cold laugh:

"If this Fu family specializes in selling a single product, they might barely sustain for two or three years, but if they’re unwise and dare to challenge our Jin Family’s Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion...."

The teacup in Shopkeeper Jin’s hand abruptly shattered.

Turning to powder in an instant.

The implication was clear.

Seeing this, Sixth immediately felt at ease, thinking that if not even the Tang Family could surpass the Jin Family, how could a small, obscure family from faraway outshine them?

He had been overthinking.

Soon it was three days later.

Sixth got up early, opened their shopfront, and received a glance from Shopkeeper Jin.

Sixth gleefully stepped out from the shop and gathered with the crowd at the opening of the Fu Family shop; until this point, the Fu Family shop opening had been very low-key, and they hadn’t announced what they were selling.

However.

The less they revealed.

The more curious everyone became about them.

Indeed.

From early morning, a crowd of cultivators gathered at the shop’s entrance, many of whom were apprentices from various shops in the marketplace, eager to find out more.

The crowd pointed at the sign covered by red cloth.

Buzzing with discussions:

"What did the Fu family offer the Tang Family to make them yield this shop?"

"Sigh, who knows? But for a cultivator from Jingzhou to open a shop in our Cloud Dragon Marketplace, that’s a first."

"South Huai is just a remote region; surely, the Fu family won’t be selling items that aren’t even presentable."

"Brother Yu, you’re speaking as if the Fu family is fresh from the countryside...."

With the conversation growing more lively,

No one seemed interested in buying anything.

It felt more like a spectacle.

After a while.

The doors of the Fu Family shop creaked open from within.

The crowd quickly remarked:

"The doors are opening, the doors are opening, let’s see what they’re selling inside?"

"I’ve heard that Madam Fu is a Celestial Immortal descending to earth, but I doubt South Huai could produce a golden phoenix."

As the doors opened.

Buzz!

Mist began to rise.

The interior of the shop was shrouded completely.

The mist extended outward, and the crowd felt a gentle force pushing them back, puzzling them further.

Then the mist receded.

And a stage came into view.

Upon the stage.

There were six beautiful female cultivators in uniform peony-red dresses, gracefully dancing as the music began.

"Could it be... the Fu family is opening a restaurant?"

Jin Xiaoliu blinked.

But for a one-story restaurant, that would be quite small.

However.

At the moment, he couldn’t think about much else, completely captivated by the charming figures of the six dancing female cultivators on stage, watching with eager anticipation.

The commotion caused by the Fu family.

Soon drew all the nearby cultivators over.

Those from other streets, seeing the excitement, also came over, curious.

After the dance ended.

The entire West Street was packed with people.

The six dancers withdrew.

Then.

A flash of golden light appeared on stage, revealing the Tang Family Second Elder, leaving everyone bewildered:

"Isn’t the shop supposed to have been transferred from the Tang Family to the Fu Family? Why is someone from the Tang Family here? Could this be a jointly run shop by the Tang Family and the Fu Family?"

Jin Xiaoliu, however, felt a jolt in his heart.