The next day.
Luo Ge and Gu Jinchen arrived in Yiyang Town together.
Today happened to be a market day, and the streets were quite crowded with people. Seeing this, Luo Ge and Gu Jinchen slowed down their pace.
"Candied fruit kebabs for sale, sweet and sour delicious candied fruit kebabs! Come take a look, have a look!" The street vendor's calls echoed into the carriage, and Luo Ge couldn't help but open the carriage window to look outside.
Gu Jinchen smiled and pulled her back, "Don't look, you can't eat this. Looking too much will only make you crave it."
The doctor had advised her not to eat cold foods like crabs, coix seeds, and hawthorn berries which were all cooling in nature. He had to keep an eye on her.
As Luo Ge obediently swallowed her saliva and nodded, "No, I'm not craving it."
She could just make other fruit-flavored snacks herself later.
Seeing her like this, Gu Jinchen found it amusing and truly adored her innocent demeanor. As he leaned over to help steady her, the carriage suddenly came to an abrupt halt.
"Ah!"
Luo Ge was holding onto the carriage body, but due to the inertia, she still lurched forward. Fortunately, Gu Jinchen caught her in time.
The carriage curtain was swung open by the jolt, and Luo Ge happened to catch a glimpse of another carriage speeding away.
Gu Jinchen held Luo Ge securely and frowned towards the outside, "Uncle Song, what happened out there?"
Uncle Song had brought eggs from the manor this morning and happened to be recruited as their coachman.
Uncle Song was clearly startled by the situation too. After regaining his composure, he hurriedly apologized to the carriage occupants.
"This servant has made a mistake, this servant has made a mistake, my apologies to the master and mistress."
"Just now, another carriage suddenly rushed out at the intersection, and this servant had to swerve to avoid it, without having a chance to report it."
"Is the mistress alright?" Uncle Song's anxious tone was filled with concern and worry.
He was afraid that his mistake might have harmed the master and mistress, as well as the young masters and misses.
"I'm fine, Uncle Song, you don't need to worry," Luo Ge shook her head in response to Uncle Song's words.
Hearing this, Uncle Song also breathed a sigh of relief.
By now, Luo Ge had recovered and was leaning against Gu Jinchen's shoulder, safely enveloped in his embrace, which gave her a great sense of security. So she simply snuggled up to him, and he, of course, didn't let her go.
"Let's go, be more careful next time, don't let this happen again," Gu Jinchen also felt relieved to see that Luo Ge was unharmed.
"Yes." Uncle Song nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.
After saying that, he turned the carriage and headed in the direction where the other carriage had come from.
Taking advantage of the turn, Luo Ge also glanced through the carriage window in the direction where the other carriage had left.
"Over there, it seems to be in the direction of the Spring Bloom Pavilion, right?"
Gu Jinchen followed her gaze and nodded, his brow furrowing with a hint of disgust.
"Yes."
The Spring Bloom Pavilion, whose name and business were considered the number one restaurant in Yiyang Town, was also a competitor of their restaurant.
They were also the ones who had poached their manager and head chef.
Upon hearing this, Luo Ge nodded, "I heard they've been doing quite well in their business too?"
"Yes, their business in this southern region is quite good. They occupy a leading position among the restaurants in this area and seem to have a tendency towards monopolizing the market recently."
When he bought the restaurant, he had done some research on the industry to avoid being completely ignorant.
So he knew a little bit about it.
Listening to Gu Jinchen's words, Luo Ge expressed her understanding, "Their capability is indeed not bad."
They do have a certain appeal to the manager and chefs.
"It's alright, we'll take it slow. Eventually, we'll be able to expand too."
Hearing Luo Ge's words, Gu Jinchen smiled and tapped her nose.
"Yeah, let's work towards that goal."
