Yuan smiles softly, both at the obvious revelation he just gave Jingyi, and at the compliment - he's glad to help his friend, especially when his affection comes so easily, without guile or strings attached.

"Things at the Golden Hare were... competitive. Everybody vied for clients, for Madame's attention," attention they were jealous of him for getting. No doubt somebody's already taken scissors to his best robes for getting the Jin Ling job. - he wonders how they'll feel when they find out what happened. He can't bring himself to feel bad, at this point the idea of anybody else being with Jin Ling turns his stomach. "We were friends but not... not with trust, or loyalty, which makes for.. poor friendships."