"Little brother, little brother..."
Yang Ge groggily tried to open his eyelids, only to see a wrinkled face illuminated by the dim yellow light of an oil lamp, shaking in front of his eyes with a strange angle that jolted him awake from his drowsiness.
But after he stared hard and took a closer look, his mind relaxed again, and he lay back down on the table, yawning as he said, "Shopkeeper, it’s so early."
Shopkeeper Liu looked at the messy tabletop lined with food plates, "How late did you guys drink last night?"
Yang Ge replied hazily, "Seems like it was the fourth watch, oh right, shopkeeper, about last night’s leftovers, all the lamb was sold out, a total of four jars of Through-the-Bottle Fragrance, please calculate the bill... hey, where’s Jiang Kui?"
He suddenly sat up straight, looking around.
Shopkeeper Liu, "Don’t bother looking, you’re the only one here in the shop!"
Yang Ge’s eyelids drooped again, "Leaving without a word, that’s quite something..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw a book with a grey-black cover on the chimney of the copper pot.
He grabbed it in surprise and glanced at it, only to see "Eighteen Roads of Lingfrost Saber" written in bold characters on the cover, each stroke penetrating through the paper like the edge of a blade!
Seeing these six characters, Yang Ge’s mind unconsciously pictured Shen Fa’s fox-like, squinted smiling face: ’I really give up on you, old pal!’
"Little brother, this..."
When Shopkeeper Liu saw those six characters on the secret manual, his heart skipped a beat and his complexion changed.
Yang Ge quickly explained, "You can rest assured, I didn’t even know he left this, so naturally no second person will know, there won’t be any consequences!"
Only then did Shopkeeper Liu heave a huge sigh of relief and immediately slapped Yang Ge’s back without good humor, "Alright, we’ll settle the account later. It’s snowing outside and freezing cold, you’ve stayed up all night, go back and rest first."
"It’s snowing?"
Yang Ge abruptly stood up, ran to the window, and pushed open the lattice window with force, only to see snowflakes like fine grains of salt covering the windowsill, and as far as the eye could see, everything was blanketed in white.
Behind him, Shopkeeper Liu skillfully cleaned up the bowls and dishes while humming with delight, "I’ll have to ask my in-law to prepare a few more sheep, business is sure to get better..."
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Yang Ge stared out of the window for a long time, daydreaming, then suddenly said, "Shopkeeper, I need to take a leave today."
Shopkeeper Liu, "Something the matter?"
Yang Ge nodded, "It’s snowing, I have to go back to the village to check on things, I’m worried about the old man living alone."
Shopkeeper Liu, upon hearing this, quickly put down the dishes and walked over to the window to glance at the snow on the street, nodding, "Let’s borrow an oxcart for you, so you have an easier journey."
Yang Ge, "Thanks a lot, but there’s no need to trouble yourself. Didn’t you hear Fuyu talking? I practice leg techniques; a little bit of snow won’t bother me!"
Shopkeeper Liu, "You can’t be like this with us!"
Yang Ge, "When have I ever been like that with you?"
With a contented smile, Shopkeeper Liu said, "Then off you go, I’ll call Fuyu and his wife later to help out in the shop, we’ll manage. No need to rush back."
Yang Ge shook his head, "No worries, I’m quick on my feet, I’ll be back before they close the city gates, just in time for the evening rush."
He paused, then added, "As for last night’s tab, just bill it as you see fit, and keep the rest of the money in my account... With money on the account, perhaps he’ll come back for another meal!"
Shopkeeper Liu exclaimed in surprise, "That guy is coming back?"
Yang Ge couldn’t help laughing, "The man’s now a respectable official, eating the emperor’s grain, what are you afraid of?"
"Look at what you’re saying!"
Reassured, Shopkeeper Liu nonetheless chided without good humor, "Just because he’s an official, we shouldn’t be afraid? Haven’t you heard ’the common folk can’t fight against the officials’?"
Yang Ge shook his head, "This guy is different..."
Shopkeeper Liu snorted and turned back to continue cleaning up the dishes, "What’s so different? All the crows under the sky are black!"
Yang Ge fondled the saber manual in his arms and murmured to himself, ’But this guy, he really is different!’
...
"Woof woof woof..."
Huang excitedly jumped and scratched at the wooden gate.
"I’m coming, I’m coming!"
The old man’s loud and cheerful voice came from the low wooden cabin.
Yang Ge straightened up and saw the old man wrapped in a straw coat coming out, feeling a lot more at ease.
As the old man opened the gate, Huang rushed up with his airplane-like ears, joyfully circling around him, wagging its tail into a perfect circle.
The old man opened his large hands and measured its waist, bursting into laughter and exclaimed, "It’s gotten fatter, enough for a whole pot now!"
"Woof woof woof..."
Huang bolted, running like the wind to its usual spot behind the yard gate, and lifted its leg to take a leak.
Yang Ge, pulling a wheelbarrow, walked into the yard and laughed, "Why are you scaring it for no reason?"
The old man grimaced, "You think everyone’s like you, not thinking about finding a wife and having kids, but keeping a dog as a son... Good dog, come let daddy pet you."
Yang Ge rolled his eyes and grabbed a sack from the wheelbarrow to bring inside, "Did you lay the nets last night?"
The old man responded, "I did, what’s up, you want to eat fish? I’ll go get it (fetch) right now!"
Yang Ge said, "The shopkeeper brought you some mutton, let’s stew a pot of fish and mutton soup for lunch!"
The old man exclaimed, "Oh my, much gratitude to Shopkeeper Liu for his kindness..."
Yang Ge replied, "Just stay put, I’ll go get the fish. The same place, right?"
As soon as the old man heard him going, he immediately felt at ease, petting the dog’s head without looking up, and replied, "Right, the same place."
Yang Ge, familiar with the routine, retrieved a bamboo basket from the firewood shelter and strode out the door.
...
Two pounds of lamb chops.
Three big silver carp.
Stewed into a large pot of fish and mutton soup.
The old man ate the mutton.
Yang Ge ate the river fish.
Huang gnawed on the bones.
The three squatted outside the kitchen, puffing and sniffing away at a good meal.
The old man: "Burp."
Yang Ge: "Burp."
Huang lifted its head, looking left and right, opened its mouth: "Burp."
The old man’s belly was almost round from eating, yet he still clutched a large bowl of meaty soup without letting go, leaning against a stack of firewood and reminiscing, "That hit the spot. Last time I had mutton like this, must’ve been when I was a kid, with Zhang Lao Shuan’s dad and Mutt’s granddad. We snuck a sheep from Wang Dahu’s place, took it into the hills to slaughter and roast over a fire... We didn’t have any spices then, just tasted that muttony smell, but it felt like the best food in the world. We devoured more than half the sheep in one sitting!"
Yang Ge glanced at the old man’s belly and reached for his bowl, "Take it easy, eating too much might give you indigestion!"
The old man was reluctant to give it up, but couldn’t outmatch him, watching helplessly as he poured the soup back into the pot.
Yang Ge looked at his childlike greedy expression and wanted to laugh, "I’m not competing with you for it, the whole pot is yours. Save it for dinner or tomorrow, it’ll still make a meal when reheated!"
The old man sighed, muttering something incoherent about "not even being allowed to die from overeating," which Yang Ge pretended not to hear.
After a while, the old man shifted his attention from the meaty soup to Yang Ge, "How have you been lately?"
Yang Ge instantly sounded the alarm, "Just, just the usual."
The old man squinted at him, "Haven’t found a woman you like?"
Yang Ge couldn’t take it anymore, "If we don’t talk about this, we can actually have a decent conversation!"
I’ve time-traveled, how can I still not escape being nagged about marriage?
The old man fished out a fish bone to pick his teeth, looking entirely at ease as he liberally picked at his sparse teeth, "If not now, when? Are you expecting me to organize it in your dreams after I’m gone?"
Yang Ge gave him a thorough look, exasperated, "With your constitution, living to be a hundred is nothing difficult, so stop worrying about these unnecessary things!"
The old man nonchalantly said, "Who can be certain? At my age, every day is a gift from the heavens. If the heavens decide not to be generous one day, I might just keel over and snap, just like that!"
Yang Ge: "Don’t talk like that, I’m counting on being filial to you for a few more years, to repay you for saving my life!"
The old man paused from picking his teeth, suddenly asking, "It’s been a year, hasn’t it?"
Yang Ge was taken aback, nodding somewhat emotively, "Yes, a year."
The old man chuckled with warmth radiating from every wrinkle on his face, "That’s enough, it’s time you started thinking about your own future..."
(End of Volume One: Alone in a Foreign Land as a Foreigner)