Li Mubai, the Big Eater

Hearing the old man's words,

Li Mubai, whose mouth was full of meat buns, looked up.

Seeing the concern in the old man's eyes,

Li Mubai couldn't help smiling.

He chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth in a few bites before saying,

"Don't worry, sir. I can eat all of it. I won't burst."

Hearing Li Mubai say so, the old man nodded and stopped pressing the matter.

Instead, he went back to eating the two large meat buns on his plate.

As he ate,

he drank the fragrant, milky-white soy milk in his bowl.

Even so,

the old man glanced at Li Mubai from time to time, afraid that the young fellow's eyes were bigger than his stomach and he would burst from overeating.

Li Mubai was fair and clean-looking, and his build wasn't particularly sturdy.

He was thin and scrawny.

No matter how the old man looked at him,

he didn't seem like someone who could eat all those buns.

There was nothing for it.

The kindhearted old man could only keep an eye on Li Mubai, ready to lend a hand at any moment.

He had a special remedy for an overstuffed stomach.

But he had never had occasion to use it.

I'm afraid today will be the day I put that remedy to the test!

the old man thought.

Meanwhile, he continued eating a bun from his plate slowly and unhurriedly.

The other customers,

drawn by the old man's voice, also looked toward Li Mubai.

When they saw the several large plates piled with steaming meat buns,

everyone stopped eating in unison and stared wide-eyed.

Was this a starving ghost reborn?

At that moment,

the very same question rang in everyone's mind.

Three large plates of buns.

A breakfast like that was truly startling.

These customers

each had just one plate on the table, most of them holding two meat buns.

There was no mystery to it.

The owner was generous with his portions.

Two meat buns were enough to fill them.

Even the largest man among them had only five meat buns on his plate.

And that was because the man did manual labor, so it was only natural that he had a bigger appetite.

But

could this thin, scrawny young man, whose cheeks were even a little fair and tender, finish so many large meat buns?

Everyone couldn't help wondering.

Even if he really could eat them all, he wouldn't be able to digest them.

His stomach would most likely burst in the end, and then he really would be a ghost who had eaten himself to death.

"Young man, can you really eat all that? Even if the buns taste good, don't indulge your desires too much! Eating too much can get you into trouble."

"Young man, have you run into some kind of difficulty?"

"Brother, if you've really been starving, then you should be eating even less."

"Young fellow, I've seen plenty of people who were starving. No matter how much food they were given, they couldn't wait to stuff it all into their bellies. But in the end, those people all..."

For a while,

after a man who did heavy labor spoke up,

quite a few others began to offer warnings as well.

None of them were particularly wealthy, but when faced with such a situation,

they still couldn't help speaking up to caution him.

They were all a little worried that Li Mubai would eat so much he would burst and die.

Li Mubai, who had been happily enjoying his breakfast, heard their words of concern

and couldn't help laughing.

He had been here before.

He had ordered just as much, but no one had paid him any attention.

But for some reason, today

everyone he met had spoken up out of concern for him, a stranger.

"Thank you all for your concern. But this isn't the first time I've eaten like this. The owner knows that too, so please don't worry."

Li Mubai rose to thank everyone.

At that moment,

the owner, who was serving a customer some large meat buns, also looked over at the sound.

"Customers, please don't worry. Young Master Li has eaten here no fewer than three times. He eats like this every time. He'll be fine."

The owner replied with a smile.

When people showed kindness, he couldn't pretend not to hear and leave them unanswered.

Besides,

the matter also concerned his biggest customer, Young Master Li.

Naturally, he had to speak up, so the others wouldn't disturb Young Master Li's enjoyment of his meal.

With the owner speaking up to confirm it,

the concern on everyone's faces finally faded.

The burly man, however, still looked curious.

How could someone so thin and scrawny eat even more than he did?

But

next,

before everyone's eyes,

Li Mubai proceeded to eat every last bun on the plates on the table.

Li Mubai rose and asked the owner to wrap two more buns in oilpaper.

Only then did he pay and leave.

He left a group of customers staring after him.

Pope's Hall.

In a room,

the vast rosy light of dawn streamed through the window,

bathing the entire room in gold and making it look resplendent.

On a large bed of golden soft jade,

Bibi Dong slowly awoke.

At that moment,

the trace of weariness that had always been hidden in her eyes

finally vanished altogether.

In its place was a light, clear brightness.

"It's been so long since I slept so soundly and so comfortably."

Bibi Dong murmured, her dark hair spread across the golden pillow.

In all these years,

this was the most comfortable sleep she had ever had.

For some reason,

though she usually had nightmares every night, last night

no nightmare had come.

She felt better than she ever had before.

She was never grumpy upon waking, nor did she have a habit of lingering in bed. As soon as she woke, she got up.

And after getting up,

the first thing she did was not relieve the slight fullness in her lower abdomen.

Instead, she called for someone to bring hot water so she could wash.

Then she sat before the mirror to apply her makeup and put her appearance in order.

The cock crows outside as dawn approaches; the new bride rises to dress with care.

She puts on her embroidered, lined skirt, adjusting each thing four or five times.

Silk slippers grace her feet; tortoiseshell ornaments gleam in her hair.

Her waist is like flowing white silk; bright-moon earrings adorn her ears.

Her fingers are like freshly peeled scallion roots, her lips as though touched with vermilion.

With dainty, delicate steps she walks, her exquisite beauty unmatched in the world.

"Someone, prepare a carriage. I'm... going out."

Bibi Dong glanced at herself in the mirror, then called out.

"Your Holiness, you haven't had breakfast yet..."

"It doesn't matter. Go prepare the carriage, and notify Hu Liena while you're at it. Have her wait for me inside."

Bibi Dong interrupted the maid, who had been about to say something.

"Yes."

The maid answered and hurried out of the room.

At the door,

Bibi Dong stepped over the threshold and headed out of the hall.

She knew very well

that Li Mubai's inner thoughts yesterday had mentioned leaving early

and then going to find Demon Bear Douluo so they could visit a pleasure house and listen to music together.

Her status was exalted, so naturally she couldn't go to such places to look for Li Mubai.

She could only go to Li Mubai's home first and wait at his door.

As for why she had called Hu Liena, her beloved personal disciple, along,

it was so she could take the opportunity to cultivate the relationship between the two of them.

Once Li Mubai truly developed feelings for Hu Liena,

she could confidently put him to work devising strategies for Spirit Hall's development.

Before long,

a noble and lavish carriage appeared outside Pope's Hall.

On the carriage,

Spirit Hall's distinctive emblem stood out clearly.

"Teacher, what did you want me for?"

"I still have to train with Brother Xie Yue and the others today."

A pretty, lovely girl of seventeen or eighteen asked.

She was Bibi Dong's prized disciple, Hu Liena.

"Set your training aside for now."

"Head to the west of the city."

Bibi Dong spoke to the maid driving the carriage.