Bibi Dong: You Don't Want Me to Stay for a Free Meal? Then I'll Just Have to Stay for One!

The sun blazed overhead.

It was already noon.

Its scorching rays enveloped all of Spirit City.

Out on the streets,

the small vendors without shops had great beads of sweat pouring down their bodies beneath the blazing sun.

Their clothes were gradually soaked through.

The loud cries with which they had hawked their wares that morning had also grown feeble.

More of the vendors had already given up calling out altogether.

Most held simple cattail-leaf fans, waving them back and forth to cool themselves.

Meanwhile,

inside a room at the end of West Street,

Li Mubai began tentatively asking Bibi Dong how much longer it would be before she returned.

"What's this, Elder Mubai? Am I really so unwelcome?"

A dark line appeared on Bibi Dong's forehead as she questioned him.

"Not at all, not at all. I was just thinking that the chefs at Spirit Hall must have already prepared a meal for Your Holiness. If I kept talking with you, wouldn't I be delaying your meal?"

Li Mubai wore an awkward smile.

"Can't I stay here and mooch a meal off you?"

Bibi Dong's face turned cold. Her gaze looked positively murderous, carrying a hint of threat.

Li Mubai had no doubt whatsoever.

If he refused Bibi Dong, she would surely make things difficult for him.

Perhaps

Bibi Dong would even find all sorts of excuses to dock half his salary next month.

Compared to half his salary, what was one meal?

At that thought,

Li Mubai could not help saying respectfully:

"It would be my honor to have Your Holiness stay and dine at my humble abode! How could I possibly be the least bit unwilling?"

"Oh? Is that so? Since you've invited me so sincerely, I can hardly refuse. I'll have lunch here today, then."

A sly glint suddenly appeared in Bibi Dong's eyes.

This time,

Li Mubai was left dumbfounded.

I was just being freaking polite, but you're not standing on ceremony at all!

He had never imagined

that Bibi Dong would take his offhand pleasantry seriously.

Now look what had happened.

He had originally planned to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional holiday from his previous life, today.

Now that Bibi Dong was here, he probably wouldn't feel at ease eating, even with the nostalgic zongzi.

With Bibi Dong here, he needed to be careful about what he said and did.

That was what annoyed Li Mubai.

It wasn't that he begrudged her one meal or a few meat-filled zongzi.

Ah, forget it, forget it. If she wants to eat here, let her. It's just one meal.

Li Mubai shook his head inwardly.

Since Bibi Dong insisted on mooching a meal here, he couldn't simply refuse her outright and sternly sweep her out the door.

That would be somewhat inappropriate.

Most importantly,

if Bibi Dong docked some of his salary over this little matter, that wouldn't be good.

After all,

the position of Spirit Hall elder wasn't one just anyone could have.

It took considerable strength, or proof that one's contributions were of enormous help to Spirit Hall, to obtain the position.

Moreover,

once someone held that position, they could enjoy many benefits.

The salary

was just one of them.

Some elders could be said to have exploited those benefits to the fullest.

Relying on their positions and authority, they routinely took bribes, demanded favors, and extorted others.

These elders could even eat at any restaurant in the city without paying.

Not only would the owners raise no objections,

on the contrary,

they would welcome them warmly.

Other elders used their positions to coerce quite a few female Soul Masters into sexual relationships.

They then added these female Soul Masters to their enormous harems.

Of course,

Li Mubai had no interest in such pursuits.

He didn't have many ambitions. For now, he just wanted to lie flat and enjoy life.

As for a life of wine and women, that wasn't what he sought.

Of course,

occasionally visiting a pleasure house to listen to music could refine one's tastes.

As for plucking flowers and fondling jade...

Sorry.

Li Mubai had no such unsavory "AIDS" habits!

It wasn't as though sexually transmitted diseases didn't exist in this world.

They simply weren't very widespread.

And even on Douluo Continent, there were still no medicines that could cure such diseases.

Of course,

a powerful support-type Soul Master with strong healing abilities could cure them completely.

But where would an ordinary person find someone like that?

Such people were either in famous sects or held important positions in the empire.

Why would they casually offer their help for an ordinary person?

To those Soul Masters, treating an ordinary person for such a disease was an act far beneath their dignity.

So Li Mubai generally only went to places like Spring-Filled Garden to enjoy the dancing and have a few drinks.

As for any other thoughts, he truly had none.

Besides,

with a woman like Xiao Qian, curvy in all the right places, Li Mubai felt other women were nothing special.

In the kitchen,

Xiao Qian had already started the fire and begun cooking.

A medium-sized iron pot was now filled with zongzi wrapped in bamboo leaves.

"Sister Xiao Qian, what are these? Why are they wrapped in bamboo leaves?"

Looking at the zongzi in the pot, Hu Liena asked with a puzzled expression.

Just a little while ago,

after hearing Xiao Qian's story, she and Xiao Qian had begun calling each other sisters.

Relationships between women always formed so quickly.

"These? Master said they're called zongzi. They're filled mainly with glutinous rice."

A happy smile spread across Xiao Qian's face as she answered.

Looking at the pot of zongzi,

she couldn't help remembering the times when Li Mubai had taught her to read and write.

Bubble, bubble...

The water rolled at a boil in the pot.

White steam rose constantly from the edges of the lid.

"Zongzi? What kind of food is that? Is there a story behind it?"

Hu Liena was deeply puzzled.

She had never even heard of food wrapped in bamboo leaves,

much less seen it.

This was her first time seeing such strange food.

Glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves-could that possibly taste good?

Just thinking about it made Hu Liena shake her head.

It probably couldn't taste good. No, not probably-definitely!

"As for where it came from, I'm not entirely sure. But I once heard Master talk about it."

"He said zongzi came about because a scholar named Qu Yuan drowned himself in a river."

"Later generations remembered his concern for his home and country and his unwavering spirit. To mourn him, they created this food in his memory."

Xiao Qian poured out everything she knew in one breath.

It was a story Li Mubai had told her before, when he was teaching her to recite a piece of writing called "Encountering Sorrow."

The piece was long, and its wording was very difficult to recite.

Yet Li Mubai had insisted that she memorize it.

That period had been a nightmare for her.

Fortunately, she had managed to memorize the entire piece in the end.

She also remembered

that Li Mubai was especially fond of one line from it and often quoted it as his motto.

"The road ahead stretches long and far; I shall search high and low..."