Today, he was assigned to patrol Peach Leaf Street.
Unlike the forbidding air of White Stone Alley, which practically warned strangers to keep away, Peach Leaf Street was far livelier. The street itself was not wide, but all kinds of shops lined both sides, one right after another—cloth shops, rice stores, general-goods shops, and snack stalls. The shop assistants' cries, the women haggling over prices, and the children chasing and brawling mingled with the aromas of food and the smell of sweat, weaving a vivid, fragrant picture of life in the marketplace.
Wei Datong had no heart to admire the scenery. Bored, he swung the cord tassel on his waist badge and grumbled nonstop.
"Peach Leaf Street, Peach Leaf Street—this blasted place again. There isn't a drop of grease to skim, but a whole basketful of damn trouble. Someone's chicken ran off, someone else's wife is quarreling with him—we have to go settle every last dispute."
He spat in the direction of the government office. "Nothing like Young Master Zhang. Right now, he's probably sitting in Chief Constable Yan's office, enjoying the cool breeze, drinking freshly brewed Pre-Qingming Longjing, and listening to the Chief Constable talk about the tricks of solving cases. Now that's living!"
Xiong Tiezhu carried his thick-backed saber on the other side. Hearing this, he rumbled, "That's different. He's the Chief Constable's nephew."
"Exactly!" Wei Datong slapped his thigh. "That's why I say being born into the right family is a profound discipline. People like us work ourselves to the bone for five hundred wen a month. He just has to wag his tongue, and he gets transferred from our dirt-eating assignment to work as a clerk beside the Chief Constable. From now on, whenever we see him, we'll have to respectfully call him 'Captain Zhang'!"
The more he talked, the angrier he became. Lowering his voice, he leaned toward Ye Qingxuan. "You don't know this, but the meals in the rear courtyard of the government office are divided into several grades. We eat from the communal pot—coarse rice as much as we want, with a single pot of stew for vegetables. But the meals for the several Chief Constables are ordered separately from the best restaurant in the city, Drunken Immortal Tower: four dishes and a soup, with something different every meal. Zhang Lingxiao is following Chief Constable Yan now, so naturally he eats that share too."
Ye Qingxuan's steps did not pause in the slightest. His gaze swept over the roadside stalls. A candied-fruit vendor was evenly drizzling boiled syrup over skewers of hawthorn, his movements practiced. Beside him, a child of three or four craned his head back, staring with longing, almost drooling.
Wei Datong's complaints were no more than wind passing by Ye Qingxuan's ears.
Some people relied on their fathers, others on their uncles. That was the way of the world. Complaining a few times might make one feel better, but it could not change a thing.
His path did not lie in other people's mouths, but beneath his own feet. The scroll in his mind, and the words [Merit: 2/15], were what truly supported his life and livelihood.
The afternoon patrol passed without incident. Aside from helping an old woman who had lost her purse and catching a petty thief red-handed at the street corner, nothing else happened. The ruffian was lifted by Xiong Tiezhu's fan-sized hand and immediately frightened into pissing his pants, handing over the purse without a thing missing.
At noon, the three returned to the rear courtyard of the government office to rest and eat.
A large wooden bucket held coarse rice. Beside it was a large pot of cabbage stewed with tofu, with a few pitiful flecks of oil floating on top.
The constables served themselves and squatted or stood wherever they pleased, noisily shoveling down their food.
Ye Qingxuan filled a large bowl with rice and ladled himself half a bowl of vegetables. He was hungry, his stomach empty, as though a fire were burning inside it. He ate quickly. After the large bowl of rice and vegetables went down, the hunger was only eased slightly; his stomach still felt hollow.
He went back for a second bowl.
Wei Datong carried his bowl over. Seeing the rice in Ye Qingxuan's bowl, he smacked his lips. "Qingxuan, you've got quite an appetite today. What, have you decided to eat Zhang Lingxiao's share too?"
Ye Qingxuan ignored the joke and kept his head lowered over his meal. Only after the second bowl went down was the emptiness in his stomach finally filled seven or eight parts.
After their shift, Ye Qingxuan said goodbye to the other two and hurried back to Southern District.
As soon as he turned into the alley, he smelled the fragrance of wheat. He pushed open the courtyard gate. Ye Caiwei was crouching before a small clay stove, poking at the flames with fire tongs. A wire rack rested over the stove, and two golden-brown wheat cakes on it were sizzling and steaming.
"Big Brother, you're back." Ye Caiwei raised her head, her little face flushed red in the firelight. "I figured you'd be finishing your shift soon, so I baked two cakes for you to fill your stomach."
Ye Qingxuan walked over and picked up a wheat cake. It was hot to the touch, so he tossed it from hand to hand, blew on it, and took a large bite.
The crust was fragrant, crisp, and browned, while the inside was soft yet chewy, filling his mouth with pure wheat fragrance.
"Delicious." He swallowed the entire cake in just a few bites.
As if presenting a treasure, Ye Caiwei handed over the other one too. "Big Brother, eat slowly. It's still hot."
Ye Qingxuan took the second one and finished it in a few more bites. Yet that familiar emptiness rose from his stomach once again. Two wheat cakes, each the size of an adult's fist, were like tossing two small stones into a deep pool—not even an echo came back.
He froze.
Something was wrong.
In the past, even after rushing about all day, his appetite had only been somewhat larger than an ordinary person's, and still within limits. He absolutely should not have been like this today, like a ferocious tiger that had gone hungry for three days.
That was it. It was Indestructible Vajra Body.
Martial cultivation tempered the body and circulated qi and blood, which in itself consumed an enormous amount of energy. If the skin, flesh, sinews, and bones were to become tough, they needed a steady nourishment of qi and blood. And where did qi and blood come from? From grains, fish, meat, and all the other foods people ate.
Over the past two days, he had bitterly cultivated morning and night, hammering his body like a stubborn piece of iron. The essence, energy, and spirit he consumed far exceeded what ordinary people could imagine. The body's deficit naturally had to be replenished with food.
The Martial Path Heavenly Machine Codex could let him complete his merit and ascend in a single step, but it could not conjure qi and blood from thin air. In the end, his foundation was still this flesh-and-blood body.
"Big Brother, what's wrong?" Seeing him staring blankly at his empty hands, Ye Caiwei could not help asking.
"Nothing." Ye Qingxuan came back to himself and rubbed his little sister's head. "I'm just terribly hungry. Come on, let's go eat."
For dinner, Ye Caiwei had actually gone all out.
A plate of beef stir-fried with green peppers sat on the small square table. The beef had been sliced thin and stir-fried quickly over high heat, retaining a hint of tenderness that complemented the peppers' spiciness. Beside it was a large bowl of rich soup simmered from beef bones, milky white with a few chopped scallions sprinkled on top.
"Nannan, why is there so much food today?"
"You've worked so hard practicing these past few days, and you've gotten thin. Of course I have to build you back up." Ye Caiwei filled a large bowl with rice, then piled a generous chopstickful of beef into it. "Butcher Wang said beef-bone soup is especially good for replenishing strength. I had him smash all the bones, and I simmered them for an hour."
Ye Qingxuan said no more. He picked up his bowl and began eating in great gulps.
The beef was tender and fresh, the rice sweet and fragrant, and the bone broth rich. He ate at astonishing speed, sweeping through the meal like a sudden gale.
Once he finished one bowl of rice, Ye Caiwei immediately filled a second.
When he finished the second, she filled a third.
Only after he had eaten a full five bowls of rice, polishing off the entire plate of beef and the large bowl of bone broth, was the bottomless hunger in his stomach finally and completely filled.
He set down his bowl and chopsticks and burped. A warm current rose from his stomach and spread through his limbs and bones, leaving every inch of him suffused with indescribable comfort.
Ye Caiwei rested her chin in her hands beside him, watching him eat, her eyes curved into crescent moons from smiling. She herself had eaten only a small bowl of rice mixed with the broth. She had not touched even one piece of beef.
"Big Brother, are you full?"
"I'm full." Ye Qingxuan looked at the empty plate and soup bowl on the table, feeling both warmth and heaviness in his heart.
A meal like this had probably cost several dozen wen. With his appetite now, simply eating each day was already a considerable expense. If he ate only white rice, greens, and tofu, it would probably be difficult to replenish what he consumed in cultivation. If he truly wanted his body to absorb enough nourishment and qi and blood, he would likely need large portions of meat!
Money.
When all was said and done, it was still money.
"Big Brother, rest. I'll go clear away the bowls and chopsticks." Ye Caiwei rose briskly.
"I'll do it." Ye Qingxuan reached out to stop her.
He stood, gathered the bowls and chopsticks from the table, and carried them into the kitchen. Ye Caiwei followed, wanting to help, but he pushed her back out the door.
"Go read for a while, or go to bed early. From now on, I'll handle this rough work."
He washed the bowls and chopsticks clean, then glanced at the water jar in the corner.
"There isn't much water left in the jar. I'll fetch some."
There was no well in Southern District. Whenever they needed water, they had to draw it from the public well at the mouth of the alley. The well was deep, and two full buckets of water weighed well over a hundred jin. Even an ordinary strong man would have to stop and rest several times while carrying them back. In the past, the siblings had carried a small bucket together, making several trips before they could fill it.
Hearing this, Ye Caiwei hurriedly said, "Big Brother, it's already dark. Let's go together tomorrow morning."
"No need."
Ye Qingxuan walked to the corner and lifted the two waist-high wooden buckets, one in each hand.
The buckets were heavy in his grasp. Yet in his hands, they seemed to weigh hardly anything. The muscles in his arms bulged slightly, and he held both empty buckets steady as mountains.
Without another word, he carried the two large buckets, put on the carrying pole, and strode out of the courtyard gate.
Night had deepened, and the alley was utterly quiet. His steps were light, the carrying pole rising and falling rhythmically on his shoulder with every stride, without the slightest sign of strain.
The abundant strength within his body was urgently seeking an outlet.
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