Zhu Juntang came out after changing her clothes. Her hair had that distinctive heaviness of being damp, swaying beside her slender waist as she walked.
Even after the most humiliating ordeal, Zhu Juntang had regained her girlish grace and composure. She held her head high, wearing the arrogant yet alluring smile unique to Third Miss Zhu.
"I forgive you for your rashness," Zhu Juntang said, looking at Liu Chang'an. "Those who are proud of their talents are often indulged by others. Back then, Crown Prince Dan of Yan endured Jing Ke stabbing him three times, which was how he won Jing Ke over and made him willing to risk his life to assassinate Qin Shi Huang. This little Falling Geese Style is nothing to me."
"Jing Ke tried to assassinate King Zheng of Qin. Ying Zheng didn't become emperor until six years later. And where did you hear that Jing Ke stabbed Crown Prince Dan three times first?" Liu Chang'an stared at Zhu Juntang, dumbfounded.
"I've read a lot of books. Surely one of them said that. Did I make up history?" Zhu Juntang casually picked up a book from the shelf and opened it. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as a thoughtful look entered her eyes. She gently pinched the page, then raised her head in sudden, vacant wonder to look at Zhong Qing, seeming to radiate a fresh, pure aura, along with an adorable innocence.
Zhong Qing quickly seized the beautiful, adorable moment in Zhu Juntang's dazed expression and snapped a photo. Then he turned the phone screen toward her to show it to her.
Zhu Juntang nodded with satisfaction. "Touch it up with that pink filter... Send it to me later."
After the photo, Zhu Juntang tossed the book aside. Liu Chang'an glanced at the prop. It was a copy of the Shuowen Jiezi.
"When I came in, I saw that you had a lot of books. You even have a huge library..." Her claim that Jing Ke had stabbed Crown Prince Dan three times had made Liu Chang'an somewhat suspicious about what she used the library for.
"I like reading." Zhu Juntang's smile was calm and proper.
"Then read more." Liu Chang'an was getting ready to take his leave.
"Wait."
Of course, Zhu Juntang had no intention of letting Liu Chang'an go just like that. After dismissing Zhong Qing and the servants, she clasped her hands behind her back, pressing them against her bottom. Keeping a wary eye on Liu Chang'an, she bit her lip, then let it go.
"I heard what you said to Zhong Qing. You made a good point, but you also kicked me. So we're even."
Liu Chang'an nodded. He was a reasonable man, as long as the other person reasoned with him.
"Zhuge Liang was visited three times at his thatched cottage... No, Liu Bei visited him three times, showing his sincerity. In truth, Zhuge Liang had wanted to follow Liu Bei and go around robbing people all along." Zhu Juntang gazed at Liu Chang'an with sparkling eyes. "I, Third Miss Zhu, am also desperate for talent. If you're willing to work for me, I can keep your secret and give you endless wealth, along with lots and lots of women."
Everyone had desires and wanted to satisfy them. Zhu Juntang believed this without a doubt. Even though Liu Chang'an had just kicked her into the swimming pool, that did nothing to shake her conviction.
"You're a woman too," Liu Chang'an said, giving Zhu Juntang a meaningful look.
Zhu Juntang had always thought of herself as an ambitious girl. To achieve her ambitions, she could sacrifice a little pride and put up with some indignity.
So a shy light flickered in Zhu Juntang's eyes. She bit her lip, hesitated briefly, then closed her eyes, her expression tinged with resentment and resolve. After taking a deep breath, she lifted the hem of her skirt a little and was just about to take it off when she stubbornly insisted, too embarrassed to give up her dignity: "Turn around first."
Liu Chang'an turned around as she asked.
Zhu Juntang's eyes flew open, and her expression changed. She slowly backed away, held her breath, then rushed forward and kicked at Liu Chang'an's backside!
That was what it meant to give someone a taste of their own medicine! Zhu Juntang sneered inwardly. Men were all vulgar creatures in the end. They were so consumed by lust that they dared to defile even a fairy. She would make him pay the price for defiling one!
Liu Chang'an sidestepped at just the right moment. He watched Zhu Juntang's expression change as she shouted and kicked at empty air, flailing as she landed. She stumbled forward a few steps, trying to steady herself, but failed and sprawled face-first on the floor with a thud.
Liu Chang'an watched her expressionlessly. What a stupid woman.
Zhu Juntang lay motionless on the floor, unable to accept reality. It had been less than an hour since the last time she'd been this humiliated, and now she had once again ended up sprawled on the floor in unprecedented disgrace. Humiliation kept striking Third Miss Zhu again and again. An overwhelming sense of grievance welled up in her, and tears streamed down her face.
Just then, Liu Chang'an walked over. Zhu Juntang resolved that whether he came to help her up, apologize, or comfort her, she would never forgive him! Once was enough; he couldn't do it again unless he agreed to become her subordinate.
Liu Chang'an walked past Zhu Juntang, left the room, entered the elevator, and went downstairs.
Zhu Juntang stayed sprawled on the floor for a long time, but Liu Chang'an never turned back to help her up. At last, she realized that he had really just left!
"Zhong Qing! Zhong... Qing!"
Zhu Juntang's aggrieved cries echoed through the room.
Liu Chang'an went downstairs and returned to the construction site, where he found the dead dog. He breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been worried someone might take it while he was upstairs.
He looked up. The lights on the outside of Baolong Center still shone brightly, sparkling like a glowing jade pillar. Up at the top lived a... little fairy.
Liu Chang'an smiled. He wasn't worried that Zhu Juntang would reveal his secret. The longer one lived, the stronger one became. That didn't mean he had to grow more and more cautious, but it did mean he wasn't so easily threatened.
No one else came by to patrol. Liu Chang'an didn't care that Fan Jian had sent him to keep watch at Zhong Qing's behest. He still followed the rules, walking back and forth across the construction site.
The soil gave off a faint, earthy odor. Construction sites always smelled of a mixture of dust, paint, and splashing mortar. Liu Chang'an noticed a truck parked too close to the edge of the foundation pit, so he went over and tried pushing it a little farther back.
No problem. He was very strong.
The night passed. Zhu Juntang didn't send Zhong Qing to look for Liu Chang'an again. At dawn, Liu Chang'an carried the dead dog home.
A carpet of plane-tree leaves covered the ground. It felt as if autumn had leapt forward several months and arrived at the start of summer, bringing a bleak chill with it. Carrying the dead dog, Liu Chang'an stood beneath the tree and turned to look at the box truck.
After a brief hesitation, Liu Chang'an swept the leaves into a pile and gathered bricks and stones to ring it. He piled the driest leaves inside and set them alight. Then, prodding the dead dog with a long wooden stick, he began singeing off its fur over the fire.
The flames roared, and the burning dog hair gave off a foul stench. Fortunately, Rottweilers had short coats, so it didn't take long to burn the fur clean. Liu Chang'an took a knife and cut off the dog's head, then placed it in a large basin and set it in the truck bed. He watched the bronze coffin for a long while. When it remained completely still, he shut the truck's doors.
The rest was to gut the dead dog. The organs were partly cooked from the singeing, making them easier to clean. Liu Chang'an kept the liver for himself. Among the eight delicacies served in the imperial court during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, liver liao was made with dog liver. That was the most authentic way to prepare it.
Some people used pork liver, foie gras, or duck liver instead. The standard method for making liver liao was to wrap the liver in fat from the intestines and roast it. It tasted excellent.
He washed the other organs thoroughly and set them aside. Liu Chang'an had no intention of making the dog-meat hot pot or braised dog meat common in Junsha. These organs were the ideal ingredients for dog-meat sauce.
He kept some for himself and set the rest of the dog meat on a wooden rack outside his home, waiting for the neighbors to wake up and buy some.
"Big Brother Chang'an, did you kill a little pig?" The little girl brought him some soy milk and looked at Liu Chang'an curiously.
"It's a dog." Liu Chang'an drank the soy milk. The little girl was Zhou Dongdong, who lived with her mother, Zhou Shuling, in the upstairs apartment Liu Chang'an rented out.
"How could you kill a doggy!" Zhou Dongdong immediately pouted. Tears welled in her eyes, and she began to sniffle. "How could you kill a doggy..."
"Why can you kill a piglet but not a doggy?"
Zhou Dongdong wiped her eyes and bit her finger. She paused, unable to find a reason, then cried, "How could you kill a doggy..."
Liu Chang'an sighed. Men and women both had to be reasonable, but little girls were another matter. He wouldn't try to reason with her.
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