Then Nobody Gets Any

"Zhou Sheng?"

After a brief moment's thought, Chen Zhuo remembered the young man who had appeared at the entrance to Old Yan's courtyard last night.

His strongest impression of him was that he was quite handsome, though still a little short of Chen Zhuo himself.

He had a strikingly handsome face, but it was always covered in a layer of frost, giving him the look of a corpse.

"What is it?"

Chen Zhuo tilted his head slightly and glanced at Zhou Sheng, then looked past him at the two Yamen Runners behind him.

The indifference on their faces immediately made it clear to him that they and Zhou Sheng were on the same side.

"The time hasn't come yet. Blood-Strengthening Soup can't be handed out before then. That's the rule. You didn't know?"

Zhou Sheng parted his thin lips, his voice clear but touched with a hint of softness.

Chen Zhuo smiled faintly. "I'm on official business and can't make it back by noon. Could you make an exception?"

Zhou Sheng said coldly, "Instructor Huang set the rules himself. If you want an exception, go ask him. But for now, you won't get a single sip."

Huang Yuan'er?

At the mention of that name, Chen Zhuo couldn't help remembering the hand that had tried to wander over him. A wave of disgust rose in his heart.

Before he could speak, Zhou Sheng's voice rang out again.

"I advise you to go back where you came from. Better yet, don't come to the Drill Ground again. The choice you made last night has already determined the road ahead of you."

Zhou Sheng looked at Chen Zhuo coldly. "Last night, you made Lord Wang very unhappy."

Chen Zhuo said nothing. After studying Zhou Sheng for a while, he tilted his head and let his gaze fall on Zhou Sheng's backside, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.

"No matter."

Chen Zhuo smiled and waved a hand. "With you and Huang Yuan'er attending to Lord Wang, day and night, he must be happy every single day. I doubt he'd care about that brief moment of displeasure."

"Little sister, make sure you take good care of Lord Wang. I have faith in you."

Without waiting for Zhou Sheng to react, Chen Zhuo patted him on the shoulder, then turned sideways and walked around him toward the Blood-Strengthening Soup.

Little sister?

Zhou Sheng was stunned.

It was true that he and Lord Wang had been involved, but how could anyone bring such a thing out into the open?

Wouldn't that damage Lord Wang's good name?

He didn't care what people said about him, but no one could insult Lord Wang!

"Stop!"

Zhou Sheng shouted.

Chen Zhuo acted as if he hadn't heard and reached for the ladle.

But Zhou Sheng's hand moved faster. He snatched the ladle first.

"There's none for you!"

Zhou Sheng grabbed the ladle and snapped the handle in two with a hard twist, then tossed it onto the ground.

When he was done, he looked at Chen Zhuo with an air of smug superiority.

The meaning was obvious: the ladle was gone. What were you going to use to drink now?

After two lifetimes, watching Zhou Sheng swagger about, Chen Zhuo suddenly felt it was all rather pointless.

He didn't want to stoop to a child's level, but the other man was like a plaster stuck to his skin—once it clung, it wouldn't come off.

He'd have to use his trump card!

"You made me do this."

Chen Zhuo suddenly rested his hand on the saber at his waist.

The atmosphere immediately grew tense.

"You dare use violence at the Yamen?"

The two Yamen Runners shouted at him.

Under the wary gazes of Zhou Sheng and the two Yamen Runners, Chen Zhuo didn't draw his saber. Instead, his throat bobbed, and he let out a long sound.

"Khkhkh... ptooey!"

A glob of spit landed squarely in the bucket as the three stared in shock.

Zhou Sheng especially had his eyes bulging like copper bells, as if he'd never seen anything like it in his life.

There were actually people in this world so...

Shameless!

"If I can't drink it, then nobody gets any."

Chen Zhuo left the three stunned men behind and turned to go.

Before he left, though, he added, "The soup's still good. I just added a little something. If you don't want to drink it, please take it to the kitchen and tell Master Yan I'll pay for it."

As Zhou Sheng watched Chen Zhuo's back recede into the distance, the frost already covering his pretty face seemed to deepen, growing even harder to melt.

"He really is an interesting one. No wonder Lord Wang took a liking to him at first sight."

Huang Yuan'er appeared in front of Zhou Sheng without warning and gently stroked his forehead. "Look at you. It makes my heart ache. Don't worry—soon he won't be able to make you angry anymore."

"I acted on impulse."

After leaving the Yamen, Chen Zhuo walked along the bustling street and suddenly felt a pang of regret over the money.

Not that he regretted it enough to wish he hadn't done it.

It was just that the huge bucket of Blood-Strengthening Soup, filled to the brim and as tall as a person, must have held four or five hundred bowls.

At ten coins a bowl, how much would that cost?

Even ten years working in the kitchen wouldn't be enough to pay it back.

"I finally got a monthly wage, and now I'm back to working for free."

Chen Zhuo laughed at himself.

Before he knew it, he had already covered nearly half the distance.

The aromas drifting out of inns and restaurants along the way stirred his appetite.

But his pockets were empty, so all he could do was pull out the three steamed buns he'd brought from the kitchen and fill his stomach with those.

A moment later.

After eating all three buns, Chen Zhuo had already made his way from the inner city to the outer city.

Following the locations on the notice board, he began putting up Qiu Laojiu's portrait at each one.

There were thirty-three in all. He still had quite a bit of work ahead of him.

Still, he should be able to finish before sunset.

Chen Zhuo wanted to get it done early so he could go back early and practice martial arts.

The effects of the Blood Vitality Pill were fading bit by bit with the passing of time.

Every drop of it was money.

As he put up the portraits, small groups of people gradually gathered beneath each notice.

The roads, already rather narrow, grew even more crowded.

"Eeyaw, eeyaw~"

A donkey cart tried to pass through, but the crowd blocked its way.

The old man driving it simply climbed down and joined the gathering.

"The Long River Gang? A bunch of thugs. I remember the family name really was Qiu a few years back, but this year it suddenly changed to Huang. I wonder what happened to Qiu Laojiu. He even lost his family business."

"In this world, isn't the one with the bigger fist always in the right? If the Qiu fellow couldn't match their strength, who else can he blame for losing his family business?"

"That must be it. Qiu Laojiu was resentful but didn't dare take revenge, so he could only vent his anger on innocent commoners. What a useless beast! If I see him, I'll be the first to report him to the Yamen!"

"Fifty taels of silver? You might earn it, but you may not live to spend it."

Chen Zhuo didn't pay much attention to the commoners' chatter behind him.

After all, not every onlooker could be Chaoyang.

Still, he listened carefully to what the crowd had to say, and picked up a few useful bits of information.

"The Long River Gang belongs to the Huangs now? Huang, as in Huang Yuan'er?"

For some reason, as soon as Chen Zhuo heard the word "Huang," he thought of the baby-faced instructor.

Whether or not they were connected, he ought to be on his guard.

He seemed to catch a hint of danger in the wind blowing through the outer city.

The farther he was from the Yamen, the less safe he felt.

He could develop properly only while he was inside the Yamen.

With that in mind, Chen Zhuo's hands and feet grew noticeably quicker.

He worked twice as fast, and soon managed to put up all the portraits before sunset.

Not daring to delay, he hurried back as soon as he'd finished.

But, by an unlucky coincidence, just as Chen Zhuo reached the entrance to a gambling house, a figure suddenly crashed into him.

Chen Zhuo had been practicing martial arts for dozens of days, and his martial instincts had already taken root. With his guard up, he reacted quickly, leaning aside and narrowly dodging the other man.

The man hit the ground face-first. When he got up, he started cursing at the gambling house.

"You blind bastards who look down on people! I've given you at least a hundred taels of silver, and now you won't even let me in just because I'm broke?"

"Ptooey!"

Chen Zhuo had been caught in the crossfire, but he didn't want to get involved.

He'd been about to leave, but the man's voice sounded familiar.

Chen Zhuo stopped and took a close look at his face. A faint chill immediately settled between his brows.