Eating for Free

Duan Rong looked at Zhang Zheng as if he were an idiot. "I can't even figure it out myself, and you want me to guide you? I was hoping you could give me some pointers!"

Duan Rong curled his lip, thinking, A little chili, and you think you can get me to teach you? What are you dreaming of?

Seeing Duan Rong's expression, Zhang Zheng knew he had hit a wall. He sighed. "Brother Rong, your routines are so well practiced. How could you possibly not understand them? I think you just aren't willing to pass on the scriptures!"

Duan Rong gave a cold laugh. "Let me ask you this: you speak so smoothly—can you clearly teach someone the method of sentence parsing? Knowing how to do something yourself is one thing; teaching someone else to do it is another!"

Sentence parsing was essentially grammar. Being good at speaking Chinese did not mean one could extract grammatical structures from familiar speech. Those were two different things.

Zhang Zheng was left speechless for a moment.

Duan Rong did not want to waste any more words on Zhang Zheng. He turned and walked out of the courtyard.

As Duan Rong stepped outside, he looked back at Zhang Zheng, who was standing there in a daze, and muttered to himself, "With the modern knowledge system from my nine years of compulsory education, I still can't crush you? Little brat!"

No sooner had Duan Rong left the courtyard than Kong Bin emerged from behind the Old Locust Tree within and came to stand beside Zhang Zheng.

Seeing Kong Bin approach, Zhang Zheng shook his head. "That kid's the sort who won't take oil or salt!"

Kong Bin's hard, stern face showed not the slightest expression. He knew full well how adept Zhang Zheng was at dealing with people—if there was even the tiniest crack, Zhang Zheng could pry it open. It seemed Duan Rong was harder to handle than expected.

Kong Bin said, "No rush. We'll find another chance to test him."

Over the next few days, Zhang Zheng kept trying to get close to Duan Rong. He even went to the latrine with him when Duan Rong got up in the middle of the night, yet every attempt, without exception, ran into a wall.

Duan Rong was as slippery as a loach. He merely laughed things off with him, never letting a single word land on anything concrete.

Meanwhile, Duan Rong redoubled his cultivation, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

April 8th was almost here. Though he was confident, he could not afford to be careless.

Duan Rong cultivated every day, and each day passed in a full and satisfying way.

Today was already April 7th, and tomorrow would be the assessment on April 8th. Even though Duan Rong had lived two lives, he still felt a little excited when he thought about it.

After finishing work at the Horse Stable, Duan Rong first went to the well in the courtyard to wash himself.

The weather was gradually warming, and with Duan Rong practicing so diligently, he would occasionally feel overheated.

Duan Rong had just finished washing and was still standing there bare-assed when Zhang Zheng and Kong Bin came over.

Duan Rong glanced at the expressionless Kong Bin behind Zhang Zheng, slightly surprised.

Zhang Zheng smiled. "Brother Rong, tomorrow is the assessment. Brother Kong and I scraped together some money. Let's go to a restaurant and have a good meal, to rally our spirits for tomorrow's assessment! Would Brother Rong honor us with your company?"

Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat. These little milk-drinkers haven't even grown dark hair on their balls, and they want to play a Hongmen Banquet with me? I sold insurance for ten years—what kind of scene haven't I seen?

Zhang Zheng and Kong Bin had been scraping by at the bottom rung and thus looked somewhat mature, but they were only fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys at the end of the day. In Duan Rong's eyes, they were indeed immature. Before they even stuck out their asses, he could guess whether they were about to take a shit.

Seeing that Duan Rong did not answer, Kong Bin finally forced out a trace of a smile. "If we get selected as apprentices, we'll be fellow disciples from then on. When we're out in the martial world, we should look out for one another. Don't you think so, Brother Rong?"

Looking at Kong Bin's smile that did not reach his eyes, Duan Rong smiled. "The two of you scraped together silver, but my pockets have long been empty. How could I possibly eat off the two of you for free?"

"Eat for free?"

Zhang Zheng's expression had already turned awkward. Neither he nor Kong Bin was well-off; putting together a table of food would nearly clean out their savings. He had been hoping Duan Rong would contribute a little too, lightening their burden somewhat.

He had not known before, but over the past few days, he had noticed that Duan Rong ate either donkey-meat flatbread or lamb offal soup every day, never going a day without meat. Duan Rong was clearly better off than he and Kong Bin, yet this bastard actually wanted to shamelessly eat for free!

But Kong Bin was clearly more decisive than Zhang Zheng. "No matter! Brother Rong's presence alone would honor us! At Xu Hour, Third Quarter tonight, us brothers will be waiting at the little restaurant on the street corner! See you there!"

After saying that, Kong Bin turned and left.

Seeing Kong Bin leave, Zhang Zheng said "See you there" to Duan Rong before turning to catch up with him.

Duan Rong watched their retreating backs and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Though he had meat every day, his recent training had been so intense that he was still finding it hard to keep up.

Just last night, he had been thinking that it would be nice if he could feast again like he had on the day he met Yang Zhen.

Who would have thought that just as he grew sleepy, someone would bring him a pillow?

He refused to believe that two little milk-drinkers whose ball hair had not even fully grown could stir up any waves.

By Xu Hour, Third Quarter, the sky had already darkened. Xiangu County could not be called prosperous. Most shops shut their doors once night fell, and only scattered points of light remained along the streets, mostly from restaurants, brothels, and gambling dens.

A small restaurant stood on the street corner before the Yuan Shun Escort Agency. Several dim oil lamps were lit inside, not even covered with lantern shades. Whenever the night wind swept through the hall, it made the candle flames sway wildly, pulling the shadows of the drinkers this way and that, like a horde of demons dancing in frenzy.

This little restaurant targeted diners from the lower classes. Its decor was shabby, and the tables and chairs were greasy, but the prices were affordable, the portions generous, and the food rich in oil and salt. They had proper Rice Wine, of course, as well as inferior watered-down liquor; only the prices differed.

Yet even a place like this was not somewhere just anyone could afford to eat!

Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng sat at a table in the corner. They had ordered a bowl of bland, inferior liquor and were drinking it dry, their eyes repeatedly flicking toward the restaurant entrance.

"That brat isn't playing us, is he?" Zhang Zheng asked unhappily. During this recent stretch, he had been given more than enough cold shoulders by Duan Rong, to the point of developing a psychological shadow.

The moment Zhang Zheng's words fell, a figure entered the restaurant.

It was Duan Rong!

After this period of training and nutritional meals, Duan Rong's body had visibly grown sturdier.

His frame had never been small. Though he was not particularly tall, he gave off an impression of compact strength.

Duan Rong had a square face, slicked-back hair, dark skin, and plain clothes, yet his face radiated a certain seasoned confidence.

The moment Duan Rong entered, one sweep of his eyes found Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng. He walked over, gave a slight fist-and-palm salute, then took his seat. "Sorry to have kept you two waiting."

"Not at all. We only just arrived ourselves." Kong Bin still wore his standard fake smile.

Duan Rong dearly wanted to tell him that his skin-deep smile looked even uglier than his stern face, but since he was eating off someone else today, he ultimately held it in.

"Waiter, bring the dishes!" Zhang Zheng shouted over his shoulder at an Old Man behind him who was straining liquor at the neighboring table.

The Old Man's face was full of wrinkles, and muddy sweat covered him. He turned back and answered.