Rain poured down in the streets amid flashes of lightning and peals of thunder.
Inside the Welcome Inn, the hubbub was as lively as ever. Drinking contests and mahjong games blended into a chorus like insects calling on a summer night.
Zhao Cha stood behind Xiao Baoqi, intently studying his mahjong techniques. Her two paws kept fishing out an osmanthus cake here and a handful of melon seeds there, and her little mouth never stopped munching...
She had only been at the inn for three or four months, but her little face had visibly rounded out. Her once-pretty, oval face had even developed baby fat.
Holding a bamboo basket in one hand and an oil-paper umbrella in the other, Yang Ge walked from the kitchen into the front hall.
Zhao Cha sniffed. Following the aroma, her gaze landed on the steaming clay pot in his basket, and she drifted toward him without thinking. "Second Brother, what delicious thing did you cook? It smells so good!"
Yang Ge glanced at her. "Watch the inn. I'm heading out."
"Hey, hey, hey..."
Zhao Cha blocked his way, her gaze fixed on the clay pot in the basket. "It's windy and raining outside. Where are you going?"
Yang Ge impatiently nudged her aside with his umbrella. "The old innkeeper's been upset these past few days and hasn't been sleeping well. I'm going over... there's more in the pot. Help yourself if you want some!"
Zhao Cha swallowed and nodded like a garlic pounder. "Oh, okay! Come back soon!"
The layabouts in the front hall chimed in with nonsense like, "Go without worry, Second Master! Nothing will go missing with us here," "Hurry back, we're waiting to welcome you home," and "We can't go home today anyway. Let's battle until dawn!"
Yang Ge couldn't be