Yang Ge slept soundly in the bright, warm spring sunshine outside the inn's entrance. Little Yellow lay beside his rocking chair, sleeping with him. Their two steady snores, one loud and one soft, made Zhao Miao feel especially at ease behind the counter.
In the front hall, Xiao Baoqi, who had been playing mahjong listlessly, craned his neck to glance at Yang Ge. Suddenly, he pushed his tiles away and said with a bored air, "I'm done. This is no fun..."
Flea and Hooligan followed his gaze toward the entrance and sighed in unison.
Only Dog Shit looked left and right in utter bewilderment.
Xiao Baoqi toyed with a mahjong tile and pondered for a moment, then put it down, rose, and tiptoed toward the counter.
Seeing this, the other layabouts all stopped shuffling their tiles and turned their eyes toward him.
"Second Shopkeeper."
Xiao Baoqi crept up to the counter and leaned against it, lowering his voice with a worried look. "Second Master can't keep going on like this..."
Yang Ge had always been a layabout, but at least he had once made a flavorful life of it, spending his days studying how to grow vegetables and cook, then drinking and playing mahjong in his spare time.
Ever since Old Shopkeeper passed away, however, it was as though someone had drained all his spirit out of him. He was listless all day long. He no longer grew vegetables, cooked anything delicious, drank, or played mahjong. All he did was bask in the sun and sleep. Even an old man with one foot in the grave had more life in him...
Watching him like this every day left them all with a bitter taste in their hearts.
"Thank you for caring."
Zhao Miao pressed her lips together, then replied softly