"I treated you pretty well, didn't I..."
As daylight faded, Yang Ge sat beside the firepit and used a branch to rake two watermelon-sized balls of mud out from beneath the fire. "I waited until the chickens were cooked before inviting your venerable self down."
Squatting opposite him, Zhang Xuansu wore a dark expression and said nothing.
Yang Ge gave him a sidelong glance. "Not eating?"
Zhang Xuansu's face remained dark. "I am!"
Yang Ge smiled, cracked one of the mud balls with the branch, and carefully peeled back the lotus leaves inside. The aroma of chicken instantly wafted out.
He picked up two fresh lotus leaves beside him, used them to cradle the Beggar's Chicken, and offered it to Zhang Xuansu with both hands.
Zhang Xuansu accepted the Beggar's Chicken. Ignoring the heat, he twisted off a plump, tender drumstick and tore a great mouthful from it sideways. With his mouth burning, he muttered, "When someone showers you with kindness for no reason, he's either a scoundrel or a thief!"
Yang Ge cracked open the other mud ball, peeled back the lotus leaves, and tore a large mouthful from a drumstick of his own. "This is called courtesy before force."
"This is your courtesy?"
Zhang Xuansu angrily waved the drumstick bone in his hand.
Yang Ge said helplessly, "I'd have liked to bring something else, but with all your wealth and holdings, I honestly couldn't think of anything more sincere than this."
Zhang Xuansu's expression eased slightly at that... never mind anything else; the fact that this brat was willing to say a few gentle words to him today made him feel much better.
Without a word, he concentrated on the Beggar's Chicken before him.
Seeing that the old man refused to take the hint, Yang Ge had to