"Someone I knew, at that?" Cui Jiuyang frowned again. Recalling the result of his earlier divination, he carefully reviewed the handful of people he had met since arriving a hundred years in the past, but could not think of anyone who might be an Evil Cultivator.
Could it be someone who had concealed themselves so deeply that I never discovered their true nature?
Still, there was no need to dwell on it now. He only needed to wait quietly, and the Evil Cultivator would appear to sustain Li Rulin's life.
Cui Jiuyang thoroughly enjoyed his breakfast.
He had to admit that the service at the Li Family mansion was attentive indeed. Even the kitchen's fried dough crêpes were every bit as good as those from the famous shops outside.
The crêpes were made from pure mung bean flour, thin yet unbroken and an enticing golden yellow. The fried dough sticks inside were freshly fried, crisp and wonderfully fragrant.
The portions were generous, too. Each stuffed crêpe was as thick as an ordinary dictionary. Cui Jiuyang had to stretch his mouth wide, almost as though his jaw would come unhinged, to bite through both the crêpe and the fried dough in one go.
With that bite, the delicate fragrance of mung beans, the rich aroma of fried dough, the savory bean sauce, the mellow fermented bean curd, and the freshness of scallions and cilantro burst across his tongue. Throughout the long chewing, from the first bite until he slowly swallowed, that mingled fragrance filled his mouth, accompanied by the distinctive chewiness of the soft crêpe and the wonderful crunch of the fried dough, leaving a lingering savor.
After breakfast, an enthusiastic Zhang Yuanbao dragged Cui Jiuyang out to explore Tianjin.
As expected of a wealthy young man raised in a grand