Chapter 44-1: Reliable Guard
With hot water for bathing and delicious hot food to eat,
the accommodations at the inn felt like heaven compared to the hardships they
endured in the ruined temple. After a restful night's sleep, Luo Sheng felt
rejuvenated as she stepped out of her room. Sheng Sanlang was already waiting
outside, though he seemed weary with dark shadows under his eyes.
"Biaoge, you didn't sleep well?" Luo Sheng asked.
Sheng Sanlang quickly denied: "How could I not sleep
well? I slept soundly last night." He hadn't expected his Biaomei to look
so energetic. It made him appear incapable of handling any problem at all.
Quietly glancing at the girl's fair and ruddy face, Sheng
Sanlang sighed in admiration. After all, Biaomei is someone who could remove
Kaiyang Wang's belt without even flinching. She can keep her composure better
than him when things go awry.
Luo Sheng was indeed calmer than Sheng Sanlang. Even after
experiencing resurrection from death and facing the annihilation of her family,
she managed to keep herself composed. Compared to what she had endured, the
events at the ruined temple yesterday seemed insignificant.
"Biaoge, where do you plan to have breakfast?"
Concerned about the shock Sheng Sanlang had experienced the previous day, Luo
Sheng felt a need to do something to compensate the young man who had been
innocently dragged into the ordeal.
"Let's just have breakfast in the inn's hall. Once we
finish, we can head to the escort bureau to hire some guards and continue our
journey while it's still early. That way, we can reach the next town before
dark," Sheng Sanlang suggested.
Luo Sheng nodded, agreeing, "Then let's eat here in the
inn."
As they entered the hall, they noticed that many people were
already seated, enjoying their meals. The tantalizing scents of scallion pancakes
sprinkled with sesame seeds, golden fried glutinous rice balls, noodle soup
with red oil, and the clear and white yangchun noodles filled the air, lifting
the spirits of the weary and pale-looking Sheng Sanlang.
"Biaomei, let's sit by the window," Sheng Sanlang
said.
With only five people left in their group, they disregarded
any sense of hierarchy[1]
and chose to sit together at a table by the window. Soon, a variety of food was
served.
Luo Sheng ordered a bowl of yangchun noodles and ate slowly.
The noodles had only a pinch of scallions added, and the soup seemed
perfunctory, lacking in flavor and taste.
Sheng Sanlang also ordered the same noodles and couldn't
help but frown as he tried them with his chopsticks. This noodle is rather
unpalatable.
Observing Luo Sheng quietly, he noticed that even though she
was eating slowly, she had already consumed more than half of the bowl.
Curious, he asked, "What do you think of this noodle, Biaomei?"
Luo Sheng dabbed the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief
and replied concisely: "It doesn't taste good."
Sheng Sanlang fell silent and continued eating. As long the
problem wasn't with his own sense of taste, then it’s fine. Sheng Sanlang
decided to eat the noodles despite their unpleasant taste. He couldn't afford
to be picky, especially when Biaomei, a girl, was not complaining and eating
the noodles without a fuss.
"When we arrive at my home, I'll prepare noodles for
Biaoge," Luo Sheng said softly, observing the young man burying his head
in the unappetizing noodles. She felt a sense of responsibility to comfort
Sheng Sanlang with delicious food, as he had suffered an undeserved disaster
due to the assassination attempt aimed at her.
Lifting his face from the bowl, Sheng Sanlang's eyes
sparkled with excitement. "Really?" he asked eagerly. "Of
course, I won't lie to Biaoge," Luo Sheng reassured him.
With the beggar pork knuckles he had eaten before as a
guarantee, Sheng Sanlang had no doubts about this promise and said happily,
"Then I don't want yangchun noodles. I want a dish with meat, preferably
pork belly!"
Luo Sheng pondered momentarily and smiled, saying, " Then
I'll make the saozi[2]
noodles with fatty pork belly."
"Slurp——" Sheng Sanlang swallowed down a mouthful
of tasteless yangchun noodles, trying to ignore their lack of flavor.
Suddenly, a young man's voice echoed in the hall, "I
want two bowls of yangchun noodles and eight scallion pancakes."
The voice sounded strangely familiar, leaving a deep impression on him. He turned to look, and his eyes widened in surprise. No wonder the voice sounded familiar— it belonged to Kaiyang Wang's guard, who wanted to buy a beggar pork knuckle from him!
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