Chapter 78: Eighty-one, Another Fortune

Eighty-one, Another Fortune

Yunshui Pavilion, outside the back door of the kitchen, in a small alley.

Ouyang Rong stopped, turned around to prepare to return, and caught a glimpse of the black shadows lying in the dirty water in the dark corner at the end of the alley.

The young man in snow-white robes stopped, grabbed a small handful of copper coins from his arms, walked over, and squatted down in front of this group of black shadows that smelled of wine.

"The money isn't much, but you can buy two full meals first. There is a disaster relief camp by the Ten-Mile Pavilion in the outskirts. Report Liu Ashan's name, and they will let you in. They distribute porridge twice a day.

"Those with convenient hands and feet can go to dig the new river channel and save some wages. After the Zhe Yiqu is repaired, there will be many new livelihoods along the banks.

"Those with... inconvenient hands and feet, find the minor officials in the disaster relief camp, and they will send you to the Northern Field Relief Garden of Donglin Temple. That place is quite good.

"Also... quit drinking."

Ouyang Rong divided the copper coins into four portions and stuffed them into the hands of the four beggars who were either stunned or numb. He stood up and returned the same way to Yunshui Pavilion.

Except for a beggar whose right forearm was broken, the other three beggars knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the back of the young man in snow-white robes, then ran out of the alley with joy on their faces.

The remaining one-armed beggar was a young man of unremarkable appearance, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.

He had disheveled hair, and his specific expression couldn't be seen. One could only see that between his dirty, drooping black hair, the corners of his mouth were drooping, and his upper lip was very thin.

The young man with drooping corners of his mouth grabbed the only copper coins, climbed up silently from the ground, his right sleeve empty, and swayed toward the alley entrance.

Arriving at the alley entrance in the sunlight, the one-armed beggar didn't head to the outskirts like the three beggars just now. He didn't stop at all, turned left, ignored the disgusted gazes on the street, and walked into the gate of the wine tower hanging with the plaque "Yunshui Pavilion" again.

"Go, go, go."

The waiter put the long towel on his shoulder and waved his hand to drive people away, but the next moment, he was hit in the face by a small handful of copper coins.

"Osmanthus Wine."

The one-armed beggar said hoarsely, not looking back, and walked toward the noisy main hall.

"Hey, you rascal..."

The waiter was about to get angry, but discovered that the beggar had thrown money, so he hurriedly squatted down, counted the copper coins, and didn't forget to shout toward the counter, "Got it, two jars of Osmanthus Wine."

Several strong men maintaining order at the door saw this and let him in.

The one-armed young man ignored them, stumbled into the corner of the main hall, found a long bench with an empty seat, squeezed in without ceremony, his body swaying as he sat down. The people next to him saw this and hurriedly got up, afraid of being dirtied, cursing "bad luck."

The guests at the table all cleared out, leaving while cursing.

The dirty and tattered young man was numb and ignored them.

His left arm was propped on his knee, his upper body tilted forward, his head buried low, and his long, oily, dirty hair hung down to the ground by his broken shoes.

The young man had wandered over in a daze from that small island with a peach valley in Yunmeng Ze.

He hadn't bathed for many days, living in a drunken dream, wandering the streets.

He didn't even know where this place was.

Nor did he know if he had walked south or north.

But he was afraid of walking north...

The wine came.

Two jars of familiar Osmanthus Wine.

The one-armed youth stepped on a jug of wine with his left foot, held a jug of wine in his right arm, and tilted his head back to drink heartily.

He didn't see wrong; it was his "right arm" holding the oval wine jar.

The young man's right forearm was broken, and the sleeve was empty.

But this remaining small section protruding from the sleeve was extremely flexible and could do many things, including holding the large wine jar and drinking it gulp by gulp just now.

It looked like he had been accustomed to it for a long time.

Of course, except for not being able to hold a sword.

Moreover, this remaining small section of the young man's right arm was indeed very short, like a piece of dead wood from an old tree growing on a vibrant adult tree.

Compared with the other thick tree trunk, that is, the left arm, this small section of the right arm was very short.

Obviously, this was the result of having his arm broken in childhood, not a new injury.

In the corner on the west side of the main hall, this scene of the one-armed man holding the jar and drinking caused the attention of many tea guests on the west side, who clicked their tongues in wonder.

It was just that the one-armed young man who tilted his head to pour wine turned a deaf ear, letting the light yellow, clear-scented wine overflow from his mouth and nose, washing his face and hair.

He had nothing left.

His beloved sword was lost.

The Qi of a mid-grade Qi-refiner was leaked.

His proud and high-spirited face was gone.

The young man only had the wine that would enter his esophagus and stomach in a moment.

And the dreams that would be tossed and turned and thrown away in a moment.

"Xue Zhongzhu... you are ruthless..."

He seemed to mutter, but unfortunately, he choked on the wine, coughed violently, and his stomach was suddenly grabbed by a big hand, all the wine squeezed out, vomiting all over the table.

The one-armed young man lay on the table, his dirty face pressed against the tabletop, and from time to time, he spat out some acid water like water arrows, just like a stranded, dying goldfish.

However, this was just his stomach twitching, a natural physiological reaction.

The surrounding diners and tea guests saw this, looked disdainful, and didn't care about such a rotten drunkard. There were many such people in the West Market by the Peng Lang Ferry every day.

The one-armed young man lying on the table used his free left hand to fish for the remaining jar of Osmanthus Wine, but unfortunately, when he coughed just now, the wine jar had been kicked over by his right foot and rolled far away.

His short hand couldn't reach it at all.

The young man with drooping corners of his mouth lay on the table with his side face facing the direction of Chang'an, muttering in his mouth:

"Vomit... wine... my wine... Osmanthus Wine... Osmanthus Lady... Osmanthus Lady brews Osmanthus Wine..."

His name was A-Jie, and he was a sword hero.

He came from Chang'an and went to Yunmeng Sword Marsh.

He asked about swords in a valley full of peach blossoms.

In front of hundreds of sword cultivators from the Ten Paths of the world, he was stepped on by a Wu-Yue female cultivator named Xue Zhongzhu and humiliated thoroughly.

Later, he was kicked off the high platform like garbage and had his sword confiscated.

He became a target for this female cultivator of Yunmeng who had a sharper edge than a sword to establish her prestige and make a name for herself.

In the corner of the main hall on the first floor of Yunshui Pavilion, the fallen young man singing Chang'an folk songs in his drunkenness suddenly muttered:

"... Osmanthus Lady... Osmanthus Lady brews Osmanthus Wine... eh... where is the sword... where is my sword..."

The young Magistrate who returned to the window on the second floor didn't know that his private money had been exchanged for two jars of Yunshui Pavilion's signature Osmanthus Wine.

Returning to the table, his first sentence was to Beside Yan Liulang righteously:

"The Northern Field Relief Garden of Donglin Temple, we need to expand and repair it later. The county government should give more support. There are still many homeless injured people in Longcheng."

Beside Yan Liulang, who was looking at the beautiful scenery of the ancient ferry in the sunset outside the window, was stunned and nodded, "Ah, okay, Magistrate. I'll contact Donglin Temple when I go back."

"Alright, let's not talk about official business."

Ouyang Rong nodded, glanced at the table full of dishes, pulled out a pair of chopsticks, and smiled:

"Don't wait for me, everyone. Eat, eat. Use your chopsticks and eat. Don't be polite."

Except for Liu Ashan, who was silent and very obediently pulled out his chopsticks to pick up food, Beside Yan Liulang and Su Dalang looked at each other. The former looked like life was loveless:

"Magistrate, we didn't wait for you. We just tasted it, it's too... too spicy."

The two swallowed their saliva.

The mouth could take it, but the chrysanthemum wouldn't agree.

Ouyang Rong laughed, "Afraid of just this little spiciness? Sigh, you guys are no good."

He glanced at the dishes on the table.

He didn't expect this Yunshui Pavilion to have some hometown dishes he was familiar with in his memory.

Ouyang Rong sniffed, it seemed okay, looking like it had the appearance, with color, fragrance, and taste all complete.

However, there were no chili peppers in this world, and spicy dishes were all made up with Sichuan peppercorns, black pepper, Yue pepper, etc.

So, just this?

This mere little spiciness, not worth mentioning.

"Then you guys order a few more light dishes. I'll take these."

The young Magistrate, whose mouth had been bland for two months, shook his head lightly and ordered faintly.

"It's okay, we'll order a slightly spicy dish, Brother Lianghan can eat together."

Ouyang Rong shook his head, not even lifting his eyelids, and said with no interest:

"My recipe only has 'extra spicy' and 'not spicy'. 'Slightly spicy' is just a clever excuse."

"..." Su Dalang and Beside Yan Liulang.

Subsequently, under the awe-struck gazes of the three people opposite, Ouyang Rong leisurely took a bowl of hot and sour soup, tilted his mouth, and drank it in one gulp.

En, it's time to perform the real... I'll go!

Someone's smile that was tilted suddenly froze.

Beside Yan Liulang, Su Dalang, Liu Ashan, and the guests and maids at the nearby tables who were attracted by Ouyang Rong's domineering gentlemanly speech were all looking at him, who had frozen in his movements, with curious and careful faces.

Ouyang Rong silently put down the hot and sour soup that still had half a bowl left, looked at everyone for a while, and quietly swallowed his saliva.

His lips trembled slightly, but he tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth that were twitching from the spiciness and numbness.

Blinking rapidly, his facial muscles stiffly smiled, and he opened his mouth in a lowered voice:

"Still... still okay. But... just so-so."

Then, under the increasingly strange gazes of everyone, the young Magistrate puffed out his cheeks and went to pick up a few more chopsticks of other dishes. As a result, the more he ate, the more silent he became. In the end, everyone around could hear the "hissing" sound of inhaling cold air.

Just hearing this sound made the melon-eating crowd feel their mouths salivating and spicy.

"Maybe forget it..."

Beside Yan Liulang and the others wanted to speak but stopped. Ouyang Rong glared at them, and they honestly closed their mouths.

Ouyang Rong didn't believe in evil and picked up a few more chopsticks, but after eating to the end, he couldn't help but turn his head, his throat somewhat hoarse:

"Someone, get... get some cold rice."

"..." Everyone.

Ouyang Rong turned his head back, his face forcing a smile: "Still order a few plates of slightly spicy ones, for you... you guys to eat."

Beside Yan Liulang and Su Dalang nodded hurriedly and went to call the maid to add dishes.

Ouyang Rong patted away the warm water that Beside Yan Liulang handed over diligently, glared at him, and turned to drink a mouthful of cold water from the water bag that Ashan carried with him.

The young Magistrate, who had unfortunately added another flavor to his recipe, let out a long sigh of relief.

He looked at the table of dishes with somewhat complicated eyes. Good fellow, the cook of this Yunshui Pavilion has some stuff.

It was actually evenly matched with him.

Before long, the new slightly spicy dishes were finally delivered.

Everyone used their chopsticks again.

Wu, this Nanlong hometown dish is made... could it be that he is also a fellow countryman?

Ouyang Rong, who had recovered, ate with relish with Beside Yan Liulang and the others, secretly thinking in his heart.

After being full of tea and food, Ouyang Rong was the first to put down his chopsticks, just as he was about to engage in some commercial mutual boasting, his body suddenly stiffened slightly, and he couldn't help but look around, his face looking suspicious...

However, he quickly restrained his expression, continued to pick up his chopsticks, and stared at the half plate of leftovers in front of him without speaking.

Beside Yan Liulang and Su Dalang on the side were burying their heads in shoveling rice and didn't notice.

Only Liu Ashan turned to look at the master who was acting slightly strange, but as if he was used to him being lost in thought while eating, the dull man looked away.

Only Ouyang Rong knew that he wasn't lost in thought at the moment, but... somewhat conflicted and embarrassed.

Because there was a vibrator in his mind... no, the Fortune Bell started to tremble again.

It's a new fortune!

And the way the purple shadow was rolling endlessly in front of him, and the degree of the bell's trembling and groaning, was much more intense than last time.

It looked like it consumed quite a lot of merit points...

Here it comes! Sorry, couldn't help but code a bit more, a bit late... cough, shamelessly asking for votes. Good night, everyone!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 79 =====