Chapter 54: Earth Online with Many Flaws

"Please, Master Wang, lead the way."

After some thought, Zhang Jie decided to attend the banquet.

"Scholar Xie, Master Chen, please."

Master Wang, pleased with the affirmative reply, led the way ahead.

Zhang Jie and his group followed Master Wang to a private room on the second floor of the inn.

Master Wang’s Haokelai Inn operated as a combined restaurant and lodging establishment.

Zhang Jie and Wu Song had been staying these past days in a quiet courtyard behind the inn.

" Xiao Cui, instruct the kitchen to serve the dishes."

After Zhang Jie and the others were seated, Master Wang instructed the inn’s waiter.

"Yes."

The waiter, dressed in gray clothes and gray pants, with a white towel draped over his shoulder, departed obediently.

Soon after, the waiter began serving the dishes in orderly fashion.

"Master Zhang, Master Chen, try this dish of braised beef."

Master Wang enthusiastically introduced tonight’s signature dish.

"Wow, I’ve long heard Haokelai’s braised beef is unmatched,

but for the past few days there was no beef available, so I couldn’t savor it.

Who would’ve thought tonight I’d finally get my fill?"

Chen Wen yun clucked in amazement.

"Thanks to Master Wang, we’ve also had our fill tonight."

Zhang Jie smiled as well.

In Water Margin, whenever a hero enters a restaurant or inn, he loudly shouts:

"Waiter! Bring a pot of wine and two catties of braised beef!"

And no matter when, the waiter always swiftly delivers the braised beef.

After the hero eats and drinks his fill, he always tosses down a silver ingot and declares grandly: "Keep the change."

In reality, since ancient times, oxen have been vital labor animals.

In ordinary farming households, oxen were more important than sons or daughters.

Sons and daughters could be reborn, but if an ox died,

the whole family lost their livelihood and might starve to death.

Ancient dynasties truly based themselves on agriculture—clothing, food, shelter, and travel all came from farmers and land.

Oxen were the primary power source for ancient farming, equivalent to modern tractors.

Without oxen plowing, land could not be effectively cultivated,

grain yields would plummet drastically, directly affecting people’s livelihood and state stability.

Therefore, protecting oxen meant protecting agricultural productivity.

Thus, protection of oxen has always been taken extremely seriously since ancient times.

The ancients said: "A field without an ox is like a boat without an oar—it cannot cross."

The Book of Rites from the Western Zhou dynasty stated: "No feudal lord shall kill an ox without cause."

Except during necessary sacrifices or alliances, feudal lords were bound by ritual law to refrain from killing oxen casually.

Emperor Taizong Li Shimin once issued an edict: "The ox serves as the foundation of farming; excessive slaughter deeply violates compassion."

The Tang Code Commentary, Volume "Stables and Storehouses Law," stipulates: "Anyone who kills an ox without reporting it shall be sentenced to one year of penal servitude."

Illegally slaughtering an ox was nearly equivalent in punishment to a government official’s embezzlement and exile.

The Great Song enforced ox protection even more strictly than Tang law.

The Song Criminal Code stipulated: "We have deliberated: from now on, anyone who steals and kills official or private horses, oxen, or other livestock,

or secretly slaughters them out of grudge or hatred, shall be charged with theft and murder."

Any act harming an ox was to be punished as a serious crime.

Only oxen that died of old age or illness were permitted to be sold for beef.

The Great Song also required that if an ox died of old age or illness, it must be reported to the government,

and only after official confirmation could it be slaughtered; otherwise, it was illegal.

The common trope in outlaw tales of heroes ordering two catties of beef—

was in fact pure fiction; secretly eating beef carried severe punishment, let alone selling it.

In 21st-century terms, oxen were nearly as protected as some species of black-and-white photograph-only bears.

"Master Wang, where did this beef come from?"

Chen Wen yun asked curiously.

"Haha, this is a curious story: today, outside the city, in Li Family Village,

an ox fell into a pond and drowned."

Master Wang, who had already prepared his story, smiled.

"Drowned?"

Chen Wen yun, a shrewd man, knew this was unlikely to be so simple.

But he had no moral scruples and did not press further.

Zhang Jie smiled silently: this so-called drowning—was it an accident, or was it made to look like one?

What the law prescribed was one thing; what people actually did was another.

Above, policy; below, countermeasures.

The government forbids slaughtering oxen—so what if the ox "accidentally" drowned, broke its leg, or fell to its death?

Wu Song, with his experience in the martial world, understood this well.

As for Pan Jinlian, she was not present.

Although Zhang Jie had no objection to her appearing in public,

since all those present were men, she had no reason to join them.

"Drink, drink."

Master Wang continued smiling, picking up the wine pot to pour for Zhang Jie and the others.

"Fine wine!"

Chen Wen yun raised his cup and drained it in one gulp, then praised it.

"Haha, this is twenty-year-old Shaoxing Nuerhong. Master Chen and Master Zhang are pleased, that’s all that matters."

Master Wang smiled as he introduced it.

"Indeed, fine wine."

Zhang Jie also raised his cup, drank, and felt the wine smooth and mild, rich and soothing.

Zhang Jie and Chen Wen yun both drank their cups, but Wu Song held his cup, hesitating.

"Why doesn’t the mighty Wu drink?"

Seeing Wu Song Chichi not drinking, Chen Wen yun asked in surprise.

According to his knowledge, Wu Song was a man who loved wine.

"Er..."

Wu Song rubbed the tiny cup—smaller than his thumb—and spoke hesitantly.

Zhang Jie suddenly understood:

Wu Song on Jingyang Ridge once downed eighteen bowls of "Three Bowls Won’t Cross the Ridge" in one go.

Now, forcing him to use this tiny cup—he’s not getting any satisfaction!

Wu Song: Is this cup meant for raising fish?

"Waiter, please bring a larger wine cup."

Zhang Jie said to the attendant standing nearby.

"For Scholar Xie, how could there be any trouble?"

The waiter, aware of Zhang Jie’s scholar status, happily went to fetch a larger cup.

"Ah, I see."

Seeing Zhang Jie’s action, Chen Wen yun and Master Wang finally understood.

"This old man was unprepared—please, Mighty Wu, don’t take offense."

Master Wang quickly rose to his feet and apologized to Wu Song.

He knew little of Wu Song’s fame as the tiger-slayer and cared little for it.

No matter how strong Wu Song was, would he dare kill him in Jinan City?

But Wu Song was currently Zhang Jie’s favored man; offending him

would surely damage his standing in Zhang Jie’s eyes.

He didn’t want to flatter and end up kicking a horse’s leg.

"Master Wang, no need for this."

Wu Song generously helped the bowing Master Wang to his feet.

These past days, with Zhang Jie’s provincial examination as the priority, he had not drunk a drop while serving as bodyguard.

Wang Laoban naturally didn’t know his drinking habits—ignorance is no crime!

Teng deng~

The quick-footed waiter swiftly brought a massive wine cup.

“Wu Zhuangshi, please.”

Feeling guilty, Wang Laoban eagerly filled Wu Song’s cup to the brim.

Wu Song raised the cup—equivalent to five or six of Zhang Jie’s—and drained it in one gulp.

“This wine has power!”

The moment the wine touched his tongue, Wu Song’s eyes brightened.

This twenty-year-old Shaoxing Nü’er Hong was far superior to the wine he’d drunk at Jingyang Gang and other places.

Hearing Wu Song’s praise of the wine, Zhang Jie’s thoughts instantly returned to the memory of Wu Song fighting the tiger at Jingyang Gang.

He recalled the absurd ideas of 21st-century netizens:

Tiger: Song, when you read this letter,

I’m now a Class-One Protected Animal. If you hit me again, you’ll have to step on the sewing machine.

Time flies—I’ve been gone from that hillside for hundreds of years.

I eat well, sleep well, and no longer worry about someone attacking me at night.

Oh, by the way, I’ve had a litter of cubs. Maybe we can introduce you sometime.

Song, I miss you. Tonight’s wind blows just as heart-stirring as it did the night we first met at Jingyang.

The only difference is, I’ll never see you again.

The tree wishes stillness, but the wind won’t cease; the tiger’s hide itches, but Song is gone.

How I wish you’d come back to see me—even just one glance. If you come, no matter how far, I’ll wait for you.

Over these centuries, I’ve thought long and hard. Let me ask you one final question:

“Song, if you hadn’t drunk that night, would you still have fought me?”

Wu Song, caught off guard, burst into tears:

“Tiger, I apologize. That night, I drank too much.

But without alcohol, I wouldn’t have had the courage to face you.

If I’d drunk even one cup less, I wouldn’t have dared meet you…”

“Excellency, is the food not to your taste?”

Seeing Zhang Jie distracted, Wang Laoban asked anxiously.

“The food and wine Wang Laoban arranged are excellent. I was just lost in thought.”

Zhang Jie, snapping back, offered a casual excuse.

“Excellency, please.”

Wang Laoban poured Zhang Jie another cup of wine.

“Please.”

After drinking, Zhang Jie sank again into memory.

The 21st-century “Earth Online” had many flaws, such as:

1. No custom appearance options.

2. Gold earned too slowly.

3. Sleep system always failed to load at night.

4. Butt had a crack that wouldn’t close—smelled awful.

5. Asian server players were too grindy, ruining the experience; daily rewards worse than European or American servers.

6. The once-rare item “Bachelor’s Degree Certificate” is now everywhere.

Stats inflated too fast—no real game experience left.

7. A foreign language pack had been downloading for over a decade without finishing.

8. Mainland servers didn’t allow painless account deletion.

But it was still the place he’d lived in for years.

Could he truly say he felt no nostalgia?

“Too bad—I can’t go back,” Zhang Jie said, his expression dimming.

That night, Zhang Jie, deliberately not using his Qi to dispel the alcohol, got drunk for the first time in the Water Margin world…