Chapter 372: My Treat
Zheng Daniu pursed his lips and grumbled, "What's so great about flour noodles? They're just flour, aren't they? I don't want flour noodles; I want lamb."
The shopkeeper looked utterly exasperated. "But I can't just serve you a bowl brimming with lamb! My humble shop would go bankrupt!"
The other five soldiers burst out laughing. "Big Brother Daniu, come on, stop teasing him! The shopkeeper will go broke!"
Their boisterous laughter and chatter drew the attention of Zao Ying, who was just passing the shop's entrance.
Hearing the commotion, Zao Ying glanced inside. Seeing that it wasn't her own cavalry unit causing the ruckus, she felt a subtle sense of relief. With that, she settled in to watch the unfolding spectacle.
Zheng Daniu, looking utterly perplexed, asked, "Adding more lamb, but no noodles – will that really lose you money?"
The shopkeeper pulled a long face. "Of course, it will! Lamb is incredibly expensive. In good years, a pound of lamb here would cost around 80 copper coins. But now, in this year of widespread calamity, a pound has soared to 800! Only because Gao Family Village sent us so much flour recently has the price dropped back to 400 copper coins a pound... If I add just a few thin slices of lamb to a bowl of lamb noodles, that bowl alone costs fifty copper coins. If I add any more, I'll lose everything I own."
Zheng Daniu, still looking utterly clueless, turned to the grenadiers beside him. "Huh? How many taels of silver is four hundred copper coins?"
One of them chuckled. "Four *qian*."
The others exchanged helpless glances.
There was simply no normal way to communicate with this lovable oaf.
Zheng Daniu reached into his tunic and pulled out a truly enormous silver ingot. He slapped it down on the table with a resounding *thud*. It was at least five taels, a weighty chunk of metal. "Shopkeeper," he declared, thumping the table again, "take this ingot! Bring us as many pounds of lamb as it's worth. And for heaven's sake, don't try to pad it out with those noodles!"
Silence fell over the table.
The shopkeeper was utterly dumbfounded. *Is this the kind of spending power a common soldier has? If it weren't for that uniform, I'd swear you were a high-ranking official.*
One of the grenadiers leaned in and whispered, "Big Brother Daniu, even with money, you shouldn't spend it so wildly! That much silver is enough to buy a beautiful maidservant. It's really too much just to treat us to a meal."
Zheng Daniu burst into hearty laughter. "Buy a maidservant? Aren't you afraid the Heavenly Lord would box your ears for that? Besides, even if the Heavenly Lord allowed it, I wouldn't want a maidservant; you can't *eat* them. I just want to eat well and be happy; I don't care about anything else!"
"Pfft!" A woman's laugh suddenly echoed from the shop entrance.
Everyone looked up at the sound, only to find Zao Ying standing at the doorway, holding her horse's reins. No one knew how long she'd been listening there, but it wasn't until her laugh finally escaped that they noticed her.
Zheng Daniu waved enthusiastically at Zao Ying. "Instructor Zao! If you see it, you get a share! Come eat lamb with us, it's my treat!"
Zao Ying let out a hearty laugh, then strode in and sat down beside Zheng Daniu with an air of confident ease. "You just said you don't want a maidservant?" she chuckled. "Why not?"
Zheng Daniu blinked. "You can't eat them, can you?"
A peculiar smile spread across Zao Ying's face. "Well, for men, maidservants *can* be 'eaten' in a certain way."
Zheng Daniu shook his head vehemently. "No, no! I don't eat human flesh!"
Zao Ying now realized for certain that the man genuinely didn't grasp the innuendo. A flicker of amusement brightened her eyes. "Daniu," she said, "you must be one of the original villagers from Gao Family Village, eh?"
Zheng Daniu chuckled. "That's right! I arrived very early. Aside from Gao Family Village's first forty-two residents, the next ones were us from Zheng Family Village, Zhong Family Village, and Wang Family Village. I even helped when Gao Family Village built its city gate back then. I cut wood for sculptors to make statues, and I even drove a public solar car! Hahaha, that was years ago."
Zao Ying nodded. "No wonder you're so wealthy! The Heavenly Lord's blessings must have been abundant back then. I bet you have plenty more large ingots like that, which is why you spend money so lavishly, isn't it?"
Zheng Daniu boomed, "Many? Not at all! I only had that one ingot, and I just spent it all! I have no money left now, ha ha ha ha!"
The others stared, wide-eyed.
The five grenadiers he was treating instantly looked awkward. *After all that bluster, Big Brother Daniu is actually poorer than us? We have more than just a single ingot's worth of silver! Is the poorest man among us actually treating everyone?*
Zao Ying's eyes widened. "Your money? Where did it all go?"
Zheng Daniu rubbed his stomach contentedly and grinned. "Eating!"
Again, silence.
Just then, the shopkeeper arrived, setting a large platter of sliced lamb on their table with a decisive *thud*. Zheng Daniu didn't even bother with chopsticks; he simply reached out, grabbed a piece of lamb, and shoved it into his mouth. "Wow, delicious, delicious!" he mumbled, chewing happily.
"Don't just eat it plain like that! Dip it in some sauce!"
"Hey! You're spilling broth all over your clothes!"
Watching his unrestrained manner, Zao Ying couldn't help but burst into laughter. *What a wonderfully straightforward and spirited fellow!*
She wasn't one of those delicate, demure maidens who favored frail scholars. On the contrary, she found herself drawn to the robust and open-hearted demeanor of men like Zheng Daniu. Seeing his unrestrained feasting, she too reached out, grabbed a generous piece of lamb, and popped it into her mouth. "Hahahaha!" she roared, "Eating meat like this, it's truly exhilarating!"
Zheng Daniu beamed. "Hahahaha, Instructor Zao, you're a straightforward one too! Come, come, eat plenty!"
His right hand still clutched a piece of lamb, but his left casually reached out and settled onto Zao Ying's shoulder.
The other five grenadiers all exchanged peculiar glances. *Even if Instructor Zao has a rather... imposing presence, one that makes it hard to distinguish between male and female at first glance, everyone still knows she's a woman! If you just reach out and touch her like that, and she cries out 'Assault!', wouldn't that be a terrible situation?*
Their worries, however, proved entirely unfounded. Zao Ying didn't care in the slightest. She threw her head back and laughed loudly. "Daniu, you're very much to my liking! Come, let's drain this bowl!"
"Whoa, we're on a mission, we can't drink alcohol! Even *I* know that, and I'm a bit of a simpleton."
"It's not wine, it's tea."
"Ah, that's alright then."
The two clinked their bowls together with a hearty *clack*, then tilted their heads back and poured the contents of their large tea bowls down their throats. The sight of them both, mouths wide, guzzling the tea with such abandon, was genuinely startling.
Zao Ying, still munching on lamb, asked with a grin, "Tell me, Daniu, you've spent all your money—are you not planning to take a wife?"
Zheng Daniu just chuckled. "There's no maiden I fancy, and no maiden fancies me."
Zao Ying raised an eyebrow. "A fine man like you, and no woman takes a liking? Are they all blind?"
The five grenadiers instantly broke into a cold sweat. *Instructor Zao, *your* eyes must be the blind ones! Daniu, this lovable oaf, was personally graced with the title 'Idiot' by the Heavenly Lord himself, and now he's squandered all his money! Who in their right mind would ever want him?*
Comments