Chapter 88: The Fool's Son |
"Good!"
"Lord Tang is mighty!"
Cheers rose and fell in succession inside the teahouse, and a large number of copper coins were thrown towards the storyteller.
Since the Duke of Ming Ancestral Hall was built, there had been many legends about Lord Tang from all over the country.
Those who listened felt their blood boil, wishing they could have gone to their deaths together with Lord Tang that night.
Only Chu Xun stood at the door, laughing out loud as he listened.
Although Lord Tang had practiced some flashy moves for a few days, he was a proper civil official.
With a single shout, causing hidden arrows to explode and fly back to kill dozens of people?
You must have drunk too much.
Everyone turned to look, and Chu Xun said, "I think you're exaggerating too much. Lord Tang was a civil official, how could he have such high martial arts."
"He didn't, could it be that you do? Ignorant child, talking nonsense, get out!" The storyteller was instantly enraged.
Chu Xun opened his mouth, but before he could speak, he was pushed out by someone.
"Step aside. At such a young age, you have no tolerance for others. You won't amount to much in the future!"
"Lord Tang's merits overshadow the world, what's wrong with him knowing some formidable martial arts."
"Forget it, forget it. What can a child whose hair hasn't even fully grown understand? Don't waste time with him. Hurry up and tell us, what happened next?"
The storyteller had no time to tell the rest, busy picking up the rewarded copper coins.
Pushed out of the teahouse, Chu Xun's face was full of helplessness.
Thinking about it, he decided to let it go. The people of the world worshipped Lord Tang so much, it wasn't excessive to mythologize him a bit.
It was just that he felt somewhat resentful in his heart. He had merely rejuvenated and become younger, how did that mean he wouldn't amount to much.
"I even drank wine with Lord Tang that night..."
No one cared what he said, all urging the storyteller to stop picking up money and hurry up with the rest of the story.
As a result, the storyteller said, "If you want to know what happened next, please listen to the next chapter."
"Hey, hey, who kicked me?"
Chu Xun looked back at the noisy teahouse and laughed out loud, "A dog who leaves things hanging, deserves to be beaten."
From ancient times to the present, no matter which world, this was an unchanging truth.
Continuing forward, he passed by wine shops, cloth stores, and a brothel whose door was blocked by several women cursing loudly.
Their men had come to the brothel last night and somehow lost over a hundred taels of silver.
Men not being able to control their pants was a common occurrence, but where did the silver go?
Return the money!
Chu Xun stood at the door and watched for a while, really unable to stand the foul language of those few burly women.
The cursing was a bit too crude.
Turning his head and walking not far, a steamed bun shop appeared ahead.
In front of the steamed bun shop stood a young man who wasn't tall, had a well-proportioned figure, and looked very ordinary.
He looked to be in his twenties, selling steamed buns while holding a book to read.
At this time, someone shouted, "Liang Wuyan, your dad soiled his pants again, come over quickly, it stinks to death!"
The young man hurriedly put down his book and ran back to the room behind.
Chu Xun walked over and saw him squatting on the ground, currently taking off the pants of a white-haired old man.
Yellow feces stained the entire pants. The old man, with a crooked mouth and nose, drooling, grabbed his ears like a child.
"S-sorry son, Dad acted foolish again."
Liang Wuyan helped him take off his pants and used an already prepared towel to wipe his body, "It's fine, I'm here."
"They said, said it would be good if I had died of illness together with your mother, otherwise I make things difficult for you by acting foolish every day," the old man said.
Liang Wuyan wasn't angry, just focused on wiping his old dad's body, and said, "Don't listen to their nonsense, I don't feel it's difficult at all."
The shop next door sold rice and flour. The shopkeeper sat at the door, covering his nose with one hand and fanning himself with the other.
"How is it not difficult? If it weren't for your dad being such a burden dragging you down, maybe you would have become an official by now."
His words were harsh, making the old man lower his head, at a loss for what to do.
Drool flowed continuously, soaking the jacket on his chest.
Liang Wuyan had heard such words since he was a child.
He didn't make futile defenses, nor did he get angry pointlessly.
He helped his old dad change his jacket as well, stuffed a clean towel into his collar, and exhorted, "Don't pull the towel down again, this can't be eaten, remember?"
"R-remembered," the old man nodded.
Liang Wuyan took the dirty clothes to the back of the house, skillfully scrubbed them clean, and hung them up to dry.
When he returned, he saw a fair-skinned youth standing in front of the stall and hurriedly ran over.
"Buying steamed buns?"
Chu Xun glanced at the white-haired old man in the room, and then looked at Liang Wuyan's hands.
Both hands were dry and cracked, one look and you could tell it was caused by soaking in water and doing chores year after year.
Liang Wuyan thought he was disgusted by his dirty hands, and hurriedly picked up a clean towel nearby to wipe his hands again, saying, "They are all washed clean, no smell."
The boss of the rice and flour shop shouted with a sneer, "Of course there's no smell, they're thoroughly pickled."
Chu Xun glanced at the boss of the rice and flour shop again, then looked at Liang Wuyan and asked, "Business isn't very good, is it?"
Liang Wuyan said somewhat awkwardly, "It's indeed average."
The people in the city all knew he had a foolish dad who soiled his pants with feces and urine every day.
With these hands of yours wiping feces and then wrapping steamed buns, who would be willing to buy?
Even knowing that Liang Wuyan would wash them very clean every time, they couldn't get past that hurdle in their hearts.
The business of the steamed bun shop was basically supported by people from out of town.
"If you ask me, you should just sell the shop. Your dad is like this every day, making my business worse..."
Before the shopkeeper of the rice and flour shop could finish his words, the stool suddenly sank.
He fell on his butt onto the ground, crying out in pain.
Before he could react, the things in the room tilted and fell, and rice and flour scattered all over the floor.
Frightened, he panicked and scrambled out, crawling and rolling.
Did the earth dragon turn over?
Liang Wuyan looked over, not understanding what was going on.
Chu Xun glanced at the book placed on the stall, a reprinted version of "Shishuo Chaojie" (A New Account of the Tales of the World, Dynasty Explanations), probably considered a history book.
"Like reading? Want to take the imperial examinations for an official rank?" Chu Xun asked.
Liang Wuyan turned his head back, looking at the youth in front of him in astonishment.
He didn't know why, but this youth looked young, yet when he spoke, it gave him the illusion of conversing with an elder.
At such a young age, why so old-fashioned?
Liang Wuyan shook his head and said, "I don't want to be an official, I just like reading."
He paused, hesitated for a moment, and then smiled sheepishly, "If there is a chance, I would like to be a wandering travel writer."
A travel writer was someone whose ambition was to travel and record the local customs, geography, historical sites, and folkways they saw along the way.
Unfortunately, Liang Wuyan was tied down by his old dad and couldn't leave.
Chu Xun nodded and didn't ask any more questions, "Give me a few steamed buns."
"Vegetarian or meat?"
"Either is fine."
Liang Wuyan hurriedly took two of each for him, wrapped them in oil paper, and handed them over.
Chu Xun casually tossed down a tael of silver and said, "The extra is for you to buy a brush and paper. In the future, I want to see what you have recorded."
"H-how can this be allowed!" Liang Wuyan picked up the silver and was just about to chase after him.
But he saw that the youth walked very fast, and in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared without a trace.
[End of Chapter]
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