A-Qing, with her modern sensibilities, made a smart move.
If you run half-assed, you get caught.
That was a lesson many modern stories had taught her.
So, for ten whole days, she slept, ate, and ran.
A-Qing finally relaxed and could return to her newly acquired hobby in the Jianghu: gourmet food.
Ah, the cool aroma of this inn.
It had been a truly long and humiliating time…
As she sat at the table, the server approached. His face was clearly annoyed.
With the seasoned experience of a two-year veteran of Murim life, she now understood the Central Plains' dining etiquette.
In an inn, your seat was important.
The center and window seats were considered the best, and the further away you got, the less valuable the seat. The seats near the back door, leading to the backyard, were the absolute worst.
If you ate cheap, you were supposed to go to a bad seat. That was the inn's unspoken rule.
But A-Qing had brazenly occupied a window seat, bathed in sunlight.
After ten days of running, eating, and sleeping, she looked like hell.
For someone in her state to brazenly take the best seat, it would be weirder if the server's expression were bright.
But all these rules meant nothing in the face of a sword. With the sword resting conspicuously against the table, the server dared not say anything else, only acting with rude indifference.
"What do you want"
"Kekek..."
At that moment, when the server's face crumpled, A-Qing slammed a silver sycee on the table!
"Gasp!"
"Yeah. A silver sycee. Bring me the best and most delicious stuff here. Three of them. Bring me liquor too. The expensive stuff."
"Right away!"
The server took a deep breath.
"THE CUSTOMER HERE HAS ORDERED DONGPA-JANGYUK (a famous braised pork belly dish), YUSANSEUL (extremely popular korean-chinese dish), AND CHOGI-TANGEO (yellow croaker fish soup)! THEY WILL BE HAVING JOGA JUKYEOPCHEONG (bamboo leaf liquor, joga=brand) ON THE SIDE AS WELL!"
The more expensive the order, the louder you had to shout it. It was the waiter's duty.
This customer ordered expensive stuff, everyone!Look here, people of the inn!This person is rich, rich!
From this, one could deduce that the Chinese people's inherent truth, their vulgar materialism, was a characteristic of the continental people passed down from ancient times.
But if you experienced it yourself, you'd know. It felt awesome!
The inn's customers looked at A-Qing with envious eyes.
For example, it was like this:
gasp, dongpa-jangyuk, yusanseul, and even chogi-tangeo!
Oi, oi, how wealthy is this person?!
And then the city's greatest beauty (a paragon of virtue) approaches, handing over a bamboo slip…
"Tsk."
A-Qing frowned. Because the city's greatest beauty (a paragon of virtue) in her imagination was looking down at A-Qing with an expression of contempt.
In Luoyang, A-Qing had certainly enjoyed the eye candy. But not once was there a friendly gaze. I want them to smile for me. Am I selfish?
Just then, the server appeared, very carefully placing the wine and dried snacks down before backing away.
Anyway, A-Qing was in such a good mood that she was acting like a total goof.
A-Qing's good moods usually came from one of three things: Delicious food in front of her. Enjoying a bloody show through a life-or-death battle. Or having a lot of money.
In that sense, the past ten days of escape were well worth it.
The young lady of the Black Shadow Society—A-Qing didn't know her name, but she could tell she was greatly loved by her family. Because parental love sometimes manifested in the form of gold.
And looking at her rudeness and bad karma, it was clear how pampered she had been. This is why family education is so important.
The gold from more than two coffins were enough as a lesson fee for the Black Shadow Association Leader.
That's what happens when you let your kid grow up all twisted; they don't know their place, act cocky, and then die. I hope you raise your other kids well.
At this point, wasn't she on the level of Teacher Oh, the child expert?
But really, there's no proof I killed her, right? I just came to my senses and she was dead. There's also a possibility she wrapped her hair around my hand and then cut her own throat, committing suicide.
So, it's not my fault at all. If anything, I cleared out three pieces of world trash…
"Fuck, this food's taking forever."
A-Qing let out a curse. So, she took a sip of her liquor.
"Gah, this shit's great."
The Central Plains people's love for strong liquor was extraordinary.
The Zhuyeqing in the small, spoonful-sized cup roughly scraped her tongue and throat, then ignited with a fiery burn in her diaphragm.
You say liquor is bitter? To me, it's sweet.
Because Zhuyeqing was naturally sweet.
What, but is it supposed to be this spicy? Is liquor spicy? A-Qing cocked her head.
The spicy aftertaste, tingling, was strange, yet exquisite.
Whatever. I guess that's how it's supposed to be.
As she sipped, the dishes arrived.
Pork, golden brown on the outside.
Soft on the inside and soft on the outside as well.
Some kind of sashimi, served with fried eggplant and vegetables. There was something pale and white in the center, but she didn't know what it was. She missed the gochujang, but the rich sweetness was superb.
A whole steamed fish, some nameless, very large one. The soft flesh, typical of freshwater fish, combined with steaming, made it a pain in the ass to de-bone. Still, it tasted good.
Overall assessment: Excellent. Stamp of approval. A-Qing tasted roughly and nodded.
Now it was time to eat in earnest.
"…"
This pork, it's amazing! When picked up with chopsticks, it held its shape, but melted like shaved ice in her mouth. The meat and fat melted simultaneously, a truly rich, fatty…
"…"
Something pale and white, pudding-like in appearance, with a faint pink hue and even tiny veins. She put it in her mouth, and oh my god, it was truly rich and fatty, but the taste was a bit repetitive. In times like these, cleanse the palate with vegetables…
"…"
Fried eggplant. It was fried eggplant. Delicious. The taste was quite consistent. But…
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…Hey, little kid?"
A-Qing tilted her head. Her meal was being disrupted by the little kid who'd been staring at her from a subtle distance.
About ten years old, maybe?
The child was small and scrawny, almost pitiful.
"Even dogs don't get bothered when they're eating, you know. And staring is violence, violence! Did you think I'd succumb to those innocent eyes? Do you think if you stare pitifully like that, I'll say, 'Here, child, have some of this'?"
"…"
"Ha. This is absurd. If you really thought that, then yes, I am that soft-hearted."
"…?"
Being sad over food was a genuinely sad thing. A-Qing had learned this bitterly through her Jianghu life.
Especially when chewing buns, she had to suppress the urge to slice up the bastards eating fine cuisine next to her. Central Plains buns were just plain bread with no filling.
A-Qing was currently wealthy. She was even wealthier because she didn't think about future wealth at all. And that was a sufficient reason for unwarranted kindness.
"Wanna eat meat?"
"!!!"
The child's eyes widened like saucers.
A-Qing found the sight endearing, so she jabbed a large chunk with her chopsticks and offered it. The child looked at the meat with trembling eyes, then quickly darted glances around, then back at the meat.
The child didn't speak, but her expression did.
It was a look of disbelief, as if wondering how anything could taste this delicious, and betrayal for having lived so long without knowing it.
A single tear rolled down the child's eye.
A-Qing chuckled and outright handed her the chopsticks.
"Here, sit down, yeah, little kid. You know how to use chopsticks, right? Just pick it up and eat it yourself, okay? I'm a cold person who doesn't go easy on kids. You gotta learn to take care of your own stuff from the start."
A-Qing resumed her fierce eating. The child hesitated at first, then, seeing the rapidly dwindling plates of food, resolutely extended her chopsticks.
From then on, there were basically two beggars at the table.
Just then.
"Myeong-ah!"
With a scream, a woman rushed over, crashing clumsily.
A-Qing, being a master, could have easily blocked her. But the woman's expression was so desperate, and her gaze was fixed on the child, so A-Qing let her be.
The woman embraced the child as if snatching her away.
....
"T-Thank you...! Great and Honorable Expert...!"
The middle-aged woman, old enough to be a mother, bowed repeatedly.
Her name was Yang Sowol.
Her gratitude was so overwhelming it was almost burdensome.
"It's nothing, I just thought the kid was cute. Jang Myeong-ah? How old is our Jang Myeong?"
Instead of answering, the child's face flushed, and she averted her gaze.
This kid is really cute.
A-Qing was smiling contentedly when—
"Uh, Great Expert…"
"Yes?"
"Jang Myeong is sixteen this year…"
"What?"
A-Qing looked at the child's scrawny appearance. No matter how she looked, she didn't seem over ten.
"The child is a bit weak, and hasn't grown as much as her peers…"
Ma'am, I don't think it's 'a bit.'
A-Qing held back her words.
Knowing this, the child's red face looked different. It wasn't embarrassment, but humiliation!
Sixteen, so that would be…
It had been too long since she'd been in school, so she couldn't immediately match grades and ages.
First grader is 8 years old? Right? Then 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
A-Qing folded her fingers, painstakingly finishing the calculation.
Third year of middle school? This kid?
For her to have asked "How old are you?" in front of a third-year middle schooler, she naturally felt humiliated.
A-Qing was aghast.
She looked between Yang Sowol and Jin Jangmyeong (her name keeps changing every sentence).
Yang Sowol was a gracefully aged woman. Though poorly dressed, she had a certain dignity.
Jin Jangmyeong was a little kid with hollow cheeks.
The kid's not eating, but the mom looks fine?Is this, by any chance… And the kid couldn't even speak. She'd been careless, thinking the auntie was kind because of her good karma.
A-Qing's eyes sharpened.
"Uh, Great Expert, it's a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?"
"The child is a bit sick, no, quite sick…"
Yang Sowol's expression was filled with apology towards her son. It was undeniable proof of tender maternal love.
Ah, it was a baseless misunderstanding. A-Qing felt awkward.
"Did you, by any chance, take the wrong herbal medicine too…?"
"…What are you talking about? You ugly thing."
A-Qing was startled.
She spoke!
Wow, what is this! So she can speak, after all!
No, wait, but at sixteen, of course she would be able to speak.
More importantly? Did she mishear? The content? Seemed a bit?
Ehhhh? After all I fed her, what the fuck is up with her attitude?