Chapter 48: Golden Pig

Within the bustling noodle shop, a colossal stove blazed, upon which sat a pot of immense size, exhaling plumes of white steam.

The master noodle-cutter, one hand hoisting a mass of dough high above his shoulder, the other wielding a knife in a relentless rhythm, resembled a blade master of the Jianghu, seamlessly integrated into the mundane world. Watch closely, and you would see strips of dough, uniformly thick, take flight and plunge into the simmering pot.

When the noodles were served, a ladleful of succulent, tender beef and its rich broth was poured over them. Simple, yet profoundly delicious. The dancing flames of the stove and the wisps of cooking smoke painted the most genuine portrait of market life, of the earthy 'fireworks' of this realm.

A voice, belonging to the young man who served as the shop's waiter, broke the scene: "Waiter, a bowl of knife-cut noodles!"

The waiter recognized him instantly and his face lit up with a smile. "Ah, Young Master! Right away, right away!"

Chen Ji, surprised, remarked, "Young Master, the waiter here knows you?"

The Young Master settled onto a wooden table in the noodle shop, casually using his finely embroidered sleeve to wipe the surface. "I used to come here often when I attended the Donglin Academy. While at the academy, I'd frequently find myself thinking of this very place."

"As a Young Master, why would you dine in such a humble noodle shop?" Chen Ji questioned.

The Young Master withdrew a pair of chopsticks from the wooden holder on the table. "In the Prince's Mansion, food from the kitchen to my chamber takes a full stick of incense time. By the time the rice is placed before me, it's already cold. When I was younger, I said I wanted to eat in the kitchen, but they told me it was ill-mannered... It's not like here. The noodles are piping hot when they reach you. Add a splash of vinegar, crush a couple of garlic cloves, and eat to your heart's content."

"The noodle shop waiter doesn't seem to mind your status as a Young Master either," Chen Ji observed.

"Haha," the Young Master chuckled with a touch of pride. "Father taught us to be kind to others and not to flaunt our identity. Haven't you noticed how much the neighbors like me? This is the prestige Father has cultivated over more than a decade in Luocheng!"

Chen Ji asked no further. Such a Young Master, and indeed, such a Prince Jing, were a rarity in a world where people were rigidly divided into strata.

The waiter brought the Young Master's knife-cut noodles to the table. The Young Master rubbed his chopsticks together, and while pouring vinegar into his bowl, he looked at Bai Li. "Bai Li, give him ten taels of silver. That half line of poetry is mine now... Bai Li?"

Bai Li snapped back to attention. "What is it?"

The Young Master asked curiously, "What were you just thinking? You were so lost in thought."

"Oh," Bai Li replied. "I was thinking about that half line of poetry Chen Ji just said... I can't quite put my finger on why it's good, but it feels full of artistic conception."

The Young Master laughed. "Then we're alike. I also feel it's good, but I can't say why. Pay the money."

County Princess Bai Li glanced at Chen Ji, and this time, there was no reluctance. She directly opened her purse and took out a gold melon seed from within. "Here you go. Pure gold and full weight. You can exchange it for ten taels of silver at a money shop."

Chen Ji found it amusing. This County Princess Bai Li's purse contained either gold melon seeds or silver peanuts, all of which seemed edible.

The Young Master looked at him and asked curiously, "Do you have other poems? Bring them all out and sell them to me for later use."

"What would you do with so many?" Chen Ji was puzzled.

The Young Master laughed. "You wouldn't understand. One line at a time isn't satisfying enough. You need to drop ten lines at once, or even a hundred, to truly astound those literati."

Chen Ji mused, "Good lines come naturally, and skillful hands occasionally find them. Writing poetry is not that simple; one must wait."

To recite a complete poem, he only knew "Goose, goose, goose," "Quiet Night Thoughts," "Pity the Farmers"... but half-lines, he had many. Having endured nine years of compulsory education, who didn't know a few dozen lines? But he couldn't reveal too many at once; revealing too many would diminish their value...

The Young Master grew anxious. "You must have written others before! Sell them to me!"

Beside them, County Princess Bai Li actually spoke up in Chen Ji's defense. "Brother, writing poetry isn't easy. Wait until he has more good lines. Poems that are forced out lose their meaning."

"Alright then," the Young Master reluctantly conceded, though he continued to murmur "People walk in the world, suddenly like a far traveler" under his breath, finding the line increasingly captivating. Thinking that this line would later be his own, he immediately took a silver peanut from Bai Li's purse, slapped it on the table, and announced loudly, "Boss! Today, this Young Master is in a good mood! All guests who come to your shop to eat noodles today, I'm treating them!"

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow. How was it that he hadn't seen the Young Master pay for anything himself? It was always County Princess Bai Li footing the bill. No wonder this Young Master always brought County Princess Bai Li with him wherever he went. Perhaps Prince Jing worried he would develop bad habits and didn't give him spending money, so he relied on his sister's small fortune? Possible, very possible! Thus, the Young Master was a fake rich man, while County Princess Bai Li was the true little wealthy lady!

She Dengke reminded him, "Chen Ji, we should head back. This place will be closing soon, and the master is busy alone."

"Alright," Chen Ji stood up and bid farewell to the Young Master and the others. "Young Master, County Princess, we'll head back first. We'll prepare the ladder for you all in advance tonight."

The Young Master replied, "......Tunnel, Jianghu folk!"

After Chen Ji and the others left, Bai Li looked at the Young Master. "Brother, I increasingly feel he doesn't seem like a gambler."

"Indeed not." The Young Master looked at the little monk who was silently reciting scriptures nearby. "Little monk, Father said you have the 'He Heart Tong' divine ability. What do you say?"

The little monk smiled. "Donor Chen Ji has a gambling nature, a very strong gambling nature. But he gambles not with money, but with life. This kind of person is born to walk on the edge of a knife."

Bai Li muttered, "The more you talk, the more mysterious you become. Little monk, change this habit of yours of pretending to be mysterious!"

The little monk looked helpless. "I am not pretending to be mysterious; I just don't know how to describe it to you all."

Bai Li no longer paid him any mind and turned to the Young Master. "Brother, why did you come out as well?"

The Young Master swallowed a mouthful of noodles, bit into a clove of garlic, and mumbled indistinctly, "Nothing, I just tagged along to see."

......

......

The night was deep and quiet. The originally spacious shared bed seemed a little crowded due to the presence of Liang Doger and Liang Maorer.

Chen Ji quietly rose, took a bamboo tube and a piece of bamboo to the courtyard, and began scraping off layers of white frost from the wall. Just the wall frost accumulated over years in this small four-section courtyard could fill half a bamboo tube. In this enormous Luocheng, who knew how much gunpowder could be produced...

Tonight was the night of Yun Fei and the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department's trade. Chen Ji had already conveyed the intelligence to Si Cao in the backyard of Bailu Pavilion that morning when he went to the East Market to buy clothes. As for whether their transaction would succeed, that was no longer Chen Ji's concern.

With Yun Yang and Jiao Tu now imprisoned and the Secret Spy Department's new person in charge not yet arrived, Chen Ji had a rare period of leisure. Practicing his knife techniques, making gunpowder, he lived a comfortable life, like an ordinary person.

Just as Chen Ji was scraping the saltpeter from the wall, a light knocking sound echoed from outside the door. He frowned. Was it the Jianghu folk waiting for the Young Master to come out to play? But the Young Master hadn't arrived yet.

Chen Ji hid the bamboo tube behind the water jar and softly approached the door. "Who is it?"

A friendly voice from outside the door replied, "Golden Pig."

Chen Ji's heart skipped a beat. The Secret Spy Department's Twelve Zodiacs, Golden Pig? How could he have arrived so quickly! Originally, he thought the new Luocheng person in charge would arrive at least a month later, giving him a month's time to slowly prepare. But Golden Pig's swift arrival was not only beyond his expectation but likely beyond the expectations of the Military Intelligence Department and the Liu family as well!

Chen Ji thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and slowly pushed open the door of the medical hall, greeting the visitor with a smile. "May I ask if you are Secret Spy Department Adult Golden Pig?"

Outside the door stood a plump young man, his feet clad in straw sandals, a bamboo hat on his head, and his body draped in coarse cloth clothes, looking like a tenant farmer who had just come into the city from a rural farm. His smile was warm, completely devoid of the gloomy, murderous aura of Yun Yang and Jiao Tu. "It is I, Secret Spy Department Golden Pig, my real name is Song Qian. My first order of business upon arriving in Luocheng is to find you."

Chen Ji, his expression unchanged, stepped aside. "How did Adult Golden Pig come? Where are Adults Yun Yang and Jiao Tu?" According to logic, he, an apprentice in a medical hall, shouldn't know that these two had been apprehended by the Main Criminal Department, so he had to act convincingly.

Golden Pig walked into the medical hall, surveying the surroundings of the main hall as he smiled. "Yun Yang and Jiao Tu caused a great stir and are now in prison... Did no one come to inform you?"

"No," Chen Ji shook his head. "Adults Yun Yang and Jiao Tu treated me well. Why did they enter prison?"

Golden Pig shook his head. "You misunderstood Yun Yang and Jiao Tu. You probably still don't know they tried to claim your merit. Rest assured, this time I have come, and no one can steal your merit."

Chen Ji probed, "Did Adult Golden Pig come from the capital?"

"No, I was already in the large camp of the Jiefan Guard in Mengjin, outside Luocheng, when Yun Yang and Jiao Tu arrived. Don't mention it, the Yellow River carp in the Mengjin area is truly delicious, especially with the local red braised topping. It's incredibly fragrant."

Chen Ji was surprised. "Adult Golden Pig has been in Luocheng all along?!"