Chapter 12

A-Qing showed off some modern-day judgment.

If you run away clumsily, you’ll get caught.

That was a lesson taught by many stories of today.

So, she spent ten days just sleeping, eating, and running.

Qing relaxed her mind and could immerse herself again in her new hobby from the martial world.

It was food and drink.

Ah, the scent of this cool tavern.

What a long time of humiliation it had been…

As I sat at the table, Jeomsoi approached me.

She looked quite uncomfortable.

With two years of experience in the martial world, I now at least knew the dining etiquette of the Central Plain.

In a tavern, where you sat mattered.

The center and window seats were the best, and the farther away you got, the less valuable the seat became.

The seat near the back door leading to the courtyard was the worst of all.

Those who eat cheap food should go to bad seats, it was an unspoken rule of the tavern.

But A-Qing firmly claimed the sunlit window seat.

After ten days of running, eating, and sleeping, I looked a mess.

So, it was strange for Jeomsoi to sport a bright expression in front of me, who occupied the prime seat.

However, all these rules meant nothing in front of a sword.

With a blade resting against the table, Jeomsoi didn’t dare utter a word and only acted unfriendly.

“What are you serving?”

“Ahem…”

A-Qing let out an odd chuckle.

As Jeomsoi’s expression crinkled, A-Qing slammed a silver coin on the table!

“Whoa!”

“That’s right. ‘Silver Coin!’ Bring forth the best food and drink you have. Three of each. And bring the good stuff.”

“Understood!”

Jeomsoi inhaled deeply.

“Here, the guest has ordered Dongpo Pork! Sichuan-Style Fish! Initial Soup! And a side of Premium Yellow Wine!”

The pricier the order, the louder it had to be shouted.

That was Jeomsoi’s duty.

This guest ordered expensive dishes!

Hey, everyone in the tavern, look here!

This person is a wealthy one, a wealthy one!

Through this, one could grasp the truth held by the Chinese people: that crude materialism has been a characteristic trait of this ancient continent.

But you’d understand if you experienced it.

It felt amazing!

The other guests in the tavern looked at A-Qing with envy.

That’s what it was like.

Wow, Dongpo Pork, Sichuan-Style Fish, and Initial Soup!

Ooh, what a rich guy!

And then the most beautiful woman in town (Qing Baiji) approached, passing a menu…

“Tsk.”

A-Qing frowned.

It was because the imagined most beautiful woman in town (Qing Baiji) looked down at A-Qing with disdain.

In Luoyang, A-Qing had feasted her eyes.

Yet there hadn’t been a single friendly gaze.

Did I want her to smile at me? Am I selfish?

Just then, Jeomsoi appeared, carefully placing drinks and dried snacks before retreating.

Anyway, A-Qing felt good enough to be acting like a fool.

A-Qing’s good mood fell into one of three categories:

Either delicious food was in front of her,

Or she had enjoyed the thrill of a life-and-death match,

Or else she had a lot of money.

In that sense, the last ten days of evasion had been quite worthwhile.

The lady of the Black Shadow Association, though I didn’t know her name, seemed to be very loved at home.

Because sometimes, parental affection appears in the form of gold.

Plus, looking at her behavior and wicked deeds, you could tell she had been raised with too much pampering.

This is why family education is so important.

The gold worth more than two guans would suffice as a lesson for the Black Shadow Association head.

Thus, when you let your child grow crooked like that, they can’t tell right from wrong and end up in trouble.

I hope their other child is raised well.

At this level, shouldn’t I be considered a great teacher on par with child-rearing experts like Teacher Oh?

But, in fact, there’s no evidence that I killed him, is there?

When I regained my senses, he was already dead.

He might have wrapped his hair around my hand and then slit his own throat to commit suicide.

So really, I’m not at fault at all.

In fact, I’ve gotten rid of three pieces of trash in this world…

“Damn, this food is taking forever.”

A-Qing muttered an expletive.

So she could just drink after a meal.

“Ah, this is brilliant.”

The love for liquor among the people of the Central Plain is peculiar.

The wine, which was in a spoon-sized glass, clawed at my tongue and throat before hitting the solar plexus and setting me aflame.

Is your liquor bitter? Mine’s sweet.

Because Dongjueqing is naturally sweet.

Wait, but is this usually this spicy? Is the liquor spicy?

A-Qing tilted her head.

The spicy aftertaste that tickled my throat was strange yet delightful.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just how it is.

As I was sipping, the food arrived.

Golden-brown roasted pork.

Soft on the inside, tender on the outside.

Fried eggplant and vegetables accompanied it.

In the middle sat something whitish, but I didn’t know what it was.

I regretted the absence of dipping sauce, but the rich sweetness was delightful.

There was a whole steamed fish that was of an unknown kind.

The soft, muddy flesh of the freshwater fish melted in the stew, becoming quite a hassle to eat.

Still, it tasted great.

Overall, excellent. A masterpiece.

With a quick taste, A-Qing nodded.

It was time to really dig in.

“…”

This pork, oh my goodness, tastes incredible!

Picking it up with chopsticks, it gently yielded and melted in my mouth like shaved ice. Fat and meat melted together—so rich and delicious…

“…”

This round, somewhat whitish thing, looking like pudding, lightly pink with tiny veins showing.

When put in my mouth, oh wow, the rich fat flavor, but it’s a bit overwhelming.

In this case, time for some vegetable chasers…

“…”

Fried eggplant. It was fried eggplant. So tasty.

Its taste was quite stable. But…

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…Hey, kid?”

A-Qing tilted her head at an odd angle.

The strange distance she had been keeping from the kid was making it hard for me to eat.

Was the kid around ten?

The little one was small and skinny, so pitifully thin.

“You know, when eating, you’ve got to leave even dogs alone. And staring too closely is violence, you know? Did you think I’d cave to those innocent eyes? When you stare so pityingly, do you think I’m going to say, ‘Here, kid, why don’t you have a bite?'”

“…”

“Ha. That’s ridiculous. If you really thought I’d do that, maybe I actually am that soft-hearted.”

“…?”

Being miserable over food is truly a misery.

A-Qing learned that painfully through her time in the martial world.

Especially when chewing on dumplings, the urge to stab the brat next to her munching on food could hardly be contained.

Dumplings in the Central Plain are nothing but bland bread.

A-Qing was currently wealthy.

She thought nothing of future wealth, which made her even wealthier.

And that was more than enough reason for her to be overly generous.

“Want some meat?”

“!!!”

The kid’s eyes grew as round as marbles.

That sight was so cute that A-Qing jabbed a big piece of meat with her chopsticks and held it out.

The kid looked at the meat with trembling eyes, then swiftly glanced around, and back at the meat again.

Finally, she took a big bite.

She didn’t speak, but her expression said it all.

How could there be something this delicious in the world? It was pure betrayal that she didn’t know about it until now.

A single tear fell from the kid’s eye.

A-Qing giggled and handed her chopsticks as well.

“Here, have a seat, yeah, kiddo. You can use chopsticks, right? Just eat on your own! I’m not the kind of person who goes easy on someone just because they’re a kid. You’ve got to be the type to take care of your own food.”

A-Qing began a fierce meal.

The kid hesitated at first, but seeing the rapidly diminishing plate, she resolutely reached for the chopsticks.

And thus, there were two beggars at the table.

At that moment…

“Jangmyung!”

With a scream like a siren, a woman rushed in.

A-Qing, being a master, easily could have defended against her.

But the woman’s expression was so desperate, and her gaze was on the kid, so she let it be.

The woman snatched the kid up into her arms.

—-

“Thank you, thank you…! Great Hero…!”

A middle-aged woman, resembling a mother, bowed repeatedly.

Her name was Yang Sowol.

Her overwhelming gratitude was almost burdensome.

“It was just because the kid was cute,” I said. “What’s Jangmyung doing today?”

The kid blushed and avoided eye contact instead of answering.

What a cute little thing.

Just then, A-Qing was smiling blissfully.

“Uh, Great Hero…”

“Yes?”

“Jangmyung turned sixteen this year…”

“Excuse me?”

A-Qing looked at the kid’s painfully thin figure.

No matter how you looked, there was no way she appeared over the age of ten.

“The kid is a bit weak, so she’s grown a little slower than her peers…”

Ma’am, that doesn’t seem right.

A-Qing held her tongue.

Now that I paid attention, the kid’s red face looked different.

It wasn’t embarrassment; it was shame!

If she’s sixteen, then…

I had lost track of school years due to time; it’s been way too long since graduating.

Is a first grader eight? Right? Then 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

A-Qing calculated with her fingers and barely finished.

In middle school, but looked like this?

Of course, she had to be embarrassed after saying such a foolish thing in front of a middle school kid.

A-Qing was dumbfounded.

Then A-Qing flicked between Yang Sowol and Jin Jangmyung.

Yang Sowol was a graceful lady of a certain age.

Though poor in attire, there was an air of elegance about her.

Jin Jangmyung, on the other hand, was a gaunt little kid.

The kid hadn’t eaten, but the mother appeared well?

Could it be… no, it couldn’t be.

And the kid couldn’t even speak.

Yet that seemingly cheerful aunt made A-Qing uneasy.

A-Qing’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Uh, Great Hero, there’s a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding?”

“The kid is really sick, or, rather, quite a bit sick…”

Yang Sowol’s expression was heavy with guilt about her son.

It was an undeniable proof of a mother’s poignant love.

Ah, so it was just a silly misunderstanding.

A-Qing felt awkward.

“Were you perhaps taking some herbal medicine or something…?”

“What are you talking about, ugly?”

A-Qing was shocked.

She spoke!

What? She can talk!

Well, if she’s sixteen, that’s only natural.

But? Was that? Did I hear wrong?

It doesn’t add up, does it?

Wha-what? After I fed her, this little brat’s attitude is like this?

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