Yang Guo had changed into another bamboo-green cinch-waisted practice suit and stepped out wearing green satin fast-boots.
He looked clean, crisp, and neat all over.
Huang Rong looked at the tall, handsome youth standing before the bronze mirror, the fingertips hidden inside her sleeves quietly tightening.
He really was far too similar.
Back when they first met at Prince of Zhao's Manor, that little prince dressed in brocade and mink furs, swaying a gold-traced folding fan.
He had been just as eye-catching then, possessing a sharp quick-wittedness in his bones that ordinary people could hardly match.
Back then, Yang Kang's natural talent had not been bad, his comprehension had not been bad, and he was even cleverer than most people.
Pity his cleverness had not been put to good use.
He coveted wealth and luxury, clinging to power and position.
Taking one wrong step led him further astray with every step that followed.
In the end, he didn't even have a chance to turn back.
Huang Rong thought:
"Jing-ge is an honest man who sticks obstinately to his principles.
"He failed to pull his sworn brother back to the righteous path back then, so the guilt and self-blame of these past ten-plus years have weighed heavily on his heart all this time.
"Now that he has seen Guo'er, he can't wait to pour his heart out and give him every good thing in the world.
"Guo'er is a clever child. He has courage and loyalty.
"That shows his roots aren't bad.
"Yet he grew up in the market streets all these years. He knows how to deceive and play tricks.
"When encountering trouble, his first thought is how to survive.
"None of this can be blamed on him. If a child with no one to protect him tried to adhere to a gentleman's ethics in everything, he would have died countlessly many times over.
"However, things are different now. Since we are bringing him back to Peach Blossom Island,
"we can no longer merely ensure he is fed and warm."
Huang Rong gripped the Dog-Beating Staff, quietly making up her mind in her heart:
"Since Jing-ge can't bring himself to discipline him, I will have to play the harsh villain.
"Once we return to Peach Blossom Island, I must first use the classics of the sages to properly regulate him.
"Teach him to distinguish good from evil, and to understand right from wrong.
"Even if this child considers me mean and old-fashioned in his heart down the line, I can absolutely never let the Yang family line capsize in the exact same gutter a second time."
Yang Guo looked left and right, then asked:
"Aunt Guo, where is Uncle Guo?"
Huang Rong smiled and said:
"Your Uncle Guo was afraid you'd get hungry later.
"He already ran off to the restaurant to arrange the meal."
...
The shopkeeper of the garment shop came over holding the wrapped clothes.
Just a moment ago he had been rolling his eyes while waving a feather duster, but now he bowed and scraped like a shrimp, his face plastered with a flattering, slimy smile:
"Putting on our shop's fine brocade, this young master is truly Pan An reborn, Song Yu descended to earth!
"Our shop has been open for so many years,
"and we've never seen such a handsome young man!
"Honored guests, please favor this humble one's business often when you have time next!"
Yang Guo paused in his steps, looked sideways at him, and slowly remarked:
"Shopkeeper, is your memory really that bad?
"Just now, you were waving your feather duster, shooing me off to line up for porridge in the back alley."
The shopkeeper's smiling face froze dead on the spot, his face turning bright red:
"A misunderstanding.
"It's all a misunderstanding."
Huang Rong burst out laughing with a pfft.
This child.
He looked handsome enough.
Yet his tongue was truly unforgiving.
She lightly tapped Yang Guo's forehead with her fingertip:
"Alright, Guo'er, stop teasing him. Come on, let's go eat!"
The two left the garment shop, turned down a bluestone street, and arrived before the grandest Tianxiang Restaurant in Jiaxing Prefecture.
Outside the vermilion carved doors, a waiter was snapping a white cloth as he welcomed guests.
Huang Rong walked up and spoke calmly:
"A private room reserved by Guo Jing."
Hearing that, the waiter's waist instantly bent ninety degrees:
"So you are Master Guo's family! This way upstairs to the Tian section, please! Right this way!!"
The waiter's feet moved as fast as Wind-Fire Wheels, trotting ahead to lead the way.
Watching the waiter's look of having struck gold, Huang Rong felt her heart drop slightly.
Reaching the second-floor gallery, Huang Rong asked casually:
"Did he... order a lot?"
The waiter turned his head back, grinning so wide his back teeth were fully exposed:
"To answer your question, Master Guo's generosity... was truly extraordinarily lavish!"
Huang Rong held her forehead.
"Extraordinarily lavish"—hearing these words come out of a restaurant waiter's mouth...
...she could pretty much guess what kind of situation awaited inside.
Walking ahead, the waiter pulled aside a beaded curtain threaded with gold:
"Tian Number One! Please step inside, you two!"
The moment the curtain was lifted, a rich aroma of meat mixed with steaming heat blew into their faces, making Yang Guo sneeze right away.
Upon an enormous red sandalwood Eight Immortals table,
dishes were stacked upon dishes, and bowls piled upon bowls.
Gold Thread White Jade Rolls, Steamed Songjiang Four-Gill Perch, Braised Bear Paw, Huadiao Beggar's Chicken, Roasted Crispy-Skin Goose, Crystal Pork Knuckle...
A grand total of twenty-four heavy dishes were packed airtight, with dish rims almost falling off the edges of the table.
The food was piled up like a small mountain.
Standing at the threshold and looking at that table full of delicacies, Huang Rong felt an unexpected surge of warmth in her heart.
In a daze, it felt as though she had suddenly returned to Zhangjiakou over ten years ago.
Back then, she had also been dressed in tattered clothes, her face smeared dirty, disguised as a little beggar.
Everyone on the street detoured around her when they saw her.
Only this simple-minded, honest lad who had come out of the Great Desert pulled out all the broken silver and gold leaves on his person,
just so that she, a little beggar asking for food, could eat a satisfying, full meal.
Huang Rong stepped forward and helped Guo Jing smooth his collar, which had gotten disheveled from running, her eyes brimming with teasing laughter:
"Jing-ge, your habit of spending extravagantly really hasn't changed one bit.
"The last time you put on such a grand display...
"...was back in Zhangjiakou, treating me, that little beggar, to a meal."
Guo Jing remembered it as well and smiled.
Huang Rong glanced at the bear paw and perch on the table:
"What's this? Are you planning to eat through our entire fortune today?"
Guo Jing said with a smile:
"Rong'er, don't tease me. Guo'er is at the age where he's growing, and he's suffered so much in his daily life...
"I was afraid if I ordered too little, it wouldn't be enough for the boy's chopsticks."
Guo Jing counted on his fingers and began detailing each dish with utmost seriousness:
"I didn't know whether Guo'er likes sweet or savory foods, or what his tastes are like.
"So I simply asked for a fat chicken, had a live fish caught, and ordered a plate of braised pork.
"Fearing it might be too greasy for him, I paired it with clear-simmered tofu in between. Fearing he might be weak from his unhealed poison injury, I specifically had ginseng chicken soup stewed.
"Today is Guo'er's thirteenth birthday, so longevity noodles naturally cannot be missed. I also had them..."
Huang Rong pressed down on his wrist, stuck between tears and laughter:
"Alright, alright.
"If you keep listing them off, I'll suspect there are still more coming from the kitchen!"
Looking at this table full of dishes, Yang Guo suddenly felt like laughing.
His nose felt a bit stingy as well.
Back when Mu Nianci had just passed away,
he could split a single cake into two meals.
Now, a full table of dishes was set before him.
So many that he didn't even know where to reach with his chopsticks first.
Yang Guo sized up the delicacies on the table before him and couldn't help turning his head to ask:
"Uncle Guo, do you usually eat like a mountain-moving, ocean-overturning grand display on Peach Blossom Island as well?"
Huang Rong said:
"As for your Uncle Guo, a single bowl of noodles usually suffices for him."
Guo Jing caught Yang Guo's shoulders with a firm grip and pressed him down into his seat.
"Sit quickly, Guo'er! Don't listen to your Aunt Guo's teasing!"
Guo Jing grabbed a pair of chopsticks, his arms swinging wildly like windmills as he began frantically piling food into Yang Guo's bowl.
With a sizzle-rip, he tore off a dripping-oily drumstick and slapped it down into Yang Guo's bowl.
Followed immediately by a large piece of half-lean, half-fat Dongpo pork, deboned perch belly, and two fried pork meatballs!
In mere blink of an eye,
a teetering mountain of meat had been forcibly built upon the large bowl in front of Yang Guo.
Guo Jing's eyes were still deliberating over the other dishes:
"Guo'er, eat quickly! Don't stand on ceremony at all! Eat to your heart's content!"
Huang Rong rested her chin in her hands, dryly adding a remark from the side:
"Jing-ge, if you keep piling on food,
"Guo'er will have to stand up just to reach it."
Guo Jing froze for a moment, only then realizing it really couldn't hold much more:
"Is it too much?"
Yang Guo looked at his bowl and stayed silent for two breaths:
"Uncle Guo.
"If you add one more chopstickful...
"...it will probably collapse."
Huang Rong laughed until her shoulders gently trembled.
Guo Jing felt a bit embarrassed as well:
"Then eat first.
"I'll add more after you finish."
Yang Guo looked at the two of them:
"Uncle Guo.
"Aunt Guo.
"You two eat as well, don't just watch me."
Guo Jing nodded.
"Alright."
Yang Guo had been bustling around all this time and was indeed quite hungry now.
As the saying goes, "For a dedicated eater, filling the stomach is the biggest priority in the universe!"
"Uncle Guo, Aunt Guo, then I won't be polite!"
Holding a drumstick in his left hand and shoveling rice with a bowl in his right, his cheeks puffed out like a hamster's as he wolfed down the food like a sweeping storm.
This completely unrefined street-style manner of eating made Guo Jing look on with a face full of heartache and relief.
Rate on N.U.
