Chapter 5

Chen Chao, who had retracted his hand, turned around and leaned against the door, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the man who was shoveling rice into his mouth from a large bowl. "What's up, jealous? Even if you are, there's nothing you can do. Who asked me to be born so handsome!"

The man had just swallowed the last mouthful of rice from his large bowl and slurped the last piece of cabbage leaf into his stomach. "What good is being handsome? Does it give you the same sense of security as my wife, who weighs over two hundred pounds?"

He casually placed the large bowl on the threshold, wiped the soup from the corner of his mouth, and grinned, revealing slightly yellow teeth. "Chen boy, listen to this old man's advice. You won't be able to hold onto a pretty young wife. Your family is too small and insignificant; you don't have the luck for it!"

"Who is that girl? Which family is she from? How could she be so blind as to fall for a poor boy like you?"

The man's gaze roamed over Xie Nandu, but he skipped over the parts he should, and only glanced briefly at the parts he shouldn't, doing so quite discreetly.

Xie Nandu, holding a steaming bowl of unfinished food, glanced at the man. There was no disgust in his eyes, only a curious observation of this unkempt man he would never see at home.

"Go to hell!" Chen Chao cursed, flipping the man the middle finger. In the past, he would have sat down and argued with the old man, but today, for some reason, he lost interest after just a few words.

Chen Chao thought his mouth wasn't bad, but for some reason, he always lost when arguing with the middle-aged man in front of him. It was as if the old man knew what he was thinking and could always deliver a precise, fatal blow. Yet, they lived across from each other and often met, and every meeting inevitably led to an argument.

It's just that his skills weren't good enough.

Chen Chao gritted his teeth and shouted towards the door, "Auntie, your man says he wants to take Li the widow as a concubine. What do you think about that?"

Upon hearing this, the man, who had been looking up at Chen Chao with his nose, changed his expression, and his气势 immediately weakened. He lowered his voice, "You bastard, how can you be so unkind? Be careful, or you won't find a wife..."

Before he could finish, a loud voice came from inside the door, "Zhou Gouqi, get your ass in here!"

Xie Nandu looked towards the man, and faintly saw a robust woman in the courtyard, holding a rolling pin.

As soon as this voice rang out, the alley erupted in laughter, and the atmosphere became lively.

Hearing the voice from inside, the man, who had been sitting with his legs crossed on the threshold, glared at Chen Chao with a fierce look but still shouted, "What's wrong with wanting to marry Li the widow? I even like the princess of Daliang. But I still have to live with you, my wife, don't I? What, can't I even think about it?"

The man's words were full of bravado, but the neighbors, who were not strangers, had heard this kind of talk so many times that they were already used to it. They just waited to see the show.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and a rolling pin flew out from the courtyard, hitting the man on the back of his head. He yelped and fell off the threshold, sitting on the ground in a rather pitiful state, cursing, "You fat woman, I'll hang you up and beat you later!"

At this moment, a woman with an ordinary face but a robust build had already arrived at the door, her face dark. Without a word, she grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him inside.

It looked like this wasn't the first time.

The alley erupted in laughter again.

"Chen boy, wait for me..."

The man, who had reluctantly entered the door, let out a cold snort and disappeared from Chen Chao's sight.

Chen Chao watched this scene and grinned, feeling comfortable.

...

...

"Everyone, disperse, everyone, disperse."

Chen Chao waved his hand, not caring whether the neighbors were really going to leave. He just turned around and quickly opened the door, walking into the small courtyard.

The courtyard was simply furnished, with only a stone table and a moss-covered water tank. A thin layer of snow covered the edge of the tank, and the ground was covered with snow. Some withered weeds were hibernating in the crevices of the bricks near the eaves, looking ready to grow again after the winter.

"Get lost!"

Chen Chao grabbed a handful of snow and threw it accurately at a black stray cat under the eaves. The cat meowed and climbed up the pillar to the roof, turned to look at Chen Chao, and disappeared into the snow.

The girl followed quietly, not too fast or too slow, always maintaining a distance of about ten feet from Chen Chao.

After watching Chen Chao finish, the two of them finally came to the main room.

The courtyard was quite old, with the paint on the wooden pillars peeling off in many places, and some parts were even infested with insects.

Chen Chao dragged an old wooden chair and a long bench out of the main room, scratched his head, and was about to speak when he saw Xie Nandu walk straight to the wooden chair and sit down.

"You're quite aware," Chen Chao muttered. He had originally planned to let Xie Nandu sit on the long bench.

But now he could only sit on the long bench himself, twisting his buttocks, which was not very comfortable.

She was observing this boy, who was completely different from the one in the dilapidated temple.

In the temple, the boy was decisive and calm, but here, he seemed like a ruffian, with a rough and unruly demeanor.

This change made the girl feel very strange.

Chen Chao leaned against a pillar, picking off a piece of peeling paint, looking rather bored.

As he spoke, Chen Chao's hand kept rubbing the hilt of the broken sword.

The calluses on his palms actually said a lot.

Killing the blood demon with one strike was easy to say, but without daily hard training, it wouldn't have been possible.

"Still thinking about those things?"

Chen Chao saw the sadness in the girl's eyes, which had not yet dissipated.

Xie Nandu said, "They escorted me north from Baisi all the way to here. Uncle Song taught me a lot."

"Death is irreversible. Think about it, people being eaten by demons happens every day in Daliang."

It was only better in Tianqing County. In other remote areas of Daliang, even in county towns, safety was not guaranteed.

Xie Nandu shook her head. She knew this.

Sitting on the chair, she was somewhat lost. She knew that, apart from writing a letter to Baisi from the capital to have their families compensated, there was nothing else she could do.

The two of them remained silent for a long time, without speaking.

But Chen Chao didn't mind. He had been living alone for a long time and was used to it. He just leaned against the heavily peeling pillar, lost in thought.

Xie Nandu looked at the snow outside and then收回目光，认真地说：“你救了我一命，或许我能给你一个更好的前途。”

“如果你是说要我送你去神都，劝你趁早打消这个念头。”陈朝伸手接了些雪花，按在额头上，有些疲倦地说，“有些事情，你知道，我也能猜到一些，但说透就没有意思了。”

“况且我还不想离开这里。”

听到这话，谢南渡的脸色凝重了几分，看向眼前的黑衣少年，几次想要开口，最后只是问道

“我住哪儿？”

“总共两间房，东边那间很久没人住了，有床旧棉被，不保证暖和，你要是嫌弃，拿钱来，我一会儿去帮你买，不过说好了，到时候这东西不能带走。”

陈朝揉了揉有些红的鼻头，眼睛里有些狡黠的意味。

一床棉被花不了多少钱，但对陈朝来说，每一枚天金钱都是极为重要的东西，他不愿意在这方面搭半点上去。

“还有，你要住几天？甭管几天，反正每天十枚天金钱，就当每天你的开销了。”

“你好像有些贪心，在这里十枚天金钱至少也能吃好几个月了。”

少女出身于那些高门大户，但并不意味着她就是那种问何不食肉糜的女子。

天金钱是大梁朝流通的货币，只是这种货币更多地会在那些大户和修行者之间流通，生活在大梁朝底层的百姓则是用刻有大梁通宝四字的铜钱作为日常使用。

一枚天金钱，足以兑换一百枚大梁通宝。

“小门小户，这不想着能挣点就挣点？”

陈朝满脸堆笑，活脱脱一个市井小民的样子。

听到“小门小户”这几个字，谢南渡不由自主地想起了之前在门口陈朝和那汉子的对话，

那些话要是被教自己圣贤道理的那些读书先生听去，只怕肯定会被气得骂一句粗鄙，但从未听过这些的她却并没有觉得反感，但也谈不上喜欢。

“我不嫌弃，至于每天开销，一枚天金钱。”

她自己都没有意识到，自己和这个少年，好像关系拉近了一些。

“你这也太能讲价了吧？没有你这么砍价的，五枚好不好？再不济三枚！”

“就一枚。”

谢南渡看着他，没有多说什么。

陈朝揉了揉乱糟糟的头发，说：“一枚就一枚。”

他嘟囔了几句，倒也没觉得有什么，他本来就是狮子大开口，此刻没能成，也在情理之中。

天色渐晚。

谢南渡朝东边的屋子走去，陈朝则在房檐下打量着她。

不多时，谢南渡去而复返，远远地丢出一个钱袋子。

“去买棉被，这是钱。”