Chapter 5: The Sound of the World

After school, Zhu Daodong went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy four bottles of Laobaijiu and some cooked food, then headed to the Taoist temple. Now, Zhu Daodong was certain that he was neither delusional, nor suffering from tinnitus, nor sleep-deprived or drunk. Instead, his ears were simply too sensitive, so sensitive that he could hear everything around him.

Today was not the incense day at the Sanqing Taoist Temple. After entering the temple gate, he did not see a single person; the entire temple was silent.

Zhu Daodong did not特意 go to call for the nameless Taoist priest. He went to the room where they had drunk last night. The room was the same as it had been last night, even the kraft paper wrapping the peanuts on the table was still there. It seemed the nameless Taoist priest's laziness was well-deserved. Zhu Daodong did not mind, placing the two pounds of braised pig's head meat, a pack of flatbread, and a pack of peanuts on the table, then opening a bottle of wine and taking a satisfying sip.

Although he did not bring cups this time, he did bring two pairs of chopsticks. Taking a sip of wine and picking up a piece of pig's head meat to put in his mouth, such a life could make one forget all troubles.

Before he finished the first piece of pig's head meat, Zhu Daodong heard footsteps, quick and urgent, as if the person was running. Even with cotton in his ears, in such an environment, Zhu Daodong could hear clearly. Sure enough, a familiar voice appeared at the door: "Laobaijiu! Young brother, you're here again?" As he spoke, the nameless Taoist priest, with his messy beard, walked in with surprise.

"Master, please sit down." Zhu Daodong did not get up; it was pointless to be polite with such a lazy Taoist priest, it would only be like playing the lute to a cow. He just opened another bottle of Laobaijiu and placed it on the opposite side of the table.

"Hmm, pig's head meat, my favorite." The nameless Taoist priest did not even greet Zhu Daodong. The food on the table made his fingers twitch. He grabbed the wine bottle with his left hand and a piece of pig's head meat with his right, then both hands attacked his mouth at the same time. "Delicious, delicious!"

"Master, can't you use chopsticks?" Zhu Daodong shook his head and smiled bitterly. He had clearly placed a pair of chopsticks in front of him, but the Taoist priest ignored them and reached directly into the pig's head meat.

"Wouldn't using chopsticks be too time-consuming? Besides, eating meat with your hands and with chopsticks feels completely different. The former makes you feel exhilarated, while the latter only satisfies your taste." Despite his laziness, he could still make a point.

While talking, the nameless Taoist priest was not slow, and several pieces of pig's head meat had already entered his mouth. Of course, his left hand, holding the wine bottle, did not stop.

"It seems I'll have to prepare two portions of cooked food from now on." Zhu Daodong realized that not only could he not be polite with the nameless Taoist priest, but he could not reason with him either.

"Sure, as long as you distribute it evenly, I won't take your meat." The nameless Taoist priest grabbed a handful of peanuts and stuffed them into his mouth one by one. Zhu Daodong wondered if he had some special ability, as he could still speak fluently.

"Come, Master, let's have a drink." Zhu Daodong smiled, picked up his wine bottle, and clinked it against the nameless Taoist priest's bottle.

Today, Zhu Daodong bought four bottles of wine, two for each of them. The nameless Taoist priest, who usually liked to抢酒, drank very politely today, as if afraid that his two bottles would be finished too quickly. However, he attacked the pig's head meat and flatbread like a hungry tiger, his movements so swift that Zhu Daodong, decades younger, could not match him.

Zhu Daodong ate very little. He enjoyed the carefree atmosphere of drinking with the nameless Taoist priest and did not care about how much he ate. With the nameless Taoist priest, Zhu Daodong could speak freely, without worrying if the other person was listening or if he would mock or ridicule him. In the nameless Taoist priest's eyes, the world was nothing compared to the wine and meat.

Over the past two days, Zhu Daodong had noticed that the nameless Taoist priest probably lived a life of feast and famine. He was so lazy that if he had some money, he would buy wine and not care if his stomach was empty. Zhu Daodong decided to help him a bit.

The two drank and chatted, but they both avoided asking about each other's affairs. Sometimes, Zhu Daodong would vent his frustrations, pouring out his grievances. The nameless Taoist priest's eloquence was impressive. He could talk for hours about various topics, and when Zhu Daodong vented, he would skillfully divert his attention with interesting stories, indirectly comforting him.

The nameless Taoist priest had traveled to many places, was well-informed, and had a good memory. His stories were so engaging that Zhu Daodong listened with great interest. His inner troubles gradually disappeared, which was why he liked coming to the Sanqing Taoist Temple.

Unconsciously, it was already dark outside, and each of them had drunk two pounds of Laobaijiu. The food on the table was completely finished, thanks to the nameless Taoist priest. Zhu Daodong had only used his chopsticks a few times at the beginning and later only occasionally picked up a peanut. He could buy more food when he returned, and even if he skipped a meal, he could eat at the school cafeteria the next day, but the nameless Taoist priest could not.

Laobaijiu had a strong aftertaste, but Zhu Daodong did not feel it. After leaving the Sanqing Taoist Temple, he walked back to Shumu Ridge Middle School, feeling increasingly energetic. In martial arts terms, his mind was clear.

Walking under the moonlight, Zhu Daodong enjoyed the feeling. His footsteps echoed in the quiet night, and the snoring and murmurs from the houses beside the road, as well as the barking of a guard dog in the distance, made him feel very warm.

Back in the dormitory, after washing up, Zhu Daodong quickly fell asleep. In his dream, he saw Tang Xiaoli, holding her hand as they walked on a country path, leading to his hometown...

The next day, Zhu Daodong woke up even earlier. The reason he slept so well last night was that he had cotton in his ears and had drunk two pounds of Laobaijiu, which numbed his senses. By morning, the alcohol had been absorbed, and the cotton in his ears had deformed, creating a small gap at the top.

Long Yiping and Fan Mingfeng's snoring was much quieter than the previous day. What truly woke Zhu Daodong was the damn rat under his bed, gnawing at the bedpost. Although he did not look under the bed, Zhu Daodong strangely felt he could "see" the rat. It was a fist-sized rat, happily gnawing at the bedpost as if it were fresh meat.

This feeling was strange and wonderful. The rat's appearance might have been imagined by Zhu Daodong, but its position and the exact corner it was gnawing at were clear. To verify if what he heard was accurate, Zhu Daodong quietly picked up the flashlight by his pillow, turned it on, and suddenly rolled to the edge of the bed, sticking his head under to shine the light on the bedpost he suspected.

Indeed, the rat was gnawing away. The sudden bright light caught it off guard, and its eyes squinted into slits as it stared blankly at Zhu Daodong.

"Smack!"

Zhu Daodong grabbed the shoe by his bed and threw it at the rat. Unfortunately, his movement was a bit slow, and the rat had already reacted, darting out of the dormitory. After such a scare, it probably would not dare to come back to Zhu Daodong's bed for a while.

After this disturbance, Zhu Daodong was wide awake. He got dressed, picked up the shoe from under the bed, and went to the playground to exercise. After breaking a sweat, Liu Tao slowly walked over from the teaching building, nodding with a smile when he saw Zhu Daodong running. It seemed his words yesterday had an effect; a young man who could persist was a promising talent.

In the morning, Zhu Daodong had four full classes. Normally, standing all morning would make his waist and legs ache, but today, he did not feel that way. Perhaps it was due to the two days of running; he still felt energetic and full of vigor, as if he could continue for another four classes without tiring.

After school, Zhu Daodong went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy four bottles of wine, two pounds of pig's head meat, one pound of flatbread, and one pound of braised tofu, then slowly walked to the Sanqing Taoist Temple. Before reaching the room from yesterday, he heard someone inside, with breathing sounds and the sipping of wine. He quickly recognized the person and hurried over, finding it was indeed the nameless Taoist priest.

Today, the nameless Taoist priest looked radiant, and the table was not empty. There was a plate of apples, a plate of flatbread, and a plate of peanuts. Most surprisingly, there was a pot of wine, and the old Taoist was drinking leisurely.

"Wow, not bad, your life has clearly improved." Zhu Daodong placed the items on the table and said with a smile.

"Of course, don't you know what day it is today!" The nameless Taoist priest was proud, grabbing the wine pot and taking a sip.

"Today is the 20th, the market day in the town. No wonder." Zhu Daodong immediately understood. Today was the nameless Taoist priest's "harvest day." The Sanqing Taoist Temple had some visitors on the 10th, 15th, and 20th of each month, and these were the days when the nameless Taoist priest did not worry about food and drink.

"Little brother, quickly bring a bottle of your Laobaijiu. This rice wine from the countryside is too bland." The nameless Taoist priest ignored Zhu Daodong, his old eyes already fixed on the Laobaijiu in Zhu Daodong's hands.

"Here, the usual, two bottles!" Zhu Daodong did not reduce the amount because the nameless Taoist priest had a good day, pushing the two bottles of Laobaijiu to him.

"Little brother, this rice wine is homemade by the locals, try it." The nameless Taoist priest generously pushed the almost empty pot of rice wine to Zhu Daodong.

"Keep it for yourself. I'm used to Laobaijiu; drinking rice wine is like drinking water." Zhu Daodong shook his head. He could drink two pounds of Laobaijiu without any problem, but if he drank rice wine, he could probably drink ten to eight pounds, really like drinking water.