Chapter 81 of 100

Chapter 81

16 min read3,974 wordsMature

In the dim twilight, the setting sun was obscured by thick clouds, casting a dull yellow glow. At the cliff edge of the back mountain of Yushan, Li Dayin sat on a large rock, holding a wine jar in his right hand and took a swig.

The fine wine dripped from the mouth of the jar onto his chest, gradually soaking a large area. But Li Dayin seemed completely unconcerned. After a long silence, he lifted his tiger-like eyes and glanced at Ye Yu, saying, "I, Li Dayin, fear neither heaven nor earth, but can you, my brother, do the same?"

Ye Yu smiled faintly, like a gentle breeze in March, and then said calmly, "Since you call me brother, how could I let you down?"

"Good! I trust you!" Li Dayin said, throwing the wine jar against the stone wall behind him. With the sound of shattering, splashes of water flew everywhere. "With you and me together, what could possibly go wrong?"

Ye Yu pointed to the vast sea of clouds and the green mountains, and said solemnly, "In three years, we will meet here again to drink and discuss heroes. What do you think, Brother Li?"

"Good! What a fine idea to drink and discuss heroes! Hahaha!"

"Here!" Ye Yu smiled, took out two exquisite wine flasks from a compartment in his wheelchair, and casually threw them to Li Dayin.

Li Dayin took the wine flasks and examined them carefully, then sat down beside Ye Yu, saying with interest, "Your wheelchair is truly remarkable!"

"It's just the tip of the iceberg! Otherwise, how could I have dared to come to Yushan back then?" Ye Yu said lightly while drinking.

Ye Yu's words brought Li Dayin's thoughts back to the past. Recalling the scene when Ye Yu and Guo Xiaotian came up the mountain, he couldn't help but tease, "If I had split you in two with my blade back then, we wouldn't be drinking here today!"

"Do you really think you could have split me then? Besides, you had no intention of killing me. Why talk about such uninteresting things..."

"You actually saw through it?"

"Your blade, commonly known as a hand knife, has a short and thick handle, is held with one hand, and has a thick back and a thin, sharp tip. It can cut and stab, and can break through heavy armor. It is flexible and easy to carry, suitable for close combat or climbing walls. This kind of close combat weapon is more often used for stabbing, not cutting. You were just giving me a warning back then!"

Li Dayin was stunned by Ye Yu's eloquence and then said in surprise, "You know so much about weapons?"

"Just a little knowledge!" Ye Yu said, not continuing. As a former soldier, he had a good understanding of ancient cold weapons.

The Song Dynasty's cavalry was weak, and its infantry had to face the strong cavalry of the Liao, Jin, and Yuan from the north. To effectively counter the cavalry, the Song army often used short knives in close combat, and the hand knife Li Dayin used was one of them.

Li Dayin, hearing this, became serious, took a sip of wine, and continued, "But if I had really wanted to kill you back then, Guo Xiaotian couldn't have stopped me!"

"Is that so?" Ye Yu smiled at Li Dayin. "If Xiaotian hadn't stood in front of me that day, you wouldn't be drinking here today, Brother Li. Do you believe that?"

"Hahaha! You..." Li Dayin laughed heartily, finding Ye Yu's words absurd, but when he looked into Ye Yu's eyes, he swallowed his words.

At this moment, Ye Yu turned his head, lowered his eyes, and gazed at the setting sun, saying softly and somewhat sadly, "The next time we meet will be in three years. I wonder what we will be like then..."

...

After returning from Yushan, Ye Yu continued to prepare for the autumn examination. During this period, Shen Jinchuan and Pan Zhi returned to the capital to take up their new positions in the Ministry of Personnel, and they specially stopped by Lai'an Prefecture to meet with Ye Yu.

Ye Yu knew that the court had opened a special examination, and the two had played a key role in the垂拱殿 (Chuigong Hall) incident. He wanted them to stay in Chuzhou for a few more days to express his gratitude, but he also knew that they couldn't delay their return to the capital, so he reluctantly saw them off.

In the Ten Mile Pavilion, Pan Zhi stood up and bowed, saying, "Brother Ye, I don't know when we will meet again, but wherever I serve, I will always listen for news of your success!"

"Brother Pan is right. In the Chuzhou examination, we have already won the second and third places. Brother Ye, in this special examination, you must win the top place. Then the three of us will be a famous trio!" Shen Jinchuan also stood up, smiling.

Ye Yu waved his hand and smiled, "Don't tease me anymore! I will do my best in this examination and will not let you down!"

"May you have a safe journey, brothers!"

Ye Yu knew that this separation might not be easy to reverse. If Pan Zhi and Shen Jinchuan were lucky, they might get a position in the capital. But most likely, they would be assigned to various places as local officials. The distance would make it difficult to meet again.

"We will wait for good news!"

The two, each with their servants, got into their carriages and gradually disappeared from sight.

After seeing off his two good friends, Ye Yu did not go home directly but went to a small noodle shop in the west of the city to eat noodles. Although Ye Yu was now wealthy, he still enjoyed the atmosphere of a noodle shop, which was something that luxurious restaurants could not match.

In Qingliu County, Ye Yu liked to eat Uncle Wang's noodles. Now, having moved to Chuzhou in Lai'an Prefecture, his interest in noodles had not diminished. Recently, he had heard that a new noodle shop had opened in the west of the city, so he decided to try it out today.

The noodle shop was very busy, and even after the mealtime, many customers still came to eat noodles. The new shop's popularity surprised Ye Yu and made him look forward to the noodles.

As Ye Yu was pushed into the shop by She Tongcheng, a young man dressed as a waiter approached with a smile, wiped the table, and then asked with a grin, "Sir, we have large and small noodles. Do you want the large or the small? Tell me, and I'll ask Sister Lian to get it for you..."

Puff!

The waiter's words almost made Ye Yu burst out laughing. She Tongcheng, who didn't have Ye Yu's composure, was clearly annoyed and scolded, "You waiter, my brother is here to eat noodles, and you dare to..."

"Tongcheng, he didn't mean it!" Ye Yu interrupted She Tongcheng, then looked at the waiter with a blank expression and asked gently, "Are you from Chaozhou?"

"Wow! How did you know, sir?" The waiter grinned, looking at Ye Yu in surprise.

Ye Yu smiled but didn't answer, thinking that the pure Guangdong accent was hard to miss. One of his former comrades was from Chaozhou, and it took him a long time to understand some Chaozhou dialect.

"I'm sorry, sir, my waiter has a strong local accent..." Just as Ye Yu was talking to the waiter, a simply dressed woman came out from the back.

When the woman and Ye Yu looked at each other, they both exclaimed, "It's you?"

The woman was none other than Chu Lian, one of the three famous courtesans of Xianyunju. Ye Yu didn't expect to meet an old acquaintance while eating noodles.

"Sir, are you here... to eat noodles?" Chu Lian, after her surprise, looked at Ye Yu uncomfortably.

"Um, yes! I heard a new noodle shop opened in the city, so I came to try it out! By the way, is this shop yours?"

Ye Yu's question made Chu Lian's expression darken, and she replied, "Yes, after you helped me, I opened this small noodle shop in the city. The waiter, Xiao Meng, was a beggar on the street. I found him pitiful and let him work here. If I said anything inappropriate, please forgive me..."

"Oh, I see..." Ye Yu nodded, finally understanding.

He looked around the shop and thought that this explained the steady stream of customers. These people usually couldn't enter places like Xianyunju, so they rarely saw Chu Lian's true appearance. Now that she had opened a noodle shop, many people came to see her.

For these people, the food and drinks at Xianyunju were too expensive, but they could afford a bowl of noodles made by a beautiful woman.

The waiter, Xiao Meng, seeing that the two were familiar, smiled foolishly and said, "Sister, since you know this sir, when you make the lotus leaf noodles, add more broth!"

"Alright, Xiao Meng, go attend to the other customers..."

"Lotus leaf noodles? Is there such a dish?" Ye Yu felt a bit puzzled but then became interested.

Chu Lian smoothed her disheveled hair and said softly, "It's just a name I made up. It's no different from other noodles..."

At that moment, two familiar figures entered the shop. Ye Yu recognized them as Li Mo and Ye Mingzhi. Ye Mingzhi, upon entering, immediately saw Ye Yu.

Seeing Chu Lian and Ye Yu talking, he couldn't help but feel angry and coldly said, "The wealthy Ye Yu of the Huai and Yangtze regions actually comes to a small noodle shop. What wind blew you here?"

"Having survived a near-death experience, one naturally wants to taste all the delicious food in the world. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of this mouth?" Ye Yu poured himself a cup of tea and muttered.

Ye Yu's words made Ye Mingzhi's face turn cold. He naturally understood the hidden meaning. He then angrily shouted at the customers, "I'm booking this place today. Leave immediately!"

At the sound of his voice, the customers were startled and quickly left, paying for their noodles. But Ye Yu remained seated, calmly drinking his tea.

Although Ye Mingzhi was annoyed with Ye Yu, he knew he couldn't do anything about it, so he ignored Ye Yu and sat down with Li Mo to wait for their noodles...

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