64 Being Brothers for Life and the Two Bowls of Noodles with Fried Eggs (1/2)
Chapter 64: Being Brothers for Life and the Two Bowls of Noodles with Fried Eggs
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
It was dark on Lin 47th Street. The door of the Old Brush Pen Shop was pushed open, and then closed quickly. The dim light within the shop flashed like stars for a moment and disappeared.
Ning Que removed his heavy weapon, tore the cloth cover off of the big black umbrella, and took off his wet coat. He passed it to Sangsang, asking casually, ”I'm quite hungry. Are the noodles ready?”
Sangsang gave him a dry cloth, nodding happily and said, ”I'll serve it to you soon.”
A bowl of hot noodles was served on the table. The same as usual, four peppercorns were scattered on the top, but there were a lot more chopped green onions in the noodles today. The noodles were topped with a scrambled egg, which was very unusual. Hunting was even more tiring than hoeing, making Ning Que drenched and extremely hungry. There was nothing like a bowl of noodle with the fried egg to arouse his appetite. He put down the cloth, picked up chopsticks, and started to devour the food.
Sangsang flashed a smile on her darkish face. She was delighted to see that he enjoyed the food. As she picked up the cloth to dry his hair with it, she kept reminding him not eating too fast.
At that time, a man started coughing. However, no one paid attention to him. Being ignored by Ning Que and his handmaiden for a long time, the man decided to break the silence. He said, ”The bowl of noodles smells very delicious.”
A couple of hours ago, Chao Xiaoshu said the same words when he entered the shop.
Sangsang continued to dry Ning Que's hair, as if she did not see this person and did not hear his words. However, Ning Que's reaction was different from before. While he was eating, he mumbled, ”Make some noodles for him.”
Soon, another bowl of noodles was served. Chao Xiaoshu looked around and could not find a place to sit. Without minding, he squatted down beside Ning Que and started eating, but he found his noodles were not the same as Ning Que's.
Four peppercorns, thirty pieces of chopped green onions, but no fried egg.
He could not help but tap at Ning Que's bowl with his chopsticks. Ning Que glanced over and almost burst out laughing loudly. He then turned to Sangsang. ”It's fine, we shouldn't be mean. Give him an egg as well.”
Finally, a fried egg was served to Chao Xiaoshu. The both of them were eating happily, whereas Sangsang, who was not far away from them, started burning the clothes and the cloth cover in a bronze basin. No one spoke a word in the shop.
After a long time, Ning Que finally put down the bowl in his hands as he leaned backward with satisfaction and rubbed his belly. He turned to Chao Xiaoshu, saying, ”I killed more than five people. You should reconsider the money... Don't be mean. Remember, I asked Sangsang to add an egg for you.”
Chao Xiaoshu, who was holding his bowl, looked at Ning Que and produced a forced smile. ”That's why you were unusually kind to me. But sure, I'll give you 2,000 taels of silver.”
”Deal,” Ning Que said casually. In fact, he was a little excited within, and so was Sangsang, as she clenched her fist and was silently calculating how much 2,000 taels of silver would be.
As Sangsang was preparing to wash the bowls, Chao Xiaoshu reluctantly handed her his unfinished bowl of noodles. He then frowned and covered his mouth with the corner of his sleeve. When he put down his sleeve, it was already stained with patches of blood.
Ning Que looked at his sleeve and knew that this strong middle-aged man was hurt in the severe fight previously. He was silent for a moment before asking, ”Are you okay?”
Chao Xiaoshu took a cup of tea from Sangsang, smiling to show his gratitude. He took a sip and said, ”Don't worry about me. I grew up in a slum in Eastern City. I fought countless times and was badly injured many times. Every time, my enemy saw me covered with blood and thought I would never stand up anymore, but I'm always able to give them a knockout blow.”
Ning Que said, ”A thug who's immersed in his warrior days could even pursue cultivation and became so powerful. I was so devoted to cultivating, but yet I can't even enter the Initial State. How mocking it is. Master Haotian is surely blind.”
Chao Xiaoshu smiled without saying anything. There was a story behind how he turned from a gangster into a Great Sword Master with a superior Seethrough grade. But to him, the story was not worth mentioning.
”You told me, after tonight, I'll see who you truly are.”
Ning Que was looking at a corner of the Courtyard. ”Now, I kind of guess that your backup is someone from the palace. With such a strong background, no wonder you don't need to bother about Chang'an Local Government.”
”After tonight, maybe everyone from this empire will admire me because of my backup,” he said peacefully, ”but no one will know how much I have pay for such outcome.”
”What do you need to pay?” asked Ning Que.
Chao Xiaoshu smiled bitterly. ”I've been trapped by orders all these years. Whenever that person wanted me, I had to do whatever they wanted. If it wasn't for that, maybe I would have already broken through the Seethrough State and entered the Knowing Destiny State.”
”That's all?” Ning Que continued to ask.
Chao Xiaoshu was silent for a long time as something seemed to be on his mind. He smiled sadly and said slowly, ”It also required me to not act on impulse. I always have to consider the whole situation when dealing with matters. Neither can I be hasty, because I have to force the enemies to flash all their cards. To succeed, I need to endure the torture silently for a long time, to the extent that I didn't even manage to protect my own brother.”
Upon hearing that, Ning Que clenched his right hand. He knew Chao Xiaoshu was talking about Darkie, someone whom he knew very well, but he did not say a thing. He lowered his head and asked, ”How did your brother die?”