48. Golden Pig

In the noodle shop, there was a huge pot on the huge stove, with white steam rising from it.

The noodle-cutting master holds the dough on his shoulder with one hand, and with the other hand, he keeps cutting with the blade, just like a swordsman hidden among the people in the martial arts world.

I saw strips of noodles flying into the pot, the thickness was just right.

Pour the noodles into a bowl, then scoop out a spoonful of tender beef and soup and pour it over the noodles. It is simple but delicious.

The stove fire and cooking smoke are the most simple and ordinary life atmosphere in this world.

The prince waved to the waiter at the noodle shop and said, "Hey, give me a bowl of knife-cut noodles."

The waiter also recognized him and immediately said with a smile, "Okay, Prince, please wait, I'll be right there!"

Chen Ji was surprised: "Sir, the guys here know you."

The prince sat down at the wooden table in the noodle shop and casually wiped the tabletop with his sleeve of fine fabric. "I used to come here often before I went to Donglin Academy. When I was there, I often missed this."

"As the prince, why are you eating in this little noodle shop?"

The prince pulled a pair of chopsticks from the wooden barrel on the table. "In the palace, it takes a whole incense stick of time for food to arrive from the kitchen. By the time it's served to you, it's cold. When I was little, I said I wanted to eat in the kitchen, but they said I was rude... But here, the noodles are still piping hot when they're served to you. Add a little vinegar and two cloves of garlic, and you'll enjoy it."

"The noodle shop guy doesn't seem to care about your status as a prince."

"Haha," the prince said proudly, "Father taught us to be kind to others and not to think we are superior. Don't you see that all the neighbors like me? This is the reputation my father has accumulated in Luocheng for more than ten years!"

Chen Ji did not ask any more questions. Such a prince and Prince Jing were unusual in a world where people were divided into different classes.

The waiter brought the prince's knife-cut noodles to the table. The prince rubbed his chopsticks and poured vinegar into the bowl while looking at Baili: "Bai Li, give him ten taels of silver, and I will keep the half line of the poem...Bai Li?"

Bai Li came back to his senses: "What's wrong?"

The prince asked curiously, "What were you thinking about just now? You were lost in thought."

"Oh," Bai Li responded, "I was thinking about that half line of poetry that Chen Ji just said... I can't really say what's so good about it, but I just think it's very meaningful."

The prince smiled and said, "Then we are the same. I think it is good, but I can't tell what is good about it. Pay the money."

Princess Baili glanced at Chen Ji. This time, she showed no reluctance. She opened her purse and took out a gold melon seed. "Here you go. It's pure gold and heavy enough to exchange for ten taels of silver at the bank."

Chen Ji found it interesting that the purse of Princess Baili was filled with either golden melon seeds or silver peanuts, all of which were edible.

The prince looked at him and asked curiously, "Do you have any other poems? Bring them all out and sell them to me as a backup."

"What do you need so much for?" Chen Ji wondered.

The prince laughed and said, "You don't understand this, one sentence at a time is not enough.

It takes ten sentences or even a hundred sentences at a time to shock those writers."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "A good sentence is formed naturally, and it is a rare opportunity for a master to write a poem. It is not easy. We have to wait."

If he had to recite the whole poem, he could only recite "Geese, Geese, Geese", "Quiet Night Thoughts", "Song of Pity the Peasants"... but half a sentence would be too much.

After nine years of compulsory education, who doesn’t know a few dozen sentences?

But you can't take out too much at one time. If you take too much, it will lose its value...

The prince was anxious: "You should still have what you wrote before, right? Take it out and sell it to me!"

Princess Baili on the side actually spoke up for Chen Ji: "Brother, writing poetry is not that easy. Wait until he has a good line. A forced poem is meaningless."

"Okay," the prince was still unsatisfied. He kept repeating 'People walking between heaven and earth are like travelers on a long journey', and he felt that the more he thought about it, the more interesting it became.

Thinking that this line of poetry would be his in the future, he immediately took out a silver peanut from Baili's purse and slammed it on the table, shouting, "Boss, today the prince is happy. All the customers who come to your shop to eat noodles are on my plate!"

Chen Ji raised his eyebrows. Why had he never seen the prince pay for anything himself, but always let Princess Baili pay for everything?

No wonder the prince always takes Princess Baili with him wherever he goes. Perhaps Prince Jing is worried that he will learn bad things, so he doesn't give him pocket money, and then he relies on his sister's small treasury?

Possibly, it's very possible!

It seems that the prince is a fake rich man, and Princess Baili is the real rich woman!

She Dengke reminded him, "Chen Ji, we should go back now. We are about to close, and Master can't handle it alone."

"Okay," Chen Ji stood up and said goodbye to the prince and others: "Prince, Princess, we will go back first. We will prepare ladders for you in advance tonight."

The prince: "...authentic, a son of the Jianghu!"

After Chen Ji and the others left, Bai Li looked at the prince and said, "Brother, I feel more and more that he is not a gambler."

"It's certainly not like that." The prince looked at the young monk who was silently chanting beside him and said, "Little monk, father said you have the supernatural power of 'telepathy'. What do you think?"

The young monk smiled and said, "Donor Chen Ji has a gambling habit, a strong one at that. But what he gambles on isn't money, but his life. People like him are born to walk on the edge of a knife."

Bai Li muttered, "You're getting more and more mysterious, little monk. Stop your habit of being so mysterious!"

The young monk was helpless: "I'm not being mysterious, I just don't know how to describe it to you."

Bai Li ignored him and turned to look at the prince: "Brother, why are you out too?"

The prince swallowed a mouthful of noodles, bit a piece of garlic, and said vaguely: "It's okay, I'll just follow and take a look."

…

…

It was late at night and everyone was asleep. The originally spacious bunk bed seemed a bit crowded because of Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er.

Chen Ji got up quietly, picked up a bamboo tube and a bamboo stick, went to the courtyard, and

Layer upon layer of white frost was peeled off.

The accumulated frost on the walls of this small courtyard alone could fill half a bamboo tube. It's hard to say how much gunpowder the vast city of Luoyang could produce...

Tonight is the day when Concubine Yun will trade goods with the Military Intelligence Department of Jing Dynasty. Chen Ji had already passed the information to the officer in the backyard of Bailu Pavilion when he went to the East Market to buy clothes in the morning.

As for whether their transaction would be successful, it was none of Chen Ji's business.

Now that Yunyang and Jiaotu are in jail and the new head of the Secret Service has not yet arrived, Chen Ji has a rare chance to relax and have some free time.

Practice with a sword, make explosives, and live as comfortably as an ordinary citizen.

Chen Ji was scraping the saltpeter off the wall when there was a slight knock on the door.

He frowned. Was it the Jianghu people waiting for the prince to go out and play? But the prince hadn't come yet.

Chen Ji hid the bamboo tube behind the water tank and approached the door gently: "Who is it?"

Someone outside the door said in a friendly tone, "Golden Pig."

Chen Ji's heart trembled.

The Secret Service’s twelve zodiac signs, the Golden Pig?

How come you came so quickly!

He originally thought that the new person in charge of Los Angeles would not arrive for at least a month, and he would have a month to prepare slowly.

But the Golden Pig came very quickly, not only beyond his expectations, but probably also beyond the expectations of the Military Intelligence Department and the Liu family!

Chen Ji thought for a moment, took a deep breath, slowly pushed open the door of the clinic, and greeted him with a smile: "Excuse me, are you Lord Jinzhu from the Secret Service?"

A fat young man was standing outside the door. He was wearing straw sandals, a conical hat, and coarse cloth clothes. He looked like a tenant who had just moved to the city from a country farm.

The other person's smile was warm, completely devoid of the gloomy murderous aura of Yunyang and Jiaotu. "It's me, Jinzhu of the Secret Service, my real name is Songgan. The first thing I did when I came to Luocheng was to find you."

Chen Ji calmly stepped aside and said, "Why is it Master Jinzhu who is here? Where are Master Yunyang and Master Jiaotu?"

Logically, as an apprentice in a medical clinic, he should not know that these two people were captured by the Chief Criminal Officer, so he had to put on a good show.

Golden Pig walked into the clinic, surveying the main hall as he smiled and replied, "Yunyang and Jiaotu have caused great trouble and are now in jail... Didn't anyone come to inform you?"

"No," Chen Ji shook his head. "Lord Yunyang and Lord Jiaotu treated me well. Why were they imprisoned?"

Golden Pig shook his head: "You have misunderstood Yunyang and Jiaotu. I am afraid you don't know that they are stealing your credit. Don't worry, this time I am here, no one can steal your credit."

Chen Ji asked tentatively, "Master Jinzhu, are you from the capital?"

"No, when Yunyang and Jiaotu arrived in Luocheng, I was already at the Jiefanwei Mengjin camp outside Luocheng. You know what, the big Yellow River carp in Mengjin are really delicious, especially the local braised topping, which is very fragrant."

Chen Ji was surprised: "Master Jinzhu has been in Luocheng all this time?!"