Chapter 183: Chaos in Xiaocheng (Twenty-Three) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
Zhai Huan was determined to pull off a big heist.
However, he never expected this deal to be so big.
Let's turn to both sides of the story for now.
Shen Tang accepted the young man's invitation to visit his tent. The tent was enormous, with several thick layers of felt and animal hides on the ground, soft to the touch, which reflected his status in the rebel army. Contrary to his neat and tidy appearance, the tent was quite messy.
It seems that a single word can perfectly encapsulate this.
Doghouse (ω)
Literally, it means a complete mess.
Various small, oddly shaped items were carelessly scattered on the ground.
Shen Tang glanced around casually and discovered many rare items. Exquisitely crafted gold, silver, jade, and precious antiques were scattered throughout the corners, and a plate of lustrous pearls the size of longan fruits sat on the table.
The young man didn't even glance at it, just casually swept it across.
The pearls tumbled and rolled to the ground with a clatter.
He reached under the low table and carefully took out a thick stack of neatly arranged papers covered in scribbles. He looked up and gestured for Shen Tang to sit down as well. He wasn't used to kneeling, which was tiring for his legs, and since it was just the two of them alone, he wanted to be comfortable in whatever way was best for him.
One leg is casually placed, while the other is propped up as a support for the right arm; when tired, the weight is shifted to the side. It's comfortable, but some people just can't stand it, like—Qishan.
He sat upright, his eyes fixed on his nose, his nose focused on his heart.
Shen Tang never knew how to write the word "politeness".
She plopped down as well, even more casually than the young man.
The young man was asked, "Isn't anyone helping you pack these things?"
Throwing so much money on the ground like that, what a nouveau riche!
"I don't like anyone trespassing on my turf..." The young man searched for his proud creations from a few days ago without looking up. "As for these worthless junks, there are as many as you want... Hmm, found it, Mama, what do you think of my work?"
His eyes were bright and piercing, and the corners of his mouth were curved into a beautiful smile, as if he was waiting for Shen Tang to be amazed by his beauty.
Shen Tang: "...???"
Worthless...
What a piece of junk?
She said, "Your words hurt me."
The young man was startled, feeling both fearful and aggrieved.
"Hurt you? When did that happen? I didn't."
"You are!" Shen Tang sighed, her brows drooping, and she taunted with a half-smile, "I'm a poor man, penniless, so poor that I have to figure out how to survive on air. You say this to someone as poor as me, and you say it didn't hurt me?"
The young man was speechless for a long time before he understood what he meant. He then said, "If you like them, you can have all of these. That way you won't be poor anymore, right? No, no, no—these on the ground won't do. I'll have someone bring some more later... as many as you want."
"As many as you want... Your godfather won't have any objections?" Shen Tang didn't mean to sow discord with her words; she was just genuinely curious about what kind of godfather would allow his adopted son to be so wasteful.
"Godfather? He won't say anything." The young man's voice was much calmer than before. Shen Tang thought the young man was displeased, so she wisely didn't bring it up again and looked down to examine the sheet music he had given her.
Perhaps it was because Shen Tang's handwriting was also flamboyant, but she looked at the musical score written by the young man without any pressure, humming softly to herself, and occasionally tapping the table with her fingers to find the beat.
Qi Shan: "..."
He shouldn't be here; he should be outside!
However, not wanting to leave her young master alone with a stranger, she could only endure the torment of the music in her ears and try her best to clear her mind of the awful tune. At that moment, the young man, resting his chin on his hand, looked at Shen Tang: "Mama, about what happened just now..."
Shen Tang looked up at him: "What is it?"
It's not fair to only say half of what you mean.
“My sworn brother has been rude and offended Mama. I apologize to you on his behalf.” His sworn brother will suffer a great loss for this sooner or later.
Shen Tang paused for a moment before remembering what the young man was referring to.
That bearded man's veiled insults.
No, it's not a case of "using a veiled criticism to criticize a distant relative."
While genuine "veiled insults" at least have a veneer of decency, the bearded man's insult was blatant. First, he said, "The girls of the Central Plains are different from ordinary barbarian girls," wasn't that just a roundabout way of calling the young man a "barbarian"? The following passage was even more vulgar.
The unwarranted mention of brothels and the veiled mockery of Shen Tang, comparing her to a woman of the night, raises the question: what is the identity of the young man who brought her back?
When she heard those words, she inwardly rolled her eyes. Such pettiness, what a waste of her tall stature.
However, that's not the point.
Shen Tang let out a soft "Eh".
"You understand what he's saying..."
If they didn't understand, they wouldn't apologize on behalf of others privately.
“Of course I can understand it. I’ve been learning the elegant language since I was a child and I’ve worked hard at it. It’s just that my family members mostly speak the local dialect, so I don’t use the elegant language much and my accent is heavy, so it sounds very awkward to me.” Although he said this with a smile, a fleeting glint of coldness flashed in his eyes, which would probably have been missed if Qi Shan and Shen Tang hadn’t been paying close attention.
Shen Tang raised an eyebrow.
Judging from his appearance, this young man isn't as simple and straightforward as he seems—in comparison, Xiao Fang is definitely easier to fool.
The young man leaned closer and asked, "Mama, what do you think of the sheet music?"
Qi Shan rolled his eyes inwardly, ready to step in at any moment—humph, he wanted to hear what kind of comments Young Master Shen had to make.
Unexpectedly, Shen Tang began to offer a seemingly insightful critique: "The first half expresses homesickness, the second half longs for loved ones. At first, I thought it was about missing a sweetheart, but upon closer listening to the emotions in the song, I felt an urge to shed tears. It should be about a prodigal son longing for home, a wanderer remembering his mother..."
The young man suddenly opened his eyes slightly and his lips moved.
Gradually, redness spread around her eyes.
Tears welled up but didn't fall.
Qi Shan: "..."
For a moment, I had a strange feeling of questioning the meaning of life.
Did Young Master Shen actually guess right?
Hey, it really is.
When he was composing this musical score, he happened to eat a dish of his hometown cuisine, which was also his mother's specialty and the only dish she knew how to make. As he ate, he thought of his mother.
That night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. In the middle of the night, I got up, put on my clothes, and went to the east kitchen.
Inspiration struck, thoughts flowed freely, and this musical score was composed.
He never expected that Mama would actually understand him.
Qi Shan looked at the young man with red eyes, then at the scribbles on the sheet music, and fell into a long period of self-doubt.
He simply couldn't understand how Shen Xiaolangjun could glean the core emotions of "a prodigal son longing for his hometown and a wanderer yearning for his mother" from phrases like "staying up at night to eat vegetables" and "getting caught stealing vegetables in the middle of the night." Was he wrong, or was someone else wrong?
Just as he was questioning his existence, Shen Tang's actions crossed his bottom line. Young Master Shen actually asked him to accompany him on the music, and the three of them wanted to "make friends through music"! Qi Shan's expression instantly twisted.
It took a great deal of rationality to suppress the urge to overturn the table and leave.
You two mustn't insult the phrase "making friends through music"!
only--
When the young man turned over and found a jade flute, looking at him expectantly, he held back his emotions, repeatedly telling himself that this was the enemy's headquarters, this was the enemy's headquarters, this was the enemy's headquarters... He smiled faintly and accepted the expensive jade flute.
The young man beats the drum, and Shen Tang plucks the pipa.
Qi Shan: "..."
Isn't this torture?
(End of this chapter)
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