That morning, Yan Liang and Pang Yu went to the restaurant to get tables and chairs to set up their stall as usual. Pang Yu greeted the manager familiarly and then ran to the backyard to move tables and chairs. Yan Liang stood at the door waiting for him and chatted with the restaurant manager for a bit.
The shopkeeper glanced at Pang Yu's retreating figure and chuckled, "You've got a good buddy."
Pang Yu had been pampered for sixteen years, and his speech and behavior revealed the unique temperament of a wealthy family—for example, he struggled to eat coarse grain cakes and even did very simple chores terribly.
The restaurant owner had traveled all over the country in his youth and was very knowledgeable. He guessed that the young man had fallen on hard times and was found by Yan Liang. He had seen many such people, but he was surprised that this down-on-his-luck young man was trying his best to adapt.
When wealthy young men fall on hard times, they often cannot accept reality. Most of them complain and blame others, and very few can recognize reality.
Yan Liang smiled, about to speak, when the sound of hooves rang out, and three horses, kicking up clouds of dust, came to a stop at the entrance. The young man at the head of the group, riding a tall, chestnut horse, frowned as he surveyed the restaurant. The innkeeper, seeing this, immediately went to greet him: "This esteemed guest..."
The young man possessed an extraordinary bearing, his eyes like cold pools, but what was striking was a centipede-like scar across his right forehead, adding a touch of menace and making him appear unapproachable. The innkeeper felt a chill and became even more cautious, lowering his posture. After observing him for a while, the young man dismounted, tossed the reins to another person, and strode into the restaurant, instructing the innkeeper, "Bring me one of your signature dishes."
The young man's voice was unique, like the sound of jade, yet cold as the winter wind.
Yan Liang stood at the door, sizing up the young man as he walked upstairs. Just then, Pang Yu ran over carrying tables and chairs. Hearing the voice, he paused, a moment of confusion crossing his mind, feeling as if he had heard the voice somewhere before.
When Pang Yu reached Yan Liang, he realized what was happening, his face paled, and he remembered where he had heard that voice.
—The person who knocked him unconscious and stuffed him into the carriage.
The young man went upstairs, and the two men who followed him led the horse to an inn not far from the restaurant. He sat on the second floor, facing Yan Liang, who was setting up a fortune-telling stall downstairs across the street.
Pang Yu sat beside Yan Liang, head bowed, praying the man couldn't see him. Yan Liang, fiddling with a coin, turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"
Pang Yu was a beat slow to react: "...No, nothing."
Yan Liang: ...Do you think I'm stupid?
Yan Liang wasn't stupid; he could tell that Pang Yu's strange behavior was related to the suddenly appearing young man. He just didn't know what connection the two could have, and why Pang Yu seemed so uneasy.
Yan Liang was looking at Pang Yu, Pang Yu was staring at the table, and the young man on the second floor was looking at the banner that read "Divine Calculation, One Divination, Five Coins".
That fortune teller wasn't very old, yet he was doing this kind of thing—scamming people out of their money.
The young man frowned, and when he saw the waiter bring over the dishes, he asked a few questions.
"Who is that person downstairs?"
The waiter said, "That man's name is Yan Liang, we all call him Mr. Yan."
The young man looked down at Yan Liang, who was stringing copper coins downstairs, and asked cryptically, "Sir?"
"He's very accurate at fortune telling, and he's also very easygoing." The waiter had a good impression of Yan Liang, and couldn't help but add a sigh, "It's just a pity he's a cripple."
The young man glanced at him and let him leave.
Yan Liang, holding the copper coin, pondered Pang Yu's unusual behavior. Suddenly noticing someone's gaze, he looked up and met the eyes of the young man who was looking at him again.
I could tell from their eyes that they were not someone to be trifled with.
Yan Liang abruptly shifted his gaze.
The young man raised an eyebrow, picked up a chopstick, infused it with his inner energy, and threw it straight at Yan Liang.
Yan Liang stared at the chopsticks stuck in the table, thinking of Gong Jiu, and remained silent at this identical fault-finding.
Is this how people in the underworld approach others these days?
Pang Yu was caught off guard by the unexpected chopstick falling from the sky, causing him to fall off his chair and clutch his waist in complete bewilderment.
The young man beckoned to Yan Liang, clearly inviting him to come up.
"You stay here for now." Yan Liang glanced at the young man, then bent down to help Pang Yu up. "I'll go upstairs for a bit."
Pang Yu sat on the chair, clutching his waist, watching Yan Liang slowly walk towards the restaurant. He felt uneasy, unsure whether the young man recognized him or not, and also worried about the reason why Yan Liang had been called over.
Yan Liang remained calm. He entered the restaurant, greeted the pale-faced manager who had witnessed the chopsticks falling from the sky, and slowly went upstairs.
The young man sat alone at the table, where two dishes were already laid out. Yan Liang glanced at them and saw that they were all the restaurant's incredibly expensive signature dishes, and a feeling of envy and jealousy immediately welled up within him.
The young man gestured with his chin, indicating that Yan Liang should sit opposite him. Yan Liang readily complied and sat down.
"You can tell fortunes?" the young man asked him.
"yes."
Yan Liang thought to himself, "Isn't that obvious? There's such a big flag downstairs; isn't it clearly a fortune-telling place?"
"Then help me calculate how many parents and brothers I have in my family?" The young man looked directly into Yan Liang's eyes, his eyes filled with sarcasm.
Yan Liang remained calm and composed: "Young master, you have no brothers and both your parents are deceased."
The young man's face turned cold: "Are you cursing me?"
Yan Liang asked innocently, "Am I wrong?"
The young man snorted coldly, without denying it.
“One more,” the young man said. “I’m looking for someone. Do you know where he is?”
Yan Liang was silent for a moment, then said with difficulty, "You haven't told me your name, nor the name of the person you're looking for. How am I supposed to calculate it?"
The young man sneered, "Nothing special."
Yan Liang: ...This person is sick.
Ugh, so annoying. This guy is even more annoying than Gong Jiu.
Yan Liang extended his hand: "Thank you for your patronage. Five coins for one divination."
The young man was taken aback by Yan Liang's unconventional behavior. He glanced at him, took a small piece of silver from his purse, and tossed it to Yan Liang, saying, "You're quite interesting. Your name is... Yan Liang?"
"Yes." Yan Liang guessed that he had asked the waiter.
"My name is Xu Yiwei." The young man finally introduced himself, but his expression remained indifferent.
"Hello, hello, Young Master Xu." Yan Liang chuckled and stuffed the loose silver into his purse.
"You surely know the person I'm looking for," Xu Yiwei said coldly, pointing at Yan Liang with his chopsticks. "Marquis Anle, Pang Yu."
Yan Liang looked at the chopstick and said, "Hmm—"
"The Marquis of Anle has fled Chenzhou and his whereabouts are currently unknown. There is a reward of one thousand taels of silver. If you can figure it out, you won't be so poor," Xu Yiwei said. "Or are you saying you can't figure it out?"
Yan Liang nodded decisively: "I'm not a god, of course I can't calculate it. If you give me someone's birth date and time, I might be able to calculate it."
Xu Yi glanced at him coldly and began to shoo him away: "You're quite honest. Alright, go."
Yan Liang readily agreed, stood up, bowed, and said "Thank you, young master." Seeing Xu Yiwei give a cold reply, he wisely went downstairs.
Upon reaching the first floor, the innkeeper asked nervously, "What business does that gentleman have with you?"
"Seeing how good my fortune-telling skills are, you come to me for a reading." Yan Liang patted his money pouch and said with a smile, "I've made quite a bit of money."
The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. People in the martial arts world often find a reason to fight without saying a word, and start picking fights at the slightest disagreement. Luckily, this customer didn't cause any trouble.
Yan Liang added, "That table was exposed by that young master upstairs."
His tables and chairs were borrowed from the restaurant, and now that they're broken, he doesn't know who to blame. But judging from the manager's respectful yet distant attitude towards Xu Yi, he probably won't dare to ask the customer upstairs for compensation.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, the shopkeeper waved his hand and said, "You can use it for now. I wouldn't dare ask that customer for help. It's just a small hole, it won't cause any trouble."
Yan Liang found it amusing and said, "I'll have Yu Yao bring that chopstick to you in a bit."
The shopkeeper twitched his lips and looked at Yan Liang's stall across the street. The bamboo chopstick was firmly stuck in the table, attracting the attention of countless passersby.
"……OK."
After exchanging a few more words with the shopkeeper, Yan Liang crossed the street and walked toward Pang Yu. He still wore a gentle, spring-like smile, which made the uneasy Pang Yu even more nervous.
"What did that person say?" Pang Yu asked anxiously.
Yan Liang quoted him verbatim: "They paid me a lot of money to have their fortunes told."
Pang Yu seemed relieved, and afterwards he appeared absent-minded. When Yan Liang asked him to take the chopsticks to the restaurant manager, he was very resistant. But thinking that Yan Liang was not mobile, he still picked up the chopsticks and ran to return them to the manager, and then hurriedly ran back to sit back in his chair.
Yan Liang thought to himself, "This kid really doesn't know how to hide his true feelings."
Xu Yiwei remained seated on the second floor. The two people who had been with him later joined him, and the three of them leisurely finished their meal. They had come to the restaurant in the morning, but did not get up until the afternoon to go to the inn.
As Xu Yiwei exited the restaurant, he came face to face with Yan Liang's stall. When he caught sight of Pang Yu, who was standing beside Yan Liang with his head bowed, he narrowed his eyes. Yan Liang waved to him and said, "Young Master Xu, take care."
The two people following behind Xu Yi looked at Yan Liang with strange expressions.
Upon seeing Yan Liang's smiling face, Xu Yiwei coldly averted his gaze, strode forward, and the three of them gradually walked away, disappearing from Yan Liang's sight.
Pang Yu breathed a sigh of relief, then slumped onto the table and let out a long sigh.
Yan Liang nudged him, and Pang Yu's heart tightened. He belatedly realized that he had been too obvious.
He stiffly turned to look at Yan Liang, aware that he would be questioned.
Yan Liang asked him, "What would you like to eat tonight?"
Pang Yu: "...???"
"Can I...can I eat meat?" Pang Yu asked blankly.
Yan Liang coldly replied, "No money? Forget about it."
Pang Yu said, looking aggrieved, "Then don't ask..."
Although Yan Liang cruelly rejected Pang Yu's request, he still bought some leftover cooked meat from the restaurant owner after closing up shop in the afternoon. The owner was quite kind and gave him a little extra.
"Give Yu Yao more to eat." The shopkeeper looked at Pang Yu with pity and said to Yan Liang, "I see he's getting thinner and thinner."
Pang Yu touched his arm, deeply agreeing.
"So I'm here to improve my meals."
Yan Liang weighed the meat in his hand; it was quite a generous portion. He smiled and thanked him, then walked with Pang Yu toward the small, dilapidated house.
The small, dilapidated house is located on the outermost edge of the town, standing alone at the foot of the mountain.
The two walked quietly, one in front of the other.
Looking at Yan Liang's back, Pang Yu had a strange premonition and couldn't help but feel uneasy.
A night wind suddenly rose.
“Yu Yao…”
Yan Liang's words were broken by the night wind, and Pang Yu heard him ask in a calm tone.
"Or should I call you... Marquis Anle, Pang Yu?"
Author's Note: Questions—
(Single Choice) In the previous chapter, Pang Yu was facing a big problem. What problem was that?
A: He met Xu Yiwei, who knocked him unconscious.
B: Yan Liang pointed out his identity.
C: A and B
D: Other (please add in the comments section)
"No reward is given to those who answer correctly, and no reward is given to those who answer incorrectly!"
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