Chapter 11 Donkey

Zhou Ya was riding a big reddish-brown horse. In front of him was a black donkey with a wooden box on its back. Zhou Ya couldn't help but marvel at how well the donkey could tell the direction.

After walking for another half an hour, Zhou Ya saw a three-story inn in front of him. It seemed that the place Mr. Xu was talking about was this inn.

After seeing the inn, the black donkey was very excited. Before Zhou Ya could react, he quickly ran towards the inn, causing Zhou Ya to worry that the box on the black donkey would fall off.

When he arrived at the inn, he saw a young man stroking a black donkey. The box on the donkey had been unloaded in the courtyard.

Although Mr. Xu had described the appearance of Shopkeeper Shen to Zhou Ya, it was far less shocking than seeing it with his own eyes. "Are you Shopkeeper Shen Yuqing?"

Shen Yuqing nodded, and the donkey next to him neighed in agreement for some reason.

"My name is Zhou Ya, and I am the commander of the Pingyao City Guard. I have been protected by Jiuyou. Mr. Xu asked me to deliver the black fertilizer and 1,000 taels of silver to the Chungui Inn. Mr. Xu said that this 1,000 taels of silver is a reward for helping the court solve a serious case. I hope that Manager Shen will not refuse it."

Zhou Ya took out a wooden box from the package behind him and said, "This is a little gift from Mr. Xu. I appreciate the care of Manager Shen these days."

Shen Yuqing raised her eyebrows slightly, not knowing whether this was Xu Yuan's or Xu Luo's idea. Looking at Zhou Ya's slightly nervous expression, Shen Yuqing thought for a moment and took the wooden box. "Thank you, Commander Zhou, for making this trip. I wonder if Master Xu is doing well?"

After feeling the weight in his hand disappear, Zhou Ya breathed a sigh of relief. He was really worried that the other party would not accept the wooden box, but fortunately, the other party did not make things difficult for him.

Zhou Ya thought of the scene when Xu Yuan climbed into his yard, and nodded seriously: "Mr. Xu is in good health, so climbing walls and flying over rooftops is no problem for him."

Hearing what the other party said, Shen Yuqing seemed to be able to see how Xu Yuan asked Zhou Ya to come to the inn to deliver the wooden box to him.

"The sun is shining brightly now. Commander Zhou, why don't you come in and have a cup of tea?" Shen Yuqing said, looking at the other person's sunburned face.

Perhaps he was bewitched by the smile on Shen Yuqing's face. By the time Commander Zhou reacted, he had already arrived at the lobby of the inn. The heat that had permeated his body was half dissipated as he entered the lobby.

After drinking a cup of tea, Zhou Ya felt like he was alive again. It was midsummer now and walking outside was really painful. However, compared with the uneasiness along the way, he found that Shopkeeper Shen was much easier to get along with than he had imagined.

After staying in the lobby for a while, Zhou Ya said goodbye and left. Before leaving, Shen Yuqing thought for a moment and said, "If Commander Zhou has time, why not help me promote the inn? I don't force you to have guests, but this is such a big inn that I can't clean it all by myself."

After entering the inn, Zhou Ya did not forget to observe the surrounding environment. This was a habit he had developed over the years as a leader. The inn was very clean and tidy. Although he could not imagine how Manager Shen cleaned the inn, he thought that the other party would not just need to hire people for cleaning. However, the other party actually made a request, so he naturally would not refuse. It might be his chance to make friends with such a mysterious shopkeeper.

After seeing Zhou Ya off, Shen Yuqing began to hope that Zhou Ya's publicity would be effective. As for his other partner, he didn't know whether he was alive or dead. Thinking of this, Shen Yuqing sighed. Before Wu Chang left, he gave him a pill. If he really encountered danger, he only hoped that this pill could save Wu Chang's life.

Pingyao City.

"Go eat first, I'll do the patrol." Zhou Ya said to the guard members behind him.

Although Zhou Ya is the commander, he never abuses his power, so the members of the guard team respect him very much. Zhou Ya will also do his best to ensure that the people of Pingyao City live a peaceful life.

Following his usual route, Zhou Ya began to patrol the streets of the city. When passing Yaoxin Lake, he noticed a man standing on the bridge for a long time. Out of intuition, Zhou Ya stayed nearby for a moment. Unexpectedly, the man actually climbed up the railing of the stone bridge and planned to jump.

Seeing this, Zhou Ya quickly ran to the bridge, but his sudden appearance scared the man, who slipped and his body swayed uncontrollably. Fortunately, Zhou Ya grabbed him in time to prevent him from falling into the water.

Looking at the frightened man, Zhou Ya frowned and asked, "Are you the boss of Fu Yi Xuan?"

At this time, the man who was almost killed had come to his senses. After looking at the other person's face, he seemed to recognize Zhou Ya.

"Commander Zhou, I was indeed the boss of Fu Yixuan before." Li Fuchun showed a wry smile when he said this.

When Li Fuchun was young, his parents sold him to a dentist in exchange for food. He was spotted by a retired chef named Yu, and learned a lot of skills from him. After sending the old chef away, Li Fuchun quickly opened his own restaurant in Pingyao City with his cooking skills, which is now Fu Yixuan, one of the three largest restaurants in Pingyao City.

During one of his outings, Li Fuchun ran into a boy who was whipped by a toothbrush for running away. This reminded him of his own childhood experience, so he bought the boy and named him Li Yu.

After years of getting along, Li Fuchun treated Li Yu as his own son. He wanted to teach him his cooking skills, but Li Yu did not want to learn cooking skills. Instead, he thought that he would be a restaurant owner in the future and cooking would be a servant's job. Li Fuchun did not know what Li Yu was thinking, which led to Li Yu's strong dissatisfaction with his teaching. In order to vent his dissatisfaction, Li Yu often went to the casino to gamble, but as the amount of money he owed increased, it was already at a point where he could not pay it back, so he set his sights on the recipes written by Li Fuchun.

If Li Fuchun had not discovered another restaurant and seen his own sign the day before, he would have been kept in the dark until now. Li Yu, who sold the recipes, became even more extravagant with the money. Unexpectedly, he kept losing and lost all the money he had just received. Li Fuchun was already shaking with anger because his recipes were stolen, but he did not expect that in less than half an hour, he saw the thugs from the casino tying Li Yu up and coming to collect the debt, and they were holding the restaurant's title deed in their hands.

Li Fuchun really treated Li Yu as his own son and was usually not on guard at all. In addition, Li Yu always pretended to be well-behaved and sensible. If he had not seen with his own eyes Li Yu being tied up by the people from the casino and crying at his feet, Li Fuchun would actually have felt a little lucky in his heart and thought that Li Yu was being deceived by a villain. But now, after seeing Li Yu crying at his feet and begging him to help pay off his debts, the last bit of luck disappeared.

Seeing that Li Yu's fingers were about to be chopped off by the people in the drug shop, Li Fuchun seemed to age ten years in an instant. He sold all his property to pay off Li Yu's gambling debts. Unexpectedly, Li Yu stole the only ten taels of silver left in the house that night.

When Li Fuchun woke up and made the discovery, he just sighed heavily. He had spent half his life in a daze, and in the end he found that nothing belonged to him.

Today's moon was exceptionally round, which reminded him of the time when he learned cooking from chef Lao Yu. He was filled with grief for a moment and thought about committing suicide.

Hearing this, Zhou Ya didn't know whether he should be angry at Li Yu for being worse than a beast, or feel sorry for Li Fuchun's experience. Looking at Li Fuchun, whose temples had silver hair, Zhou Ya suddenly remembered the inn outside the city.

"We should always look forward to the future. I have a job here. I wonder if you..."