Chapter 667: The Hairpin
On the training ground, the children were once again all lying flat on the ground, each with a bruised and swollen face. At the beginning of martial arts training, when they were toughening their bones and muscles, it was certainly not going to be comfortable. If you enjoy comfort when you should be enduring hardship, then you will have to endure hardship when it's time to enjoy comfort.
Since they were born on the Sword Qi Great Wall, entered this Winter Retreat Palace, and learned boxing and martial arts, they had to get used to enduring hardship and learn a skill to rely on.
Not all hardships in the world lead to sweet rewards after bitter struggles. A pure martial artist's martial courage can only be brewed from a bitter gallbladder to create a true essence.
The Hidden Official, in his green long robe, remained calm and composed as he said, "Rest for the time it takes two incense sticks to burn."
Chen Ping'an sat cross-legged, hands stacked on top of each other, palms facing upward, and began to close his eyes and rest his mind. All the children struggled to get up, formed a circle, sat in the same posture as the young Hidden Official, closed their eyes, and slowly adjusted their breathing.
Chen Ping'an opened his eyes and commented on each person's punches, pointing out what was good and what was bad. He did not show special favor to Jiang Yun just because he came from a powerful clan on Taixiang Street and had the best martial foundation; if a punch was thrown weakly, he would scold. He did not neglect Zhang Pan from Tongqian Alley because his innate physique was the weakest and he learned the slowest; if a punch was good, he would praise. He did not deliberately lighten the force of his punches just because Sun Qu from Yuhu Street and the tomboy were girls.
In short, Chen Ping'an wanted all the children to firmly remember one principle: when throwing a punch in the present, a pure martial artist must first regard himself as the enemy.
Learn boxing before learning to be a person. Those who impart knowledge and teachings, whether or not they bear the title of master or teacher, also need to teach people first. Teaching people is not about empty lectures. Even a village schoolteacher, perhaps a flattering bow to a wealthy man, a sidelong glance or a cold sneer at a poor child, would be silently seen and remembered by the children, and in the end, it would kill hundreds of lines of sage teachings in the books.
There is truth both inside and outside the books; everyone is a master teacher.
Chen Ping'an spoke no further.
According to the rules, it was now the children's turn to ask questions.
The child named Xu Gong from Mumeng Lane was the first to ask, "Mr. Chen, a fist going in a straight line is certainly the fastest. If practicing walking and standing stakes is to strengthen tendons and bones and temper the body, then why are there so many fist techniques?"
Chen Ping'an raised one hand and threw a punch—suddenly thrown, suddenly halted. "Xu Gong, do you mean that a fist going in a straight line reaches the enemy fastest, right?"
Xu Gong began to doubt himself.
Jiang Yun laughed heartily. "One punch and they're down."
Who on the Sword Qi Great Wall didn't know that the young Hidden Official was the most "tender and precious of jade"? Otherwise, how could he have earned the nickname "One Punch and Down for the Second Shopkeeper"?
As for why he was so harsh on that woman from the Barren Wastes, Liu Bai, it must be because that female sword cultivator wasn't as good-looking as Yu Juanfu.
But then Jiang Yun suddenly remembered the scene of Yu Juanfu having her head smashed against the wall and sighed mournfully, feeling that he might have wronged the Second Shopkeeper.
Xu Gong looked panicked. He had no such intention and wouldn't dare show the slightest disrespect to Mr. Chen, nor would he want to.
In Xu Gong's heart, Mr. Chen's image was like that of a divine being, flawless. When the children chatted privately among their close friends, they were all deeply admiring. So when Guo Zhujiu was telling stories earlier, these three were the most unwavering believers.
Xu Gong, from Mumeng Lane, knew he wasn't a clan child like Jiang Yun, and since he didn't have Jiang Yun's talent or background, he and his two good friends, Zhang Pan and Tang Qu, often secretly practiced walking and standing stakes at night. Sometimes they would run into that tomboy Yuan Zaohua. But they overdid it; these guys trained blindly and nearly damaged their physical vitality.
Chen Ping'an maintained that punching posture, then raised his left hand, using his punching right arm as a path, pointing and explaining: starting from the right fist, wrist, forearm, shoulder, then back, waist, and illuminating each acupoint. He explained in detail the "path" of pure true qi flow for this straight-line punch, the subtle changes in every tendon, every bone, every muscle, leaving nothing out. He narrated to the children slowly, and during this, he combined changes in fist and palm to break down all techniques, including the rear elbow forward fold, top heart elbow, shoulder strike, etc., explaining their mysteries—how to exert force, why to exert force—with a thorough explanation that made the profound simple.
Chen Ping'an withdrew his fist, placed his hands on his knees, and smiled. "So, fist techniques are the lowest, fist intent is in the middle, and fist method is in the heavens."
Jiang Yun, for once, didn't disagree and frowned. "Fist techniques are the worst? But I think the fist stance and frame come from fist techniques; they're very important."
Chen Ping'an grinned, raised one fist, twisted his wrist, turned the fist into a palm, with the palm barely an inch from the ground. He instantly slammed it down, striking the training ground with a sharp slap.
The ground shook, and all the children were almost simultaneously bounced up, each at a different height, their bodies swaying and stumbling.
Then, as if suppressed by a counterforce, they landed with a crash, their breathing uneven, feeling nearly suffocated, their backs bent, unable to straighten their spines.
"Fist techniques are the lowest, but that only refers to their position, a certain order. It doesn't mean they are unimportant. On the contrary, all fist methods start from the low, layer by layer, the fist frame rising higher, until finally our fist method can be high in the heavens."
Chen Ping'an withdrew that intangible true intent of the fist method, and all the children immediately felt relieved. Chen Ping'an said to Yuan Zaohua and Zhang Pan, "When learning boxing, you must always be attentive and careful everywhere. This is what the fist principle calls 'the master leads you in, the disciple must stay alert.' Yuan Zaohua, Zhang Pan, you two did well just now. It shows that during rest, you were still practicing standing stakes. Although you lifted off the ground not a little, your sitting posture was the most stable. Jiang Yun, although you lifted the least from the ground, your sitting posture was scattered."
Jiang Yun rolled his eyes. He'd long gotten used to the damn Hidden Official's sarcastic remarks.
Zhang Pan, who was shy by nature, looked emotional.
The tomboy had a determined look, her lips tightly pressed. After learning boxing, the little girl had changed greatly. In previous years on the Sword Qi Great Wall, when she first met the Second Shopkeeper before he became the Hidden Official, she was a child leader with a much more cheerful personality.
Chen Ping'an's gaze swept over everyone. He leaned slightly forward and spoke slowly to all: "Learning boxing is not just about throwing punches on the training ground. Breathing, footwork, diet, occasionally noticing a bird in flight—you may find it very tiring at first, but habit becomes second nature. The human body is a small world, with countless treasures, all your own. Except for the day when you have to fight for life and death, no one can take them away."
Chen Ping'an squinted. "So, the question is: when your fists are high, once you decide to throw a punch, to openly settle victory or defeat, life or death, what should you do?"
Jiang Yun shouted loudly, "One punch and knock them down!"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "You're not going to let it go, are you?"
Jiang Yun crossed his arms over his chest and said solemnly, "Hidden Official, this time I'm not joking. When a martial artist throws a punch, he needs to have the stance of 'I am number one under heaven.' Anyway, the martial realm I pursue is that the person who makes himself my enemy will be half scared to death even before I throw the punch."
Chen Ping'an stood up with a smile. "Alright, I'll teach you then. Now that you mention it, I do recall a fist challenge. At that time, I was at the sixth realm confronting the tenth realm. Now you use the third realm to deal with my seventh realm. Both are a difference of four realms. Don't say I'm bullying you."
Jiang Yun immediately stood up.
Chen Ping'an pointed to the wall of the training ground. "You go stand over by the corner first."
Jiang Yun swaggered over, his back to the others. The child was actually gritting his teeth, wanting to slap himself in the face, but silently told himself: lose the fight, not the face; lose the punch, not the pride.
Chen Ping'an walked to the other side of the training ground, then suddenly changed his mind. "Everyone go together, stand in a row, don't lean against the wall, three steps away from the wall."
These children's future lives would not follow a set pattern; they wouldn't only encounter enemies of the same realm or just one or two realms higher.
Whether it was himself or Madam Bai, suppressing their realms to teach boxing could help the children gradually toughen their bones and temper their martial path step by step. But on the path of cultivation, there was no such good fortune. No one was willing to be someone else's whetstone; most wanted to step on others as stepping stones to ascend step by step to the mountaintop.
From the third realm to the seventh realm's peak-level punches, what that kind of momentum, stance, and spirit was like, Chen Ping'an had demonstrated for them one by one.
The punches of the eighth, ninth, and tenth realms, Madam Bai had also personally demonstrated.
But the children, including Jiang Yun, all felt that although Madam Bai, who had dropped from the tenth realm to the ninth realm, had a higher current realm, when it came to the fuzzy "meaning" of throwing a punch, they still felt the young Hidden Official was more inspiring.
However, the previous training was just demonstration; the children only watched from the side.
Today, Chen Ping'an wanted the children to stand in the position of being his enemy and personally experience that punch.
Back in Beiju Continent, the senior Gu You had blocked the way.
He had once challenged Chen Ping'an to a fist duel.
The punch came without warning, and receiving it was unprepared. Gu You's sudden punch arrived in an instant, and at that time, Chen Ping'an could almost only wait to be killed.
Chen Ping'an stopped, calmed his mind, concentrated his qi, forgot himself, and acted as if no one was in front of him.
Jiang Yun, who was in a distant confrontation with Chen Ping'an, had fine beads of sweat on his forehead. He instinctively warned everyone, "We all have to stand firm. No one can retreat. No one should lean against the wall. Even if you're scared enough to wet your pants, stand still!"
The little girl from Yuhu Street, Sun Qu, said in a trembling voice, "I'm scared now."
Sun Qu, like Jiang Yun at first, was the child who least wanted to learn boxing because she had a younger sister named Sun Zao, who was a sword cultivator.
Yuan Zaohua whispered, "Then just focus on standing the stake and don't think about anything!"
Chen Ping'an was in no hurry to throw the punch.
For the children standing against the wall, this was even more torture. Since they were going to get hit sooner or later, it was better to get it over with than to have the opponent slowly sharpen his knife to scare them.
A Liang said, "Guo Zhujiu, your master is teaching others boxing, but he is also practicing boxing himself and cultivating his mind. This is a good habit. 'Making a place of practice in a snail shell' is not entirely a derogatory saying."
Chen Ping'an's previous boxing techniques were too varied, and he needed to take this opportunity to reflect deeply and forge them into one furnace. Or occasionally think of nothing, just using sleep as rest like ordinary people, to calm his mind here. Teaching boxing, practicing boxing, cultivating the mind—these trips to the Winter Retreat Palace every now and then seemed like one thing but were actually doing three things.
For this batch of martial arts seedlings on the Sword Qi Great Wall, teaching and feeding punches, and more importantly, trying to give all children a relatively stable cultivation path, was originally a real distraction for a Hidden Official who needed to be responsible for the battle situation. But in the end, it still didn't turn out to be a loss.
Guo Zhujiu had long since taken off her book box and placed it at her feet. She had been imitating her master's punches the whole time, not idle at all. Hearing Senior A Liang's words, she withdrew her fist and stood still. "My master has so much knowledge; I'll learn it one by one."
Madam Bai stood by and said softly, "If the young master throws this punch, I'm afraid many children will have a mental breakdown on the spot."
A Liang smiled. "To truly know how high the fist is, that's a good thing."
At that time, Senior Gu You, as the ancestor of the "Shake Mountain Fist Manual," saw that this pure martial artist from another continent happened to have his martial foundation built on the Shake Mountain Fist, so Gu You, a tenth-realm martial artist, delivered a peak ninth-realm punch.
Chen Ping'an took a step forward, silently.
Using the six-step walking stake to advance, in the blink of an eye, he was as fast as thunder. The entire training ground began to tremble with ripples, and everywhere was dense fist intent.
Children like Sun Qu, who had hoped to use stake-standing to resist their inner fear, were immediately knocked back to their original state when the training ground shook. Their stake-standing was unstable, their minds were even more chaotic, and their faces were full of terror.
Jiang Yun felt that overwhelming fist intent, gave a soft shout, stomped heavily, opened his fist stance, and used his own fist intent to resist the world's fist intent. Seeing Sun Qu about to fall to the ground beside him, Jiang Yun gritted his teeth, stepped sideways, his face full of pain, but still blocked in front of Sun Qu. After all, she was a girl; he, a real man, had to protect her a bit.
Xu Gong and Yuan Zaohua shouted almost simultaneously, "Six-step walking stake!"
All the children seemed to have a tacit understanding, almost simultaneously not retreating but advancing, wanting to use walking stakes against walking stakes.
The wind of qi pressed against their faces, the fist intent weighed on their bodies.
It was not something they could achieve by wanting to advance despite retreat. At most, after taking two steps, everyone staggered backward.
That Sun Qu, somehow, generated a bit of courage, actually bypassed Jiang Yun in front of her and chose to face that punch herself.
A moment later.
Including Jiang Yun, everyone was leaning against the wall, all pale-faced and drenched in sweat. Some of the physically weaker children had already slumped to the ground against the wall.
Chen Ping'an stood in the center of the training ground, one hand behind his back, the other fist pressed to his abdomen, slowly exhaling a mouthful of turbid qi.
He quickly turned his head and wiped the blood flowing from his nose. With his current physique, delivering this punch that resembled the form and spirit, even though he only threw half a punch in the end, it was still not easy.
Chen Ping'an turned his head and smiled. "Get up. That's enough training for today."
None of the children had recovered their wits; they were somewhat dazed.
Chen Ping'an was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "After this punch, I have to say, my eye for selecting martial arts seeds is really not bad. In the future, when you go out into the martial world on your own and meet fellow martial artists of the same generation, you can freely say that the person who taught you boxing was Bai Lianshuang, a tenth-realm martial artist of the Sword Qi Great Wall; the person who fed you punches was Chen Ping'an of the Hao Ran World; and the person who watched the punches from the side was once the swordsman A Liang."
----
After bidding farewell to Madam Bai, Chen Ping'an and A Liang, along with Guo Zhujiu, left the Winter Retreat Palace on foot.
A Liang said, "Zhujiu, when your master mentioned the spectators just now, he only mentioned me and forgot you. Are you sad?"
Guo Zhujiu looked puzzled. "Master did mention me. Didn't Senior A Liang hear?"
A Liang was taken aback. "How come I didn't hear it?"
Guo Zhujiu said solemnly, "I said it in my heart on behalf of Master."
A Liang exclaimed in admiration, "Zhujiu, your sword heart is really impressive."
Chen Ping'an laughed. "A Liang, what about 'Sword Qi Eighteen Halts'? Can you teach it to my disciple?"
A Liang said helplessly, "I said earlier I would teach, but Zhujiu wasn't interested."
A Liang smoothed his hair. "But Zhujiu said I have good looks and good fist techniques, and said such heartfelt words, that's worthy of Uncle A Liang shamelessly passing on this unique skill. But it's not urgent; I'll visit the Guo residence another time."
Guo Zhujiu exchanged a glance with Chen Ping'an, and they smiled at each other.
Master, you understand.
Master, I understand.
Guo Zhujiu didn't dare stay long; she had sneaked out by climbing over the wall today and had to go home.
After saying goodbye to her master and Senior A Liang, the little girl, holding her mountain-walking staff and carrying her little bamboo box, ran off at full speed.
A Liang and Chen Ping'an went to the wine shop in Diezhang.
A Liang asked, "After the sword immortal Tao Wen's death, those spirit money exchanged for battle contributions—wasn't that a bit too much?"
Chen Ping'an didn't hide anything. "I also added some from my own pocket."
The wine shop, the gambling—all the spirit money Chen Ping'an had earned over the years from the drunkards and gamblers on the Sword Qi Great Wall, plus the income from selling seals and folding fans through the Yan Family Shop—not a single Snowflake Coin was left. All were returned to the Sword Qi Great Wall in the name of the sword immortal Tao Wen's legacy. Of course, it wasn't that Tao Wen wanted Chen Ping'an to do this, but that Chen Ping'an had planned it from the start.
This was also the reason why Tao Wen was willing to entrust his posthumous affairs to the young Hidden Official.
To catch the eye of a sword immortal, it was never about how much money you earned or how many nice words you said.
A Liang asked again, "That much spirit money is no small amount. You just casually left it on the table in the courtyard for sword cultivators to take freely? Are you sure about that? Did the Hidden Official lineage keep an eye on it?"
The great war had temporarily subsided. For sword cultivators, nurturing their swords was of paramount importance. The money-eating nature of sword cultivators in the world was notoriously unreasonable.
That was also why there were so many impoverished sword immortals on the Sword Qi Great Wall.
The higher the rank of the natal flying sword, and the higher the realm of the sword cultivator, except for the few powerful clans on Taixiang Street, no one dared to say they had too much money.
Only when not in a cultivation bottleneck would sword cultivators have some spare cash to drink and gamble.
So it was possible that most sword cultivators who went to Tao Wen's residence to take money only took what they currently lacked, but there were bound to be some sword cultivators who secretly took more spirit money.
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "No one is watching that place. Tao Wen didn't care, and I don't mind. It's not a business deal; there's no need to worry too much."
A Liang nodded. "That's the way to think about it. Take it easy."
Chen Ping'an took off the white jade hairpin that was fastened in his bun.
A Liang took it, immersed his mind in it, then laughed in exasperation. "What a fine old scholar! He even fooled me at first."
Chen Ping'an didn't even bother to use mind voice; he spoke directly. "Earlier, in that one-on-one fight with Li Zhen, it was this hairpin that turned the tide. Otherwise, I wasn't a sword cultivator then and couldn't have defeated Li Zhen."
The white jade hairpin had its restrictions opened, so A Liang naturally saw everything.
Chen Ping'an said, "The flow of time is completely opposite to many blessed caves and heavenly realms—roughly one month in the mountain equals one year in the world."
The white jade hairpin was an extremely peculiar blessed cave or heavenly realm. Its territory was small, could accommodate at most a hundred people living in it, the spiritual qi was average, and it was not a feng shui treasure land at all. To be precise, it was not suitable for cultivation.
A Liang sighed. "The old scholar went to great lengths."
The old scholar had racked his brains for his disciple Qi Jingchun.
For him to take refuge here, to use it as a study, he could study in peace. After a hundred or a thousand years, when the world changed, maybe when he returned to the Hao Ran World, it would be a different scene.
The old scholar's original intention was most likely to drag it out until the Barren Wastes attacked the Sword Qi Great Wall, and the Confucians opened the fifth world—a vast new world, with a larger board and more places to place stones. Then his disciple Qi Jingchun might have more room to stand.
When the old scholar left the Merit Forest, he might have already made his plan. He was willing to use the merit and fortune of opening a new world to exchange for a foothold for his disciple Qi Jingchun in the mortal world.
Chen Ping'an said slowly, "My master is such a master, so how dare I be perfunctory with my own disciples and students now? Senior Brother Mao once said that the most treading-on-thin-ice thing in the world is to impart knowledge and teach students. Because you never know which of your words will be remembered by a student for life."
A Liang handed the white jade hairpin back to Chen Ping'an.
Chen Ping'an pinned it back in his bun.
Eight small seal script characters: "Thought of the gentleman, gentle as jade."
A Liang put his hands behind his head, basking in the warm sun.
The young man beside him, in a green long robe, with a white jade hairpin in his bun, wearing a pair of cloth shoes with a thousand layers of sole, and a sword-nourishing gourd hanging at his waist.
Chen Ping'an suddenly asked, "A Liang, did you get hurt in those two consecutive fights?"
A Liang had left the city twice. The first time was fine; even the sword immortals stationed on the city wall could roughly see what happened.
But the second time he returned to the battlefield, one of the throne-level great demons had exerted full force, cutting off the heavens and earth.
Chen Ping'an couldn't help but be a little worried.
Unexpectedly, A Liang shook his head. "I wasn't hurt much. I just used some tricks I had up my sleeve. Next time I go to the battlefield, I'll be targeted for sure. Like the abilities of your two flying swords, if outsiders don't know about them, they are the key to victory or defeat. Once they know, it's hard to make them work next time. After all, it's not like drifting around the Hao Ran World, always meeting new faces. The battlefield on the Sword Qi Great Wall, big as it is, is also small. I'm an old acquaintance with those great demons; we know each other's general moves. And we are resisting the entire Barren Wastes. The problem is that the other side is not short of magic treasures and immortal artifacts. Even if they don't have them themselves, they can borrow them."
Chen Ping'an was surprised. "So you didn't get hurt at all?"
A Liang smiled. "Show you a trick? After you see it, you'll know why I came out unscathed."
Chen Ping'an looked around. "Better not do it in the middle of the street."
A Liang complained, "There's no one around, just the two of us staring at each other. What's the fun in showing off?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. "If you dare to show it, I dare to learn it."
A Liang stopped and lightly pressed the ground with his toe.
Chen Ping'an didn't understand but stopped too, waiting to see.
Suddenly, from the second floor of a nearby restaurant, someone yelled angrily, "Damn it, pay back the money! I've seen people run the gambling table and cheat, but I've never seen someone run away and default after losing!"
Immediately, all the drinkers in various places cheered loudly, clinking bowls with chopsticks, slapping tables, and booing.
Chen Ping'an tucked his hands into his sleeves, looking calm. Small scene.
A Liang stretched his neck and yelled back, "I'm not paying you back; I'm helping you save money. Saving money is saving wine. How dare you curse me?"
The old sword cultivator was momentarily speechless.
Getting anxious, the old sword cultivator was about to spit on the damn guy.
But then A Liang lightly stomped his foot.
At the tip of his foot, a golden character appeared, then connected into a small circle around A Liang's foot.
All were teachings of the sages.
Starting with a quote from the Confucian ultimate sage, forming the first circle.
Then the great principles of the Yin-Yang Great Dao from Daoism.
Then the Confucian classics about heaven, earth, and man. The next larger circle was different articles and poems about the four seasons' cycles.
The Five Elements.
The Twelve Earthly Branches.
The Twenty-Four Solar Terms.
The fundamental doctrines of the seventy-two sages who accompany the sacrifices in the Central Earth Confucian Temple.
Circles of golden characters, from the inside out, layer upon layer, countless.
The three teachings, the hundred schools of thought—the opening lines or concluding words of one scripture after another. The generous declarations of hundreds of poets, moral sages, famous ministers, generals, sword immortals, and heroes—all manifested in characters.
Chen Ping'an looked down. The golden characters appeared too fast, each sentence carrying too much meaning, so that even Chen Ping'an felt he could not see them all fast enough.
In an instant, the entire city was filled with dense golden characters.
Chen Ping'an even saw many beautiful sentences he had once carved on bamboo slips.
He saw words from Buddhist scriptures and Legalist texts, and the characters Li Xisheng had painted on the bamboo building's wall.
A Liang's mind stirred slightly, and the phenomenon disappeared. He smiled. "Just learn the general idea. No one can become another person, and there's no need to. I, A Liang, am A Liang; Xiao Qi is Xiao Qi; you, Chen Ping'an, are Chen Ping'an."
Chen Ping'an nodded.
Then A Liang turned to look at the second floor. "What were you shouting just now?"
The old sword cultivator said earnestly, "A Liang, do you want a drink? My treat."
A Liang said with his mouth, "Damn it, what kind of person do you take me for? Am I the kind of person who owes money and then asks for a drink?!"
But his eyes were fixed on the old sword cultivator, showing no sign of leaving.
"Absolutely not!"
The old sword cultivator said sternly, waving one hand vigorously. A friend quickly tossed a flask of wine over. The old sword cultivator caught it, then cradled the flask with both hands, gently tossed it out of the building. "Brother A Liang, how long has it been since we last met? I've missed you. When you have time, I'll set up a big table at the Second Shopkeeper's wine shop, and we'll drink our fill!"
After Chen Ping'an and A Liang, who had gotten a free flask of wine, walked away.
At the restaurant, the old sword cultivator sat down, stroked his beard, and laughed. "On the entire Sword Qi Great Wall, who else can collect debts like me, making A Liang put on such a big show to avoid his debts? You all are benefiting from this, so today I'm not paying. Who's going to settle the bill?"
A Liang walked along the road, drinking the celestial brew that someone insisted on giving him, which he couldn't refuse. Suddenly he said, "Have you talked to girl Ning about that big matter?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. "I told her the cause and effect in detail. I think the closer the person, the clearer things should be explained."
A Liang smiled. "No wonder the Wen Sheng lineage has only you who isn't a bachelor. There's a reason for that."
Chen Ping'an smiled but didn't respond.
At the wine shop, business was booming, far surpassing other places. Even though there were many tables, there were no empty seats. A vast number of people were squatting or sitting by the roadside drinking.
A Liang and Chen Ping'an squatted by the roadside to drink, with a bowl of noodles and a small dish of pickled vegetables in front of them.
It was noisy all around. The regulars and occasional drinkers at this shop were all thick-skinned; if they weren't, they probably wouldn't become repeat customers. So no one took A Liang or the young Hidden Official too seriously; they didn't stand on ceremony.
A Liang held his wine bowl in one hand and picked up a chopstickful of pickles with the other. He shivered—damn, that was salty—and quickly took a big mouthful of plain noodles.
Listening to some guys bragging about how good the food and drink were here, many who had been dragged to drink here for the first time gradually felt that the wine really wasn't bad.
A Liang wondered, were they working as shills for free these days?
Chen Ping'an cupped his wine bowl with both hands, drank small sips. After a sip, he looked out at the bustling street.
People came and went, some stopping, some moving on, leisurely yet hurried.
The person beside you might leave tomorrow. The traveler far away might return home tomorrow.