The sky over the rivers and lakes is very clear - Chapter 156
The man on the right was riding a crimson horse, with a large sword hanging beneath the saddle. The rider himself had a white beard, and beneath his crimson armor was a ruddy face with piercing, sharp eyes.
The two men were imposing and imposing. Against their backdrop, the bright autumn street was filled with a chilling atmosphere. People could even hear the faint sound of war drums and the deafening shouts of battle.
The girl suddenly became excited!
Yes! This is the very army that struck fear into the hearts of the Japanese pirates on the front lines! The two men under the banner are none other than Generals Yu and Qi!
Did the two generals return victorious after passing through Suzhou? This means that the Japanese pirates, who claimed to have an army of 100,000, were once again utterly defeated and driven out of Chinese territory!
So, how are they? Mother, Master, and Madam, and are they all alright? Have they returned yet?
She was lost in the crowd, watching the two generals lead their troops through the city, her heart filled with emotion.
The two victorious generals may never know that while they were leading their soldiers to bleed and sacrifice themselves on the battlefield, there was also a group of people in the martial arts world who, just like them, risked their lives to protect their families and defend their homeland.
These people may have different personalities, and it's hard to tell whether they are good or bad, but they all have noble souls. For the sake of a belief in their hearts, they shoulder the responsibility of loyalty and bravely face death without flinching.
The army was disciplined and moved swiftly, soon emerging from the streets. The people who had come to welcome the army had dispersed, leaving only the young girl standing there in a daze.
The young man in yellow quietly stayed by her side, his face still bearing that gentle, unchanging smile.
The large pig grew impatient and nudged the leg beside it with its long snout, which startled her: "What? Huh—is everyone gone so quickly?"
As she looked around, she caught a whiff of food on the breeze, and her stomach immediately started rumbling.
She pressed her stomach and sniffed the aroma intently: "I'm so hungry! Brother Liu Yue, how about we go get something to eat?"
The young man in yellow simply stood beside her without answering.
The girl sniffed as she walked forward, confirming that she had come out of the restaurant across the street.
The restaurant had three floors, with green railings and simple pavilions, and looked very elegant—if you ignored the large stove in front of the door and the several drawers on it.
The fire in the stove was burning brightly, and steam was rising from the steamer basket. The aroma of burning wood mixed with the fragrance of wheat flour, which was fatally tempting to a hungry person.
The girl's stomach rumbled even louder. She tilted her head, scrutinizing the signboard hanging in front of the restaurant, and stammered, "No, no, no, no...no what restaurant?"
She hesitated for a long time, but still couldn't utter a single word.
The young man in yellow robes curved his lips slightly, as if he couldn't help but speak, but in the end no sound came out. His dark eyes flashed with a mysterious light, and then he lowered his head.
The girl, however, paid no attention to these details and muttered, "Is this some kind of building, the Sleepless Tower?"
That person once told me about a restaurant called "Never Sleeping Pavilion" in Suzhou, where the chef makes many delicious dishes, especially the xiaolongbao (soup dumplings). He said he had invited me to eat there several times...
Pshaw! He even said he'd treat her to steamed buns, what a lie! Relying on him, she probably wouldn't even know what a steamed bun looks like before she dies. Admittedly, she wandered around, even making a special trip to Suzhou, hoping that if she couldn't find the "antidote," she could at least taste the long-admired steamed buns from the Sleepless Tower before she died!
Wow, this Sleepless Tower is huge! Normally, when I'm dirt poor, I would never dare to enter such a high-class restaurant! Even if I managed to sneak in, the waiter would throw me out!
But now—she reached into her robes and touched the cloth bag she'd "snatched" from the burly man, and suddenly her courage surged. XX is rich now; let's see who dares to look down on us!
Sigh! She had promised that person she wouldn't take anything from them anymore, but that person treated her badly, so why should she listen to him? Besides, this money was compensation from that big man for insulting her! It can't really be considered "taking" anything!
She pulled the young man in yellow, saying, "Brother Liu Yue, let's go inside and eat!"
He strode into the "nothing-name building," and as soon as the waiter came to greet him, he immediately reached into his cloth bag, shook it vigorously, and the loose silver inside jingled: "See? XX is rich. Prepare a good seat for XX!"
The boy looked at her, then glanced at the fat pig circling at her feet, and said with a beaming smile, "Please! Please come in!"
Look! The power of money is truly immense!
The two people and the pig followed the boy all the way up to the third floor, where they were even invited into a private room and served fragrant tea!
The tea smelled wonderful, and it was neither too hot nor too cold. The girl gulped down two cups of tea in a row, feeling very pleased with herself. Being rich really does feel different!
Afraid of being mistaken for a country bumpkin by the waiter, she dared not show too much joy. She sat down on the soft chair and said in a pretentious manner, "Young man, bring me your best dishes! One plate of each of the following: Biluo shrimp, sizzling eel, crispy orange peel, and white-sauce garden vegetables! And ten or eight baskets of xiaolongbao, please!" She wasn't very ambitious; of all the delicious food in the world, she only cared about xiaolongbao!
After saying that, he slammed the cloth bag containing the money down on the table, meaning, "See? XX has plenty of money!"
The boy smiled broadly and said, "Okay! Please wait a moment, I'll be right there!"
Hehe, I've finally earned the title of "you old man"! The girl was overjoyed, but she pursed her lips and pretended to be deep in thought, putting her hands behind her back to look at the calligraphy and paintings on the wall.
Actually, she didn't recognize many of those characters, so she only looked at the paintings.
"Hmm, the chicken in this painting has drooping feathers and a dejected look; it looks like a chicken waiting to be slaughtered, and the posture is painted quite realistically. This one is a bit worse; such a large painting, yet there's only such a small branch of flower, the paper is wasted. This painting is clearly about a mountain, but the tree is taller than the mountain—a sacred tree! And this one too—a perfectly nice woman, but they don't paint her face, she's facing away from the customer. Damn! Which brothel girl is this, trying to make money...?"
The waiter's face twitched as he listened. The calligraphy and paintings in this elegant room were all by talented scholars from Suzhou. The one who painted the eagle, peach blossoms and mountains was already a master in Jiangnan, and Mr. Tang, who painted the painting of the lady with her back to the viewer, was an unparalleled genius. His personality was unruly and unrestrained, and even nobles and kings would not be willing to pay a fortune for a single painting.
Upon hearing the girl's words, the big fat pig seemed to feel extremely ashamed. It buried its large head under the tablecloth and dared not show itself to anyone again.
Only the young man in yellow, with a gentle smile like jade, listened quietly without responding.
Suddenly, his eyebrows twitched slightly, but he quickly returned to normal.
The door to the private room was suddenly pushed open, and a person strode in. Dressed in fiery red, her beautiful face, like that of a serene maiden, wore an expression of unbearable pain: "Zhu Huihui, I beg you, please shut your mouth, okay?"
The girl didn't close her mouth; instead, she opened it even wider: "Baldy...uh, loud, what are you doing here?"
"Where have you been all this time?" The young man in red stroked his medium-length hair and retorted sullenly, "Didn't someone say that you would definitely come to the Husband's Sleepless Pavilion and make me wait here with him? We've been waiting here for almost twenty days, and you're only showing up now!"
"Who...who said that?" The girl's heart pounded, her gaze fixed on the door of the elegant room.
Beside the green railing stood a tall and straight figure, wearing a white robe and a long sword at his waist. He looked like a wisp of snow on a mountain peak or a wisp of cloud in the distant sky, pure and elegant.
He stood calmly by the railing, his eyes bright as the moon in the cold night, his gaze as deep as autumn water, and a faint smile on his lips.
Those gentle eyes, that faint smile—they said nothing, yet it seemed as if they had already spoken a thousand, ten thousand words.