W Chapter 31

Chapter 31: “Call me Erlang.”

Tu Hai runs a gambling den and has many underlings.

Because he lends money at high interest rates, he is best at collecting debts and finding people. Every nook and cranny in Yunxia Town cannot escape their eyes.

As a local tyrant, Tu Hai has a very high status in Yunxia Town.

Whether it’s the wealthy merchants in the town or the petty officials who manage the town, they would not easily provoke him.

The wealthy merchants are afraid of Tu Hai’s cruel methods, and the petty officials don’t want to cause trouble, just wanting to get some kickbacks and cooperate for mutual benefit.

Xu Qi, at Shen Hui’s request, wanted to set up a table to invite Tu Hai to a meal, as he had something to ask for.

He claimed to be a minor official with some experience. But in the end, he was just a person in charge of collecting money from stalls, with not much power.

Tu Hai doesn’t do business with stall vendors, so he probably wouldn’t be interested in his invitation.

Xu Qi didn’t have much hope of getting Tu Hai to move.

But for the sake of his brother, he still followed Tu Hai’s rules, carefully writing an invitation and sending it to the gambling den.

Tu Hai had no wife, no children, no parents. He had countless wealth, but no courtyard or residence.

All along, he has been living and eating in the backyard of the gambling den.

That is Tu Hai’s home.

Xu Qi held the invitation in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped forward to hand it to the guard at the entrance of the gambling den.

Unexpectedly, a tall, thin man dressed as a beggar intercepted him.

“Giving this to Master Ba? I’m just about to see Master Ba, I’ll be kind enough to take it for you.”

Xu Qi really couldn’t see the other person’s face clearly. The person’s face was pitch black, only a pair of eyes could be seen clearly.

He didn’t believe this person at first, but he heard the tall and burly guard respectfully call the “beggar” “Brother Monkey.” Xu Qi thought that he had come at the right time and met someone close to Master Tu Ba.

Xu Qi’s mind turned, and he put on an attitude, “So it’s Brother Monkey, it was my ignorance that I didn’t recognize you. Brother Monkey is righteous in helping, Xu Qi thanks you here.”

The skinny Monkey was happy being praised, “That’s right, who doesn’t know that Brother Monkey is the most righteous?”

Saying that, he walked on tiptoes, dawdling along the way, entering the gambling den without any obstruction.

“Master Ba, Xu Qi, who manages the stalls, wants to invite Master Ba to dinner.”

The skinny Monkey took out the invitation from his pocket. The clean and tidy cover of the invitation was grabbed by his dirty hand, leaving several dirty marks.

In the courtyard, the man squatting on the ground shoveling soil to plant flowers got up when he heard the words.

His hair was all tied up with a jade crown, wearing a green shirt, tall and slender, with a decent appearance, but his eyes were very beautiful.

Like a fox, the corners of his eyes turned upwards, revealing a shrewd meaning.

“Don’t you know how to wash your claws? The mud inside your fingernails is about to overflow.”

Tu Hai took the invitation, looking at the stained cover, very disgusted.

The skinny Monkey scratched his head embarrassedly, “Wasn’t I pretending to be a beggar to wait for someone? That kid is really too cunning, I waited for several nights to catch him.”

Tu Hai ignored the skinny Monkey’s words, and looked at the specific content behind the invitation on his own.

Xu Qi, who manages the stalls, he knew, had no involvement with the gambling den. He didn’t expect this person to take the initiative to contact him.

Tu Hai didn’t want to pay attention to it at first, but changed his mind when he saw the specific content behind the invitation.

The rules of the gambling den are that if you want to see Master Ba, you must send an invitation.

This invitation is different from ordinary invitations. You need to write the reason clearly on it. If you want Master Ba to help, you must write clearly what you want to help with, and the reward given.

As long as Master Ba accepts and says he will agree to the invitation, then this matter is basically done.

Tu Hai wasn’t very interested in finding people, but he was very interested in the reward given.

So far, the things given to him for help have been gold, silver, and jewelry. This was the first time someone offered a recipe.

He runs a gambling den, not a cook, what does he need a recipe for?

Tu Hai knew he should put down the invitation, but after looking at the skinny Monkey a few times, he still nodded, “Notify Xu Qi, I accept this invitation.”

“Okay, I’ll go say it now.”

The skinny Monkey slipped away quickly, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Xu Qi obviously didn’t expect Tu Hai to agree to meet. The first thing he did when he got the news was to go to the steamed bun stall to find Shen Hui and Ling Xing.

At this moment, they had just finished their business and were cleaning up the stall.

“Master Tu Ba has agreed to meet.”

Ling Xing, who was still holding the steamer in his hand, lit up his eyes and said happily, “That’s great!”

“The invitation said to have dinner at Yunxia Restaurant tomorrow at noon, don’t remember the time and place wrong.”

Xu Qi emphasized.

After silently reciting it twice, Ling Xing nodded and replied, “I’ve remembered it all, I definitely won’t be wrong.”

There was a relatively big progress in finding Ling Yue. Affected by memories and emotions, Ling Xing didn’t sleep well all night.

The result of tossing and turning was that when he got up in the morning, there were dark circles under his eyes, and he was dazed, without his usual energetic look.

When Ling Xing entered the kitchen, Shen Hui’s gaze intentionally or unintentionally fell on him.

Seeing Ling Xing’s tired appearance, he knew that he hadn’t slept well.

When going out, Shen Hui didn’t let Ling Xing carry the bamboo basket, but carried everything on his own body.

“Ge’er looks tired, let’s not carry things today.”

Ling Xing yawned, obediently nodded, his mind not having fully turned around, only knowing that he would respond to whatever Shen Hui said.

Walking on the small road, Shen Hui found a shorter branch and stuffed it into Ling Xing’s hand.

In case Ling Xing was not in good spirits and fell while walking, he could quickly support him.

The branch was very short, with one person holding one end, and there was not much space left in the middle.

Ling Xing knew that he would be sleepy if he didn’t sleep well, so he paid more attention to his feet than usual.

The branch in his hand was shaking, Ling Xing was afraid of it falling off, so he pulled it up a bit, occupying the last bit of space.

The tips of their fingers touched skin, Ling Xing didn’t realize it, he was staring intently at his feet and the surroundings, preventing himself from being tripped.

Shen Hui’s empty hand, the tips of his fingers were trembling. The hand holding the branch was so forceful that it almost crushed the branch.

His throat felt dry and itchy, his large Adam’s apple rolling. Shen Hui didn’t pull back his hand, nor dared to turn his head.

“Second brother, you’re walking too fast, slow down.”

Ling Xing felt that he couldn’t keep up with Shen Hui, he panted lightly and asked Shen Hui to slow down.

Following what Ling Xing said, Shen Hui slowed down.

Second brother.

Since he can call Li Huiyuan Third Brother, why can’t he call him Erlang?

He looked ahead, his black eyes deep, containing unfathomable emotions.

“I’m much older than you, call me Erlang.”

Just like calling Li Huiyuan Third Brother.

What to call him didn’t matter to Ling Xing. Calculating his age, Shen Hui was now twenty-three, he was twenty-one in his previous life, and now he was sixteen, and in three months he would be seventeen.

Indeed, whether in his previous life or this life, he was younger than Shen Hui.

It seemed a little aggrieved for such a tall and strong man to be called younger brother by him all day long.

Ling Xing readily said, “Okay, Erlang.”

Clatter.

“Erlang, the branch is broken!”

Shen Hui gave a sound, the light was dim, and his expression could not be seen clearly.

Throwing away the broken branch casually, Shen Hui went to find a new branch.

Ling Xing lowered his head to take the new branch that Shen Hui had found, his tone a little worried, “Erlang, why is your hand shaking? Are you cold?”

Shen Hui’s voice was low, suppressing unknown emotions, and said calmly, “Don’t worry about it, it’s just temporarily disobedient.”

……

Today, they were going to see Master Tu Ba. After the steamed bun stall closed, Shen Hui and Ling Xing bought everything they needed and stored it all in the warehouse.

They would take it again when they left.

Yunxia Restaurant was the largest restaurant in Yunxia Town. It was two stories high, and the wood outside looked a bit gray, but it was decorated with colorful silk, which made it look a bit lively.

This meal was paid for by Ling Xing himself. He brought all the two taels of silver that the Fang family had compensated him.

Led by the waiter to a private room on the second floor, only Xu Qi was there.

Ling Xing handed the cold noodles in his hand to the waiter, asking the waiter to send them to the back kitchen to help make them.

He told the seasoning, and the waiter repeated it before leaving.

At noon, Tu Hai came.

He was followed by two tall and strong men, who did not enter the private room, but stood guard at the door.

When Ling Xing saw Tu Hai, he only felt a great contrast.

The image he had outlined in his mind was a tall and strong man no less than Shen Hui, with a beard and perhaps a scar on his face.

He didn’t expect it to be a young man who looked a bit handsome and suave, and a bit literary.

The weather was not yet hot, but this person was holding a folding fan in his hand. He originally thought it was for elegance, but after sitting down, he turned the fan into a flower.

The whole person sat in the chair, reclining like he had no bones, his fox eyes shining, as if he had caught prey to be slaughtered.

Tu Hai glanced around, his gaze accurately falling on Ling Xing.

“Ge’er?”

Ling Xing broke away from the strong sense of contrast, and thought about his current gender again, and nodded after a moment.

Tu Hai turned the fan, and said lazily, “What recipe are you going to exchange for?”

Shen Hui looked at Tu Hai without showing any signs, thinking that this person had a very strong insight.

Tu Hai moved his gaze, made eye contact with Shen Hui, his fox eyes narrowed slightly, feeling the threat.

Ling Xing and Xu Qi didn’t notice the undercurrent between the two, Ling Xing had already thought about what recipe to give. He wanted to give out the recipe for cold noodles.

Other recipes had not been put into practice, and Tu Hai might not want them.

Even if he wanted them, it would take practice to really make them successful.

Ling Xing wanted to find someone quickly, so he simply handed over the cold noodles.

He had been selling them for a few days, and he could find out how the business was doing with a little inquiry.

It could save a lot of time.

“It’s cold noodles, I’ve been selling them for several days and the business is very good. I also brought some here today, please Master Tu Ba taste how it tastes when the dishes are served later.”

The gambling den was still a certain distance away from Sugar Workshop Street.

Ling Xing’s steamed bun stall was only somewhat famous in that area, and it hadn’t spread that far yet.

However, Tu Hai had many subordinates, spread all over Yunxia Town.

As long as Tu Hai wanted to know, he could know anything that happened in the town.

The steamed bun stall on Sugar Workshop Street, selling novel food, Tu Hai had heard about it.

His subordinates would also buy it to pay him respects. He had eaten the steamed buns and buns, and the taste was just so-so.

What good things hadn’t he eaten? It was just pasta made with good flour, it wasn’t enough to make him feel extremely delicious.

What was special was the soft texture of the steamed buns and buns.

As for cold noodles, he had also tasted them.

They couldn’t be considered delicacies, but they did have some novelty.

Although these things couldn’t catch the eyes of the wealthy merchants in the town, they could catch the eyes of ordinary people.

They couldn’t earn much money, but in the long run, they could live a comfortable life.

“No need to taste, the taste is okay, I’ve eaten it.”

Tu Hai held the fan and stopped turning it. He sat up slightly, finally having some attitude of discussing things.

“Give me the recipe, you can’t sell it anymore.”

The gambling den had a lot of income, and there were many brothers.

Some gambling den members who were injured or disabled were also supported.

Tu Hai could afford to support them, and didn’t mind supporting them.

But the brothers felt that they were useless people, a burden, and were only left with a breath to hang on to, the whole person was neither human nor ghost.

Tu Hai had thought about finding them a skill to make a living, but they were injured and disabled, and no craftsman wanted them.

More importantly, the apprenticeship time was too long.

It was also not good to force craftsmen with force. He could live in peace in Yunxia Town without being removed by the magistrate, because he didn’t touch innocent people.

This was a delicate balance. If he forced a craftsman, the magistrate would have hundreds of ways to level his gambling den.

A snack stall was also a livelihood, and Tu Hai came here today for this.

Ling Xing knew that there would be this request, he nodded without hesitation.

The method of making cold noodles was very simple. Asking for pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, Tu Hai wrote it himself, with Ling Xing dictating.

After writing, Tu Hai admired his handwriting for a while, and also invited others to appreciate it together.

Ling Xing couldn’t tell the good from the bad, only nodding and saying it looked good.

Xu Qi could only see that Tu Hai’s handwriting was better than his, even if it wasn’t good, he wouldn’t say it.

But Shen Hui said something astonishing, “It has form but no spirit, Master Tu Ba still needs to practice more.”

Xu Qi’s breathing stagnated, and Ling Xing subconsciously blocked in front of Shen Hui.

Thinking that if Tu Hai became angry from embarrassment, he wondered if he could give another recipe to make the other party calm down.

Shen Hui did not expect Ling Xing’s action, he looked down at the top of Ling Xing’s head, unable to look away for a long time.

Tu Hai was not angry, he had only been practicing calligraphy for a year, and such an effect was already outstanding.

The outside world spread that he was moody and extremely terrible.

But he considered himself a very humble and receptive person.

“You write well? Come and write and see.”

Tu Hai turned the pen. If it wasn’t as good-looking as his, then he would get angry.

Shen Hui restrained his mind, hid all his emotions, and shifted his gaze.

“No need to worry.”

He said to Ling Xing in a low voice, “Ge’er.”

Ling Xing heard this and looked up at Shen Hui, but saw Shen Hui reaching out and passing over him, taking the pen and writing a word on the blank paper.

Hai.