Chapter 127: Malatang Sweeping the County

Several soldiers returned to the camp, beaming with smiles.

"Lei Zheng," Liu Yun shouted fiercely.

Lei Zheng's heart jolted when he heard that.

Then he put on a flattering smile and walked closer to Liu Yun, he bowed to Liu Yun, "Mr. Liu, how can I help you?"

"Don't give me such a cheeky grin. It's your turn to be on duty today. Where did you go?" Liu Yun asked with a darkened face.

Lei Ming scratched his head and said awkwardly, "I've changed shifts with someone."

"Oh? With whom? "

"Zhang Lin."

Liu Yun's face darkened and he said, "Is that so? Coincidentally, a few people have told me they have changed shifts with him, can you give me an explanation? You're a veteran, but he is a rookie, apparently stealing wine from a newcomer is not enough, you have to bully him like this? You should be ashamed!"

Lei Zheng scratched his head again, "Mr. Liu, I'll return him some wine."

Zhang Lin thought he had done a good job hiding the wine, but he was no match for the veterans. Lei Zheng was an old Fox! There was nothing in the dormitory that could be hidden from him.

Lei Zheng knew how great the wine was and he couldn't resist the temptation, so he had stolen Zhang Lin's, he had been feeling sorry and he planned to buy Zhang Lin some wine after he got paid. To his surprise, Liu Yun found this out before he could carry out his plan.

"Where have you guys been?" Liu Yun demanded.

Lei Zheng took a step forward, "Mr. Liu, Chen Xiao Cai, the brother-in-law of Magistrate Lu opened a malatang restaurant, we just went there. I highly recommend you and General Ji to pay a visit there, it is so great!"

Liu Yun said with a stern face, "Is that why you have changed shifts with Zhang Lin? To eat something new? Zero tolerance if it happened again!"

Lei Zheng kept nodding, "Mr. Liu, don't be angry!" I'll go on patrol right now."

Lei Zheng walked back to Liu Yun after he had walked a long distance, "Mr. Liu, that malatang really tastes great! You and General Ji should go."

Liu Yun glared at Lei Zheng, and Lei Zheng fled knowingly.

Lei Zheng smiled dryly and said, "All right, all right, I know what you are about to say, I will get lost right now."

Liu Yun looked at Lei Zheng's retiring figure and shook his head helplessly.

Ji Cheng Kang came out and said, "Looks like Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Cai's new spicy hotpot restaurant is really good!"

Liu Yun frowned and said, "I've only heard good things about them, look at our soldiers, they sure are charmed."

Ji Cheng Kang felt very much indebted to Lu Lin since Lu Lin shared a few recipes with the cooking team in the military camp, but he was a bit worried about some soldiers neglecting their duties to go to Lu Lin's restaurant!

......

In the county yamen.

Chen Xiao Mai poured out a bag of coppers, then he and and Yuan Bao started counting coins.

Chen Xiao Mai had done a great job helping out in the restaurant this day, Xiao Cai rewarded him with 200 cents for his hard work.

Because Chen Xiao Mai was a special kid, Lu Lin was worried that Chen Xiao Mai would be deceived by others if they gave him money. So Xiao Mai had never had money, so he was so thrilled when Xiao Cai gave him 200 cents.

Yuan Bao looked at Chen Xiao Mai and said, "Little Uncle, you are awesome, look at all these coins!"

Chen Xiao Mai said proudly, "Of course."

Chen Xiao Mai could always ask for money from Chen Xiao Mi or anyone in the family, they would give him a generous amount, but it was different. Xiao Mai just felt so proud, because this was the first time that he had ever earned something.

Yuan Bao looked at Ji Yun An and asked, "Hey, brother-wall-climber, have you made money yourself?"

Ji Yun An wished he weren't in this room. The truth was he had not, he had always despised money, he just wanted to do well in his studies and martial arts. He didn't need to worry about making money.

Yuan Bao looked at Ji Yun An and let out a long sigh, "Daddy said that good kids must learn to rely on themselves and be someone useful to the country."

Ji Yun An felt so embarrassed, he felt this little brat was judging him.

Chen Xiao Mai looked at Ji Yun An and said, "You haven't made any money, that's fine, you don't have to feel bad or discouraged. Second Brother's restaurant is very busy, would you like to work there and wash dishes with me?"

Ji Yun An almost gasped. 'To wash dishes with you? I'm not trying to belittle you or anyone else, I'm Young Master Ji from the capital city, I don't think washing dishes is a good idea for me.'

"Are you doing it or not?" asked Chen Xiao Mai.

Ji Yun An hesitated for a while and gritted his teeth, "Oh, yes, I'm in."

Chen Xiao Mai clapped his hands and said, "Very good, very good. You have the desire to advance at least. Don't worry, I will protect you."

Ji Yun An scratched his head. He always felt that he would encounter some strange things in the county yamen. 'If Uncle knew that I'm going to wash dishes in a restaurant, would he stamp his feet with fury?'

......

Liu Yun walked into Ji Cheng Kang's camp, he stood there for a while, wishing to speak but not to do so on second thought.

Ji Cheng Kang glanced at Liu Yun who had a strange expression on his face. "Spill it out already, clearly you have something to say? Is it about the malatang restaurant? You caught the soldiers sneaking out again?"

The malatang restaurant had become the talk of the camp recently. They would have swarmed into the restaurant if not for the strict investigation.

They would just get up early and march into the restaurant on their day off.

It was said that in order to cope with such a huge flow of customers, Chen Xiao Cai had to expand the size of the restaurant within days.

Liu Yun said with a strange expression, "General, the young master is doing customer service and washing dishes in the restaurant."

Ji Cheng Kang raised his head and glanced at Liu Yun. "Oh? How come? He needs money?"

Liu Yun shook his head and said, "No, the young master said he wanted to be independent and he didn't want to be ridiculed by that Bio boy in Magistrate Lu's family."

Ji Cheng Kang smiled and said, "He's grown up! Let him be."

Ji Cheng Kang estimated that Ji Yun An would not keep doing this job, but he was very happy that his nephew was so down-to-earth, he hoped his nephew could learn something from this experience.

Liu Yun hesitated for a moment and said, "General, that spicy hotpot tastes really good! And it's not expensive. You can give it a try when you have time. The restaurant is so popular, and many villagers are taking their kids over as well."

Ji Cheng Kang glanced at Liu Yun and thought to himself, 'Liu Yun, aren't you the one who has complained to me about the soldiers frequenting the restaurant? Look at you now, urging me to give it a try.'

"Is it really that delicious?" Ji Cheng Kang asked.

Liu Yun nodded and exclaimed, "Yeah! I don't know what they have put in the soup base, it's just so addictive."

Ji Cheng Kang smiled and recalled what Ji Yun An told him, Ji Yun An mentioned that Lu Lin would spend hours in the kitchen to try different recipes. "It's probably Magistrate Lu's secret recipe."

Liu Yun rubbed his chin and said, "Magistrate Lu is full of surprises."

......

Lu Lin was shocked by the news that Chen Xiao Mai asked Ji Yun An to wash dishes.

The Ji family was an influential and privileged family in the capital city, and Ji Yun An was the young master of that family, how could a young master wash dishes in a restaurant!

Lu Lin immediately went to the restaurant and talked to Ji Yun An, saying that he was wasting his talent on a petty job, but Ji Yun An said he was enjoying it and he felt great that he was not a freeloader anymore.

Lu Lin nodded with a smile, then he suggested that Ji Yun An could transcribe books to make money if he aspired to support himself. It was a much more suitable job than washing dishes. Besides making money, Ji Yun An could gain new knowledge by transcribing books.

Ji Yun An nodded in agreement when he heard that, he found that made perfect sense. He quit the dish washing job that day and threw himself into book transcription. Ji Yun An's handwriting was very beautiful, he could make good money in book transcription.

The business in the restaurant had cooled down a little after a few days. Chen Xiao Cai finally had time to hire people, so Chen Xiao Mai had lost his job.

Chen Xiao Mai lay on the table and looked at Ji Yun An who was transcribing books, "Brother Ji, are you good at telling stories?"

Ji Yun An was confused, "Telling stories?"

Chen Xiao Mai nodded, "Yeah! Li Ge is a great storyteller, he has read a lot of script for story-telling."

Ji Yun An blushed and somehow he thought Mai was referring to smut novels.

"My uncle doesn't allow me to read those books."

Chen Xiao Mai looked at Ji Yun An in confusion and said, "Why, Lin Ge has read a lot, and he even told me and Yuan Bao about it."

Ji Yun An frowned and thought to himself, 'I know Magistrate Lu defies trivial conventions, but it doesn't seem appropriate to share smut with children!'

Chen Xiao Mai looked at Ji Yun An and said: "I will tell you a story."

Ji Yun An frowned and reluctantly nodded, "Okay!"

Chen Xiao Mai happily told Ji Yun An the story of the Monkey King Sun Wukong who made havoc in heaven that Lu Lin had told him before. Although Chen Xiao Mai was a special kid, he actually had a good memory. Chen Xiao Mai would pester Lu Lin to tell stories whenever he was bored. Lu Lin would always 'borrow' stories from one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature - Journey to the West to tell Xiao Mai. (T/N: Journey to the West is going to appear repeatedly in the following chapters, it's a Chinese novel published in the 16th century, it's hard to do a proper summary, google it if you are interested.)

Chen Xiao Mai looked at Ji Yun An and said, "Have you heard of this story?"

Ji Yun An shook his head, he enjoyed the story so much though. (T/N: Of course he hasn't heard the story, they are living in an alternative reality.)

Chen Xiao Mai looked at Ji Yun An and said with some contempt, "You seem to have very limited knowledge and scanty information."

Ji Yun An pouted and said, "I'm a bit ignorant compared to magistrate Lu."

"I guess you are."

Ji Yun An asked Lu Lin about the story, Lu Lin just said he heard this story from an elder in Big Stone Village.

Then something occurred to Lu Lin and he asked Ji Yun An to transcribe the stories he and Mai were about to tell...... Ji Yun An agreed with alacrity.

Ji Yun An found the stories mind-blowing, he admired Lu Lin even more now.

The whole book of Journey to the West was engraved on Lu Lin's memory, he was more than happy to tell the stories.

Ji Yun An was deeply attracted by Lu Lin's stories. Every day, he would pester Lu Lin for more stories.

When Lu Lin was younger, he would watch the adapted TV series of Journey to the West in every school holiday, so he remembered most of the plot, and sometimes he would just improvise about the minor details.

Ji Yun An and Chen Xiao Mai now kept following Lu Lin around for more stories, sometimes Lu Lin just wish to hide somewhere for a moment of peace.

If Chen Xiao Mai were the only one who wanted to listen to the story, Lu Lin could coax him away, but he felt uncomfortable telling Ji Yun An off.

Ji Yun An was completely immersed in the story told by Lu Lin. Seeing Ji Yun An's state, Lu Lin was secretly worried. Ji Yun An aspired to pursue an official career, but now he was worried what if Ji Yun An got distracted by the stories and went off the track.

Ji Yun An had transcribed all the stories that Lu Lin had told.

Ji Yun An would retell the story to Lu Lin every time he was done with a chapter.

Lu Lin found that Ji Yun An indeed had a lively style of writing, he enjoyed Ji Yun An's version very much. As days went by, Ji Yun An had almost finished the whole book.

Chen Xiao Mai always followed Ji Yun An when he pestered Lu Lin to tell more stories, Chen Xiao Mai would doze off whenever it was a story he had heard already, and Ji Yun An didn't mind that.

......

At the end of March, the silkworm eggs that Lu Lin bought had hatched, and a lot of chubby silkworms had popped out.

Chen Xiao Mai's attention shifted from the story to the silkworms immediately.

Lu Lin did not buy many silkworm eggs for the first batch. He planned to keep them at home instead of selling them.

Lu Lin had trypophobia, he tended to not check the silkworms that often.

Chen Xiao Mi, on the other hand, was very interested in the silkworms, and he would check on them from time to time.

The Qins and other employees at home were interested in the silkworms as well.

"The silkworms grow very fast! It's just been a few days since the last time I checked them, they are so big now." Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded. "Some villagers asked me if they could raise silkworms with us. I didn't promise them anything, I think we might as well wait for a little big longer."

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Good call. The mulberry trees haven't grown up yet. The silkworms don't have much food, let's wait till next year."

"Let me tell you something cute, Qin Lang and a Bio from Sha County fell in love, the Bio is very interested in silkworms, so Qin Lang gave him a few and send him white mulberry leaf every other day." Chen Xiao Mi said.

Lu Lin smiled, "I have no idea our Qin Lang has such a sift heart."

"It's time for Qin Lang to get married and start a family," in Forest Town, quite a few people had proposed marriage to Qin Lang. However, Qin Lang didn't seem to fall in love with anyone back then.

"Have you met that Bio?"

Chen Xiao Mi tilted his head and said, "No, but I think he must be a very lovely person who is a perfect match for Qin Lang."

"I once had a friend who gave his girlfriend a bunny as a present, but his girlfriend had abandoned the bunny when she found out my friend had been cheating on her." Lu Lin said that out of nowhere.

Chen Xiao Mi looked so confused, "Excuse me? What's the point of that story?"

Lu Lin rubbed his chin and said, "I don't know either! It just comes to my mind."