Chapter 8: Clear Hierarchy, Children Speak Freely

At noon, led by a servant from the Lin Residence, I arrived at the back kitchen to have lunch.

Even from a distance, the fragrance of the food and meat wafted through the air, whetting my appetite immensely.

Zhou Ping'an was still thinking to himself that the Lin Residence indeed honored their promise, ensuring enough food for meals.

However, after a while, once he collected his meal with his meal ticket, he was somewhat dumbfounded.

A bowl of wheat rice, a small bowl of meat soup, floating with a few green vegetable leaves.

Together with three fist-sized white flour buns laid beside it.

Technically, there was indeed enough food—the buns were just a taste, but there was a whole big bowl of wheat rice that would leave a pig satisfied.

But what about the vegetables? Where were the vegetables?

Zhou Ping'an's heart was filled with doubt, and he turned to look at the Guardian House Servants nearby, who didn't even have buns.

Yet they were all smiles, chomping down on their wheat rice enthusiastically and looking utterly content.

With a sip of meat soup, they would sometimes let out a long moan of satisfaction, seemingly extremely pleased.

Could it really taste that good?

Zhou Ping'an scooped up a spoonful of wheat rice and put it in his mouth; how come it was so hard to chew...

When swallowing, the coarse wheat bran stuck in his throat, nearly causing him to choke.

It smelled good, but it was mostly wheat bran inside.

It could fill one's stomach, sure, but the flavor was another story.

When had Zhou Ping'an ever eaten such food in his life?

Looking at his big bowl of wheat rice, he felt a wave of melancholy for a moment.

"Brother Zhou, what kind of delicacies did your family used to eat?"

A hand stealthily reached over, snatched two white buns from Zhou Ping'an's plate, and without waiting for him to snatch them back, stuffed them into a mouth and devoured them quickly.

It was Tang Lin'er who had approached.

Zhou Ping'an felt somewhat better inside, realizing that happiness truly comes from comparison.

This guy was a Third-Rank Guardian, also without buns, yet he still ate his wheat rice with relish.

"I've caught a cold and have a sore throat; this is for you."

He passed the wheat rice to the other person, while thinking to himself that people need food as much as iron needs steel. It's not that you couldn't get full in the residence, it's just that the food wasn't good.

Wanting more meat to supplement his Qi-Blood for more effective martial arts practice, it seemed that he would have to find some game outside.

No wonder everyone's eyes shone when they first heard the treatment offered by the Lin Residence for Guardians.

Being chosen meant receiving five taels of silver, enough for a fair amount of meat.

"That's true, you're a First-Rank Guardian and your stipend is higher; you can afford to eat out. Look over there…"

Tang Lin'er nodded towards something.

Zhou Ping'an saw that on the inside of the main hall there were two tables with lavish meals, not only with large bowls of meat but also with a pot of wine in front of each person.

"Those are Offerings, all Strength-Training Martial Masters with developed Refined Energy. I don't know how much their stipend is, but their treatment in terms of food, clothing, accommodation, and travel is extremely good.

The recently recruited Wang Yaozu and Fang Tielin both passed their tests, and they might be hired as Offerings, which sets them far apart from the likes of us."

Tang Lin'er seemed to have an inexplicable flame burning in his eyes, he lowered his head and hurriedly swallowed a few mouthfuls of wheat rice to hide his emotion.

Zhou Ping'an had seen the strength of Wang Yaozu, the martial master with the stick who carried a little girl on his back, his stick move generating a small explosion in the air and demonstrating impressive might.

Although he was still a First-Rank Guardian for the time being, it was just a formality, which everyone was aware of.

As for Fang Tielin, he was a Strength-Training Martial Master who practiced Transverse Training and had formidable palm techniques.

He had already passed the selection before Zhou Ping arrived at the recruitment scene.

Where could those two be assigned?

Tang Lin'er did not say, and Zhou Ping'an did not ask.

...

After eating, Zhou Ping'an momentarily lost interest in wandering about.

So he stayed within his own small space, checked that no one was around, and took out the red Lotus Diagram for another study.

He stared at it for a long time but couldn't see the point, finally putting it away carefully into his bosom again.

He started practicing the Three-Body Stance and performing the Six Harmonies Sword Technique, feeling a warm sensation throughout his body and somewhat lighter in the spirit, so he walked out the door and into the Herbal Garden next door.

At this time, the sun hung high in the sky, casting a warm glow on his body, so that he didn't feel cold at all.

In the garden, large patches of young green sprouts glistened with dewdrops.

An old man with a hunched back and a white beard was laboriously picking up water to irrigate the plants.

This was the place that Zhou Ping'an, as a First-Rank Guardian, was tasked with overseeing daily.

The old man with the white beard worked for a while, then rested and caught his breath for a good while, occasionally coughing. Zhou Ping'an felt a twinge of pity and approached to ask, "Old uncle, do you need help?"

"What help?"

The old man looked at Zhou Ping'an with a wary expression.

"To help you carry water."

"Carry what water?"

And so, Zhou Ping'an realized that the old man didn't want his routine disturbed.

He smiled, left the Herbal Garden, and thought it might be better to take a stroll outside.

I certainly didn't eat enough at noon, now with several tens of taels of silver on me, I should treat myself to something good.

...

As he left through the side gate, Zhou Ping'an noticed a little one wearing a tiger head hat sneaking behind him, not too far away, also leaving the Lin Residence.

Strangely, the two house servants guarding the gate seemed to suddenly turn blind, not questioning the sight at all.

Zhou Ping'an took a discreet glance—the little one was probably around seven or eight years old, finely carved with a plump appearance, and her eyes were black and shiny, glancing around with great alertness.

It was a little girl.

Despite wearing an old gray coat, her skin was tender and flushed with a healthy bloom, clearly not the child of a poor family.

Such boldness...

Zhou Ping'an thought to himself.

This wasn't the kind of modern world with comprehensive legal systems; once outside, the types of people were varied.

In the marketplace, all kinds of filth were hidden, gathering all sorts of individuals.

A little girl, wandering around so confidently, wasn't she afraid of being snatched away?

No sooner had this thought crossed his mind,

than Zhou Ping'an noticed a figure dressed in a green shirt and wearing a bamboo hat following from behind, coming out stealthily from behind the door, trailing from a distance.

[There's no problem then.]

Zhou Ping'an shook his head and chuckled to himself.

As the crowd become busier, experiencing the marketplace atmosphere so different from that of modern society, Zhou Ping'an walked more and more slowly.

The security here seemed to be much better than at East Gate Square.

He could even see constables in black patrolling the streets.

The various shops and stalls were all surrounded by people.

The number of refugees barely clothed seemed much less.

The little girl in the tiger head hat stopped, standing in front of a sugar figurine stall, unable to move on.

She swallowed quietly, patted her clothes as if searching for silver coins, but didn't make a sound.

She just watched the old man skillfully drawing dragons and tigers and little figures with the syrup...

'After all, she's a child, even if she's not lacking food usually, she can't resist the lure of sugar.'

'However, the little one knows that buying things costs money, and if she has no money, she can't ask for things. It seems she comes out to play often.'

Zhou Ping'an watched the little girl trying to resist her craving, looking incredibly conflicted, and felt like laughing.

"Do you want some? I'll treat you."

"Sister Xue said not to accept things from strangers."

The girl in the tiger head hat raised her head to look up, and crisply replied.

"I'm not a stranger, look at my clothes."

Zhou Ping'an pointed to himself.

The attire of a Lin Family Protector was uniform and easy to recognize.

"That's true, I recognize you, the one who kicked that big-nosed guy."

"Eh..."

Zhou Ping'an was surprised; he hadn't seen this little girl at the selection scene, perhaps she was in the tents further back?

"The kicking was really impressive," the little girl added.

She had heard from her mother that sometimes it's good to compliment others, because it makes them happy.

"Good eye."

Zhou Ping'an gave a thumbs up.

Indeed, she was a very polite child.

"Your strength is really small, even smaller than Sister Xue's."

"Well, let's not talk about that..."

Zhou Ping'an felt a bit awkward, thinking that perhaps the little one wasn't quite so sweet after all.

"Here, have something sweet."

Having bought two sugar figurines, one a little tiger and the other a red phoenix, surprisingly they cost three wen each, quite expensive.

Zhou Ping'an handed the red phoenix to the little girl, watching her extend her delicate little tongue to lick and eat it, squinting and laughing with delight, adorable.

His sister, Zhou Lan, also loved eating sugar when she was little.

She wouldn't cry even if she was spanked while eating sugar.

Therefore, Zhou Ping'an understood the feelings of the little one across from him very well.

"Thank you, handsome brother."

With candy in her mouth, the little girl's words turned sweet.

Too bad she still didn't know how to speak very well.

I know I am handsome, but how can a man be described as "pretty"?

Never mind, children say the darndest things, no need to take it to heart.