Chapter 68: Return to Fengtian (2)

  Hu Xiaoxiao snorted: "What's wrong with other surnames? You just had to be a Hou. I always feel that the name you chose is taking advantage of me everywhere."

  Shuiyao'er walked up to Huoxiao Xie's side, pressed him down with one hand, and laughed scoldingly: "Good grandson, don't move, Grandpa will draw a pretty face for you."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè sighed and sat down, still fiddling with Shuǐ Yāo'er on his face.

  Two days later at noon, in the east city of Fengtian City, on the main street of Yue Lai Hotel, this hotel has a golden signboard, which is quite atmospheric and is one of the top restaurants in Fengtian City.

  The shop assistant looked at the sparse customers in the store, sighed, and leaned lazily against the door frame with his hands tucked into his sleeves, drowsy. Since the rebellion of Guo Songlin, Fengtian City had been under martial law and blockade, and the merchants and tourists who used to come and go were afraid of war, so the business of Yue Lai Wine House was not good.

  An old man and a young man pushed the door open, the shop assistant was taken aback, seeing that customers had arrived, he immediately became lively, shouting loudly: "Hey, two gentlemen have come, please go inside, do you want a private room or to sit separately?"

  The old man said weakly: "Let's disperse."

  The shopkeeper responded with a "good" and led the old and young to the table by the window in the main hall, asking them to sit down. However, the shopkeeper couldn't help but frown after sizing them up from head to toe.

  There were only two people, an old man and a young boy. The old man was over sixty years old, while the young boy was less than twenty years old. They wore long gowns made of good grey woolen material, but they looked crumpled and dusty. The two had little luggage, with the young boy carrying only a dirty and crumpled cloth bundle in his hand.

  The fellow, seeing the two men dressed like this, understood a bit in his heart, and was far from the enthusiasm of just welcoming them at the door. His tone turned sour: "Hey, you two gentlemen are from out of town, right? Our Yue Lai wine tower is one of the best restaurants in Fengtian City. There's nothing cheap here. You two had better think carefully."

  The old man settled himself in his seat, coughed twice and said: "Are you still worried that we can't afford to pay?"

  The shopkeeper grumbled, "It's not that I'm afraid you two can't afford to pay, just a reminder, our store doesn't have any free soup or water, so don't bother asking."

  The young man's southern and northern dialects were mixed together in a chaotic scolding, making it impossible to discern his accent: "You dog-eyed thing looking down on people! What good wine and dishes do you have here, speak up!" As he spoke, he pulled out a gold leaf from his pocket and tossed it onto the table, "Is this enough? Take it!"

  The shop assistant's eyes widened as he saw the gold leaf on the table, his expression changing faster than a water spirit. He grasped the gold leaf in his hand and flattered: "Enough! Enough! Absolutely enough! Don't mind, don't mind, sirs, what would you like to eat? We have...". The shop assistant rattled off over ten dish names, all of which were extremely rare delicacies.

  The change in attitude is not surprising. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, many Manchu nobles and aristocrats in Beijing lost their wealth and were robbed by local warlords, leading to a decline in their fortunes. They didn't know how to make a living, so they gradually became destitute, with some even resorting to begging on the streets.

  Shenyang was the old base of the Qing Dynasty before it entered the pass, and it still retained some remnants of the imperial court. The royalist faction was not small in number, so in recent years, many fallen aristocrats came to Shenyang with their families to seek a living and rely on relatives.

  They often had no money but still wanted to maintain their dignified identity. They would enter high-end restaurants but order the cheapest dishes. Hotel owners in Shenyang disliked them the most, as they were extremely troublesome to serve. If they didn't pay, it was hard to reason with them, and if you bumped into them, they would make a big fuss. Even when the police came, they would just try to mediate and let the hotel owner suffer.

  At first, restaurant owners were still polite and considerate of their identity, trying to avoid trouble whenever possible. However, as time went on, people became increasingly fed up with the remnants of the Qing Dynasty and couldn't tolerate them anymore. Most of the time, after asking a few questions, they would directly scold and curse at them, driving them away.

  The old man and the young boy were dressed exactly alike, with the same demeanor and mannerisms. It was inevitable that they would be ridiculed by their companions, who judged them based on appearances. From being a high-ranking official to becoming a lowly servant, those who had once been so lofty and proud had fallen to such a miserable state, not even as good as a humble firewood carrier. All they could do was sigh at the whims of fate, lamenting that they were born in an unlucky time.

  The young man was taken aback for a moment, unsure of how to order, and looked at the old man who was reading the menu carefully.

  The old man stroked his sparse beard and said, "Then let's have deer bone stew, nine-sectioned yellow croaker, black fungus with wind willow buds and meat." The shop assistant listened with a smile and praised, "This gentleman is indeed a connoisseur! These dishes are always ordered by Zhang Siye from Fengtian City whenever he comes to our humble shop."

  The old man asked: "Who is Zhang Siye?"

  The fellow looked around, then leaned in and said: "You two gentlemen are from the capital, of course you wouldn't know that our Fengtian City has a Zhang Siye, he's such an important figure that even General Zhang treats him with respect."

  The old man said: "Oh! That's really unknown. We're hungry, can you hurry up and bring the dishes?"

  The buddy responded with a sound, ran away excitedly, and shouted at the back kitchen to cook.

  The young man looked at the old man and said: "Water..."

  The old man glared: "What did you say?"

  The young man licked his lips and changed his tone to a soft voice: "Ah, Grandpa, Grandpa... have you been to this store before?"

  The old man chuckled and said: "Of course, I'm afraid I've been to more places in Fengtian than you have!"

  These two were none other than Huo Xiaoxie and Shui You'er. Huo Xiaoxie had lived in Fengtian City for over a decade, and had seen the virtues of these declining aristocrats many times before; sometimes he was too lazy to even steal from them, and could learn eight-tenths of their mannerisms just by observing them. As for Shui You'er, it went without saying that she could imitate anyone perfectly.

  There were few diners in the restaurant, and before long, the dishes were served. Huo Xiao and Shui Yao'er had been busy rushing along for two days, and they were extremely hungry, so they ate with abandon.

  Two men were eating happily, when they heard the waiter shouting loudly: "Ah, Deputy Zheng! Manager Liu! Gentlemen! You've arrived! The best private room has been reserved for you! I was worried that you wouldn't come today! Boss! Manager Liu has brought guests!"

  Huoxiao Ye and Shuixiao'er looked up to see a line of people walking into the store, the shop assistant bowed his head and led the way. The boss of Yue Lai Wine House ran out from the side, couldn't help but bow repeatedly with joy, and together with the shop assistant, brought these people to the second floor's elegant room.

  Huoxiao Xie swept a glance over these people, his eyes straightened in an instant. The one in the middle of that row, with his head held high and proud, was none other than Zheng Deputy Officer, who had shot and killed Old Guan's gun. His appearance was so familiar to Huoxiao Xie that he could recognize him even if he were burned to ashes!

  Among those people, Huo Xiaoxie recognized not only Deputy Zheng but also Liu the housekeeper. This Liu was a person from Zhang Siye's household, and it was he who had led the pursuit when Huo Xiaoxie stole pastries from Zhang Siye's household, nearly taking Huo Xiaoxie's life with his club.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié watched as Zheng Deputy Officer swaggered up the stairs, her eyes reddening at the sight of her enemy. She gritted her teeth so hard they were about to shatter and stood up with a whoosh. Shuǐ Yāo ér pulled Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's sleeve forcefully and said: "Good grandson, where are you going?"

  "Who are you to call me son? Mind your own business!"

  The Water Demon child exerted force with her hand, pulling down the small Fire Evil, and said in a low voice: "Do you want to go die? Revenge isn't done like this. Stop shouting, do you want people to discover us?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè thought for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh, still glaring fiercely at the stairs above.

  Shuiyou'er ate while speaking slowly, with a tone of an old scholar: "Your temper is really unteachable. I don't know how you managed to be a thief in Fengtian City for over ten years. How can you be so impatient? You didn't look like a thief just now, but rather a street rascal who bites back at enemies without distinguishing between right and wrong. It's strange if you can get away with it!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè calmed down and listened to Shuǐ Yāo's criticism, which he found quite pleasant. Huǒ Xiǎo Yè didn't get angry at all, but instead spoke with a somewhat apologetic tone: "Shuǐ... Ah, Grandfather, you're right. I was indeed impulsive just now. That Zheng deputy officer, I've been wanting to take his dog life every moment, so when I saw him just now, I couldn't hold back..."

  The old water demon said with an air of superiority: "You're still young, full of vigor and vitality, it's normal. I think... maybe like this..." As he spoke, he put a mouthful of food in his mouth, slowly chewing, without saying another word.

  "Uh... Grandpa, what should we do?"

  The water demon child laughed and looked at the stairs, where the boss of the Yue Lai Inn and his running partner were rushing down from the second floor. The boss was shouting as he ran: "Serve the dishes! Serve the dishes! Everyone, hurry up!"