CH 47

Chapter 47: 两个男人

(Two men)

At Ching Shui town, where many people were coming and going on the dock, a passenger boat was docked at this moment. There were four or five people disembarking from the boat, either merchants or visiting relatives. Among them, there were two tall men who stood out from the rest of the people. One of the men had a grave and stern facial features, a slender figure,a graceful demeanour and an out of ordinary manner. He was kind of ‘out of place’ on the pier. The man beside him, though expressionless, was far worse than the man beside him in terms of bearing and appearance. He was clearly a page.

The stern man didn’t care about his surroundings, always stealing glances at his servant and saying to the man beside him: “You lead the way!”

The expressionless man:”Yes.”

The man walked lightly towards the corner of the dock with ease while the elegantly behaved man followed behind him, walking unhurriedly. Everywhere he went, the people around him made way for him and after they had gone, there was a clamour in the crowd.

The man, who looked like the fellow servant, walked for a while then suddenly he stopped.

“What’s the matter? Are we there?”

The elegant man came from the back to the front and surveyed the surroundings. The bustling crowd of vendors was plentiful but there was no stall owner who he said was a young ger.

The boy also stood troubled, surveying the surroundings for a moment, thinking for a moment that he probably had misremembered.

“Hong Ying, what’s the matter? Where is the person?” The man asked in a deep voice.

The man called Hong Ying, furrowed his eyebrow, thought for a minute: “Master, this subordinate is sure, they were here before. Moreover their business is brisk, the stall is right next to the bun vendor.” Hong Ying pointed in that direction.

“Oh? Are you sure?”

“This subordinate is certain.” Hong Ying returned with his head slightly bowed.

“Then, ask that bun seller, he must know.” The elegant man lifted his chin, his magnetic voice was cold and cheerless.

“Yes.” Hong Ying led the way, walking towards the man who looked a little nervous.

The man was no other than Uncle Song. Uncle Song had been paying attention to these two men for a long time. Accurately, no one on the pier did not pay attention to them. Uncle Song was still secretly guessing what they were when he noticed that the two men were looking at him. Not long after that, one of the men came towards him. How could this not make him nervous? There was obviously something going on here.

Soon the man was in front of him: “I want to ask you about someone!”

Uncle Song breathed a sigh of relief, it was good that it wasn’t someone looking for trouble. He ‘stumbled slightly’ as he answered: “You …… you say.”

“Next to you, where is the ger whose business used to be very popular?”

Uncle Song was confused for a moment, waited until the other party had impatiently prodded him again. Only then did he remember, the Ger next to him, wasn’t that Zhong Ziqi?

“You mean Qi Ge’er, right? He’s not here anymore. There’s a shop called ‘Quite Delicious’ not far ahead of you that they’ve just rented. It just opened a few days ago.”

The expressionless man got the news he wanted, dropped a stiff thank you, as he walked back to the other man, whispered a few words. Therefore, the two of them walked off in the direction of “Quite Delicious”.

Uncle Song looked envious. Qi Ge’er’s business was good. Both the former Jin Hua Restaurant and the current stranger, all came here for his food, right? Uncle Song shook his head, ‘Comparisons are odious'(人比人，氣死人) , but he admitted his defeat, indeed his skills were not as good as Qi Ge’er’s. He was still self-aware of this.

[人比人，氣死人 : constantly comparing oneself to others will only make one angry (proverb)]

Hong Ying and the elegant man followed Uncle Song’s instructions and walked for a short while before they saw a vermilion wooden plaque.The words “Quite delicious” were written on it.

Looking around, it was clear that this small place was not very big.There were four or five tables in front of the door, almost full. Many people were standing or crouching down to eat.Some of them buy and took away their food.

There were shadows in the shop; as the light was not good, so they could not see clearly what it was like inside, but there was a man’s figure that they often saw, greeting the customers, sometimes putting his hand on the customer’s shoulder and ‘laughing and joking’ as he entered the shop for half a day, without being seen.

“Is this his husband? Didn’t you say that he was a fool?” The elegant man asked.

” Answering this master, he turned out to be indeed a fool. But later ….” Hong Ying told him the result of the information he had investigated.

“En…the character is pretty good.” The man nodded his head, his eyes having read many people over the years, telling him that this man was a good one.

The two of them had been watching outside for a long time, unaware that someone inside the shop was also secretly watching them for a long time too,and this person was no other than Zhao Zheng’an.

Gorgeously dressed, handsome and good-looking two men. In this street, which was ‘dusty’ at first glance, it was too conspicuous for anyone not to notice. Moreover, these two men were obviously coming for their little shop and their eyes never left their place, but looking at their calm and clear eyes they should not be people with bad intentions. According to their dress they were possibly either rich or powerful. It was better to be careful not to offend them.

Zhao Zheng’an thought of this and tidied up his attire. By the principle of ‘if the mountain doesn’t come to me, I’ll come to the mountain’, he walked towards the two people standing on the street: “Two guests, by just a glance I know that you are new to this place, right? Why don’t you come inside and have a look? Our ‘Quite Delicious’ is quite famous and has a good reputation in Qing Shui Town.”

The elegant man looked at Zhao Zheng’an and said, “I’m sorry to bother you then.”

“No bother, please come inside.” Zhao Zheng’an guided the two men into the shop. Most of their tables were outside the shop but there were also two tables in the middle of the room, which were not only for internal use, but also for the ‘master’ and ‘young master’ that ordinarily couldn’t just sit outside and squeeze in with the others.

Zhao Ning and Zhao Sheng saw that the two people Zhao Zheng’an had brought back were wealthy and respectable people, so it would be logical for them to go to a big restaurant like Jin Hua. By coming here, they were simply overwhelmed by the favor from the superior person to be in their small shop.

[受宠若惊 ( 受寵若驚 ) shòu chǒng ruò jīng

overwhelmed by favor from superior (humble expr.)]

Zhao Ning and Zhao Sheng had the good sense to act according to circumstances quickly. They especially wipe the tables and stools carefully. The two men also looked very satisfied with this.

“These guests, what would you like to order?” Zhao Zheng’an asked with a smile.

“What do you have here? Just serve me something.” The man said casually as he surveyed the surroundings, his eyes suddenly being drawn to the busy ger inside.

Zhao Zheng’an noticed immediately and furrowed his eyebrow unhappily, his voice a little colder: “Wait a moment! Xiao Ning, bring two bowls of beancurd jelly over here.”

Zhao Ning got the order and hurried away.

Then Zhao Zheng’an walked towards Zhong Ziqi, blocking the man’s undisguised gaze in the process.

“Ten deep fried breadsticks please!”

“What is the situation? Who’s that? What are you coming for?” Zhong Ziqi whispered in Zhao Zheng’an’s ear with a small voice. He was not slow to sense the man’s undisguised gaze, but this gaze, again, was different from those of the previous customers, without the vulgar distracting thoughts that he could not understand, but no one would like to have such an unknown person plotting something against him behind his back.

“I don’t know who he is either . But these two are certainly not ordinary people. Moreover……why do I feel that they seem to be coming for you?” Zhao Zheng’an stroked his chin, sizing up his wife, moved over and asked, “Could it be that you…have some identity that I don’t know about?”

Zhong Ziqi pushed him away and said in an unpleasant voice: “Nothing! Stop guessing!”

[有个屁！Literally mean : have you fart! It’s just impolite way to say ‘nothing’]

Zhao Zheng’an said with a serious expression, “They just stood outside and watched us for a long time. He didn’t even look at other people’s shops but only at ours. Moreover, he didn’t even know what we were selling. Look at him, he’s not interested in our food. Instead, I guess he comes for you. He looks at you with that expression in his eyes as if he wants to eat you.” Zhao Zheng’an analyzed unhappily, the central meaning was to tell Zhong Ziqi to stay away from the two of them.

“Stop guessing! What does he want, he will say sooner or later . Bring the ‘deep fried breadsticks’ over to them first! By the way, serve the ones from table three too! ”

“Oh.” Zhao Zheng’an took a plate with one hand and put the extra one on the table for two of them first: “Enjoy!”

Then he went out and put the other plate on table three.

“Zheng’an boy (Zheng’an Xiao zi) , your deep fried breadsticks are really delicious! There are still people who come all the way here to eat them!” The man who was waiting for the chinese breadsticks at table three took them, they often came here to eat so they all got to know each other very well.

“Oh? How so?” Zhao Zheng’an’s expression twitched, intuiting that it had something to do with those two people inside.

Sure enough.

The man reached out his hand and pointed to the room and whispered, “These are the two people who just got off the passenger ship and came to your place without even stopping. So why do you think they are here if not for food? Do you know them?”

“I don’t know them!” Zhao Zheng’an shook his head. In his heart, he was even more sure that these two people had come for a reason, not a simple one. He wondered what their purpose was.

Zhao Zheng’an straightened up and went back inside. He saw a scene that made his nose turn up in anger. He had been out for just a moment, talking for just a moment, yet the man had gone to his wife’s place to talk to him. Anyone who said to him at this point that he had come purely to eat, he would have slapped two big slaps on their face; who the hell eats and throws food aside to talk to the chef for fun?

Zhao Zheng’an walked over with a blank face, just in time to hear the man ask his wife, ” Where are your parents from?”

Zhao Zheng’an quickly put a smile on his face: “This guest, is there anything else you need?”

The man’s gentle expression had not yet retracted, “No, I saw that this young Fu Long looked a bit familiar, quite like an acquaintance of mine, so I couldn’t resist coming up to ask.”

“I don’t think I have anything to do with your acquaintance. I was locally born and raised here from generation to generation, so I’m sorry.” Zhong Ziqi said back.

“He he…really? Maybe ba!” The man saw the two men looking at him warily so he said no more, returning to the table to continue eating.

[He he= gentle laughter onom]

“You see, I told you he had ‘unexplainable intentions’, didn’t I? Just now, someone told me that they came from somewhere else. They just got off the boat to come to our shop. Besides that, how did he know that you were already married?” Zhao Zheng’an said.

“En… indeed suspicious.” Zhong Ziqi nodded in agreement, as if there was something.

“What did he say to you?” Zhao Zheng’an was most concerned about what this man had said to his wife while he was away.

“Nothing much, just introduced his name to me, his name is… his name is Shen Yu Bei. He asked me what my name is and where I am from.”

“Wife, are you sure you don’t know him? Don’t you have any relatives in your family? Like distant relatives or something like that?”

Zhong Ziqi thought back in his head for a moment and shook his head, “Can’t think of any.”

But there was one thing Zhong Ziqi didn’t say, he was afraid that Zhao Zheng’an would be jealous. This man gave him a peculiar, comfortable and affectionate feeling. It turned out that he was still wondering why this man was looking at him with a hot gaze, but without a hint of ambiguity? He suddenly remembered, from the short time he had just spent with him, this man treated him the same way as his brother had treated him in a previous life.

In his previous life, his brother was eight years older than him. Every time he looked at him,he would look at him like a child, look at him like a younger generation. A gaze that had been with him for over twenty years, a gaze that he was all too familiar with so seeing it in this man’s eyes at this time, how could it not make him to think deeply?

Zhao Zheng’an’s jealousy is kinda cute…