Chapter 372: I’ll Treat
Chapter 372: I’ll Treat
Zheng Daniu made a face. “What’s so good about cake? Isn’t it just flour? I don’t want to eat cake, I want to eat lamb.”
The shopkeeper was torn between laughter and tears. “But I can’t just give you a big bowl full of lamb, otherwise the small shop would suffer a loss.”
The other five soldiers laughed along. “Brother Daniu, stop messing around; the shopkeeper will be ruined.”
Their commotion happened to disturb Zao Ying as she was passing by the shop entrance.
Hearing the noise inside the shop, Zao Ying turned her head and glanced, relieved to see that the troublemakers weren’t her own cavalry; then she watched with an amused attitude.
Zheng Daniu looked confused. “Would adding more lamb without cake really cause a loss?”
The shopkeeper wore a pained expression. “It definitely would cause a loss; lamb is expensive. In good times, a pound of lamb cost about eighty coins here, but in this great disaster year, it climbed to eight hundred coins; only in the last few days when Gaojia Village sent us lots of flour did the price of lamb drop back to four hundred coins a pound… If I add a few thin slices of lamb to a bowl of Lamb Cake, that bowl has to sell for fifty coins; adding more slices would bankrupt me.”
Zheng Daniu looked bewildered and turned to the gunners beside him. “Huh? How many taels are four hundred coins?”
Someone nearby laughed. “Four taels.”
Zheng Daniu scratched his head. “Exactly how much is four taels?”
The person beside him fell silent.
It was impossible to communicate with this fool using normal methods.
A gunner reached inside his coat, pulled out a very small piece of silver, and placed it on the table. “Brother Daniu, look, this small piece of silver is four taels.”
Zheng Daniu pinched the piece of silver with two fingers and squinted at it with one eye for a long time. “Huh? So just a pound of lamb is equal to such a tiny bit of silver? That scared me—hearing four hundred, I thought it was a huge amount.”
The others remained silent.
Zheng Daniu reached into his coat, pulled out a huge ingot of silver, and slapped it onto the table with a bang—it was really big, at least five taels—then thumped the table and declared. “Shopkeeper, take this ingot; bring as many pounds of lamb as it covers, and don’t add cake as filler!”
The others stayed quiet.
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment: was this the spending bravado of a common soldier? If not for your soldier’s uniform, I’d have thought you were an official.
A gunner whispered. “Brother Daniu, even if you’re rich, you shouldn’t waste it; that much money could buy a pretty maid, and you shouldn’t spend it treating us all to a meal.”
Zheng Daniu laughed heartily. “Buy a maid? Aren’t you afraid the Deity might slap you silly? Besides, even if the Deity allowed it, I don’t want a maid—I can’t eat her; I just want to enjoy good food, and I don’t care about the rest.”
“Pfft!” A woman’s chuckle came from the shop entrance.
Everyone turned at the sound and spotted Zao Ying standing at the doorway holding her horse’s reins; she must have listened for quite a while, and it was only when she laughed that they noticed her.
Zheng Daniu waved to Zao Ying. “Instructor Zao, anyone who sees this gets a share—come have some lamb, my treat.”
Zao Ying chuckled and walked in, sitting boldly next to Zheng Daniu with her legs spread wide. “You just said you won’t buy a maid? Why?”
Zheng Daniu replied. “Can’t eat her.”
Zao Ying gave a strange smile. “For men, a maid can be consumed too.”
Zheng Daniu shook his head. “No, no, I don’t eat human flesh.”
Zao Ying confirmed it now—this guy truly didn’t get the joke, and she found it fascinating. “Daniu, are you an Old Villager of Gaojia Village?”
Zheng Daniu chuckled. “Yeah, I arrived early; besides the first forty-two villagers of Gaojia Village, folks like those from Zhengjia Village, Zhuangjia Village, and Wangjia Village came next; back then, when Gaojia Village was building its gate, I pitched in too. I even cut wood for the carver to make statues, and I drove the public sun chariot, haha, that was years ago.”
Zao Ying asked. “No wonder you’re so rich; the Deity bestowed generous rewards then; you must still have more of these large ingots, which explains your spendthrift ways?”
Zheng Daniu responded. “More? Not really; I only had that one ingot left, and I just spent it—now I’m broke, hahaha.”
The others froze.
The five gunners he had treated immediately looked awkward; what the heck, Brother Daniu was poorer than them? They had more than that ingot’s worth—was the poorest person footing the bill?
Zao Ying was amazed. “Where’d your money go? What happened to it?”
Zheng Daniu patted his belly and grinned. “Eaten!”
The others stayed silent.
By then the shopkeeper had sliced a huge plate of lamb and thumped it down before them; Zheng Daniu didn’t use chopsticks—he just grabbed a piece of lamb with his hand and shoved it into his mouth. “Wow, tasty, tasty.”
“Stop eating like that; dip it in the seasoning!”
“Hey! The broth spilled on your clothes.”
Seeing him like that, Zao Ying couldn’t help but beam; he was one bold man.
She wasn’t a delicate girl; she disliked meek, scholar-type men and simply admired Zheng Daniu’s gutsy spirit; matching his hearty appetite, she also grabbed lamb with her hand and crammed it into her mouth. “Hahaha, eating big chunks of meat is such pleasure.”
Zheng Daniu exclaimed. “Hahaha, Instructor Zao’s a gutsy person too; come on, have more.”
He held the lamb in his right hand but casually draped his left arm over Zao Ying’s shoulder.
The other five gunners simultaneously swapped strange looks, thinking: Even though Instructor Zao looks like a gorilla (and it’s hard to tell sex with gorillas), everyone knows she’s female—what if she yells assault when you touch her like that?
But they needn’t have worried; Zao Ying didn’t care at all and just laughed out loud. “Daniu, you suit me well; here, down this bowl.”
“Hey, we’re on duty and can’t drink alcohol; even though I’m stupid, I know that.”
“It’s not alcohol; it’s tea.”
“Much better.”
They clinked bowls loudly and chugged a huge serving of tea, their mouths wide open as they tilted their heads back—a truly startling sight.
Zao Ying went on eating lamb and asked teasingly. “Hey, Daniu, if you’ve spent all your money, aren’t you planning to marry?”
Zheng Daniu chuckled idly. “There’s no girl I like, and no girl likes me.”
Zao Ying retorted. “A fine man like you, and no woman wants you? Are all those women blind?”
The five gunners broke into a cold sweat, thinking: Instructor Zao, aren’t you the blind one? Daniu’s a fool, personally dubbed an “idiot” by the Deity, and he’s spent all his money—who’d have him?