Qiang Jin Jiu (Author : Tang Jiuqing 唐酒卿)

Chapter 114 : Intensity Of Flames

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Having gone hungry for a whole day, Lei Jingzhe squatted beside the pigsty with a bowl in hand. He shoved those hard-earned corn noodles into his mouth and gulped them down. One of his subordinates was also squatting next to him. He was a little imp around the same age as Ding Tao, but as strong as a young ox. He gobbled down his food just as ravenously as Lei Jingzhe did.

A head poked out of the opened kitchen window, and the man used a stir-fry spatula to bang on the pot rim and yelled, “There’s some soup broth left. Do you want to drink it? If you do, then get your ass over here quick!”

“Yes, yes, we want it!” Before Li Xiong had even finished swallowing the noodles in his mouth, he was already hurriedly running to the window. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he brought his bowl next to the pot. His eyes never once left that clear soup. 

“You have quite the appetite there.” The cook scraped the bottom of the pot. “Tell your older brother to get down to work and find some honest job to do. Then you wouldn’t have to starve to this extent!”

“My bro is going to do great things!” Li Xiong saw the soup was about to drip from the side of the bowl, so he swiped his fingers around it and put his finger into his mouth to suck it clean.

The cook was a strong man in the prime of his life, too. He pulled his apron and wiped the sweat on his forehead. Looking at how strong and good-natured Li Xiong was, he wiped the sweat off for him too while he was at it and said with disapproval, “Your face is as dark as the bottom of a pot, and there’s no one at home to take care of you. Hey, you there. What are you busy with all day? At least clean this kid up a bit!”

Lei Jingzhe smiled simply at the cook. He was still chewing the pickled vegetables. Li Xiong trotted over and poured the soup into Lei Jingzhe’s bowl as if he was offering up a treasure. He said solicitously, “Bro, you eat it!”

“Good lad!” Lei Jingzhe did not stand on ceremony as he tilted his head back and drank it in one gulp. When he finished drinking, he looked up at the sun above his head; it was so scorching that it was making him sweat. He squeezed his stinging eyes shut, shifted his feet, and cursed under his breath, “Fuck his mother!”

“Fuck his mother,” Li Xiong imitated him. He stood up and shielded Lei Jingzhe from the sunlight. 

Lei Jingzhe propped up an arm on his knee and asked, “How is it outside?”

Li Xiong stretched his neck out and looked around. He answered in a small voice, “They’re still searching!”

Looking irritable, Lei Jingzhe hung his head down, exposing a scorpion tattoo on the back of his neck that was currently dripping with sweat. He had dispersed his people after he had fled from Cizhou, taking only this silly lad he had raised from childhood with him as he sneaked his way into a small town along the public road. He had sat and watched as the Imperial Army was led on a wild goose chase all over. He was waiting for Xiao Chiye to run out of patience so that he would disperse his own soldiers and come after him himself. Who knew Xiao Chiye was not impatient in the slightest? Instead, he had set this fire along this road, letting it blaze until all the people were burning with anxiety and panic everywhere.

“Bro, the reward money of the Imperial Army’s money is so pathetic.” Li Xiong said with bewilderment. “It’s not enough to even get the brothers some wine. Why are there still so many people going?” 

“It’s precisely because the reward is small.” Under Lei Jingzhe’s sweat-sheened brows were a pair of extremely bright eyes. “The price he’s offering is exactly right.”