Chapter 19 — A Secret Rendezvous

When the two arrived at Yue Ran Inn, a waiter led them inside.

As they walked toward their table, Chu An’an spotted Zhao Junyi’s friends already waiting.

Three people were sitting around a square table.

One was Liang Dashu.

One was a man who looked very much like Liang Dashu, though An’an didn’t recognize him.

The third person had only been visible from behind.

Beside them was a little girl who kept bouncing around excitedly.

The waiter led them halfway around the main hall.

The person whose back An’an had seen earlier was now facing him.

It was none other than the manager he’d bribed the last time he went to Zhongqin Court to visit his eldest brother.

Zhao Junyi wasn’t fond of taking credit for things.

But he was also worried that if An’an came along without knowing what was happening, people might laugh at him for being completely clueless.

So on the way there, he’d explained everything.

Liang Dashu’s elder brother, Liang Dahe, was an yasi at Zhongqin Court.

And that manager reported directly to him.

Zhao Junyi had brought An’an here today to use that connection.

Once Liang Dahe spoke to the manager, An’an wouldn’t have to keep paying three taels of silver every time he wanted to see his parents.

Honestly, An’an couldn’t say he wasn’t touched.

He hadn’t expected that something he’d casually mentioned would actually stay in Zhao Junyi’s mind—

and that Zhao Junyi would go out of his way to solve the problem.

The person helping him this time was Liang Dahe, an yasi and the third-ranking authority at Zhongqin Court.

Although Zhongqin Court was an extremely unpopular department within the military promotion system, with almost no room for advancement, Liang Dahe was still an official.

Anyone with a little ambition would avoid being transferred there.

But that didn’t mean An’an would look down on him.

How many people in the Great Xia Dynasty could actually become officials?

Most people were ordinary commoners.

Being able to reach even the lowest edge of the bureaucratic class was already considered quite an achievement.

His own family had once been considered extremely impressive in the eyes of ordinary people.

And yet his father hadn’t even managed to become an official.

He was merely a scholar who had passed the provincial examination and obtained the juren degree.

As for the relatives who were actually high-ranking officials—

Forget it. Thinking about them was bad luck.

Come to think of it, Liang Dashu’s background was actually pretty decent.

At least by ordinary people’s standards, his family was doing well.

Yet he treated Zhao Junyi as his absolute leader, practically like his little brother.

That had caused An’an to misunderstand their relationship at first.

The group greeted one another.

Chu An’an sat down and smiled politely as he greeted everyone.

Liang Dahe warmly welcomed him while secretly observing him.

So this was Zhao Qianhu’s husband.

His younger brother had said that this little ge’er had initially been foolish, only becoming intelligent later.

Now he ran a small food stall that was doing extremely well.

In fact, it was the very stall his younger sister adored.

Foolish?

Liang Dahe didn’t think Chu An’an looked foolish at all.

With that appearance and bearing, he was far too composed.

He suspected that An’an might have been pretending to be foolish from the beginning.

Perhaps he’d been testing whether the soldiers coming to choose a husband were sincere.

After all, Liang Dahe personally supervised convicted laborers.

He understood those young soldiers very well.

Because of the law allowing soldiers to marry ge’er to avoid labor service, many soldiers considered themselves superior.

They picked and chose.

Their attitudes were often arrogant.

Some even had disgusting intentions.

Perhaps this young ge’er had pretended to be foolish simply for self-protection.

But even if he had been pretending, how had he managed to encounter someone like Zhao Qianhu?

Liang Dahe couldn’t understand it.

And it wasn’t his place to interfere.

So he simply stopped thinking about it.

He was mainly here today to meet Zhao Junyi.

He wasn’t helping merely because Zhao Junyi was his younger brother’s friend.

He also considered Zhao Junyi someone worth befriending.

Once everyone sat down, there was still some awkwardness.

They politely pushed the responsibility of ordering onto each other.

“You order. I’m not picky.”

“You’re the host. You decide.”

In the end, Zhao Junyi picked up the menu and began ordering.

Meanwhile, Liang Dashu was teasing his little sister.

“You were so excited about coming here at home.”

“You kept shouting and demanding to come.”

“Why are you acting all shy now?”

So the energetic little girl beside them was Liang Dashu’s younger sister.

According to Liang Dashu, she absolutely loved the snacks from Chu An’an’s stall.

She was practically his biggest fan.

When she’d heard that An’an was coming today, she’d jumped around the house and insisted on coming.

She was apparently a little menace.

Yet after seeing An’an in person, she had suddenly become quiet and ladylike, too shy to approach him.

Chu An’an immediately reached over and patted her head.

“Next time you come to my stall, you can pick whatever you want.”

“Yay!”

With the little girl’s innocent laughter, the adults finally relaxed.

Conversation became much more natural.

First, they discussed the important matter of An’an no longer needing to pay bribes whenever he wanted to visit his family.

The manager immediately agreed.

His kindly smile practically made him look like he was greeting his own grandson.

After agreeing, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness he hadn’t been rude to this little ge’er that day.

Because he really did enjoy giving people attitude.

Some people didn’t understand the rules.

Others didn’t understand basic manners.

They’d show up demanding,

“I want to see so-and-so!”

without offering anything.

Usually, he’d simply give them a cold look and send them away.

That day, he hadn’t done so because he’d thought An’an was generous.

His family had only been sentenced to three years of labor, yet he had still come all the way there to visit them.

The manager had guessed that perhaps he’d married into a military household with some influence.

Now it seemed he’d guessed correctly.

At today’s banquet, the manager was actually the lowest-ranking person there.

By An’an’s modern understanding, his position wasn’t even technically part of the bureaucracy.

He wasn’t even a government employee.

He was essentially a contract worker guarding the gates.

Still, it was an easy job.

And there were plenty of opportunities for extra income.

Most of those extra benefits had to be passed upward, of course, but he still kept a decent amount.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have fought so hard to secure the position in the first place.

So he was extremely grateful he’d hadn’t offended An’an.

Once the dishes arrived, Chu An’an and Liang Xiaomei focused entirely on eating.

The other men chatted about life in the military.

The meal ended with everyone thoroughly satisfied.

When they left Yue Ran Inn, the group went their separate ways.

Chu An’an happily began humming to himself.

His tune was light and cheerful.

Zhao Junyi had never heard it before.

But he didn’t need to understand the melody to know that An’an was happy.

And somehow—

his own mood became brighter too.

After the meal, they walked leisurely.

A gentle breeze brushed past them, making the afternoon pleasantly comfortable.

Chu An’an thought they were heading home.

But Zhao Junyi suddenly changed direction.

He wanted An’an to accompany him somewhere else.

This time, he didn’t explain where they were going.

An’an’s heart was relaxed after solving such a troublesome problem, so he didn’t bother asking.

He simply followed.

The two eventually arrived at the foot of a mountain.

An’an heard the gentle sound of flowing water.

There was a stream winding down around the entire mountain.

Pink and white flower petals floated in the water, spinning slowly in the current.

As they climbed higher, An’an heard clear birdsong.

The trees were tall.

Dappled shadows covered the ground.

In places where the stream dropped sharply, little waterfalls had formed.

Perhaps because the mountain was so beautiful, there were quite a few people traveling up and down the path.

Unlike the dangerous mountain behind Ankang Village, where wild beasts occasionally appeared, this mountain was safe.

It was practically made for spring outings.

Along the way, An’an even saw a young married couple walking down the mountain.

Their eyes were full of affection.

They were practically clinging to each other.

Chu An’an passed them.

Then he turned around in disbelief to look at them again.

His gaze returned to Zhao Junyi walking ahead.

No way.

When they finally reached the top, An’an saw a temple.

An enormous ancient tree stood in front of the temple gates.

Its branches were covered in red ribbons.

The ribbons hung down and swayed in the breeze.

The temple was extremely popular.

There were so many people that even food vendors had set up along the mountain path.

People carried baskets and shoulder poles up the mountain, selling spicy-and-sour noodles, sesame flatbreads, and candied fruit.

Zhao Junyi bought a stick of candied hawthorn.

So it really was a secret rendezvous?

Chu An’an finally understood.

Of course, he’d only been joking earlier.

He’d deliberately teased Zhao Junyi.

When Zhao Junyi stopped in front of him, An’an said,

“There are too many people here.”

“Is there somewhere quieter?”

It wasn’t that he was embarrassed.

He simply wanted some time alone.

The mountain was beautiful.

Wouldn’t it be nice to find a quiet place and enjoy the scenery?

“There is.”

“Come with me.”

An’an followed him again.

As they walked, he thought about everything that had happened since yesterday.

Zhao Junyi really had been extraordinarily good to him.

But how much of that kindness came from objective circumstances?

And how much was because of Chu An’an himself?

He hadn’t cared about the distinction before.

Now, for some reason—

he cared.

Eventually, they stopped at a grassy slope.

The air was fresh.

The grass was lush.

A nearby tree was covered in tiny pink-and-white flowers.

The view in the distance was wide open.

A cool breeze swept over them.

The two sat down on the grass.

Chu An’an fiddled with the candied hawthorn Zhao Junyi had bought.

He popped one into his mouth.

Sweet and sour.

Perfect.

Suddenly, he thought—

Why am I overthinking this?

He could simply test him.

He glanced sideways.

Zhao Junyi was sitting beside him, looking into the distance as though he were admiring the scenery.

Everything about his posture seemed normal.

Except—

Wasn’t he sitting a little too deliberately?

His posture looked almost unnaturally handsome.

And his body seemed slightly tense.

Could it be…

Was he nervous?

The moment An’an realized Zhao Junyi was nervous, his own nervousness disappeared.

He cleared his throat.

Then leaned toward him.

His voice was soft.

“Thank you.”

Zhao Junyi reacted extremely quickly.

He immediately turned his head toward him.

The sudden movement startled An’an.

But An’an resisted the urge to pull away.

He continued,

“I want to ask you something.”

“I hope you’ll answer honestly.”

“Ask.”

“These past few days, you’ve helped me so much.”

“I want to know…”

“How much of it was because of other reasons?”

“And how much was because of me?”

“I want to ask you something too.”

Zhao Junyi’s gaze dropped.

It landed on Chu An’an’s moist lips.

“When you came this close…”

“How much was because you were grateful?”

“And how much was because of me?”

Chu An’an froze.

He turned the question back on me?!

“You answer first.”

“You answer first.”

Chu An’an cursed him.

“You’re not being honest.”

“You just said you’d answer honestly!”

In the end, the two of them tacitly chose not to continue.

Neither said another word.

But Chu An’an had confirmed one thing.

Zhao Junyi liked him.

There was some subtle emotion between them.

For some reason, An’an didn’t want to make it explicit just yet.

The two quickly descended the mountain.

They had solved two major problems one after another.

First, An’an had finally found a helper.

He wouldn’t have to work himself to exhaustion anymore.

Second, he no longer needed to spend huge amounts of money every time he wanted to visit his parents.

His mood had never been better.

And because he was so happy, his mind seemed to work faster too.

Then inspiration struck.

He knew what his next new product should be.

The idea had actually come from lunch.

During the meal, the men had repeatedly complained about the terrible food served in the military’s communal kitchen.

The only good food was the small portions cooked separately by individual cooks.

But those dishes were expensive.

They could only occasionally treat themselves.

There was no way they could eat them every day.

Suddenly, An’an’s mind opened up.

Right.

This was the borderlands.

What was there the most of?

Military households.

And what did soldiers need?

Food that was delicious, easy to carry, and easy to store—especially meat.

This time, he could make more.

He could have Zhao Junyi take it back to the military camp.

It would also be the perfect way to properly thank the Liang brothers and their family.

The last time Zhao Junyi returned to the army, An’an had only had bamboo cakes.

Those weren’t convenient to carry.

They were also sweet and soft, and Zhao Junyi wasn’t particularly fond of them.

So An’an hadn’t asked him to take any.

But this time—

He would make something completely different.

Something that could be carried back to the army in large quantities.

And, conveniently enough, it could also serve as a reward for Zhao Junyi.