Chapter 93: Reveries of Roast Duck

When they came out, Xiao Weiguo asked Quan Linglan, “Linglan, how much did this meal cost? You really went to some expense for me.”

“Oh, it was only a few yuan, hardly anything at all. Next time, let’s go to Quanjude together, all right?” Quan Linglan was in excellent spirits. Watching Xiao Weiguo eat meat so heartily, her own appetite had improved as well.

“Sure. But it’s settled then: next time it has to be my treat!” Xiao Weiguo also wanted to taste how good Quanjude was in this day and age. In later years, it would become a byword for exorbitant prices and disappointing food.

By the twenty-first century, Beijing roast duck was long no longer Quanjude’s private domain.

By then, the first recommendation was Siji Minfu Roast Duck; the place was expensive, but that was still better than Da Dong Roast Duck, Liqun Roast Duck, and Bianyifang.

(If you go to Beijing and want roast duck, just remember these places and you can’t go wrong.)

As for something to bring back home, the roast duck gift boxes from Bianyifang were not bad either.

At that thought, Xiao Weiguo immediately began to look forward to the taste of roast duck.

The two of them rode all the way back to Nanluo Alley, where they parted at an intersection.

Xiao Weiguo had originally wanted to see Quan Linglan back to her little Western-style house, but she refused, so they could only say goodbye at the fork where their two homes diverged.

Xiao Weiguo stood at the crossing and watched as Quan Linglan rode around a bend before heading back to Courtyard No. 98.

Quan Linglan could feel Xiao Weiguo’s gaze on her the whole time. After turning the corner, she deliberately stopped her bicycle and peeked out with her little face.

Only after Xiao Weiguo had ridden far enough away did she continue home in high spirits, even humming softly under her breath:

Let us row with our oars, the little boat pushing through the waves...

When Xiao Weiguo returned to the middle courtyard, he saw Xu Lamei sweeping the ground.

Right, her household had been punished to clean the courtyard for a month.

For some reason, Xiao Weiguo felt oddly uneasy when he saw Xu Lamei. He nodded and was just about to head toward the rear courtyard when she stopped him.

“Xiao Weiguo, about those coal briquettes from your house, could I pay you back after my family’s coal ration comes down?”

Xiao Weiguo did not much care and said, “Take your time, Sister Lamei. I’m not in a hurry.”

Xu Lamei then leaned on her broom, looking as though she might cry. She reached out with both hands to tug at Xiao Weiguo’s sleeve, but missed. Then she said to him, “I knew you were a good one, Weiguo.”

Seeing her like that, Xiao Weiguo felt a chill in his heart. He hurriedly shook himself free of Xu Lamei and returned to his own room.

A widow was the last kind of woman one should tangle with. In this era, gossip alone could drown a person. Besides, Xu Lamei was not even pretty.

After Xiao Weiguo got home, he drank a glass of water. The food today had indeed been rather greasy; at the time he had not noticed it, but now the aftertaste had set in, and his mouth felt terribly dry.

He glanced at his newly bought Shanghai steel watch. It was only a little after six. There was still plenty of time, so Xiao Weiguo began thinking about what to do next.

He realized it had been quite some time since he had gone to see Yang Moguang, Old Master Yang. He could go over today and show his face again.

He still had that three-month agreement with Old Master Yang. Yang had said that if Xiao Weiguo performed well over those three months, he would pass on some Daoist martial arts to him.

Xiao Weiguo was very interested in that.

Besides, Old Master Yang was loaded, and he could always use up some supplies there.

Once he had made up his mind, Xiao Weiguo set out, pushing his bicycle out of the courtyard.

A neighbor in the courtyard asked where he was going, and Xiao Weiguo replied that it was work-related and he had to make a trip.

When he reached a secluded spot, Xiao Weiguo, just as before, put half a side of pork into a sack, along with a whole pig’s head, and tied it to the back of his bicycle.

Since he had already drained off the blood in the spatial store, nothing seeped out and dripped everywhere.

Xiao Weiguo then rode toward Old Master Yang’s small quadrangle courtyard.

When he got there, he knocked for a long while, but there was no response from inside. It seemed no one was home.

So Xiao Weiguo rode to the sprawling shared courtyard where his junior disciple, Tian Xuguo, lived, on the same street.

He propped the bicycle and the sack containing half a side of pork against the wall. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Tian Xuguo kicking a little fellow in the backside.

Looking closer, who else could it be but Li Hong? He was the one who was always up to mischief.

The others practicing in the courtyard spotted Xiao Weiguo at once and all turned to look.

Li Hong, who had been the one getting beaten, was especially curious. Seeing that it was Xiao Weiguo, he quickly slipped away from Tian Xuguo and ran over to him.

“Brother Weiguo, it’s been ages since you last came.”

Tian Xuguo also noticed Xiao Weiguo then and said, “In training, persistence matters most. You can’t just disappear for so long like this.”

Xiao Weiguo knew he had indeed been somewhat remiss and said at once, “Uncle Tian, it’s not that I didn’t come. It’s work. I’ve been running all over the countryside these past days. Since I finally had a little time, I hurried over.”

Hearing this, Tian Xuguo nodded. That was understandable. He was only learning a few routines, after all. If he came less often, so be it.

Then Xiao Weiguo asked, “Uncle Tian, where’s Old Master Yang? I came to see him.”

“He’s probably off drinking tea at an old friend’s house. He should be back in a bit. If you have something to tell him, you can tell me and I’ll pass it along.”

Xiao Weiguo thought for a moment. Yang had indeed said before that if he had any supplies, he could bring them straight here to Tian Xuguo.

At that, Xiao Weiguo said to Tian Xuguo, “Uncle Tian, come outside the courtyard with me. I’ll show you something.”

Tian Xuguo looked at the little radishes around him, told them to keep practicing properly, and then followed Xiao Weiguo out the door.

Xiao Weiguo led him to the bicycle, opened the mouth of the sack, and let Tian Xuguo look inside.

“Uncle Tian, I managed to get half a side of pork. Do you want it?

“Old Master Yang told me before that if he wasn’t at home, I could leave things here first, and he’d settle the bill with me later.”

When Tian Xuguo saw the pork, his face lit up with unmistakable delight.

People who practiced martial arts feared nothing more than a lack of meat. Without it, the body would be left depleted.

That was why he, along with many of his disciples and granddisciples, had in fact greatly reduced the frequency of their training. There simply was not enough meat to sustain them.

He glanced around the surroundings and then motioned for Xiao Weiguo to follow him to the other side of the courtyard.

It turned out this courtyard had more than one gate.

He said to Xiao Weiguo, “We definitely want the meat. Let’s go in through the side gate. There’s a scale in the storeroom. We can weigh it first, and when my senior brother comes back, he can settle with you.”

Xiao Weiguo did not mind at all. Old Master Yang was a man of substance and would certainly not cheat him over such a small matter.

Together with Tian Xuguo, he carried the sack inside. When weighed, the meat and pig’s head together came to one hundred and sixty-three jin. The pigs in the spatial store were truly fat; half a side there was as heavy as a whole pig raised in the countryside.

These days, in the villages, a pig that could reach one hundred and fifty jin whole was already considered a fine one.

After coming out through the side gate, Tian Xuguo asked, “Weiguo, are you going to practice the Eight Extremes stance today?”

Xiao Weiguo looked at the sky, shook his head, and refused. “Uncle Tian, it’s a little late today. I’ll come again when I have time and learn some new techniques then. I’ve been practicing the old ones all along.

“I still need to make another trip to Old Master Yang’s place later.”

Tian Xuguo said, “Then I’ll go with you now. By usual timing, Old Master Yang should already be back.”

With that, the two of them headed together toward Old Master Yang’s courtyard.