Chapter 26: Refusing to Practice Martial Arts

  The Drunken Immortal Pavilion welcomed its first customers of the day, Xiao Zhanggui and Old Cheat.

  The chef was so happy that he quickly went to the kitchen and made several exquisite dishes. The boss personally ate his cooking, which was both an honor and a test. The chef did it with special care - business was not good, and the Drunken Immortal Building had fired so many people. What if the boss wasn't quite satisfied with his food and fired him too?

  The dishes had not been served yet, but Xiao Fan and the old Taoist started drinking wine first.

  Xiao Fan now feels that being a shopkeeper is really a comfortable thing, it's simply a profession tailored for this idle young master who eats without paying, drinking and eating without spending money, where can you find such a beautiful thing?

  The old Taoist laughed with a face full of wrinkles, looking even happier than Xiao Fan. His dark and dirty face was radiant, his two beady eyes rolling around, seemingly plotting some kind of mischief.

  Xiao Fan had no friends in this era. Although the old Taoist priest had only interacted with him once, and his character was not reliable at all, Xiao Fan still considered the old Taoist priest as a friend in his heart.

  Xiao Fan lived a very lonely life in this era, he needed friends, even if that friend was a swindler.

  The wine was a fine Shaoxing yellow wine, crystal clear and translucent, with a hint of amber glow. The two raised their small cups, lightly clinked them together, "clink" sound, one cup of wine down the hatch, warm all over, extremely comfortable.

  Tai rubbed his hands together and turned his head towards the kitchen, looking like he couldn't wait for the food to be served, not knowing how many meals he had gone hungry.

  It was as if he suddenly remembered something, and Tai Xū turned his head to ask: "Right, aren't you the son-in-law of the Chen family? How did you become the boss of Zui Xian Lou again?"

  Xiao Fan sighed bitterly, gazing at the empty and spacious wine house hall, and muttered: "...part-time."

  Tai Yu stroked his hand and smiled: "One mind cannot be used for two purposes, otherwise you focus on being your maternal uncle, this wine shop poor way will help you manage it?"

  Xiao Fan glared at him, so this is planning to eat white food for a long time, after all, they are friends, and their interests and hobbies are the same.

  After taking a sip of wine, Xiao Fan recounted the events that solved the Chen family crisis.

  Tai Yu listened with his eyes wide open, and after a long while, he murmured: "I really don't know whether to say you're lucky or skilled..."

  Xiao Fan said seriously: "Of course it's a big deal, I believe Dao Zhang you can see that there are many bright spots on me..."

  Tai Xū laughed and said: "How are you even better at boasting than me? I haven't seen any other skills from you, but after snatching the money, you ran pretty fast, not even a dog could catch up to you. This barely counts as a skill, I suppose."

  Xiao Fan said with a humble tone: "It can't be said that way, the dog couldn't catch up, but Daozhang, you did catch up, didn't you?"

  Tai Yu stretched his mouth and got himself entangled.

  He took a sip of wine with a gloomy expression, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Xiao Fan and said, "Do you know why I caught up with you again?"

  Xiao Fan suddenly understood: "I owe you a meal, you're afraid I'll run away and not acknowledge the debt."

  His old face, which was as dark as coal, suddenly showed a hint of embarrassment: "It's not entirely because of this reason... I saw you running extremely fast, it can be said that you were swift as the wind and lightning, I discovered that you have great potential in martial arts..."

  Xiao Fan secretly felt a sense of vigilance, this old cheat is going to deceive me again.

  "Does running fast mean having potential in martial arts?"

  Tai Xū narrowed his eyes and smiled, but no matter how you looked at it, there was a hint of ill intent in that smile.

  "Xiao Lao Di, want to learn kung fu? Want to take on ten people at once? Want to fly over rooftops and walk on walls, to defeat the strong and help the weak?"

  Xiao Fan's eyes lit up and he immediately said without hesitation: "No way!"

  He had made up his mind, the old cheat didn't matter what he said, just refused to be right, anyway this old cheat must have no good intentions, wanted to take advantage of himself, can't let him succeed.

  Tai Xū didn't abandon or give up, and with great patience, he advised: "I can teach you, my skills are not just boasts. In this world, there are only a handful of people who can be considered as enemies of mine..."

  Xiao Fanting held up his wine cup and slanted his eyes at him, "Blow, keep blowing, the more you blow, the more boundless it becomes, it's all mixed up to the point of being confused, yet your tone is still so arrogant and self-righteous... Old cheat, don't be so shameless..."

  Tai Xū continued to persuade with unrelenting zeal: "This humble monk can teach you the art of lightness kung fu. You were so quick in snatching the silver and running away just now, this humble monk couldn't help but feel a sense of regret for letting talent go to waste... I think you're a talented individual..."

  Xiao Fan frowned, this sentence sounds really awkward...

  However, when they ran away, the old Taoist priest ran faster than the three young men, which was indeed a bit strange...

  "Look, if you knew how to use your lightness skill, you wouldn't have had to run so hard. With just a few nimble movements, you could have shaken off those two unlucky guys. Why did you let them chase you for five streets? I'm sure you've seen my lightness skill in action - it didn't take much effort for me to catch up with you. And at over 130 years old, I can run faster than a young fellow like you! Don't you feel envious? From now on, stealing silver will be easier and smoother..."

  Xiao Fan: "......"

  Wicked old Taoist...

  "My humble abode's lightness kung fu isn't something ordinary people can learn, this is the Taoist sect's ultimate skill 'Ladder Cloud Leap'. Back when my master was selecting disciples, there was a strict selection process, only those with exceptional qualifications could learn it. Do you know how they selected? My master released a pack of wild dogs to bite us, we had to run for our lives, whoever got bitten would be eliminated, whoever ran faster than the dogs and remained unscathed could learn the lightness kung fu..."

  Xiao Fan couldn't help but ask: "That year, Daozhang was chased by a dog and got quite miserable, right?"

  Imagine a Taoist priest wandering in the mountains and fields being chased and bitten by a pack of wild dogs... what a scene.

  Tai Yu was silent for a while before saying in a low voice: "From then on, I began to love eating dog meat hot pot... Amitabha..."

  Xiao Fan looked at him sympathetically and didn't say a word.

  The atmosphere fell into a slump.

  The two men drank several cups of wine in silence, and Tai Yu asked again: "After saying so much, are you going to learn martial arts with me or not?"

  Xiao Fan hastily shook his head: "I don't like being chased by dogs..."

  "There's no need for a selection process now, I can teach you immediately."

  "No need, I'm doing all right now, don't need to learn kung fu." Xiao Fan refused very firmly.

  He isn't uninterested in learning kung fu, in fact he's very interested in China's ancient martial arts. In his past life when he was a student, he read so many martial novels that his studies were neglected, how could he not be interested?

  He just didn't believe that this old swindler had any real skills, and thought he was trying to cheat him out of tuition fees.

  Tai Xū saw Xiao Fan refuse and couldn't help but let out a long sigh, his expression becoming desolate.

  At this time, the dishes were done and brought up by the chef. Several exquisite small dishes looked appetizing and increased one's appetite.

  The kitchen was watching Xiao Fan with a flattering smile.

  Xiao Fan looked at Tai Xu's gloomy face and instructed the chef: "Go, make another dish."

  "What dish would you like? Please order."

  "...dog meat hot pot."

  "Wait a moment, shopkeeper, it'll be ready soon." The cook scurried off.

  Tai Yu looked at Xiao Fan with a moved gaze.

  Since Xiao Fan refused to learn martial arts, Tai Xu didn't dare to persuade him much, and instead just focused on eating and drinking.

  Xiao Fan picked up a dish and took a bite, his eyebrows slightly raised, nodding repeatedly.

  This dish tastes pretty good, if it were served in a previous life, it would meet the standards of a five-star hotel chef.

  He glanced up at Tai Xū and asked, "Daozhang, what do you think of the flavor?"

  "Not bad, very good!"

  Xiao Fan's eyes lit up and he hastily said: "What is this unorthodox method? Daozhang, please elaborate."

  Tai Xū stroked his whiskers, thought for a moment, and pointed to the clean plate in front of him, making an analogy: "In the past, I needed three chopsticks to finish a dish, but today I only used two chopsticks and it's already clean..."

  Xiao Fan sincerely praised: "Dao Zhang's metaphor is very apt..."

  Xiao Fan furrowed his brow again and called over the former shopkeeper, Old Cai. He asked, "Our restaurant's dishes are quite good, so why don't we have any customers? The business is so dull, it doesn't make sense! Do you know the reason?"

  Lao Cai's face turned gloomy, and he let out a faint sigh. After a long while of silence, he finally recited a poem with an air of deep sorrow: "Another melancholy and hidden resentment is born..."

  Xiao Fan and Tai Xu suddenly stopped their cups and stood up in respect.

  Xiao Fan's eyes widened: "Old Cai is really eloquent... but what does it actually mean?"

  Lao Cai sighed and pointed outside the door, saying: "Boss, take a look outside. Right across from our Drunken Immortal Pavilion is a new place called Golden Jade Pavilion. Have you seen it?"

  Xiao Fan nodded: "I see."

  Jinyulou Tower is as its name suggests, built with grandeur and luxury, majestic and imposing, it's hard not to notice even if you try.

  Old Cai glared at the Golden Jade Building across the street with venom, and said a more elegant phrase: "Our Drunken Immortal Pavilion has become like this, it's all because of them, I curse their ancestors for eight generations!"

  ----------------------------------------------------- divider -----------------------------------------------------

  Some people say the plot development is slow, this... is really unfair. This book is called "The Great Ming Aristocracy", as the name suggests, the protagonist will become an aristocrat in the future, but now it's only over 20 chapters, you can't expect the protagonist to become an aristocrat as soon as they appear, right? Everything has a process, be patient and come slowly. Every chapter before is closely related to the plot and cannot be omitted or skipped. I will grasp the rhythm well.

  Also: seeking recommendation votes. The draft has been used up, so the recent updates have not been very stable, with at least one chapter per day. If various data increases quickly, I will work harder and write an extra chapter.

  "Crossing into the Pampered Young Master"