Volume 1: Violating Taboos Chapter 1: Lewdness

  In the cold winter, the biting wind was blowing, and the sky was occasionally falling with a small snow, giving Changzhou's buildings a layer of silver. The cold weather did not disrupt the order of the city, and people were constantly passing by on the streets. Several laborers were loading and unloading goods on the small river by the street, their nostrils puffing out white mist, their rough hands frozen and cracked open. However, the supervisor was sitting in front of a tea house by the street, leisurely warming himself by the fire.

  A group of men in long robes, holding folding fans, strolled on the stone bridge at the edge of the street, chatting and laughing as they gazed out at the snowy cityscape. From time to time, they would recite a few lines of "good poetry", drawing admiring glances from the crowd, before turning their haughty gaze towards the laborers on the river, gently swaying their fans as they exuded an air of elegance.

  Occasionally, there were also young ladies holding paper umbrellas, accompanied by their maids, walking slowly on the slippery bluestone road, admiring the snowy scenery along the street. However, those delicate big eyes would secretly glance around on the bridge, as if selecting someone to their liking.

  Every time this happens, those few 'romantic scholars' would immediately put on a dignified and upright appearance, but as soon as the young lady walks by, they would quickly reveal their wolf-like expressions, turning their heads to stare at the plump buttocks under her green skirt.

  "Pshaw!"

  Not far from the stone bridge, in front of a grocery store, a tall young man with a bundle on his hand came out from inside, and he spat heavily on the bluestone floor. The rough movement made the miss and her maid frown, but after seeing the man's face clearly, they showed a frightened expression, picked up their skirts and ran away in small steps.

  This man is Zhao Xian, nicknamed 'Little Overlord of Chengnan', the big brother of the gangsters in Guihua Lane, and also the younger brother of Mr. Hua Yu, a teacher. He is known for his flamboyant behavior and is famous as a spoiled child, but all this is just his disguise.

  Zhao Xian's inner self was actually a shrewd and capable software engineer, but due to an unexpected event, he inexplicably ended up in this computer-less place, becoming a young kid. He was rescued by a girl named Hua Yu and awkwardly spent over ten years like that.

  For those self-proclaimed "geniuses" on the bridge, Zhao Xian could only use his saliva to evaluate them. As a small blacksmith in the south of the city, he was also in an industry that was looked down upon by scholars. However, Zhao Xian never thought that those poor and hungry scholars who could only write a few rotten articles were superior to him.

  Those 'geniuses' on the bridge, seeing Zhao Xian scare away the young ladies and their maidservants, couldn't help but show a disappointed expression. They came out to have fun, of course not just for the snowy scenery all over the city. No matter how beautiful the scenery is, it's dead without those lively young ladies. Isn't the purpose of reciting poetry and painting here to attract the attention of these young ladies?

  Among the talented scholars, a man wearing a green robe, thin and pale like a monkey, saw Zhao Xian walking by and slightly furrowed his brow. He said disdainfully: "A rustic bumpkin, how humiliating to literature! To travel with this kind of person is simply an insult to my refined identity, don't you think so, Brother Wang?"

  Zhao Xian's footsteps paused slightly, he turned his head to glance at the few people, dropped the cloth bag in his hand, rubbed his fists and walked towards the several men.

  That white and chubby Wang brother, can recognize Zhao Xian, seeing the situation is not good, immediately said: "Li brother, why bother with this kind of rough person, let's go over there." After finishing, he pulled Li Ya's sleeve to leave.

  Li Ya let out a soft hum, opened her folding fan and stared straight at Zhao Xian, coldly smiling: "I, Li Ya, have an arrogant bone in my body, how could I be afraid of this rough fellow? Brother Wang, you really are disappointing." After finishing speaking, she lightly shook the fan, the movement was quite elegant, but after all it was winter, and when the cold wind blew, her neck couldn't help but shrink back a little, and with a sulky expression, she put away the fan.

  Wang's brother's face stiffened, and he looked at Li Ya with a gaze that seemed to say she was brainless. He gritted his teeth and said, "What Brother Li said is absolutely right, but those who know the times are heroes. We scholars can't compare to him in terms of martial arts, so let's leave first."

  Zhao Xian rolled up his sleeves and walked onto the stone bridge with a smile on his face, his eyes scanning Li Ya's body as if thinking about whether to take off his arms or legs first.

  The foreman, laborers and pedestrians next to them stopped what they were doing and cast their eyes over. Zhao Xian's reputation as the "Little Overlord of South City" wasn't just for show. In South City, only Huang Tianba, the big boss of Wumeng Alley, dared to provoke him. Now that someone was seeking death, they naturally wanted to watch the show. The other young people who came with Li Ya had faces as black as a pot bottom and quietly pushed away a short distance.

  "What do you want to do?" Li Ya had already spoken, and of course couldn't back down. He raised his hand guardedly and said: "I, Li Ya, am a scholar, how could I possibly engage in fisticuffs with someone as coarse as you."

  Zhao Xian was tall and large in stature, with a rough appearance that matched his rough demeanor. However, he wasn't someone who didn't know reason. Since Li Ya had put on an air of not being able to fight back, stubbornly saying that Zhao Xian was just a brutish person who only knew how to use force, Zhao Xian didn't bother to lift a hand either. He looked around and thought of another way to teach Li Ya a lesson.

  The literati came out to play, and it was impossible without pen, ink, paper and inkstone. At this time, on the bridge, a desk with Xuan paper was set up, and there was an unfinished painting on it. The scene was of a scholar writing in a bamboo pavilion, the atmosphere was not bad, but the brushwork was really not commendable. Below, there was a signature that read 'Changzhou Li Ya'.

  Zhao Xian's eyes lit up, feigning surprise, and he said with a face full of admiration: "Brother, aren't you the great talent Li Ya, whose name shakes Jiangnan? I've long admired you from afar, never thinking that Zhao would have the good fortune to appreciate Brother Li's fine work here. As it happens, Zhao has recently come up with two lines of poetry that match Brother Li's work perfectly, so I'd like to ask Brother Li to critique them a bit - may I?"

  When they heard 'Southern City Little Overlord' recite poetry, the crowd immediately burst into an uproar, all with faces of disbelief. Zhao Xian's appearance and mixed number, didn't seem like a scholarly person, not steady and down-to-earth, fighting a good fight, and discussing poetry and books with a scholar, isn't that asking for trouble?

  Li Ya was also shocked, didn't expect Zhao Xian not only wouldn't take action but also wanted to see the poem, since it's a literary duel, he wasn't afraid of a rough man.

  Li Ya revealed a hint of arrogance, and with a disdainful glance at the onlookers, she fanned herself lightly with her folding fan, smiling softly: "Indeed it is I. You can humbly ask for guidance, which shows you have some degree of enlightenment. What poem lines do you have to share? Let me hear them."

  You said you're fat and you really panted, Zhao Xian took over the pen and paper, wrote two lines of small characters on the rice paper, shook it, and handed it to Li Ya with a smile.

  Li Ya pinched the jasmine finger, took it over with disdain, as if the paper had been touched by Zhao Xian, and insulted his 'scholar' identity. He glanced at it casually, but was immediately attracted by the content on the paper, and began to study it carefully with a frown.

  "What did you write?" The crowd couldn't see the words on the note, so they all stretched their necks to ask, wanting to take a look at what kind of "masterpiece" the Little Overlord of Nancheng had written.

  Li Ya was urged by the crowd, his face showing impatience. He cleared his throat to compose himself, then read aloud in a rhythmic tone: "'Sleeping in a thatched cottage, playing the flute and writing characters', it's quite fitting, worthy of this young master's..."

  "Pfft! Hahaha..." Before Li Ya's words had even fallen, the whole room erupted into waves of explosive laughter, with some people even holding their stomachs, laughing so hard they couldn't stand up straight. They all gave Zhao Xian a big thumbs up, their eyes filled with unspoken admiration. The young person standing behind Li Ya also had a bright red face, but was too embarrassed to laugh out loud due to Li Ya's presence.

  Li Ya looked puzzled and didn't understand where she went wrong. She asked strangely: "What are you laughing at? I didn't read the words wrong."

  "Who farted on my butt... eyes... son... Hahaha!" A loud and boisterous man, patting his chest with laughter, pointed at the innocent Li Ya and said loudly: "You still say 'I told him to make it comfortable', you dare to read this out, I'm dying from laughter! Hahaha..."

  Mr. Li's face turned iron-green from the coarse and vulgar language, but he quickly reacted and took a closer look at the note, only to find that these two innocent sentences actually had such lowly homophones.

  Li Ya's hand shook violently, her face turned deathly pale, and her veins bulged.

  Li Ya furiously threw away the note, pointing at Zhao Xian who was watching with his arms crossed, gritting her teeth and saying: "You... you... cultured scum, wait for me, I'm not done with you yet!" After that, she couldn't bear to stay any longer, flinging her sleeves behind her as she left in anger.

  "Hahaha!" The laughter in the field grew even louder, and the snow on the old trees by the road was shaken off. Several women mixed in the crowd were all red-faced and hot-eared, casting a scolding glance at Zhao Xian. A few young servant girls who were watching the excitement asked their mistress what it meant, teasing a group of young wives who understood but could only pretend to be confused, hastily leaving the scene. The atmosphere was joyful.

  Zhao Xian curled his lips, revealing a playful smile. This kind of self-aware superior guy was just asking to be taught a lesson. What's wrong with being a blacksmith? What's wrong with being an unrefined person? A craftsman who earns their own living, what's bad about that?

  "Despicable!"

  Zhao Xian was reading a joke when a scolding voice suddenly came from afar. He looked up to see a woman standing by the street, looking unhappy.