Chapter Eighteen KFC

  Lu Bing slept until the sun was high in the sky before waking up, and these past few days had been quite exhausting for him. Because there were more people this time, they didn't have single rooms, so he, Meng Lin, and Xia Dade stayed in one room together. However, Xia Dade's snoring was thunderous and unbearable. At this moment, Meng Lin and Xia Dade had also disappeared somewhere. Lu Bing felt very hungry and wanted to find a servant to ask where there was food, but there were no other people in the house. Lu Bing couldn't help but feel suspicious - where had everyone gone?

  Suddenly, he caught a whiff of fragrance and followed the scent to a small pavilion. On the stone table inside the pavilion were two steaming baskets of buns and a pair of chopsticks. Lu Bing was overjoyed: wasn't this prepared just for him? Hehe.

  Drooling with anticipation, Lu Bing's eyes gleamed with excitement as he pounced on the food. Suddenly, a snickering sound came from not far away, and Lu Bing looked around awkwardly to locate the source of the noise. Yang Feiyan was standing there, holding a teapot and a plate of beef, laughing at Lu Bing. Lu Bing stood up: "It's so early, this is your baozi, I thought no one was here."

  "Are you hungry?" Yang Feiyan said with a hint of a smile as she sat down beside Lu Bing on the stone bench, then placed the teapot and small dish of beef on the table. Lu Bing only felt the aroma of tea fill his nostrils, which seemed to be oolong tea. As for the beef, its color was reddish-brown, making one's mouth water at a glance, and the knife work didn't need to be mentioned - it was thin as a cicada's wing, semi-transparent. Although Lu Bing liked holding big chunks of beef and gnawing on them, the delicate beef in front of him also gave him a different kind of satisfaction.

  "I'm not that hungry." Lu Bing still wanted to pretend to be tough and not lose face in front of Yang Feiyan, but his stomach at this time was not cooperating and growled loudly. Lu Bing's face turned bright red with embarrassment, and Yang Feiyan covered her mouth and laughed: "You'd better eat quickly, I think you must be starving. This is what I prepared for you."

  Lu Biao was taken aback, he had never seen Yang Feiyan in this state before. Usually, Yang Feiyan would be cold and distant towards him, but today she seemed different. Lu Biao thought to himself that there must be some ulterior motive behind her behavior, and he didn't want to get caught up in another one of her tricks. Just as he was thinking about leaving, Yang Feiyan suddenly slammed her hand on the table, her eyebrows furrowed, and she reverted back to her usual fierce demeanor, shouting: "If you're going to eat, then just eat! What's with all this nonsense?"

  Lu Biao let out a sigh of relief and said: "That's more like it, if you had this attitude earlier I would have eaten already, the way you were acting just now scared me to death."

  Yang Feiyan blinked her eyes and said: "You're just a guy who doesn't eat good food."

  Lu Bing sat down, wiped his hands with the handkerchief handed over by Yang Feiyan, and then started eating voraciously. Yang Feiyan poured a cup of tea for Lu Bing and said, "After getting up early in the morning, you should drink some tea, not wine."

  "Thanks." Lu Bing ate too quickly and choked a bit, after drinking some water he said: "Actually I don't really like to drink, it's just that I'm accompanying my second brother, actually I like to drink Sprite."

  "What's Pulse?" Yang Feiyan leaned her head on her elbow, gazing at Lu Bing with sparkling eyes and a warm feeling in her eyes. Lu Bing didn't notice it, but instead muttered to himself: "A drink, when I have the chance, I'll see if I can make something similar, now it's not very realistic, but I can make some fried chicken, let you try the pirated KFC."

  "What's this? How do you know so much?" Yang Feiyan asked with some admiration. Lu Bing chuckled and smiled, and in the meantime, two baskets of steamed buns and a small dish of beef had been devoured. Lu Bing patted his hands and said: "I'm full now. What I just said can't be explained clearly in one or two sentences, even if I told you, you might not believe it. You'll know once you've eaten. Let's do what we say, let's go buy the materials now."

  Yang Feiyan was taken aback and asked in return: "Now?"

  "That's necessary." Lu Biao pulled Yang Feiyan's hand and ran towards the outside of the gate, they were going out to buy things. On the rooftop beside them, Yang Dengyun looked at everything coldly, sighed, shook his head slightly and slowly followed them.

  One trip to buy flowers spent all the silver on Lu Bing's body, and after returning home, he slaughtered a chicken, cleaned it up, cut the meat into small pieces, washed them with water, and marinated them in salt. Lu Bing nodded satisfactorily, and Yang Feiyan asked: "Is that enough?"

  Lu Biao smiled and said: "Of course not, we have to let the chicken absorb the flavor. By the way, where did my brothers go?"

  "They went to the warehouse in the south of the city for a martial arts competition." Yang Feiyan suddenly realized that there was only Lu Bing and herself in the kitchen, just like an ordinary couple, so she lowered her head, feeling embarrassed, after all, she was still a little girl outside.

  Lu Biao furrowed his brow and said: "What division of labor? Specific arrangements for assassination? Why didn't you call me?"

  Yang Feiyan nodded and replied, "Yes, all matters inside and outside the inner circle, my father said you have been designated to be in charge of direct assassination operations, which is crucial. Success or not depends on you. Although it's extremely dangerous, I think you will definitely return safely, and when that time comes, I'll accompany you together. You must succeed, as Ninth Master, Fifth Master, and my father jointly recommended you, so you don't need to participate in the martial arts competition."

  "Is it settled? Such things also have behind-the-scenes deals, haha, suddenly thought of some talent shows." Lu Bing said: "Then what you don't need to accompany me, this kind of thing is life and death, not something a girl should do. However, I find it a bit strange, although Ninth Master said my martial arts are already good, but he values me so much, it really makes me at a loss... perhaps..."

  Yang Feiyan's mind was not on Lu Bing's words: "No, I want to go with you. You've touched everyone in that family... This life is yours now. If you die, it would be meaningless for me to live alone."

  "What's all the fuss about? Alright, alright, the pickling is almost done. Let's cook together instead. Can you find me some dried rice cakes?" Lu Biao hastily changed the subject.

  "How could you not recognize me?!" Yang Feiyan shouted angrily, stamping her foot and turning around to run away.

  Lu Bing watched Yang Feiyan leave, feeling a little lost. He was still an innocent young man and his feelings for the opposite sex were also naive. But Meng Lin's previous words kept echoing in his ears, this action was not that simple, he had to pretend to be stupid to the end. Having watched many TV dramas and movies about intrigue and deception, Lu Bing didn't believe anything anymore. He vaguely felt like he was being used as a pawn, but amidst all the complexities, he couldn't get a clear grasp of things, so he could only wait and see how things developed.

  As for Yang Feiyan, Lu Bing couldn't quite put his finger on it. They hadn't been in contact for long and he couldn't make out much about her. Although she was born into a new society, although Yang Feiyan was beautiful, moving, charming, and lovely, Lu Bing wasn't the kind of guy who fell in love with someone at first sight. In his opinion, some men in idol dramas weren't real men but were more like domesticated pigs that would rush to mount something as soon as they saw it.

  Lu Biao gently shook his head, then got some dry steamed buns and crushed them into breadcrumbs. After a series of stir-frying, the fried chicken was finally done. Under the aroma that filled the air, Lu Biao contentedly picked one up and took a bite, savoring the flavor he hadn't experienced in a long time. Just as Lu Biao wanted to try making some ketchup and fries, the sound of commotion came from outside the door, probably Xia Dade and others returning.

  Lu Bing held a basin of fried chicken and ran out, Xia Dade's eyes were no longer on Lu Bing, he rushed to grab the fried chicken and started eating, while eating, he praised: "Damn it, how did you make it, why is it so delicious, who made it?"

  Everyone smelled the fragrance and went to grab some chicken to eat, all of them were full of praise. They were all robust men with big appetites, this bowl of chicken was no match for their frantic eating, it was quickly devoured, each and every one of them still wanting more. Xia Da De asked again: "I'm asking you, Third Brother, who made this? No, that's not right, nobody could have made this, did you buy it from outside?"

  Lu Biao proudly shook his head and patted his chest, saying: "Second brother, why don't you think it's me who did it?"

  Everyone was shocked, and Xia Dade opened his mouth and said: "Really or not, I'm going, Third Brother, you're not only good at this, but also a great cook!" The crowd hadn't had enough to eat, and they insisted that Lu Bing make more. They were all Jianghu heroes, and when they encountered something they liked, they didn't care about money, so they took out their cash and asked Lu Bing to go buy ingredients and cook again. By the time he returned to his room at night, Lu Bing had already earned dozens of taels of silver. Lu Bing leaned half his body on the table, counting his money while asking: "Second Brother, where did Big Brother go? Why hasn't he come back yet?"

  "Big brother took a few people to drink, I wanted to follow along, big brother told me to come back and chat with you, not to bother. You said big brother had something going on that I couldn't know about, but I thought you'd be bored alone so I came back. But big brother really lost out this time, didn't get to eat such delicious fried chicken, what's it called, KFC, right? In the future when little brother is free we'll make KFC again." Xia Dade said.

  Lu Biao smiled and said: "This is fake, the real breadcrumbs used by people at home are not fried in an iron pan, they naturally taste better than mine."

  "Where can I buy it? Third brother, you're not very old but you seem to know a lot and have seen a lot. You don't seem like someone from the Great Ming dynasty at all. Are you from a vassal state?" Xia Dade said with a big smile.

  "It wasn't in the first place, but I'm not a foreigner," Lu Bing said: "Right, you guys went to the martial arts division today, is there any fresh news? Or are there any arrangements?"

  Xia Dade cautiously stood up, listened to the outside with his ear, and then sat down, trying to lower his voice: "Today, it's just the division of labor for scouts, main attacks, and peripheral classifications. There is no specific arrangement mentioned. I feel like these guys have other purposes. Third brother, we must be careful not to let others fool us."

  Lu Bing secretly gave a thumbs up in his heart, thinking that Xia Dade was indeed rough but with finesse, a wise and clever person who appeared foolish.

  Lu Biao nodded and said: "I'll be careful, I don't know where Second Brother and Big Brother are now."

  "Big Brother has been assigned to be a scout, mainly to do reconnaissance work before the assassination of the King, to figure out the terrain, personnel configuration, and where the Emperor is. I was assigned to the outer perimeter, mainly to assist with cover and retreat. Today, you were announced as one of the main attackers, directly going for the kill, that is, an assassin! Third Brother, be careful, we three brothers are not working together on this mission, it makes me uneasy." Xia Dade said.

  Lu Bing asked again: "I'm just a young punk, won't anyone be dissatisfied with this internal appointment? Who else is there with me to do the assassination?"

  "Of course, some people were not convinced, so the fifth master, seventh master and ninth master all vouched for you together, which is why they were able to suppress the others. This really gave me and big brother a boost in prestige, haha. As for who else there is, I'm not entirely clear myself, but you'll find out tomorrow. Apparently, there's another major arrangement planned for then, probably just mutual introductions and then a detailed announcement of what's going to happen next. We have to understand this, after all, the assassination of the king isn't a small matter, it has to be kept relatively secret until the very end." Xia Dade said.

  Lu Bing chatted with Xia Dade for a while before going to bed, and in his daze, he felt Meng Lin returning with a strong smell of alcohol, muttering to himself in a low voice. It seemed that his mood was not bad, and he had successfully won over many people. People who practice martial arts are often rough and easy to deceive. Lu Bing even thought that if Zhao Benshan were to travel through time and space to this martial arts conference, he could sell a lot of tricks.