Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After Master Cheng left, Yuan Zhou conventionally went to the market to buy some vegetables for sculpting. Then, he came back and prepared to practice his craftsmanship.
On the other side, Liu Zhang also left home early in the morning.
“Old Ji, there’s a good play for us to watch today.” Liu Zhang arrived at the hotel where Ji Yi lived and invited him to watch a play with interest.
Nowadays, the phrase “a good play” actually meant “a bustling scene” other than its own meaning, but the one mentioned by Liu Zhang really indicated its original meaning. Liu Zhang had ordered tickets to the Sichuan opera.
There were more than 300 types of different operas throughout the country while there were no less than tens of thousands of traditional plays. As the past few years were the desert of the opera circle, many operas had failed to be handed down from past generations. Most of the operas could only be found in small teahouses among several aged people. After the old people passed, many of the operas would also be buried in soil.
An example would be a common friend of Liu Zhang and Ji Yi. This person was the chairman of Shaanxi Opera Association and was devoted to the protection of Duangong Play, Wanwan Play, and Meihu Play, but it wasn’t very effective.
There was something definitely beautiful in an opera that had been passed down for hundreds of years. Although there were quite a few beautiful things in the world and people could hardly see all of them without repetition, it was fairly regrettable that the operas were directly lost before the people could even grasp the beauty of operas.
“I have no interest.” Ji Yi wasn’t a reticent person. To be short, he just didn’t want to speak with Liu Zhang.
Liu Zhang wasn’t discouraged. Because during the past few days when they were waiting for Boss Yuan to come back, he thought of new ideas every day which were then refused by Ji Yi coldly.
“Today is the 8th day. Liu Zhang, did you talk over with that Chef Yuan and work together to cheat me?” Ji Yi was impatient of waiting endlessly. The longer he waited, the more suspicious he was about the Thousand Thread Mantou that was said to surpass his.
“When have I ever cheated you before? Don’t you trust my moral integrity?” Liu Zhang asked.
Nothing would have happened if he hadn’t said that. But as soon as he said, Ji Yi burst out suddenly, “Frequently. You cheated me out of my candies when we were young; when we grew older, you cheated me out of my pocket money.”
“Old Ji, do you still care about those several cents at this age? You are way too calculating.” Though what Liu Zhang said was debunked, he didn’t feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he rebutted describing Ji Yi as calculating.
“Ok, all right. You can say I’m calculating on these small things. But what do you say about our younger junior sister? She originally wavered between you and me, but you told me that I was unlikely to win her heart because she had fallen in love with another person. Don’t you think that was a great event?” The more Ji Yi said, the angrier he became.
“Well, this matter is fairly complicated. In the narrow sense, I did cheat you; but in the broad sense, I helped you. Look at you now. You have a happy and harmonious family and your sons and grandsons pervade the hall. And look at me, this old widower, now.” Liu Zhang was really good at confusing right and wrong.
Ji Yi didn’t want to talk to this shameless guy, not to mention that his anger faded a lot when he heard Liu Zhang say he was an old widower.
Liu Zhang appeared composed and continued, “The Sichuan opera is held by Master Mei Yonge this time.”
Ji Yi was emotionally moved. Mei Yonge.
Due to the desert of the opera circle for the past few years, the government leaned toward protecting the traditional culture nowadays. Though there weren’t many people who liked watching them, the operas were sought-after from ancient times, not to mention that Sichuan opera was a large scale one and a great master of Sichuan opera would be on the show this time. The tickets were all sent out in the form of invitation.
Liu Zhang looked fairly poor, actually, he was really poor. Nonetheless, he enjoyed a good reputation outside, so he managed to get two tickets.
“Old Ji, do you have interest? I remember you had always been wanting to watch Master Mei’s show when we were young.” While saying that, Liu Zhang took the tickets out of his pocket and waved them in front of Ji Yi.
With his complexion shifting like clouds, Ji Yi felt quite hesitant in the heart. But finally, he still failed to resist the temptation of Mei Yonge’s Five Elemental Pillars and agreed reluctantly, “I agree to your proposal because of my respect to Master Mei.”
Liu Zhang nodded his head and indicated that he understood. Looking at the expression on his face, however, Ji Yi really wanted to kick his face with his feet. Unfortunately, he was over 50 years old and thus, he was strong in will but weak in power. Ji Yi muttered to himself in the heart, “If I were ten years younger or even 5 years younger, I would have already beaten him to death.”
The two people prepared themselves and took a taxi there. Precisely speaking, they had to go to the bus station first to take the bus, because the address was a county under the jurisdiction of Chengdu.
A great master of Sichuan opera wouldn’t invite too many people when he was on the show, therefore, the place wasn’t large. Just when Liu Zhang and Ji Yi were about to get on the bus station, a ringtone suddenly rang.
Liu Zhang answered the phone and only nodded his head continuously without saying anything. In the end, he hung up the phone and suddenly turned to look at Ji Yi, which happened to scare him a lot.
Ji Yi came to himself and also glared back mercilessly, asking, “What’s the matter?”
“I had one thing to tell you, but after thinking for a while, I decided not to tell you anymore,” Liu Zhang said lightly.
What the hell! People who didn’t finish their sentences were as disgusting as those who told the ending in advance before the film finished.
Liu Zhang shrugged and said, “Though this matter has something to do with you, but out of concern for my friends, I don’t think it’s good for you to know about that.”
Ji Yi looked at Liu Zhang with fixed eyes and believed that Liu Zhang definitely said that purposely. What the hell did he mean by saying “This matter has something to do with you, but you’d better not know it.”? That was total bullsh*t. As a result, he became more willing to know about this matter. So Ji Yi blurted out, “Tell me quickly.”
“Actually, it’s nothing important. Just now, my friend called me and told me that Boss Yuan is back. And he even cooked breakfast today,” said Liu Zhang.
Boss Yuan came back and that meant they could finally eat Thousand Thread Mantou.
As mentioned previously, the address of Master Mei’s show was in a county under the jurisdiction of Chengdu. It took about two hours to get there by car and the scheduled time of the show was 3 p.m. If they left now, they could barely make the show. But if they wanted to go to Yuan Zhou’s restaurant for lunch, the time wasn’t enough and they probably couldn’t get there in time.
After all, they still needed to look for the theater and examine tickets after they arrived at the county.
But if they returned to eat dinner after the show finished at 6:30 p.m., they probably couldn’t arrive before 9, even if they drove back immediately at full speed and there wasn’t any traffic. It would be too late.
In a word, they could only select one thing to do between eating dinner in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant and watching Master Mei’s show.
If Liu Zhang and Ji Yi didn’t know that Yuan Zhou was back, that would be perfect. They could watch Master Mei’s show together today and eat the Thousand Thread Mantou tomorrow. After all, Boss Yuan was always there. But the key problem was that Ji Yi had known that. For Ji Yi, the cooked wheaten food was the top priority, even if it was Master Mei’s show was a once in a blue moon occurrence.
Ji Yi often said that cooked wheaten food couldn’t be delayed. So as soon as he heard the news, he immediately returned to Chengdu in a hurry. Speaking of which, Ji Yi was quite stubborn. He could have waited for another day and watched Master Mei’s show before he went back to Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. As chance would have it, he didn’t have his priorities straightened out.
But perhaps, the reason he could become the Master of Cooked Wheaten Foods precisely due to such stubborn spirit.
Just like Liu Zhang said, it was better for Ji Yi not to know that. Having been enraged by Liu Zhang, however, Ji Yi finally took a taxi and left for Yuan Zhou’s restaurant quickly. Cooked wheaten food mattered the most.
“Now we are going to Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. I guess we can get there at about 10:30 a.m. and then line up. It shouldn’t be a problem for us to eat lunch there.” Liu Zhang calculated the time.
Ji Yi didn’t want to say a single word to Liu Zhang. He just closed his eyes and rested his mind unhappily. Meanwhile, he muttered to himself in his mind, “I quit watching Master Mei’s show in exchange for tasting the Thousand Thread Mantou.”
Hopefully, the Mantou wouldn’t disappoint him.
EMPTY
