Gu Qingyun sat in a chair, poured herself a cup of water, and watched them leisurely. After fifteen minutes, seeing that they showed no signs of stopping, she cleared her throat.
“Alright, alright, stop fighting. If you keep going, I'll throw you both out.”
【Meow, meow, meow!】
【Woof, woof, woof!】
Between the meows and the barks, Gu Qingyun developed a slight headache. She couldn't help glaring at the cat and dog.
“Enough. I just got off duty, so let me get some proper rest. Stop making a racket. Doggy, your young masters have already been rescued. Even if you stay here, your owners can't see you. You should go reincarnate soon.”
The big yellow dog tucked in its front paws and crouched on the ground, its tail sweeping back and forth against the floor as it let out whimpers, acting coy toward Gu Qingyun. Beside it, Little Black looked on with disdain—this dog had no backbone whatsoever.
Gu Qingyun found it amusing. “Big Yellow, is your tail trying to sweep the floor for me? You forgot you're a soul; you can't sweep it clean.”
She patted Big Yellow's head. “Alright, you can leave whenever you want; I won't chase you away. But don't hang around other people all the time. It's bad for the living.”
【Woof, woof, woof!】 Understood.
From the time she got off duty until now, Gu Qingyun hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Patting her empty stomach, she called out to Little Black, “Little Black, let's go. I'm taking you out for breakfast.”
Little Black strutted toward Gu Qingyun, holding its head high as it passed Big Yellow. With a single leap, it landed squarely on her shoulder, eyeing Big Yellow with utter contempt, as if saying: As long as I'm around, you're just a little brother.
Big Yellow looked at Gu Qingyun with moist eyes and rubbed its head against her shin. Seeing this, Gu Qingyun said helplessly, “Big Yellow, it's broad daylight right now, so it's better if you don't go outside. Be good, okay?”
With that, she left with Little Black, leaving Big Yellow lying alone in the room.
Leaving the yamen, Gu Qingyun stopped at a steamed bun shop not far from the county yamen. She paid the money and bought ten buns outright.
Five meat and five vegetarian. The meat filling in these steamed buns was tender and savory; whenever Gu Qingyun craved buns, she always came to this shop.
Holding the meat buns, she took a deep breath, and her stomach growled even louder. Gu Qingyun hurried back to her room, tore a meat bun and its filling into small pieces, and placed them into Little Black's bowl.
“Eat up. You've worked hard lately. Once I get a day off, I'll take you fishing.”
【Woof, woof, woof!】 I want to eat too!
Gu Qingyun picked up a bun and tossed it over. Ignoring the cat and dog, she scarfed down a bun in just a few bites. In no time at all, the rest of the buns she had bought had disappeared into her stomach.
She let out a contented burp and leaned back lazily in her chair, savoring this moment of tranquility.
After sitting quietly for a while, she patted her cheeks to sober up. It felt like she had slacked off on her cultivation these past two days. She sat cross-legged and closed her eyes to circulate her inner energy.
Seeing this, Little Black jumped onto her lap and began acting as usual, human and pet moving in seamless harmony.
Big Yellow didn't understand what Gu Qingyun was doing, but its instincts told it not to approach right now. With a soft whimper, it slipped straight into the yellow talisman Gu Qingyun had provided as its shelter.
...
“Sister Yun, Sister Yun, come out quick!”
Jolted from her cultivation, Gu Qingyun threw open the door with a chilling sneer on her face. “Bai Fan, you better have a good reason for this. You just disturbed my training.”
Bai Fan ignored her cold glare and grinned broadly. “Sister Yun, great news! Remember those child kidnappers we caught the other night? Head Constable Liu joined forces with the surrounding counties and led men to bust their lair! They pulled up the whole vine, roots and all, catching dozens of them! The prefecture even sent special commendations along with reward money. Head Constable Liu told all of us constables to assemble!”
Gu Qingyun's eyes lit up. Turning to shut her door, she hurried toward the duty office. “Then let's go! It just so happens I have a day off in two days. With this reward money, I can buy a lot of things to bring home.”
When the two arrived at the duty office, the other constables were already craning their necks in anticipation. Head Constable Liu looked at the pair with a teasing smile.
“Here come our great heroes! Now then, let's distribute the bounty! Brothers, this child kidnapping case added a massive achievement to our County Magistrate's performance evaluation. The County Magistrate is thrilled! On top of the reward from the prefectural yamen, he personally chipped in an extra hundred taels to supplement our pay!”
“We thank the County Magistrate! Your subordinates will definitely work even harder!” Gu Qingyun and her colleagues shouted in unison, voicing their loyalty.
Head Constable Liu chuckled and waved his hand. “Alright, no need for excessive pleasantries—the County Magistrate can't hear them anyway. As for the bounty, each person gets three taels of silver. With the remaining money, we'll head to Taihe Restaurant at noon for a feast to reward everyone. All of you have worked hard lately!”
Gu Qingyun raised an eyebrow. Good heavens, three taels of silver! That was three months of her salary, plus a feast at a restaurant.
Since arriving in this world, she had never eaten at a proper restaurant. There were so many constables among them, and every single one had an enormous appetite; she wasn't sure if the remaining silver would even cover the meal. But that wasn't her concern. She was just a night constable—all she had to do was dig in and eat.
Having received her reward money, Gu Qingyun was walking on air. Bai Fan trotted to keep pace with her. “Sister Yun, looks like we won't be getting any sleep this morning. Just thinking about eating at Taihe Restaurant has me so thrilled that I wish the Wu hour would hurry up and get here.”
Gu Qingyun squeezed the silver in her hand. Remembering the wooden hairpin in her mother's hair, she decided to visit a small silversmith when she had free time to buy one for each of the women in her family. For her older sisters, velvet flowers would do. She didn't have enough money right now, and she still planned to bring her family to the county seat from the countryside, which meant she had to save up to buy a house.
...
Taihe Restaurant was situated on Fugui Street, the most bustling street in the county seat. It was the grandest restaurant in town, featuring not only storytellers, but also musical performers singing and playing various instruments. Even the chefs were poached from other regions, and word had it that their dishes were utterly delectable. Of course, Gu Qingyun had never eaten there or even stepped inside; she had merely heard about it from others.
Gu Qingyun and the group walked to Taihe Restaurant. Before they even entered, the melodious notes of a guqin drifted from the entrance. In all the time she had been here, she had never heard anyone play the guqin. She exchanged a glance with Bai Fan and followed behind Head Constable Liu and the others into the building.
Inside, the hall bustled with noise and excitement. Many patrons sat in the main hall enjoying fine food while listening to the music. The entire hall was resplendent and magnificent, a dazzling sight that kept Gu Qingyun and the others craning their necks.
Their group filled the remaining tables in the hall. Gu Qingyun caught the enthusiastic waiter and pointed at the wall. “Are those your signature dishes listed up there?”
“Indeed! Those are the specialties of our Taihe Restaurant's head chef. Honored guests, whatever you wish to order, just tell me. I'll write it down and head straight to the kitchen so the chefs can prepare it right away!”
Gu Qingyun cleared her throat and pointed toward Head Constable Liu. “That's our boss. He makes all the calls, so you can just ask him.”
“Understood, ma'am!”
Once the waiter moved away, Bai Fan glanced around and lowered his voice to whisper to Gu Qingyun, “Sister Yun, do you think the food here is very expensive? When we settle the bill after eating, could we end up being detained here because we don't have enough silver?”
Rate on N.U.
