Volume 1: A Stranger in a Foreign Land Chapter 10: Hometown
The drama is over.
Outside the Yuelai Inn, Yang Ge and Wang Dali were busy inviting the county constables and yamen runners who came to clean the floor to have tea and rest.
Inside the house, a detailed painting with the paint still wet was placed in front of Shen Fa.
When Shen Fa first saw this painting with bright colors and neat and delicate brushwork, he turned his head in surprise to look at the painter beside him.
Noticing Shen Fa's gaze, the painter bowed but did not explain.
Shen Fa could only turn around and return his gaze to the detailed painting.
He knew that the painter's paintings were all created based on his intuition based on various information, words and deeds of the target person, and he himself could not control the type and brushwork of the paintings.
Past targets...
Some are bloody knives.
Some are like unsheathed swords.
Another person is a chaotic ink stain that looks like a tiger, a wolf, and a demon.
And no matter what the painting given by the painter is, the final result proves that he is always the right one.
Strange people cannot be judged by common sense...
But even Shen Fa had never seen a detailed painting by an artist before.
The scroll is divided into two parts by a big river.
On one side is a colorful view of a village from a distance. Around the village, there are men and women, houses and fields, grass growing and birds flying, as well as a yellow dog, a civet cat chasing butterflies and bees... The brushstrokes are so delicate that even the yellow dog's grinning face is clearly visible.
On the other side, there is a black and white bird's-eye view of the city. The painting is done with flowing strokes and large areas of white space. One can only vaguely make out the outlines of the undulating houses and the blurry shadowy figures... The style of the painting is a bit gloomy.
A middle-aged man with a weathered face stood in front of a bird's-eye view of the city, looking across the river at the village on the other side. He raised the corners of his mouth with his hands and laughed with his head tilted back...but his smile was uglier than crying.
The bright colors gradually faded from the village to the city on the other side of the river, until they turned black and white on the middle-aged man's body...
As Shen Fa pondered the painting, Yang Ge's weak and half-dead appearance flashed before his eyes from time to time, and his mood gradually became complicated.
He looked at the painter and asked seriously, "Is this painting called 'Nostalgia'?"
The painter hesitated for a few breaths and replied, "Your Excellency, I think the title of this painting, 'Looking Back at Hometown,' would be more appropriate."
"Looking back to my hometown, looking towards..."
Shen Fa chewed on these two words for a long time before nodding slightly and saying, "It is indeed more appropriate!"
He carefully folded up the scroll and placed it beside him. Without even turning around, he shouted, "Accountant, haven't you settled the accounts yet?"
A middle-aged scholar in a long, green robe stepped forward, holding an account book and bowing, saying, "Your Excellency, there are no problems with our financial transactions in Luting County... Please review them."
Shen Fa picked up the account book and flipped through it symbolically. It was full of trivial accounts. The amount was consistent with the monthly salary Liu Degui paid to Yang Ge, and there was no expenditure worthy of special attention.
He put down the account book and leaned back on the armchair: "Village head."
"Sir, after investigation, we found that the guest had no personal connections in Luting County other than a monetary favor with the shopkeeper... The guest seemed to instinctively reject all human interaction, regardless of whether it was well-intentioned or malicious."
Shen Fa tapped the armrest of the chair with his fingers and pondered for a moment before speaking again: "Master."
A white-bearded old man dressed as a scholar stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Sir, my guest's cultural heritage is undoubtedly that of the Chinese people, and he also has a certain sense of the Chinese supremacy and the sense of superiority in his bones."
Shen Fa exhaled lightly upon hearing this and said calmly, "Seal the guest's documents and leave two elite soldiers stationed here to try to contact the guest... What happened today is not allowed to be leaked. Violators will be punished according to the family rules!"
Everyone in the room bowed in agreement.
…
The crowd watching outside Yuelai Inn has completely dispersed.
The detectives and runners who were cleaning up the place didn't even dare to ask for the tea money that Manager Liu secretly gave them, and they quickly withdrew.
Yang Ge stood inside the gate and looked around, wondering why the person Shen Fa said he would meet with hadn't come yet.
Everything else is trivial; the main issue is where should he collect his wages?
You can't just label him a temporary worker without even paying him, right?
He was not naive enough to think that he could escape from Shen Fa's clutches if Shen Fa didn't pay him.
"Little brother, everything is fine here. If you have anything to do, go back first!"
After finishing cleaning up, Shopkeeper Liu waved to Yang Ge.
Yang Ge glanced at the empty front hall and asked with concern, "Boss, how are your arrangements for the inn's renovations going? Is there anything I can do?"
Shopkeeper Liu pulled a bench and sat down, pounding his stiff thigh and saying with a smile: "From now on, I don't plan to manage this inn anymore..."
Yang Ge: “Huh?”
Manager Liu gave him a gesture of approval, motioning him to sit down. He said, "We've already sent a message to that unfilial son, asking him to come back and take over the inn."
Yang Ge suddenly realized something. He walked over, pulled over a stool, and sat down across from Manager Liu. He smiled and said, "How did you suddenly figure it out? Didn't you say before that I could hold on for a few more years?"
"After all, I am old and useless!"
Manager Liu sighed, "Besides, this inn will eventually be passed on to him. If we let him come back now, we can help him keep an eye on it. If he still can't make it, then he'll be defeated..."
He spoke in an open-minded manner, but his old face was full of sorrow.
Yang Ge smiled and soothed, "Don't overthink it. Don't you understand the business of our inn? In normal times, it's just a cheap job of welcoming guests. Even if the young master can't bring himself to do it, don't we still have Brother Wang and me? That's the wages we both earn! So, just enjoy your peaceful life from now on."
His words were meant to comfort Liu, but they actually served as a warning. He suddenly said, "Young man, why don't you take over my job and become the innkeeper!"
The shopkeeper is not the boss, but the store manager.
It’s just that many small business owners don’t have the money to hire a shopkeeper, or are unwilling to ask others to run their business, so they run the business themselves. That’s why the shopkeeper is often equated with the boss.
Therefore, Manager Liu’s intention was not to let Yang Ge become the owner of Yuelai Inn, but to promote Yang Ge from a waiter to a store manager.
“No, no, no…”
Yang Ge waved his hands repeatedly: "Boss, don't you understand me? I don't want to stand out or bring honor to my family. I just want a simpler and easier . How can I be a boss?"
Shopkeeper Liu looked at his horrified expression and said jokingly, "Of course I understand you. It's because you don't want to stand out and bring honor to your family that we're confident in letting you be the shopkeeper. If it were those ambitious but fragile killers, even if they paid us money, we wouldn't even glance at them!"
Yang Ge thought about it and realized that this made sense. He smiled and joked, "You can't promote me to shopkeeper, right? There's an old saying that goes, 'A new emperor chooses new ministers.' If you promote me to shopkeeper, wouldn't that be an insult to the young master? You two are fighting, so don't use me as a pawn. I want to work for you for a few more years to repay your kindness!"
"You don't have to worry about what that unfilial son might think. He's..."
Shopkeeper Liu wanted to explain to Yang Ge, but he became speechless mid-sentence and waved his hand, saying, "Forget it. You'll understand later."
Yang Ge nodded: "The martial arts exam is still some time away, so there's no need to rush. Let's talk about the future later."
Shopkeeper Liu nodded, then sighed deeply and said earnestly, "My dear, you always tell me not to overthink and relax, but why don't you tell yourself?"
"I've never asked you where you're from, nor do I know what misfortunes you've endured, but I'm still your father. Every time I see you sitting in the house staring outside for two or three hours, I can't help but think, if my descendants also live a life as tormented as yours, I'm afraid I won't be able to close my eyes even after I die!"
The smile on Yang Ge's face gradually disappeared. He pursed his lips hard, pulled the muscles of his cheeks hard, and squeezed out an ugly smile: "I'm afraid that my parents won't be able to find me even after a hundred years!"
Seeing him like this, Shopkeeper Liu's eyes also turned red. He patted his shoulder and said, "Even if they can't find you, they must hope that you can live a good and happy life, not that you live like this... Move forward and don't look back. Life will get better!"
Yang Ge: "But where is the front?"
Shopkeeper Liu: "As long as you start moving, anywhere is the way forward!"
