SWDnovel Chapter 7: Serving as a driver for a big shot, and a messenger for a leader
Chapter 7: Serving as a driver for a big shot, and a messenger for a leader
"Why are you called Orange? You sound so girly."
Lin Zhou asked the handsome guy next to him curiously, but the handsome guy just closed his eyes and didn't intend to pay attention to him. Lin Zhou reached out and poked his chest, and found that it was hard pectoral muscles.
"What are you doing!" The handsome guy opened his eyes, glaring angrily. "Don't be so nosy!"
"It's a man..."
"nonsense!"
As the two were talking, Si Hou came out, holding a letter in his hand, and handed it to Lin Zhou: "Young sir, please deliver this letter to this old man."
"Why burn a letter you wrote with such care?" Lin Zhou asked, quite surprised. "And couldn't you have burned it yourself?"
Even the handsome guy next to him couldn't help but laugh out loud: "What a fool..."
"Cheng'er! Don't be rude." Sihou explained with a smile, "It's just a side dish, not a full-blown one."
"Oh, your accent is quite strong."
The magistrate showed no sign of displeasure and laughed heartily: "Your accent remains unchanged, though your hair has turned gray. By the way, young master, I have already had your travel permit and other documents taken care of. Cheng'er, take the young master to get them done. From this day forward, the young master is a citizen of my Great Song Dynasty."
Lin Zhou clutched the thin letter, wondering what this old fox was up to. Si Hou, however, had already turned his back and waved his hand, his meaning crystal clear.
see a visitor out.
Cheng'er reluctantly led him outside. As they passed through the gloomy courtyard of the Imperial City Guard, Lin Zhou couldn't help but look back.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up and move on," Cheng'er urged, her tone stern. "If it were anyone else, the Imperial City Guard would have arrested you for even glancing at them. Still looking!"
"Hey! That's so unreasonable of you."
"Reasoning? Is the Imperial City Guard a place for reasoning?"
Stepping out of the two dark, imposing gates of the Imperial City Guard, the bustling heat of Lin'an City hit him, and Lin Zhou finally felt the tightness in his chest ease a little. He tugged at his rough short-sleeved shirt and asked the handsome guy next to him, who had a tense expression, "Hey, Cheng'er, where do we go now to get that kind of travel permit?"
"My name is Xu Cheng!" the young man practically spat out the words through gritted teeth. "Cheng as in 'blessed by Heaven'! And you dare call me 'Cheng'er'?"
"Okay, Orange, I got it." Lin Zhou nodded. "Is the place to get the travel permits far? Or... shall we hire a car? My treat."
Xu Cheng glared at him, his handsome face flushed with anger: "No need! It's just up ahead, the Revenue Department, only a few steps away."
The two squeezed into the afternoon crowds of Lin'an City, one after the other. The signs of the food stalls on both sides of the street swayed in the wind, and the vendor selling crisp pears shouted in a high-pitched and bright voice. He looked around and stopped from time to time to touch the bamboo trinkets on the stall. Xu Cheng walked far ahead before realizing that he had not followed, so he had to turn back with a dark face and tug at his sleeve.
"Are you here on business or just shopping?"
"What's the rush? There's plenty of time," Lin Zhou said leisurely, his eyes glancing at a bookstore diagonally across the street. "Come over and help me pick out some books later."
"You can still read?"
"Who do you think you are!" Lin Zhou rolled his eyes at him. "I'm way more cultured than you."
"Noisy!"
The Household Registration Office seemed much more welcoming than the Imperial City Guard Office; at least there weren't any guards at the entrance with eyes that could skin you alive. However, the clerk was slow and inefficient, repeatedly asking about the travel permit, asking about his place of origin, occupation, guarantor… Lin Zhou recited the prepared explanation from the clerk.
The clerk listened and took notes with ink, the nib of his pen rubbing against the paper with a grating, almost agonizing motion.
Xu Cheng leaned against a pillar with his arms crossed, closing his eyes to rest, as if all of this was none of his business. It wasn't until the minor official raised his eyelids, looked Lin Zhou up and down, and seeing that he showed no intention of responding, that he suddenly spoke: "Returned from overseas? Which overseas? There's no one like you in the recent registers in Quanzhou."
Lin Zhou's heart skipped a beat, but he still wore that honest smile: "My lord, my family fled decades ago to avoid trouble. Over the years, we've accumulated some wealth and were thinking of returning to our roots..."
"Avoiding trouble?" The clerk put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and drawled, "Avoiding what trouble? You wouldn't happen to be... from the north, would you?"
These words were rather malicious. The air in the hall froze, and several people waiting to be served quietly moved a few steps away.
Lin Zhou frowned: "Are you being sarcastic or something?! Just do what I tell you to do! Cheng'er, are you doing this on purpose?"
"How dare you!" the clerk shouted. "Guards, seize this madman!"
At this moment, Xu Cheng, who was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly moved. He simply took out a small bronze plaque from his pocket and pressed it on the table in front of the clerk.
The clerk glanced down, his face turned pale instantly, and he hurriedly grabbed a pen, not daring to ask another word. His pen flew across the paper, and in a moment he had completed the document in one go. He then presented it to Lin Zhou with both hands, bowing very low.
"Take it." Xu Cheng took back the bronze token and said arrogantly, "Without me, you won't be able to move an inch in Lin'an City."
"Fine, you're awesome. I'm going to tell your dad when we get back."
"Go ahead and sue. Only men without balls are used to tattling."
"Are you scared?" Lin Zhou nudged Cheng'er with his shoulder. "Cheng'er, tell your brother the truth."
"Go to hell!"
As Lin Zhou walked out of the Ministry of Revenue, he clutched the travel permit paper, still smelling of ink, examining it from all angles. The bright red official seal on it was particularly striking. He turned to look at Xu Cheng, who once again wore an indifferent expression, seemingly unconcerned about anything.
"Thanks, Cheng'er." Lin Zhou carefully folded the travel permit and tucked it into his pocket, sincerely thanking him. If it weren't for this handsome guy's intervention, things wouldn't have gone so easily.
Xu Cheng snorted in response, but his gaze swept across the street corner: "Where do you live? My father said I should stay by his side. From today onwards, I also need to know where you are."
Lin Zhou scratched his head. He could talk about his deserted single room in the village, but he absolutely couldn't let anyone see the "contraband" from modern times piled up in the warehouse.
"I have a dilapidated house in a deserted village outside the city, which I use to store goods. It's a complete mess. As for myself in the city... well, I'm kind of a nomad, so I just find an inn to stay at."
Xu Cheng stared at him for a few seconds: "Whatever. But there's something I need to make clear. My father sent me to follow you to protect you and keep an eye on you. I can't be bothered with your secretive dealings, but if you dare to do anything that harms the Song Dynasty..."
He lightly pressed the hilt of the knife at his waist, saying nothing more, but his meaning was crystal clear.
"No, no, I wouldn't dare." Lin Zhou waved his hands repeatedly, thinking to himself: Harm the Great Song Dynasty? My think tank is probably figuring out how to operate on your broken court right now.
Hey... Great Song Dynasty, even the Great Tang Dynasty would have to exclaim "Indescribable!" when they saw you.
The two were silent for a moment, and walked back along the riverbank. It was the first time Lin Zhou had walked so leisurely on the streets of Lin'an, and he felt quite comfortable.
"Feed." Xu Cheng suddenly spoke, interrupting his thoughts: "Your superior... can he really foresee the future?"
Lin Zhou turned his head to look at him, but the young man's eyes revealed a serious stubbornness.
He thought for a moment and answered cautiously, "I know some fragments. But the future... it's like the water in this river. It looks like it's flowing east, but who knows which rock might block it and cause it to branch off."
Xu Cheng was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "My father asked me, if that day really comes, will Lin'an City become like the one in the painting?"
Lin Zhou didn't answer immediately. He recalled what Li Han, the expert, had said when analyzing Si Hou's psychology—that such a person's fear might not be the unknown, but rather the despair of knowing the truth yet being powerless to change it.
"Whether it turns out that way or not is not up to me to say." Lin Zhou stopped and looked at Xu Cheng. "That depends on your father. I'm just a messenger between big shots."
Xu Cheng stared at him blankly: "Smooth talker."
Lin Zhou smiled, knowing that these words had at least touched his heart to some extent.
He patted Xu Cheng on the shoulder: "Come on, Brother Orange, I'll treat you to a bowl of hot soup noodles! I'll cook it myself, I guarantee it'll be a hundred times better than what your dad's cooks make!"
"Who's your brother!" Xu Cheng shrugged, shaking off his hand, but followed after him. "Add more meat..."
"Okay!"