HNYWEF -Chapter 77 None of My Business

The eighth day of the ninth month, Zhenguan Year Two.

Chang’an City had never been this lively before.

From the Zhuque Gate to the Eastern and Western Markets, every street was packed with people.

Peddlers carrying shoulder poles, men pushing carts, mothers holding children, youngsters helping the elderly along—shoulder pressed against shoulder, until the stone-paved roads were clogged so tightly that not even water could flow through.

Red silk hung outside the shops. Tavern banners had all been replaced with new ones. Food stalls stretched from one end of the street to the other. The smell of frying oil, the steam rising from bamboo baskets, and the sweetness of sugar-roasted chestnuts mixed together and drifted into people’s noses.

Some people had even built temporary stages by the roadside. Opera singers, storytellers, and street magicians took turns performing.

The audience packed around the stages three layers deep inside and three layers deep outside. Cheers came wave after wave, loud enough to make the roof tiles tremble.

But the liveliest places were still the taverns.

When the taverns filled up, they set tables outside the doors. When the tables filled up, people simply squatted on the steps and drank there.

Friends and strangers alike became brothers the moment their bowls clinked together.

Wine bowls collided nonstop with sharp ringing sounds. Some people got thoroughly drunk and started singing at the top of their lungs, hopelessly off-key, but nobody laughed at them. Instead, the crowd clapped along.

This was a grand public drinking celebration specially decreed by the Emperor.

Three whole days.

For three entire days, nobody worked and nobody sold goods. Everyone simply drank.

Zhou Xiong walked through the streets, getting bumped in the shoulders again and again. He showed no reaction, merely continuing forward and occasionally shifting aside to let others pass.

Cheng Yaojin walked on his left.

Qin Qiong walked on his right.

Cheng Yaojin’s mouth never stopped moving.

“Black Bear, look over there! That old man’s face is purple from drinking, and he’s still pouring more down his throat. Doesn’t he want to live anymore?”

“And there! Those brats are playing finger-guessing games—ha! He lost! Drink! Drink!”

“Whoa, that smell! Whose roasted lamb is that? Smells so good I’m swallowing my own tongue…”

He spoke once. Zhou Xiong gave no response.

He spoke again. Zhou Xiong still gave no response.

Cheng Yaojin didn’t care. He just kept talking to himself like a one-man comedy act.

Qin Qiong walked on the other side with a faint smile on his lips. His gaze swept through the crowd, occasionally nodding to greet citizens who recognized him.

The three men simply walked together like that.

When they reached a crossroads, the crowd became even denser.

At the roadside was a stall selling hu cakes. Freshly baked cakes came out golden and glistening with oil, covered densely with sesame seeds.

The vendor was a dark, heavyset man shouting at the top of his lungs:

“Hu cakes! Fresh out of the oven! Crispy and fragrant! If they’re not delicious, don’t pay!”

Cheng Yaojin slowed his steps.

He glanced at the cakes, then at Zhou Xiong.

“Black Bear.”

Zhou Xiong ignored him.

Cheng Yaojin called again.

“Black Bear.”

Only then did Zhou Xiong turn his head to look at him.

Cheng Yaojin grinned.

“Do you remember? I once brought you two chickens and two ducks.”

Zhou Xiong’s eyes narrowed.

Just slightly.

Cheng Yaojin kept grinning, looking as pleased as if he’d found treasure.

“You cursed me so badly back then. Said something like: ‘When I told you to raise chickens and ducks, I meant for you to promote it throughout the capital region! Let the common people raise them! Let every household raise them! Not for you to bring me two damn birds so I could stew soup with them!’”

He mimicked Zhou Xiong’s tone perfectly, even copying that rough, hoarse voice seven or eight parts out of ten.

Qin Qiong chuckled beside them.

Zhou Xiong did not laugh.

He merely looked at Cheng Yaojin, his face expressionless.

Cheng Yaojin pointed at the people in the streets.

“Look around. Look! Now every household raises them. Those chickens and ducks ate all the insect eggs clean out of the fields. This year’s harvest was good. The people are happy. The Emperor is happy. Everyone in Chang’an is happy.”

He paused, then leaned closer to Zhou Xiong.

“Do you know whose achievement this is?”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

Cheng Yaojin waited for an answer.

Zhou Xiong still said nothing.

After waiting two breaths, Cheng Yaojin couldn’t hold back anymore.

“It’s your achievement! You were the one who suggested raising chickens and ducks to prevent pests! If not for you, once the locust plague hit this year, the fields would’ve been completely barren. Would these people still be here drinking now? They’d have been crying already!”

At last, Zhou Xiong responded.

First he glanced at Cheng Yaojin.

Then he looked at the people in the streets.

Finally, his gaze drifted into the distance—perhaps toward the opera stage, perhaps toward the clouds on the horizon.

“What does that have to do with me?”

His voice was not loud, but every word was perfectly clear.

Cheng Yaojin froze.

“What?”

Zhou Xiong withdrew his gaze.

“What I said was, ‘let him carry it forward.’ Whether he promotes it is his business. Whether the common people raise them is the common people’s business. Whether the insect eggs get eaten is the chickens’ and ducks’ business. Whether the harvest improves is Heaven’s business.”

He spoke each word slowly and clearly.

“What does any of that have to do with me?”

Cheng Yaojin stared at him with his mouth hanging open.

Beside them, the curve at Qin Qiong’s lips deepened slightly.

Cheng Yaojin scratched his head.

“You… you…”

After struggling for a long while, he finally forced out a sentence:

“What kind of person are you? The credit’s sitting right there in front of you, and you don’t want it? Then who are you pushing it onto?”

Zhou Xiong immediately kicked him.

“Thickheaded.”

He turned around and kept walking forward.

Cheng Yaojin hurried after him.

“Hey, Bear Blindman, don’t go!”

Zhou Xiong didn’t look back.

Cheng Yaojin was still about to chase after him when Qin Qiong lightly tugged at him from the side.

Cheng Yaojin turned his head.

Qin Qiong said nothing. He only lifted his chin slightly toward Zhou Xiong.

Cheng Yaojin froze for a moment.

Then Qin Qiong spoke, his voice quiet.

“If it’s something he doesn’t want to carry, no one can force him to.”

Cheng Yaojin turned to look at Qin Qiong.

Qin Qiong looked back at him.

The two exchanged a glance.

Suddenly, Cheng Yaojin laughed.

“Fine then.”

He strode over until he was walking beside Zhou Xiong.

“Bear Blindman.”

Zhou Xiong looked at him.

Cheng Yaojin wore a grin on his face.

“Alright. If you say it has nothing to do with you, then it has nothing to do with you. Anyway, I’ll remember it. Second Brother Qin will remember it. Those old brothers of ours will remember it too.”

He paused.

“Whether you remember it yourself or not doesn’t matter.”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

After walking a few more steps, Zhou Xiong suddenly stopped.

He turned around and looked at Cheng Yaojin.

Cheng Yaojin was startled by the look.

“What now?”

Zhou Xiong said, “Those two country chickens and ducks you sent over — I’ll admit, they tasted pretty good.”

Cheng Yaojin froze for a second.

Then he laughed.

“Alright, alright, as long as they tasted good! They were meant for you in the first place!”

Zhou Xiong nodded.

He said nothing more.

He turned around and continued walking forward.

Qin Qiong walked beside them and suddenly spoke.

“Zhijie.”

Cheng Yaojin looked at him.

Qin Qiong said, “When you sent them over, that little bear cub looked pretty happy, didn’t he?”

Cheng Yaojin thought about it.

“Seems like it. The kid squatted in the corner staring at them for quite a while.”

Qin Qiong nodded.

“Then that’s enough.”

He said nothing further.

But Cheng Yaojin understood.

Zhou Xiong didn’t care about credit or recognition.

As long as life could go on, that was enough.

Cheng Yaojin laughed again.

This time it wasn’t loud. Just the corners of his mouth lifting upward, so much that he couldn’t suppress it even if he tried.

The three men, one in front and two behind, slowly disappeared into the crowd.

The lively bustle on the street continued on.