Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 117 - 98 Liang Zhu (IV)

Chapter 117: Chapter 98 Liang Zhu (IV)

The next few days, Luo Jun indeed had things to do.

Not the kind that requires lying in a hotel reading novels.

In the following days, Qin Huai saw Bi fang vs machete and axe-wielding thugs, Bi fang vs gun-wielding professionals, Bi fang vs grenades, Bi fang vs Molotov cocktails, Bi fang vs...

The above content can be summarized as: gangster films, martial arts films, gunfight films, war films, and disaster films.

Qin Huai figured out that when Luo Jun said he wasn’t afraid of firearms, he wasn’t boasting. He genuinely wasn’t afraid.

He looked down on Chen Huihong as a plant spirit, probably because he truly looked down on her.

He and Chen Huihong definitely seemed like they weren’t spirits from the same world; their combat capabilities weren’t even in the same league.

Qin Huai felt that Luo Jun should go to the Marvel Universe to find opponents, to see if he could hold his own against the Hulk.

After easily resolving the minor troubles brought on by the clandestine dealings, Luo Jun nestled in the hotel to read novels for a whole day, caught up on the newspapers he missed earlier in the week, and then Sunday arrived.

To be fair, his schedule was quite reasonable.

Handle things during the first few days, leave a day to catch up on novels after resolving follow-up issues, and date on Sunday. Such a fulfilling week!

On Sunday, Luo Jun, as usual, woke up naturally, arranged for the hotel staff to buy breakfast, and curled up on the sofa to read the newspaper.

"Mr. Luo, do you need the hotel to arrange a rickshaw for your 3 pm movie this afternoon?" the attendant asked after serving the food.

"No need, I’ll walk there myself."

"Alright, should I..."

"Order some food from the café where we bought chestnut cake last time for lunch." Luo Jun sipped his porridge, "Include an additional takeout chestnut cake to be delivered on time. Don’t let it be like last time, taking ages for someone to show up after the show ended."

"Of course, Mr. Luo, your meal will definitely not be delayed this time."

"One more thing." Luo Jun looked up at the attendant, "Young girls like pearl necklaces, right? They’re always staring at the necklaces on movie star posters."

Attendant: ...

The attendant felt it was really hard to answer questions like this every time.

The attendant could only say, "I believe no woman would dislike beautiful jewelry."

Luo Jun nodded in understanding, and the attendant left. Luo Jun then reached directly with his hand to grab a bun to eat, getting up while eating. He walked to the bed, and single-handedly lifted the case full of gold and silver jewelry, and opened it single-handedly.

This suitcase of gold and silver jewelry hadn’t been opened once since Luo Jun brought it back to the hotel.

Inside were three pearl necklaces, each top quality, with pearls large, round, and lustrous. In this era, when cultivation techniques were quite immature, each necklace could sell for a fortune.

One necklace had bloodstains on it.

Luo Jun disdainfully picked out the bloodstained necklace and tossed it into the corner, then selected from the remaining two, choosing the one with pearls that seemed fuller, and put it in his pocket.

Then he grabbed a handful of silver coins from the case, put them in another pocket, closed it, and continued eating breakfast.

Witnessing the whole process, Qin Huai commented that Luo Jun’s trench coat pockets sure could hold a lot.

It was another leisurely morning of novel reading. After these few days, Qin Huai, like Luo Jun, had fallen in love with the serialized novels in the newspaper.

In those days, authors who could serialize their novels in newspapers and earn manuscript fees were quite skilled, especially adept at cliffhangers. Every time at the end, it left readers on edge, eager for the next issue.

No wonder Luo Jun would always write letters to the newspaper after reading, complaining about this unethical cliffhanger tactic; it really tormented people.

It didn’t just torture people, but also birds.

Luo Jun spent lunchtime reading as well.

As it approached 2 pm, it was time to go out. Luo Jun reluctantly folded a few newspapers into his pocket, took the packaged chestnut cake, and left the room.

Qin Huai: ...

Bro, isn’t it unnecessary to bring a novel to a movie date?

Liu Tao was already waiting at the hotel entrance.

Liu Tao was obviously meticulously dressed today, in a purple qipao, hair slightly curled with freshly burned firewood tips, wearing silver earrings, embroidery shoes, gilded bracelets, with red lipstick painted on her lips and her eyebrows drawn.

It was evident that the jewelry from the theater group was all piled on Liu Tao.

Liu Tao was holding a lunch box in her hands.

"Mr. Luo."

Seeing Luo Jun walking out, Liu Tao quickly approached, clutching the lunch box so tightly that her knuckles were white. She softly said, "Good afternoon."

"Did you catch a cold? Your voice sounds so strange." Luo Jun curiously looked at Liu Tao.

Liu Tao’s face flushed red, wishing she could dig a hole and bury herself, she whispered, "No... it might be because I didn’t act today, so I didn’t warm up my voice."

"Did you eat the chestnut cake from last time?" Luo Jun asked.

"I did."

"Was it tasty?"

"Delicious, even better than Sister Hong’s egg cake."

Luo Jun handed the cake to Liu Tao: "For you, eat it during the movie."

Liu Tao accepted the cake and wanted to hand the lunch box to Luo Jun. After glancing at his clothes, she was afraid the lunch box might stain them, so she softly said, "Mr. Luo... I made some soup, I’ll hold onto it for now. You... you can drink it when you have time."

Luo Jun led Liu Tao towards the cinema, glancing casually at Liu Tao’s purple qipao, and asked, "Do you really like that poster?"

"What poster?" Liu Tao didn’t understand.

"Nothing much." Luo Jun said lightly, "I heard you haven’t been playing Zhu Yingtai in Liang Zhu these days."

"Ah... yes, my voice hasn’t been feeling well recently, so the class leader didn’t let me perform." Liu Tao nodded as she followed behind Luo Jun. "He... he had me learn some other skills with Sister Hong."

"What other skills?" Luo Jun knowingly asked.

"Just... a bit of technique." Liu Tao’s face turned red again, "I... didn’t really learn well."

"If you don’t like it, you don’t have to learn it. What you sing now is quite good." Luo Jun said.

Liu Tao couldn’t help but smile.

The cinema was about 30 minutes away from the hotel, and with Luo Jun walking slowly, it took them about 40 minutes. No wonder the hotel attendant asked if Luo Jun wanted a rickshaw; with this distance, usually, Luo Jun wouldn’t want to walk.

He just doesn’t like walking.

The movie plot was simple, about a man bravely fighting on the battlefield and ultimately achieving fame and success. The movie itself had no sound, relying entirely on the projectionist at the side for narration. The projectionist not only narrated but also explained the movie’s plot, which was very exhausting.

Liu Tao watched intently.

Qin Huai suspected Liu Tao even forgot that Luo Jun was sitting next to her. At the beginning of the movie, Liu Tao would occasionally glance at Luo Jun, but once the train appeared in the movie, her eyes were solely on the film.

When the gunfire and bullet scenes appeared, Liu Tao even started eating the chestnut cake.

Not to mention, the cake looked quite appetizing and good.

An hour later, the movie ended, and Liu Tao was clearly still savoring the plot, excitedly holding the lunch box and walking next to Luo Jun, talking about how exciting the movie was.

"Mr. Luo, the Boss Huang in the movie was amazing, even better than our troop’s martial brother. He..." Liu Tao chirped away, only to realize she might have been talking too much as Luo Jun hadn’t said anything.

"Am I talking too much?" Liu Tao reverted to her modest, gentle demeanor.

"Compared to before, quite a lot." Luo Jun said honestly, "You’ve said more today than all the times combined before."

Liu Tao bowed her head: "Am I too loud then?"

"It’s alright, your voice is nice, at least."

"Then..." Liu Tao mustered the courage to look up at Luo Jun, "Will you ask me to watch a movie again?"

"As far as I know, there’s only this one movie recently. I didn’t like this film enough to want to watch it a second time." Luo Jun said.

Liu Tao’s eyes dimmed with disappointment: "Then will you come to listen to Liang Zhu again?"

"Perhaps, I plan to see the new mechanical opera from the Shi family tomorrow."

Liu Tao sniffed, said nothing, and walked silently behind Luo Jun.

After walking some distance, Luo Jun helplessly turned back and looked at Liu Tao, who had fallen two or three meters behind him, "You really haven’t learned anything your class leader taught you."

"Ah?" Liu Tao was originally kicking stones on the ground, and she looked up confused after hearing Luo Jun’s words.

"When I go to the dance hall, I don’t even have to ask, they attach themselves to me. Yet, you’ve been distancing yourself from me this entire way."

"I... I... I..." Liu Tao stuttered, unable to say a word.

"Two years ago, I heard your Liang Zhu." Luo Jun said, "Back then, your troupe was still in the south, setting up a stage and selling tickets in a small county town. I happened to hear it, and even back then, I really liked this story."

Liu Tao bashfully said, "I wasn’t singing well back then."

Luo Jun nodded: "Indeed, compared to now, there’s a big difference."

"Did you know our troupe came to Shanghai and came specifically to see us?" Liu Tao bravely asked.

"No, a hotel attendant told me there was a new troupe in town and the men playing Liang Zhu were quite good with Zhu Yingtai especially well done, so I had them book a ticket for me to see."

"Then... are you trying to support me?" Liu Tao bravely asked.

"No."

Liu Tao already felt on the verge of tears: "Then you are..."

Luo Jun took out a pearl necklace from his pocket and handed it to Liu Tao. Liu Tao dumbly accepted it, confused about the situation.

"I planned to give it to you during dinner, but seeing you’re probably not in the mood for dinner now."

"Am I that bad of a person?" Luo Jun said, "I’m pursuing you, and you didn’t even notice?"

Liu Tao was completely stunned.

With tears in her eyes, she blurted out, "Then will you marry me as a concubine?"

"No." Luo Jun shook his head.

Liu Tao’s mind was completely scrambled, and just like that, tears flowed down her eyes.

"A bird will only have one mate," Luo Jun said, "Until death of either party there will only be one."

Liu Tao sniffed, "I’m sorry, your words are too deep for me to understand."

"I too will only have one mate, until death of either party there will only be one."

Liu Tao stared blankly at Luo Jun.

"I will not take a concubine."

"I will only marry you as my wife."

Liu Tao couldn’t help it, again tears welled up: "But... marrying a performer as your primary wife, you’d be laughed at."

"I don’t care," Luo Jun said, "It’s my marriage, not theirs, why should they care?"

"When did you make your dried tangerine peel soup?"

Liu Tao glanced at the lunch box: "This morning."

"Give it to me, it’ll be even worse when cold."

Liu Tao instinctively handed over the lunch box, and Luo Jun opened it. Inside was dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup, with a spoon thoughtfully provided.

"Dried tangerine peel tea... with so many ingredients?" Luo Jun frowned.

"Yes." Liu Tao nodded dumbly, then realized and shook her head repeatedly, "No, no, this is dried tangerine peel..."

"Not what?" Luo Jun had already taken a first sip, "Not bad, why doesn’t Master Liu let you make your own?"

Liu Tao’s face lit with joy, "Is the taste alright? I’ve been learning from Sister A hong these days, adding brown sugar, salt, white fungus, lotus seeds, and dried tangerine peel. Even Sister A hong said I’ve made progress."

"If you like it, I’ll make it for you every day!"

Qin Huai left the memory.

Before leaving the memory, Qin Huai had one last thing to say.

Ha, dog food.

No wonder Luo Jun didn’t mention anything, it turns out his memories were full of dog food.

Ha, Bi fang.