Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 302 A Sea of ​​People, A Hundred Forms

Bang bang bang!
There was a hurried knock on the gate of the small courtyard where Chen Xu rented a place.

The urgent knocking sound seemed strangely familiar.

But Chen Xu is quite different now than before. He was still in the kitchen, but his mind had already wandered. He immediately sensed that the person knocking on the door was an old lady from next door.

The landlady called her "Aunt Xiao".

At this moment, Chen Xu smelled the aroma of food, while an invisible flame burned faintly in his dantian.

The flames seemed to be continuing to grow, yet in the dim light, they still seemed to be lacking a few breaths.

Chen Xu could have ignored the person knocking on the door and simply secluded himself in the courtyard to cultivate and ponder.

But at this moment, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he instructed the two little demons, "A-Yuan, A-Shi, set out the bowls and chopsticks and eat first. I'll be right back."

The mouse, however, had its own set of rules and immediately said, "Scholar, I won't eat first; I'll wait for you."

Wei Yuan quickly replied, "Brother Chen, you go ahead, we'll wait for you."

Chen Xu didn't insist, so he gently patted the heads of the two little demons and got up to leave.

The knocking on the door came in a series of knocks, then suddenly stopped on its own.

Just as Chen Xu suddenly opened the courtyard gate, Aunt Xiao, who was standing at the door, raised one hand, as if to continue knocking.

"Oh dear!" Aunt Xiao's face instantly lit up with a smile. She hurriedly put her hands to the side, gave a hasty curtsy, and said, "Young master, you've finally opened the door."

Please don't be offended, my eldest daughter went to the outskirts of the city early this morning to pick some wild vegetables.

A big basket! It has lion's mantle and wheel spinach, all of which are good stuff!
I was thinking that today, Mrs. Xu said that new guests had arrived in the courtyard and asked me to take good care of them, so I came to find you after getting some wild vegetables.

You can take it and eat it; it'll save you the trouble of going to Nanshi to buy it yourself.

The goods sold outside are expensive and of poor quality, and they've gone through who-knows-how-many hands. They're really overpriced and not worth it.

As she spoke, she pushed the basket of wild vegetables she was carrying on her wrist toward Chen Xu.

Their words and attitude were incredibly enthusiastic.

Chen Xu then reached out and took the handle of the wild vegetable basket, preparing to accept it.

Unexpectedly, the opponent's grip was quite strong when he tried to pull back.

When Chen Xu moved gently, it was clear that Aunt Xiao was holding the basket tightly in her hand, with no intention of letting go.

This is where things get interesting. Chen Xu then used a clever trick, suddenly snapping a single finger onto the handle of the basket.

"Ouch!" Aunt Xiao exclaimed in surprise, her hand aching, and she hurriedly loosened her grip.

The basket then ended up entirely in Chen Xu's hands.

Aunt Xiao: "..."

No, she was just being polite; she didn't really intend to give wild vegetables. Even if she did, she shouldn't have done it this way!
Aunt Xiao stared wide-eyed, unable to express her suffering.

The flames in Chen Xu's dantian became even more active. He understood that Aunt Xiao had only passed by the gate to take wild vegetables home, and did not actually intend to give them to him.

Sending wild vegetables was just an excuse; what Aunt Xiao really wanted were probably those meat pies in Chen Xu's kitchen.

The aroma of meat pies was so enticing that it was no surprise that it attracted Aunt Xiao.
In fact, all the neighbors were attracted.

However, it was Aunt Xiao who took the lead, which served as a good opportunity to test the waters for the neighbors on both sides, and also to discern Chen Xu's temperament, whether he was easy to get along with, and whether it was easy to take advantage of him.

And it seemed that the initial attack was about to fail.

Chen Xu took the wild vegetables and went into the yard, then tried to close the gate.

Aunt Xiao was dumbfounded. Her anxious heart could no longer be contained, and she hurriedly called out, "Oh, oh! Young master, the meat pies in your yard smell so good. Can you sell me a few?"

"Oh, my basket! You can't take my basket!"

But the gate to the courtyard was still closed.

Bang!
Just as Aunt Xiao was getting anxious and angry, regretting why she had sent wild vegetables earlier, and was about to slap herself, the courtyard gate was suddenly opened again.

At that moment, Aunt Xiao was raising one hand, making a show of preparing to pound on the door.

Unexpectedly, she met a pair of eyes as calm and still as cold stars, and Aunt Xiao's arrogance vanished instantly, replaced by a strange sense of guilt.

She slapped her own face with her palm.

it hurts.

Aunt Xiao was almost stunned by her own beating, but in the face of Chen Xu standing quietly, she inexplicably dared not act rashly.

Recalling what the landlady, Madam Xu, had said, the new guest might be a young master from a prominent family.

Aunt Xiao hadn't believed it at first, but now she was starting to believe it.

It was an indescribable feeling, so intense that it made one's heart tremble, as if one had accidentally stumbled upon the moonlight of Mount Gusha or the jade tree of Penglai in the mortal world.

It's indescribably captivating.

Aunt Xiao immediately hesitated and said with a forced smile, "Young master, do you sell your meat pies?"

I'll pay three... no, five... five coins each..."

She held up one hand, making a five-point gesture. She already thought it was quite expensive, considering that you could sometimes buy two meat pies for five coins on the street. But mentioning buying pies in front of such a young master made Aunt Xiao feel extremely offended.

She made up her mind and suddenly said loudly, "Young master, how about I pay ten coins for each of your cakes?"

That's ten coins!
When Aunt Xiao took the money out of her sleeve pocket, she kept her eyes closed.

She dared not look, fearing that if she did, she wouldn't be able to bear to take it out.

But the cake smelled so good that she would be tormented by it for months if she couldn't have a taste!
Aunt Xiao gritted her teeth and took out all twenty coins from her pocket and gave them to Chen Xu. She thought Chen Xu wouldn't accept them, but he did.

Chen Xu not only accepted it, but also gave her two pancakes.

Aunt Xiao received the pancakes with a mixture of surprise and heartache. She hurriedly opened her eyes and stuffed the two meat pancakes wrapped in oil paper into her bosom.

The meat pie was so hot it made her hiss, but she quickly said:

"Young master, please don't mind those wild vegetables, don't throw them away."

In those famine years, wild vegetables were life-saving treasures. I heard from Dr. Liu at the street corner that wild vegetables could sometimes be used as medicine to save lives.

This pancake smells so good, hehehe..."

She spoke incoherently, and after finishing, she hurriedly ran home with two meat pies in her pocket, almost forgetting even her grocery basket.

Chen Xu called out to her, and she took back the empty vegetable basket and hurried home.

As she walked rapidly, she kept making hissing noises:
"It's so hot, oh my... it smells so good! Mom, I can't take it anymore, I have to have a bite first! Heavens, these ten coins... sob sob, it's worth it."

[Like +1+1+1…]

Interestingly, the series of likes came not only from Aunt Xiao, but also from the neighbors who were watching nearby.

Aunt Xiao's performance with the meat pie was the best mukbang ever; who among the neighbors could resist swallowing their saliva when they saw it?

However, Aunt Xiao was buying meat pies for ten coins each, which was ridiculously expensive.

The crowd couldn't help but whisper among themselves, "Ten coins for a pancake? Has Granny Xiao gone mad?"

"That man is not to be trifled with. He dared to accept ten coins for a pancake from Granny Xiao!"

"What should we do? Should we give it a try too?"

"What are you trying? Are you offering ten coins each? Hey, look, Old Zheng's coffin has passed by."

A moment later, Old Man Zheng, holding a few tattered vegetable leaves, appeared in front of Chen Xu's courtyard.

The old man, with a trembling, shameless expression, began, "Young master, please have mercy! I haven't eaten meat for three years. Please give this old man a pancake instead..."

Before the sound had even faded, all the onlookers around turned their gazes to it.

Some people scorned it, while others looked forward to it.

Some people couldn't bear it, while others shook their heads.

Some people were both disdainful and expectant...

The everyday life of ordinary people can be glimpsed from just these two meat pies at the entrance.

But putting all that aside, what's interesting is—

Even though everyone present was just an ordinary person, the aroma of Chen Xu's meat pies filled almost half the street, so much so that he received over 800 likes in such a short time.

Amidst this chaotic scene, Chen Xu sighed softly, then suddenly pointed at the person holding the rotten vegetable leaves and said:
"Old man, why are you carrying a person with half an arm missing on your back?"
He's behind you, shedding tears of blood, and clutching an earthenware pot as if he wants to smash it over your neck.

The old man, holding the rotten vegetable leaves, trembled and cried out in panic, "What did you say? You...you're talking nonsense..."

Chen Xu said, "Why would I lie to you? Didn't you all see it? This person was saying, 'Zheng Guan'er, give me back my life.' Don't you feel that your back is very heavy?"

"Ah!" Old Man Zheng did indeed feel a heavy weight on his back, and he also had a secret past buried in his heart.

Now that Chen Xu had suddenly seen through his scheme, how could he not feel guilty and terrified?

Looking at Chen Xu again, one could only feel that he was mysterious and ferocious, standing there like a vicious beast from the underworld.

The old man immediately jumped up in panic, yelled, threw down the rotten vegetable leaves in his hand, and ran away.

In reality, who was on Old Man Zheng's back?
To everyone else, his back appeared to be completely empty.

Since the place was empty and Chen Xu's account was factual, Old Man Zheng still reacted with the same terrified attitude.

This leads us to wonder what exactly was on Old Man Zheng's back.

The onlookers on the street gasped in surprise, filled with doubt and fear.

Now, who would dare to approach any further?

The area in front of Chen Xuyuan's courtyard suddenly became quiet, so he simply and decisively closed the door.

As soon as the courtyard gate closed, Chen Xu noticed that the flames in his dantian seemed to have grown even stronger.

The fire was gradually brightening; is this what they mean by the vicissitudes of life in the marketplace?
No, not enough.

Chen Xu immediately returned to the kitchen, calmed himself down, and had breakfast with the two little demons.

After putting down his chopsticks, he immediately said, "Ah-Shi, Ah-Yuan, I'm going out for a bit, I'll be right back, you two wait for me at home."

(End of this chapter)