Promise!

Chapter 28, Blade Light

At three quarters past five in the afternoon, Zhuang Jin finished another round of meditation and emerged from his meditation room. He was just about to swallow some more Black Yuan Powder to refine it with his stance meditation when Xiong Lei spotted him waiting in the training grounds. He said, "Jinzi, stop practicing! Let's go eat together when they come out!"

Zhuang Jin suddenly realized that it was time for dinner and asked, "Brother Xiong, where do we, the official warriors, eat? How much is a meal?"

Ping Yongfeng and Chang Hetong really didn't tell him about such trivial matters. He also remembered that Wusheng had paid for his meals for a month, and he had only eaten for eighteen days.

"If the formal warriors have to pay for meals here, I wonder if I can still go to the martial artists' place to eat and finish my meals this month?" Zhuang Jin pondered.

"We official warriors eat in another cafeteria, and the meals are free."

Xiong Lei said, complaining: "Jinzi, do you remember the division between free meals and paid meals when we were martial artists? In fact, free meals were the meals of the Shen family's servants and maids without ranks, while paid meals were the meals of us servants with ranks and formal warriors. Oh, and I also heard that when you reach the level of a servant, you can eat special meals!"

Zhuang Jin nodded, grasping the key point. Formal warriors don’t have to pay for meals, which is good, as it saves him from worrying about the martial artists.

He didn't ask whether the remaining self-paid meals could be refunded. He knew without asking that it could not be refunded. At that time, the monthly subscription was more favorable than buying individual meals. Moreover, from chatting with Chang Hetong this morning, he knew that the income and expenditure on the Shen family were all collected and calculated centrally. The one or two taels of silver that the martial artist paid for registration and the money for the monthly self-paid meals had all been paid into the Shen family's treasury long ago. If the money was to be refunded, the procedure would be very complicated. Even if it could be refunded after the incident became a big deal, it was not worth leaving a bad impression on many people in the General Affairs Department for a few hundred dollars!
Speaking of paid meals, Zhuang Jin thought of Kailuo Soup again: "Brother Xiong, do you think we can still drink Kailuo Soup every morning?"

Xiong Lei was also shocked by Zhuang Jin's idea when he heard it, and subconsciously said, "Kailuo Decoction may not be useful to us, right?"

Without waiting for Zhuang Jin to answer, he remembered that the one or two bowls of Kailuo Soup that were left over in the past were all drunk by Ping Yongfeng, so Kailuo Soup must be useful for them, the formal warriors.

"Kailuo Decoction is a simplified version of Heiyuan Powder. Even if it can't be like Heiyuan Powder, which can take care of our three-day training needs, it should still be effective. It may not last a whole day like Wusheng's, but it should still be able to last for an hour and a half." Zhuang Jin pondered and said.

Since it is useful, the question is whether you can drink it.

Originally, they were already formal warriors, not martial students, so from this perspective they could not drink it; but when the martial students were recruited, they paid one or two taels of silver, which was a month's fee, and the Kailuo Soup was included in the fee, so from this perspective they could drink it.

Xiong Lei was also stumped and said, "Jinzi, how about I go with you there tomorrow morning and give it a try?"

Zhuang Jin glanced at Xiong Lei and accurately grasped his thoughts from his words, 'I'll go with you', 'you try it', from these words it was clear that Xiong Lei was obviously not going to drink it. With his careless nature, it was normal for him to look down on this and not care about this bowl of invigorating soup.

Then why did he go with her?

Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Pei Gong, and naturally it was for that 'Miss Yun' - although Song Lan had recovered from her cold long ago and was replaced by her to give Wusheng the meridian soup, Chen Yun would still go there occasionally for inspection, and with Xiong Lei accompanying her, it was reasonable for them to meet each other by chance.

Zhuang Jin didn't expect that Xiong Lei hadn't given up at this time. However, he had already persuaded him once and didn't want to say more. He just said, "Okay."

In fact, he had already figured it out. Whether he could drink the soup or not was an ambiguous issue. The key depended on the martial arts instructor. Because they had left, the remaining Kailuo Soup belonged to the martial arts instructor. Going back to drink it would be equivalent to infringing on the interests of the martial arts instructor.

"If it were me, Master Ping would probably be pleased to see this. He's already interested in establishing a good relationship, and if I don't go over to him without being shy, he'll probably be very happy. Interacting with him is the right way to build closer ties." This was exactly why Zhuang Jin decided to go.

Don't say that he is so fussy about this. He is really poor and has to be calculative for the sake of martial arts.

As they were talking, Xiang Qichen, Lin Hong, Qian Wende, and Bi Kai emerged from the meditation room one after another and went to the cafeteria to eat together. Arriving at the cafeteria for the formal warriors, they found that the food was exactly the same as the martial arts students', with meat and rich oils in the dishes. What was even more rare than the martial arts students was that after finishing their first bowl, they could still get more rice.

All I can say is that warriors are different, and their treatment is completely different from that of martial artists.

Well, Zhuang Jin ate two more bowls with the idea that 'I've already lost the monthly allowance and I must eat it back'. Warriors have big appetites, and the other people were no less hungry, especially Qian Wende. When he could reasonably take advantage of something like this, he naturally wouldn't hold back. He ate until his stomach was noticeably bulging and he kept burping.

After dinner, the group came out of the cafeteria and arrived at the fork between the martial arts training ground and the dormitory. Xiong Lei saw Zhuang Jin turn around and head to the martial arts training ground and asked, "Jinzi, are you going to practice more now?"

"Ah."

"No, Brother Zhuang, we have all become official warriors. There is no need to be so tense. We should take a break when we need to and combine work and rest!" Qian Wende said.

Xiong Lei also advised: "Yes, Jinzi, we just finished eating and have something in our stomachs. Practicing standing meditation will not only be uncomfortable, but also ineffective."

"No, I'm going to practice the Black Evil Palm martial art for a while." Zhuang Jin had checked in the afternoon and found that the quiet room in the training ground was equipped with an oil lamp.

"Okay, Zhuang Jin, you go ahead. Let's go back to the dormitory and rest for a while, and then go later." Xiang Qichen spoke suddenly, as if he was still brooding over the embarrassing thing that Zhuang Jin did to him at noon. He changed his address from 'Jinzi' at noon to 'Zhuang Jin', and the words themselves had a subtle sense of exclusion and isolation.

The atmosphere was quiet for a moment, and suddenly another voice rang out. It was Bi Kai: "Brother Zhuang, I'll go with you!"

In just two short sentences, it seemed as if a battle with swords and sabers was hidden.

Xiong Lei was careless and didn't realize what was going on. He said, "Okay, Jinzi and Kaizi, you go first!"

Qian Wende seemed to have heard something, but also seemed to have heard nothing. He still had a squinting eye and a smiling face, patting his bloated belly lightly.

Lin Hong glanced at Zhuang Jin, Bi Kai, and then at Xiong Lei without saying anything.

Finally, Xiang Qichen, Xiong Lei, Qian Wende, and Lin Hong returned to the dormitory, preparing to rest for a while before going on, while Zhuang Jin and Bi Kai went to the martial arts training ground.

……

In the evening, the martial arts training ground was about to close. Zhuang Jin and the other six went back together chatting. They looked harmonious, as if nothing had happened in the evening.

When the group returned to the dormitory, there was already someone there. Zhuang Jin finally met Jiao Kun, whom he had only heard of but not seen today.

……

(End of this chapter)