Chapter 728 The charm of the blue respite town
There were also little roadside stalls that sold sweets, simple dishes, and little trinkets that attracted the interest of the young ones, who pulled their parents and used every trick in the book to get them to buy them something from those stalls. The guardians, parents, or relatives would then pretend to agonize over it before they acquiesced but not before exhorting them to practice hard in their cultivation when they get home in exchange or some other activity that the young one would otherwise grumble over.
Haggling, banter, teasing, laughing, arguing, and all manner of interactions went on all over the place filling it with life and personality. The Blue Respite Town was unlike most towns in that it felt more like a harmonious village where everyone has known each other for years and years, spanning generations and generations that their entire lives have been interwoven together as it indeed was.
Yang Qing could see four elderly grandpas playing go on a terrace outside a teahouse called Lady Ma's House of Tea and Golden Scallion Pancakes. For as long as he could remember ever since he joined the Order and was a student, he always saw them there, playing Go while regaling the young ones with tales of their youths, and from what he had heard, they had been doing the same thing for the past 270 years.
"Little Qing, you're back? Your mom told us you had left.." said one of the elderly men as he waved Yang Qing over with a genial smile.
"How was it? Still terrified of the outside world?"
Yang Qing scratched the back of his head with a bashful smile as he said,
"Grandpa Ma, Grandpa Jin, Grandpa Hu, Grandpa Ling, glad to see you all in good health. I'm even tempted to take you all with me during my next mission outside to see your dragon slaying, and phoenix egg stealing skills in the flesh, or that roar you always talk about Grandpa Ling that is able to scare even tribulation clouds.."
"Ling said that? Hahahaha, how shameless can you be? Where was that roar when sister Fei was tearing you a new one the other day. With how docile you had been that day as you took the lashing, one would have even mistaken you to be deaf, dumb, and blind..."
Ma Wei didn't even have to respond before the four elderly men answered in unison,
"Yes, yes, you are.." as another round of laughter went around the place.
Hiding his embarrassment, Yang Qing hurriedly thanked Ma Wei as he left the shop lest he give the four elders to bash him some more, and before he knew it more would come and it would devolve into an event.
After a few twists and turns and crossing a clay bridge, he arrived outside the Flaming Goose Restaurant. It was a three-
story restaurant made of citrine elm wood, which provided a refreshing smell that blended perfectly with the scent of roasted meat, causing hunger and want in all who walked close.
The restaurant was another of Yang Qing's favorites in Blue Respite Town. Unlike the previous tea house that was owned solely by Ma Wei, the Flaming Goose Restaurant was owned by four people from different families. The four were all chefs skilled in a particular class of dish, there was the meat and poultry specialist, the vegetable and egg dishes specialist, the tea and wine specialist, and the snacks specialist.
The four united their skills and opened up the Flaming Goose Restaurant, which ironically wasn't famed for its goose dish, nor did it have one, with the name only being chosen that way because it sounded cool and seemed better than calling the restaurant the Golden Goose Restaurant.
Though they didn't have goose, their meat and poultry dishes were exemplary and the restaurant was frequented even by Order employees and not just their families, because of the quality of their dishes.
Yang Qing took a big whiff in with a satisfied smile on his face as he thought to himself, he was finally home. With large steps, he walked into the restaurant and made his way to the third floor which was where he had detected the Wang couple sitted.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting.." Yang Qing said with a soft tone when he reached their table startling the couple who had been admiring the scenery around the restaurant.