Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 584 - 583: Visiting Lord Mansion for Exchanges
When it came to eating, Tian Peng suddenly became interested, but then he remembered there didn’t seem to be any delicacies that could please his palate, and just like that, his interest vanished again.
"Let’s forget it, young master, please spare me. I just want to sleep right now," Tian Peng said.
"You’re really not going?" Chai Wei asked, "This is a delicacy my dad created himself, it’s called sliced noodles, very delicious. Everyone who has tasted it finds it delicious. Are you sure you’re not interested?"
While Tian Peng might not be interested in other things, no one was more interested in eating than he was.
But that dish wasn’t made by Chen Nuo; Tian Peng could imagine with his toes that the taste would be just so-so, maybe not even as good as what he cooked himself.
"Forget about it, I better go back to sleep," Tian Peng declined.
"No way, now that you’re here, you have got to try my dad’s noodles. I don’t believe my martial skills failed to impress you, could the food also fail to impress you?"
Chai Wei said as he started to push Tian Peng towards his own home, "Just going for a meal, not heading to some restaurant. If people see us, they see us. You’re such a big guy, I’m sure you’ve got a thick skin."
What kind of reasoning was that? Tian Peng felt helpless, but he hadn’t eaten lunch and was actually a little hungry now, so he followed Chai Wei.
"Wasn’t your dad a general before? How does he know how to cook?" Tian Peng asked.
"You don’t know about this," Chai Wei said with a smile, "you’ll know once you taste it. These sliced noodles are absolutely delicious. If you eat them and don’t find them tasty, I’ll kneel down and call you grandpa!"
Ever since he had eaten at Chaos Residence, Tian Peng felt that there wasn’t much that could please his taste anymore.
He also felt Chai Wei was being a bit too serious, and tried to dissuade him, "Let’s just forget it. You might see me as a crude person, but actually, I’ve studied food quite a bit. You’re talking it up now, but what if I don’t find it tasty later? You wouldn’t really call me grandpa, would you?"
Chai Wei looked at Tian Peng, "Are you being serious or are you just pretending? I was just making polite conversation, and you’re taking it seriously."
"I’m laying it out for you too, anyone who has tasted my dad’s noodles has never said they’re not delicious."
"Alright, since you’ve said so much, I’ll go give them a try."
He was promoting it so earnestly; it would be rude for Tian Peng not to go now, so he followed Chai Wei to his Lord Mansion.
The young master’s father was originally a general who married Princess Pingyang Zhao and became a duke when he was conferred the title.
This was something Chai Wei shared on the way, and Tian Peng also found it surprising. It was unclear whether the young master was truly straightforward or what, but he spoke of these things to someone he had just met.
Tian Peng didn’t know how to continue the conversation, so he just nodded and shook his head.
They decided against riding horses because it would have been too conspicuous; instead, the two returned by a carriage.
The carriage wasn’t actually faster, and might even have been slower than walking. Its advantage was that it offered more privacy; from the outside, one couldn’t tell who was sitting inside.
Upon reaching the Lord Mansion, the servants at the gate quickly came up to greet the carriage.
The young master got off the carriage and did not enter directly but waited for Tian Peng to alight and together they walked inside.
The servants looked at Tian Peng in surprise, mainly because his clothes were so ordinary that they weren’t even as nice as the servants’.
Yet he had returned with the young master in the same carriage, which meant his identity was no simple matter.
The young master was usually very aloof, treating everyone but the Royal family and the Lady of the Lord Mansion with indifference, so it was extremely odd to see him treating a commoner, who was dressed worse than a servant, with such kindness.
"Young master, who is this?"
Looking at Tian Peng, Chai Wei introduced him naturally to the servants, "This is my brother, just got to know him today. Treat him with respect."
"Yes, since he is the young master’s...brother, we will naturally take good care of him."
The servant said this while glancing at Tian Peng with curious eyes, wondering what kind of method he had used to elicit such favorable treatment from the young master.
Chai Wei led the way into the mansion, and immediately began to look around. He grabbed a passing servant and asked, "Where’s my father? Have you seen my father?"
"The Lord is in the study practicing calligraphy with the princess," replied the servant. "Young master, do you need something from the Lord? I’ll pass along the message."
"Still practicing calligraphy at this hour? Go, tell my father that I’ve brought my brother back with me," Chai Wei instructed.
The servant glanced at Tian Peng, then nodded and turned to find the Lord.
"Come, Brother Zhu, follow me. Our mansion has a training grounds, which isn’t smaller than the examination field," Chai Wei said, happily leading Tian Peng toward the training grounds.
The Lord Mansion, just like other ordinary residences, was not extravagantly styled, but the training grounds looked particularly imposing, even better than those of the examination field.
"How about this place?" Chai Wei asked. "Isn’t it quite impressive?"
"Yes," Tian Peng readily praised. "It’s even more grandiose than the examination field."
"You think so too, right?" Chai Wei asked, excited.
"I was planning on being modest, but since you feel the same way, I won’t be. The training grounds were indeed built to surpass those of the examination field, and it was at my strong request that they be made better," Chai Wei said.
Indeed, the training grounds were the most impressive part of the entire Lord Mansion.
"So, what do you think? Seeing such an imposing training grounds, don’t you have the urge to come up and flex your muscles?" Chai Wei inquired.
"No," Tian Peng replied honestly.
Chai Wei had prepared a whole speech to follow, and was caught off guard by such a response, nearly choking on his saliva.
"No? How can a martial artist have no interest in the training grounds?"
"Why should I be interested?" Tian Peng loved to be lazy; if he could sit, he wouldn’t stand, and if he could lie down, he wouldn’t sit.
"But you’re a martial artist," said Chai Wei. "So how did you acquire such skills?"
"It’s obvious," Tian Peng said, spreading his arms, his muscles becoming prominent. "I have innate talent; I was born with it."
"You..." Chai Wei was at a loss for words.
This really was a case of inherent talent, although just relative to normal people.
Zhu Ganglie was certainly not classified as normal, but in that category, he was the only abnormal one.
"Alright then, let’s spar a bit," Chai Wei suggested.
"Why?" Tian Peng didn’t want to move. Once the sparring started, it wouldn’t end, and he wanted to eat.
"Having come to the training grounds, wouldn’t it be a waste not to spar a little and honor such an impressive place?" Chai Wei said as he rolled up his sleeves, ready for a good match with Tian Peng.
Resigned, Tian Peng could only follow him to the center of the training grounds. "Let’s get one thing straight, we’re only going to spar once. I’m here to eat, not to be your sparring partner."
"Fine, just once," Chai Wei agreed. "But no brute force this time, let’s have a proper exchange of techniques."
"Brute force is part of my strength too," Tian Peng contended. "If you can’t handle that, then let’s not bother. Besides, martial artists definitely need to use strength. Without power, all the technique in the world is just show."
