Li Chi brought the young man he’d just met back to the Yongning Tongyuan Carriage Depot. Dusk had only just fallen, and in the rear courtyard, Tang Pidi was leading the soldiers through additional drills — so Li Chi did not take the young man back there.

At the entrance to the front hall, Gao Xining stood waiting for Li Chi to return. The moment he saw her, he wilted instantly and hurried to explain himself: “I was genuinely going a bit stir-crazy from lying around, so I stepped out for a little walk.”

Gao Xining said, “A walk that happened to take you to the Songhe Pavilion, where you happened to feel a bit peckish from all that walking and had a little something to eat.”

Li Chi: “…”

He smiled sheepishly. “How did you know, Elder?”

Gao Xining said, “When I saw you weren’t in your room, I knew you’d probably had enough of plain congee and pickled vegetables. I was going to slip over to Songhe Pavilion and buy you some takeaway on the quiet — I’d already bought it, and hadn’t even gotten to the door yet, when I saw you skulking up to the place. So I told the serving boy not to mention I’d been there, hid on their ground floor for a bit, and came back once you’d gone upstairs.”

Li Chi sighed. “He promised he’d tip me off.”

Gao Xining turned to go. “Since you’ve already eaten your fill, I’ll head back.”

Li Chi hurriedly said, “What did you buy? I can actually still eat a little more.”

Gao Xining said, “I bought things, but I’m not going to give them to you. I’m going to eat them myself.”

She spun around with a burst of laughter. “I couldn’t stand another meal of plain congee and pickled vegetables either! I never should have said I’d eat whatever you ate — hahaha!”

Gang Gang stood there watching them both, utterly bewildered. So these two had both sneaked out for a secret meal?

Li Chi raised his hand and held up the food box in it. “I actually brought some back for you as well — your favorites: lion’s head meatballs and braised bamboo shoots.”

Li Chi followed Gao Xining inside, and found the table already set with food: a plate of slippery stir-fried pork slices, a bowl of red-braised pork, a bowl of water-boiled pork — the exact same dishes Li Chi had ordered at Songhe Pavilion.

Li Chi said, “How did you know what I wanted to eat?”

Gao Xining gave a small, satisfied sniff.

She sat down and lowered her voice. “Can you eat any more? They’re all in the rear courtyard. I didn’t dare go back — afraid of getting scolded. I was planning to eat quietly here in the front, and I wanted to wait a bit for you in case you hadn’t had enough.”

Li Chi also dropped his voice. “I’ve eaten, but I could eat a little more.”

Gao Xining said, “Then eat a little more.”

Li Chi: “Sounds good.”

The two of them were speaking so softly, so quietly — like a pair of thieves. Gang Gang watched them and thought: *what is going on here? How do they seem more like the burglars than I do?* And the thing was, he actually *was* a burglar.

Li Chi said to Gao Xining, “This is a friend I just met — his name is… I forgot to ask.”

Gao Xining said softly, “What a peculiar name. Four syllables. His family name is ‘Forgot’?”

Gang Gang: “…”

At this particular moment, he couldn’t help entertaining a suspicion: if this person before him really was Li Chi, then the scene at Songhe Pavilion had already established beyond doubt that Li Chi was a devotee of food. And now looking at this young woman — beautiful beyond all reasonable measure — he hadn’t yet confirmed whether she, too, was a food fanatic, but he could tell beyond any doubt that she was not a particularly complicated person.

*Forgot to ask…* Right. Your whole family is called *Forgot to Ask*.

Li Chi turned to him. “Friend, what’s your name?”

Gang Gang replied, “Gang Gang.”

Li Chi nodded. Gang Gang thought: at least he’s being normal about this for once. Then he saw Li Chi looking at him with an expectant expression — waiting, not speaking — until Li Chi finally asked, “What happened just now? You didn’t finish.”

Gao Xining caught on and ventured carefully, “…Your name is Gang Gang?”

Gang Gang exhaled with relief. At least he wouldn’t have to explain it himself. Because of that blasted name, every time someone asked him, he had to explain it multiple times before they understood — and then they would invariably burst out laughing.

Li Chi sat there and thought about it for a while, then asked, “That name causes you a lot of grief, doesn’t it.”

Gang Gang made a sound of agreement. “A bit.”

Li Chi asked, “Can you still eat?”

Gang Gang shook his head. “I really can’t.”

Li Chi said, “Then we two will eat. I feel a bit bad about it, but you’re welcome to sit over there and wait a moment.”

Gang Gang asked curiously, “You just ate all that, and you can still manage more?”

Li Chi said, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Gang Gang shook his head. “I don’t.”

Li Chi sighed and said, “Then I won’t say anything too outrageous… It’s not that I can eat all that much more. I just like eating meals with her.”

Gang Gang: “Is that supposed to be the less outrageous version?”

He too sighed, and went to sit off to the side.

He had barely settled in when he saw Gao Xining murmuring something to Li Chi, too low to hear — but Gang Gang could read lips, and he knew what the girl was saying: *With someone else here, I’ll let it go for now. Consider yourself owing me a flick.*

Li Chi gave a quiet, shameless little laugh.

And then Gang Gang watched the beautiful girl start picking out choice morsels and placing them in Li Chi’s bowl. He searched back through his years of experience and couldn’t recall girls being quite this easy to win over.

Then he noticed that Li Chi had lied after all — because he *could* eat more. Not a little more. A *lot* more. He was clearly nowhere near done.

Beneath the table, Gao Xining gave Li Chi a nudge with her foot and whispered, “Don’t stay with me too long. Your friend is sitting over there waiting. It’s rather rude.”

It was because Gang Gang lip-read *that* line that his suspicions deepened further.

Were these two people really the kind of remorseless evildoers Gonghu Yingying had described?

Li Chi hastily wiped his mouth, rose, and walked over to Gang Gang with a apologetic look. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside him, then glanced back at Gao Xining. “Once you’re done, go straight to bed and leave the cleanup to me.”

Gao Xining nodded. She understood that Li Chi had things to say to this person.

So she rose, bid Gang Gang a brief apology, and left.

Li Chi noticed the pipe tucked into Gang Gang’s belt. He smiled and said, “If you’re in the habit of smoking, go ahead.”

Gang Gang shook his head. “It’s fine. No need.”

Li Chi reached over and poured Gang Gang a cup of tea. As he poured, he asked, “When are you planning to make your move?”

Gang Gang was just about to say thank you and had already reached out to take the cup, when he froze with his hand suspended in midair. He looked at Li Chi, but Li Chi appeared completely untroubled. He set the pot down, straightened up, looked at Gang Gang, smiled, and said, “You must have considered making a move at least three times. And held back each time.”

Gang Gang shook his head. “I only wanted to test your martial skills — we’re both practitioners, and it’s only natural to be curious—”

Li Chi said, “How did you know I was a martial practitioner?”

Gang Gang blinked, then explained, “You are Master Li. Many people in Jizhou City have heard your name, and you fought on the arena against Luo Jing, the greatest warrior in the northern frontier — that’s how I know you. I saw it at the time.”

Li Chi said, “When you first laid eyes on me at Songhe Pavilion, it was not the look of someone who recognized me. So you could not have seen me at the arena bout. You would have been better off saying you had heard of me.”

The color had already drained from Gang Gang’s face. His eyes had changed too.

Li Chi continued: “Do you know why I haven’t called anyone to seize you? Precisely because you had at least three opportunities to strike and restrained yourself each time. You could see I was injured. At Songhe Pavilion, you made your first consideration — and held back. Then you came over and supported my arm.”

“On the walk back, you glanced down at your belt twice. Both times at this pipe. I took a good look at it just now — there’s no sign of it ever being smoked. So you don’t actually smoke. Both times on the walk back when you looked down, you were reconsidering making a move.”

Li Chi asked, “Why did you hold back?”

Gang Gang exhaled slowly and said, “Because you were injured. A victory by those means would be hollow.”

Li Chi nodded, then asked, “Are you here to kill someone, or to save someone?”

Gang Gang was quiet for a moment, then answered, “To save someone.”

Li Chi made a sound of assent, then stood up and left. Gang Gang sat there, momentarily at a complete loss — he hadn’t expected Li Chi to see through him so clearly and so precisely, nor had he expected that after seeing through him, Li Chi would still make no move.

Before long, Li Chi came back. He didn’t come inside — he stood in the doorway and looked at Gang Gang. “You can go now.”

Gang Gang rose, exhaled slowly. He understood that no fight was going to happen tonight. Perhaps the other man simply didn’t think him worth the trouble.

He walked to the doorway and stopped.

Because in the courtyard, he saw two people. They were bound, and looked as though they’d been beaten — badly. Both were unconscious, apparently insensible.

Li Chi said, “Take them and go. I had someone administer a drug — they’re in a deep sleep and cannot hear what you and I have said. Someone like you coming to my establishment to rescue people — you were either deceived, or coerced. Whichever it was, I’ll give them to you.”

Gang Gang stared at Li Chi, his eyes full of disbelief.

“Why?”

he asked.

Li Chi said, “You are the kind of person who would not strike me even while I was injured. On that basis alone, I can hand them over to you. If I don’t, whoever deceived or coerced you into this will surely make things difficult for you. The lives of these two combined aren’t worth yours.”

And then Li Chi made a gesture of invitation: “When you leave, don’t use the main gate. There are eyes watching outside right now. If you walk out through the gate, they’ll grow suspicious.”

That said, Li Chi turned and walked away — no further words.

Gang Gang stood there feeling as though he were dreaming. He had considered countless scenarios before coming here. He had even made his peace with the idea of dying inside these walls. He had not imagined it could end like this.

Rear courtyard.

Gao Xining asked Li Chi, “He won’t be in any trouble, will he?”

Li Chi shook his head. “Shouldn’t be — as long as he climbs out over the wall. If he does that, the people watching outside won’t be particularly suspicious.”

He looked at Gao Xining and said, “I’m far more worried about you going out. You know there are people watching the depot outside. If someone wanted to harm you…”

Gao Xining laughed. “I also know how many people you’ve stationed out there. And I kept my hat and veil on — and as you saw, I was in men’s clothing, besides. But I’ll remember: next time I won’t go out casually… even when I’m hungry.”

Li Chi raised his hand and tapped Gao Xining once on the forehead. “Accounts settled.”

Gao Xining made a sound of assent, then froze. She asked Li Chi, “Wasn’t it you who owed me one?”

Li Chi said, “And now I’ve repaid it, haven’t I?”

Gao Xining looked at him. Li Chi said with perfect gravity, “Think it through — isn’t that exactly right? I owed you one, I gave you one back…”

—