Yu Lie heard the scolding behind him and immediately recognized who it was.
Without needing Yu Lie to intervene, Old Hu, who was standing beside him, stepped forward and caught the bowl thrown by the landlady.
With a twist of his wrist, he managed to catch all the spilled meat, not a single drop of broth falling to the ground.
The landlady didn’t pay attention to Old Hu’s actions.
Instead, she seized the opportunity to rush to Yu Lie’s side, shoving him aside and positioning herself between Yu Lie and Old Hu.
Seeing that she had protected her son, Qiaoge, the panic on her face eased, and her usual sharpness returned as she glared at the person in front of her.
However, deep down, the landlady was still uneasy.
It suddenly dawned on her why Er Gou’s family had come over for a meal earlier.
After all, the Alchemy Hall was not just a place with good benefits—it was also a place that could chew you up and spit you out without a trace.
For children, the Alchemy Hall was even more dangerous than the outside world.
But the next moment, a voice filled with both amusement and exasperation dispelled most of the landlady’s lingering fear.
Yu Lie looked at the sharp-tongued woman and, ignoring her earlier actions, greeted her with a slight bow: “Landlady, how have you been?”
The landlady was taken aback.
She squinted at Yu Lie for a moment before realizing who he was. “Yu Lie?!” she exclaimed.
Yu Lie nodded.
The anger on the landlady’s face faded, replaced by a hint of embarrassment.
She glanced around at the onlookers, then turned back to Yu Lie with a stern expression. “Yu Lie, what are you doing causing a ruckus in the middle of the night? You scared me so much I dropped my bowl!”
She then turned to Old Hu, elbowed her way over, and reached out for the bowl. “Give it back! If you want food, go grab some from across the way. This is the bowl I worked so hard to get for Qiaoge.”
The landlady crouched down, her face lighting up as she spoke to her son. “Qiaoge, look! I just saw a fish bone in the bowl. Could it be the black fish from the town?”
She then glanced smugly at Yu Lie and the others, pointing around with her chopsticks. “There’s no room here. We’ve taken this spot. Yu Lie, you’ll have to find somewhere else. But you’re too late—there’s no space left now.”
The landlady wasn’t too surprised to see Yu Lie in the Alchemy Hall.
News of Yu Lie joining the Alchemy Hall had spread through the courtyard, thanks to Single Dao Child.
However, everyone only knew that Yu Lie worked in the Poison Department.
They had no idea that he had started as a minor supervisor.
Faced with the landlady’s attitude, Yu Lie remained calm.
He simply smiled and prepared to leave.
As Yu Lie turned to go, the landlady grabbed her son’s ear and scolded him in a low voice. “Didn’t I tell you not to talk to strangers? That Yu Lie works in the Poison Department. What if he had poison on his hands and it got into your food? One bite and you’d be dead!”
Old Hu, who was following Yu Lie, overheard this.
He glared at the landlady and finally couldn’t hold back. “You blind fool! If it weren’t for the fact that you’re with a child, I’d tear your mouth apart!”
The landlady, realizing her muttered insults had been heard, didn’t care.
She stood up abruptly and pointed at Old Hu, shouting, “You old coot! You work in the Poison Department too, don’t you? Coming here to bully a widow and her child!”
Her shrill voice made Old Hu’s face flush with anger.
But Yu Lie, who had already walked away, waved Old Hu over without looking back. “Let’s go.”
Old Hu shot the landlady a few more furious glances before striding past her and her son, following Yu Lie.
Seeing that she had successfully driven Yu Lie and Old Hu away, the landlady felt a sense of triumph.
She leaned against the wall, watching the two men leave, and said to her son, “Qiaoge, you should learn from your mother. If I weren’t so sharp-tongued, how could you have grown up so comfortably?”
But as she spoke, her voice suddenly cut off.
Her face turned pale, and she rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“Qiaoge,” she stammered, “what did that pale-faced Yu Lie want with you earlier?”
Qiaoge, struggling to eat another large bowl of meat, replied without looking up, “Yu Lie said this food isn’t good. He wanted to take me to eat something better.”
Hearing this, the landlady’s lips trembled, and she was momentarily speechless.
She stared wide-eyed as Old Hu followed Yu Lie respectfully, the two of them heading toward the staircase and ascending step by step.
The landlady’s mind went blank. “Yu Lie… going upstairs? How can he go upstairs to eat?”
She was well-informed.
Though it was her first time in the Alchemy Hall, she knew that only mid-level Dao Children could go upstairs.
And mid-level Dao Children were already influential figures in the town and the Alchemy Hall, capable of arranging positions within the hall.
The landlady looked at her son sitting on the stone steps, then back at Yu Lie disappearing up the stairs.
A wave of regret and fear washed over her.
Not long after, someone else passed by, also heading upstairs.
The landlady immediately recognized the person and called out, “Hey! Luo!”
The man, with a big head and a wide grin, was none other than Radish Head, who had once lived in the same courtyard as her.
Radish Head turned around and replied, “Oh, it’s you!” He recognized the landlady too.
Seeing Radish Head, the landlady felt a slight relief.
She knew Radish Head was still just a low-level Dao Child, not a mid-level one.
So when she saw him heading upstairs, she thought that perhaps Yu Lie had just gotten lucky and was allowed upstairs to see the sights, much like how she had come to the Alchemy Hall’s dining hall to scrounge a meal.
Still uneasy, the landlady asked, “What a coincidence! I just saw Yu Lie heading upstairs, and now you’re going too. Did something good happen?”
Radish Head laughed loudly. “No coincidence at all! Today, Yu Lie is hosting a feast to celebrate his promotion. He’s inviting the big shots from other departments, and I’m just tagging along to get a free meal!”
With that, Radish Head waved and hurried upstairs, not wanting to be late.
The landlady’s heart sank as she listened to Radish Head’s words.
Her last bit of hope vanished.
“Damn it! When did that pale-faced Yu Lie become a mid-level Dao Child? It’s only been a few months, and he’s already landed a good position in the Alchemy Hall?”
She leaned against the wall, feeling dizzy.
If Yu Lie had merely become a mid-level Dao Child, the landlady might not have been so panicked.
But Yu Lie was working in the Alchemy Hall.
She knew very well that there was a world of difference between a low-level Poison Department worker and a high-level one.
More importantly, if she had been on good terms with Yu Lie, her son Qiaoge could have easily secured a decent position in the Alchemy Hall in the future.
But now—or rather, all along—she had never given Yu Lie a second glance.
Back in the courtyard, she had looked down on him.
And now, she had ruined her son’s chance to get close to Yu Lie.
Suddenly, Qiaoge, who had been quietly eating, looked up and asked, “Mom, what’s wrong with Yu Lie?”
The landlady, feeling faint, sat down on the steps, on the verge of tears. “Qiaoge… it’s my fault. I’ve ruined your chance!”
Qiaoge swallowed a mouthful of meat, confused.
The landlady’s regret was genuine, and her fear was all too real.
Because she suddenly realized something else: Yu Lie not only had the power to arrange good positions but also bad ones—like assigning someone to the Poison Department or making them a medicine slave.
In the dining hall, people came and went, the atmosphere lively.
But the landlady sat on the steps, watching the crowd below, her heart growing colder by the minute.
She held her bowl, but the large chunks of tiger and deer meat no longer seemed appetizing.
Dinner didn’t last long.
Soon, the dining hall began to empty, and within an hour, only a few people remained.
Another hour passed.
The downstairs dining hall was about to close, and someone came to shoo the landlady and her son away.
The landlady, trying to buy more time, smiled and pleaded with the person, but she nearly got herself arrested for trespassing in the Alchemy Hall.
In desperation, she mentioned Yu Lie’s name, saying she was waiting for him.
That was the only reason she wasn’t thrown out.
Holding her son, she sat on the stone steps, waiting in fear.
By midnight, the night was deep and cold.
Qiaoge had fallen asleep in his mother’s arms, and the landlady herself was dozing off.
Suddenly, someone sighed.
“Landlady, it’s time to go.”
The landlady jolted awake, her sleepiness gone.
She was about to stand up when she realized the voice didn’t belong to Yu Lie—it was Radish Head.
As she stood, feeling dizzy, she caught a glimpse of another figure disappearing into the night…
Please vote for this chapter!
(End of Chapter)