Morning.
The sun had yet to rise in the east, and the entire Qingyang County was still shrouded in the silence of the night.
Lin Ji got up from bed, put on a simple robe, and hummed a tune after freshening up. Facing the early spring chill, he walked out of the courtyard.
Staggering along the way, after about a hundred steps, the drunkenness from last night had completely dissipated.
Some early-rising merchants doing business greeted Lin Ji with a smile.
"Lin Head Constable is up so early again?"
"Yeah."
Casually responding to the familiar greetings, Lin Ji quickly arrived at the county yamen.
At the entrance, the unlucky night guard assigned to watch was leaning against the gate, snoring loudly.
Lin Ji looked at the broken half belt hanging from the boy's waist and estimated that his money pouch might have been stolen by some daring fellow last night.
And he was still on guard duty.
Passing by the county yamen, Lin Ji had no intention of going inside.
He quickened his pace and arrived at Li's pancake shop.
There were already many people queuing up, some were early-rising merchants, and some were servants from wealthy families sent out on errands.
"Lin Head Constable is up so early again, how many pancakes do you want?" Old Li greeted with a smile, prioritizing Lin Ji.
"Two pancakes, freshly baked." Lin Ji replied without fuss, yawning.
"Alright!"
Old Li skillfully wrapped two pancakes in oil paper, took out a clean cloth bag, and placed the pancakes inside.
The cloth bag was to keep the pancakes warm.
Everyone in the county knew that Lin Head Constable had a big appetite.
He wanted these pancakes to go buy freshly slaughtered donkey meat from the donkey meat shop in the middle of the night, using the most tender part of the spine to make cooked donkey meat.
Then he would eat them with the freshly baked hot pancakes in three or two bites.
In Lin Head Constable's words, that's the real deal.
Lin Ji took the cloth bag, muttered that he would pay later, and then hurried towards the donkey meat shop.
He could take his time coming here, but even if the pancakes were kept warm in the cloth bag, they would cool down if delayed.
Cold pancakes that didn't scald the hands, could they still be called pancakes?
Donkey meat shop.
The boss handed the donkey meat, which had been placed in front of the cutting board early in the morning, to Lin Ji.
"As usual." Lin Ji said.
"I know, put it on credit!"
Lin Ji nodded, took the donkey meat, and hurried back home.
Entering the kitchen briskly, he picked up a knife, opened the cloth bag, cut the pancakes in half, and sandwiched the donkey meat inside.
In three or two bites, he finished two donkey meat pancakes, sighing with satisfaction.
"This taste is unbeatable." Enjoying good food was one of the few pleasures he had in this world after crossing over.
By this time, it was already bright outside.
Stalls were being set up on both sides of the road, and the bustling cries could be heard from outside.
Lin Ji walked into the courtyard, opened the gate, and brought out the bamboo lounge chair from the corner.
He set up a small table, arranged the tea set, and then took out some Yangzhou rain-front tea he had snatched from a passing merchant earlier, putting a pinch into the teapot.
Then Lin Ji lay on the lounge chair, squinting his eyes, enjoying the first rays of morning sun.
When he first crossed over to this world, he set a life goal for himself: find a stable job, earn some money, buy a small courtyard, and then marry a wife and have children.
Seemingly, the only thing missing from his small goal was a beautiful wife, but in reality, it was miles away.
Lin Ji initially thought that he only needed to do some clerical work in this world, but as he copied, he was sought after by demons and monsters. If it weren't for the thin thread of fate in his hands, he would have been buried long ago.
After discovering the dangers of this world, he had to embark on the path of demon-slaying. If you don't go kill demons, you'll be at their mercy.
After a short rest of about half an hour, footsteps were heard outside the courtyard.
It was a servant from the Zhou Mansion, carrying a wooden barrel, entering Lin Ji's small courtyard.
"Lin Head Constable, I heard you're back. This is spring water just fetched from the mountain this morning."
Lin Ji couldn't be bothered to open his eyes.
"I was busy all day yesterday and didn't light the stove. Go light it for me and boil the water."
"Alright."
The Zhou Mansion servant walked into Lin Ji's kitchen skillfully, lit the stove, and started boiling water.
In no time, the water was boiling.
He then carried the hot water out.
Lin Ji lazily half-opened his eyes, watching the servant's movements.
First, he rinsed the teacup and teapot with hot water.
Then he poured half a pot of hot water into the teapot.
After a while, when the tea leaves in the teapot had brewed, emitting a fragrant aroma, he directly poured out the half pot of tea and added more hot water.
After doing all this, he carefully poured half a cup of tea beside Lin Ji.
"Not bad, well done." Lin Ji nodded in satisfaction, waved his hand, and sent him away.
As the head demon catcher in the county, Lin Ji was considered a prominent figure in Qingyang County, naturally attracting a lot of flattery.
A word from him could make business people in the county anxious.
Although he usually didn't like to show off, he couldn't resist the fear of these businessmen, who would come to flatter him all day long.
At first, Lin Ji resisted, saying that this was the beginning of corruption.
But later on, he got used to it.
After drinking the Yangzhou rain-front tea brewed with spring water, and taking another nap, he dispelled his drowsiness.
Lin Ji stretched lazily, slowly got up from the lounge chair.
Opening the door to his own cellar in the courtyard, a chill hit him.
This was the coldest time of the year for him, with ice blocks brought down from the mountain used to make the ice cellar.
Entering the cellar, he found a large bowl covered tightly on a big piece of ice.
Inside the bowl was the broth he had impulsively made a month ago.
Three chickens, two ducks, five pounds of ribs, boiled all night to yield three pounds of broth.
He then added crushed chicken meat and boiled it repeatedly, filtering out the residue until the broth was as clear as spring water, before finally stopping.
Carefully cutting out half a pound of solid frozen broth, he put the rest back into the cellar.
He then went to the yard, picked a cabbage that had just frosted.
Peeling off the outer leaves of the cabbage, leaving only the tender inner leaves that were juicy.
Then he started heating the chicken broth. Before long, the aroma of the simmering chicken broth filled the air.
Lin Ji sniffed and nodded in satisfaction, then added the carefully selected cabbage leaves.
When the cabbage was almost cooked, he went to the kitchen to fetch a handful of noodles and started boiling water.
Finding the fire too slow, he activated his spiritual energy to speed it up.
Once the water boiled, he added the noodles.
After the noodles were cooked, Lin Ji scooped them out.
At the same time, the cabbage simmered in the chicken broth was also ready.
He lifted the pot, poured half a pound of chicken broth and a few cabbage leaves over the noodles.
"Boiled cabbage noodles, done." Lin Ji's eyes lit up, feeling his mouth watering.
Holding the noodles, he walked into the courtyard, ready to eat.
At that moment, a head suddenly popped up at the gate.
"Boss, what smells so good?" It was Lu Cong, following the scent.
"Not for you." Lin Ji rolled his eyes.
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(End of this chapter)