Chen Ping'an visited a dog meat shop in the city, and this was his second time coming here. In reality, Chen Ping'an didn't like eating dog meat at all. To be exact, he had never had dog meat in his life.1

However, the shop also sold other food, and the outsider who didn't eat dog meat sat by himself at a table, not drinking wine either and speaking with an accent when he used the official dialect of the Stone Brush Nation. The neighboring tables were all feasting on piping hot stewed dog meat, clinking wine cups again and again as they did so. This caused the young man in azure cotton robes to stick out like a sore thumb. 0

Thankfully, the shop that had existed for more than one hundred years and been passed down through several generations didn't discriminate against its customers. An old man worked at the counter, his son worked as the chef, and his young grandson was said to be a little scholar renowned in the nearby streets. Thus, people often joked about this shop disappearing in the future, to which the humorous old man and the expressionless chef would simply reply that this was fate, and that they could do nothing about it. 0

However, a slight sense of pride would appear on the unsmiling chef's face whenever he heard these teasing remarks. Their family was finally blessed with a smart child who had hopes of achieving success in the imperial examination in the future, so what in the world could be more fortunate than this?0

The world was chaotic right now, but there would eventually come a day when chaos subsided and peace returned.0

The dog meat shop in the alley was packed as always tonight, a reflection of their booming business. Even though the northern barbarians of the Great Li Empire had breached their city during the summer of last year, few people had died as a result, and the army of the Great Li Empire had quickly left and continued to march south. Only a few barbarians fluent in the official dialect...0