"Those girls at the Spring Rain Pavilion really are made of gold!"
Every time he came out of the Spring Rain Pavilion, Monkey would heave a great sigh at the sky.
Chen Ping'an, along with Monkey and Dashan, had collected their waist tokens and sabers and then walked out the Suppression Office gate.
Temporary runners like them had no right to carry a saber in ordinary times. Before going off duty they had to hand in their waist tokens and sabers; only then could they head home.
Their official uniforms, though, they could wear home — two sets each, worn in turn.
To enjoy the right to carry a saber, you had to be a registered runner.
"By the way, where's Old Qin?"
Once out of the Suppression Office and through Willow Leaf Lane, Chen Ping'an asked the question out of curiosity.
As a rule, patrolling the streets and lanes took a group of four. With that many, if something really did happen, they could look out for one another.
One man would run off to report and call for help, while the other three put down the lawbreakers.
That was not all. Among the four, there had to be a registered runner present. Only then could they fully enjoy the authority to enforce the law.
Old Qin, the man Chen Ping'an was asking about, was the registered runner assigned to their group.
By the Suppression Office's rules, Old Qin ought to be with them.
"Him? Soon as roll call was done, he was gone without a trace. Right now he's either home hugging his wife and kids, or sitting in some teahouse drinking tea."
Monkey pursed his lips. He made a show of disdain, but the look on his face when he spoke gave him away.
Ah! So enviable! I want that too!
Going on duty without doing any work — that's what you call earning your monthly stipend!
Monkey's answer did not surprise Chen Ping'an.
In his younger days, Old Qin had been a bold sort who fought hard, and he had clawed his way up from an unregistered runner to a properly registered one.
But as he got older, he no longer dared to carry on like that. With a family hanging off him, how could he still have that same drive? To retire safe and steady, to spend his last years in comfort — that was the true way.
Going on duty? Slack off whenever you can! If you can get out of going, get out of it! When something comes up, let the young men handle it. He was old, and all he wanted was to collect his monthly stipend in peace.
Willow Leaf Street was two streets over from the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office — not far at all. As the three of them talked, they rounded a bend and there was Willow Leaf Street.
Willow Leaf Street was lined with shops and businesses, and it was certainly livelier than the other streets and lanes. Still, it was only morning, nowhere near the busiest hour on Willow Leaf Street.
Chen Ping'an and the other two, wearing the black uniforms of Suppression Office runners, drew a great deal of attention as they walked along the street.
All three wore a blue-green garment with a red cloth vest over it and a blue-green silk sash at the waist — the dress of temporary runners.
A registered runner instead wore a blue-green cloth robe with a crossed collar and narrow sleeves, with a red woven sash at the waist.
So whether a man was a registered runner or an unregistered temporary one could be told at a glance from his clothes.
Still, even as temporary runners, the three of them walking together with sabers at their waists cut a most imposing figure.
"If only we could wear a registered runner's uniform. Now that would be really imposing."
Monkey walked along with a saber at his waist, every inch the fearsome officer.
This kid did not walk like that on ordinary days. Today he was putting on quite the act.
Chen Ping'an glanced at Monkey and could not resist teasing him.
"Monkey, why not just put on a fish-scale uniform and walk down the street? Wouldn't that be even more imposing! I guarantee all the young ladies would be head over heels for you."
"Hah! If I could have a head runner's cloak in this lifetime, my ancestors must have burned some serious incense. A fish-scale uniform? Monkey wouldn't even dare dream of it!"
If a registered runner rose to head runner, then besides a uniform finer in its details than a registered runner's, he also got a great cloak.
Wearing that great cloak meant rank and standing. It not only added to a man's authority but served to overawe the petty and lawless. One look, and anyone would know this was a head runner of the Suppression Office and would not dare give offense.
As for the fish-scale uniform...
That was a privilege only those at the level of deputy office chief could enjoy.
Such power and prestige were something a temporary runner like Monkey would not even dare imagine.
"What a hopeless sort! Well, no harm in dreaming. Dashan, wouldn't you say?"
Chen Ping'an teased.
With his golden finger, his spirits were certainly lighter than before.
"Heh heh."
Dashan grinned foolishly.
"Never mind a fish-scale uniform or a head runner's cloak — if I could just wear a registered runner's uniform, my old dad would probably laugh himself awake from his dreams. If I were a registered runner, would the Wild Wolf Gang dare charge my family's blacksmith shop such a big monthly fee? Never mind getting the fee waived — at the very least they'd keep to the rules and stop quoting whatever price they pleased!"
By the time he worked himself up to it, Monkey was talking with his eyebrows dancing, as if he were already a registered runner in the Suppression Office.
"A registered runner, now that's really eating from the public rice bowl! In these streets and lanes, that makes you a man of some face."
The Wild Wolf Gang, like the Tiger Head Gang, was one of the gangs that ran roughshod over Nanquan Lane.
"Well, then, work hard at it."
Chen Ping'an clapped Monkey on the shoulder.
"A registered runner!"
At those words, Monkey's face fell at once.
"It's not that easy! Even if I've got some merit to my name, I'd still have to enter the martial path first! And that's assuming I've done the networking right and smoothed over every last obstacle. Otherwise, even if I had the first layer of qi and blood perfected and my skin tempering complete, I still might not land the post of registered runner."
Entering the martial path — how hard that was!
Without natural talent and a renowned teacher, to force yourself into martial cultivation would drain your resources and likely leave you with defects everywhere. Even if you barely entered the martial path, you probably wouldn't build up much fighting strength, and you'd have wasted your time and silver for nothing.
Some years back, his old father had had him practice the martial arts for a while, but he simply was not cut out for it. His family was comfortably off, but nothing like the rich and powerful; there were no medicinal baths, no famous teacher. He studied for several months and learned only the barest surface and a few showy moves.
That little bit was enough to handle ordinary folk. But he had never truly set foot on martial cultivation!
"Dashan, I'm a lost cause. But you've got a gift, born with superhuman strength — you might still have a chance. Go see Old Qin more often. Maybe the old man will be in a good mood one day and teach you a move or two."
Monkey said to Dashan.
"Mm."
This time Dashan did not grin foolishly. He answered heavily, with force. Clearly, he had been nursing the same thought.
If you wanted to rise quickly in the Suppression Office, martial cultivation was undoubtedly the best way. Even connections and backing could not compare.
Even with deep backing, you still had to have the strength to show for it!
Without formidable strength, what good would it do for someone with connections reaching the heavens to force you into the post of office chief? If your strength couldn't overawe the various factions, then connections and backing alone would only make you the laughingstock of the lanes. People might bow to you to your face, but in their hearts they would never submit!
"Strength! Strength!"
"If I can just enter the Iron Shirt, I wonder whether that counts as truly setting foot on the road of martial cultivation."
Chen Ping'an walked down Willow Leaf Street with his saber at his side, as if he were striding through blazing golden light, his prospects bright and his hopes boundless.
Chapter 7