Wei Chow wandered the streets contentedly. He had blown one entire gold on a meal to end all meals, the fattiest food which melted on his tongue. To others, he may have looked the glutton, with over a dozen plates on his table, with no one to share it with, but he hadn’t ever been the type to care about what people thought of him.

Life was just an endless journey, and to not experience everything it held within its grasp, to not travel the end of the earth, it was truly a waste.

“The mountains are tired and they sleep. The trees are tired and they sleep.” He hummed a song from when he and Lin Leng were children, a lullaby that he used to sing to Lin Leng after a particularly harsh episode, letting him fall asleep on his lap, forgetting his woes. “Whoa,” Wei Chow muttered as he nearly stumbled on a loose piece of cobblestone. “This lullaby is making me tired.”

From around the corner, he heard tittering girls, running. When they turned the corner and met, they walked towards him. They looked quite aristocratic, though Chow would have fit in more had he done something about the rest of his hair aside from his ponytail, leaving it uncut. “Mister. Did you hear a person singing on the streets?”

Wei Chow looked around, but saw no one. It was high noon, and though the autumn chill held, the sun still reigned supreme, so most would rather be indoors. “Can’t say I have,” he responded. “The only person I heard sing was me.”

“You?” One of the girls giggled. “No, but this man sang like a most handsome spirit!”

The other girl nodded frantically. “Oh, how I would just let him take me in his arms and sing me to sleep!”

Wei Chow smiled. What a lucky bastard that guy was. “I sure hope you two find him, yeah?”

The girls walked past him without much more ado, and he resumed his little ditty. To have girls swooning over his singing skills would be a welcome change.

“Wait!”

He turned around to see both girls, nonplussed. “Yes? Can I help any of you?”

“Sing again,” one of them demanded.

Wei Chow obliged them. “The animals exhausted, they rest their heads.”

“You tricked us!” One of the girls said, almost bitterly. “We thought there was a handsome guy walking around singing, but as it turns out, it was just you!”

“Apologize,” one of the girls demanded, almost crestfallen.

“For what?” Wei Chow asked.

“You could have just said you were the one singing!”

He blinked several times. “I… I did.”

One of the girls looked at the other. “He’s right, he did.”

Angrily, she turned around, nose in the air and left, leaving Wei Chow to smile at the strangeness of the encounter. So the girls were swooning over his voice. The bit about them not liking how he looked like was immaterial, however. Then again, if he would want a woman for himself, it would be one that didn’t believe beauty was skin-deep.

Chengdu had much to offer him in terms of a view. The lake nearby was beautiful, reflecting sophisticated architecture across the water-body.

Still, he sang. “The birds are fatigued, so they rest in their nests.”

“Bro, check this out,” across the street, a group of well-dressed young men were looking at him. Two armed guards accompanied them, as well. “Hey, fat man. Come over here for a second!”

Wei Chow looked around in the streets. There were no fat people there.

They must have been talking about him. He turned to them and obliged them, walking over. He knew he should have been agitated by their jeering, but the mood was much too mellow for such a thing.

“Are you from a family or something?” The ring-leader asked. He was rather good looking, but the nasty smirk he carried ruined it completely.

“No,” he decided to be honest. “Just passing by the city.”

“Oh, so you’re a commoner?” He asked. “Do you know who I am?”

“No,” Wei Chow responded.

“I’m Li Zhou!” He said. “The son of Li He, the head of the Li clan!”

“That sounds amazing,” Wei Chow said, feigning some enthusiasm. Despite his arrogance, the guy seemed so proud when he announced his lineage, he couldn’t bear to show him the true extent of his apathy.

“So? Won’t you bow?” He asked, slightly impatiently.

Wei Chow frowned. “You… you asked me to come all the way here just to have me bow?”

“Yes,” he responded. “As a commoner, you should defer to me. Isn’t that right?”

Wei Chow subtly turned his eyes to his other noble friends, all expecting Wei Chow to defer to the man, lest he lose their respect.

Too bad, then, that he wouldn’t debase himself for someone else’s benefit.

But confrontation was not everything.

Wei Chow smiled devilishly. “A lofty young master such as yourself should not be satisfied with a mere gesture like bowing. Come. Take me to the finest tavern that you know of, and I will provide you all with a drink.”

The young master furrowed his eyebrows at him. “That’s not… necessary.”

“No, no, it is,” Wei Chow said, moving in for the kill. “I, a lowly commoner, was graced with the presence of you young masters! It is only fair to celebrate, don’t you think?”

“Let him spend for us, Little Zhou,” one of his friends, a lanky man with an easy smirk, said. “Since he seems so eager to beggar himself for us. We don’t drink in cheap places.”

“And my pockets are not light,” Wei Chow rebutted.

“Are you sure about that?” Another one of them asked. “Li Zhou. How about you let the bumpkin take us to the Imperial Brewery?”

Li Zhou, having regained confidence and the approval of his friends, puffed his chests. “Then, come with me, commoner, and you shall treat us, as is your place in life.”

It was only a little disheartening that he continued to attempt to debase him in an attempt to win face, when all it did was prove the heights of his immaturity. After all, even an aristocrat wouldn’t be so petty as to stop random commoners on the street. He looked young, but not young to the point of immaturity. It spoke of a coddled life rife with overprotective guardians and an inability to make good friends.

Maybe he could fix that?

“The mountains are tired and they sleep,” he sang absently as they made their way to do some day-drinking. “The trees are tired and they sleep.”

“No way,” one of them muttered. “He’s good.”

“Shh, he’s just a commoner. No need to inflate his ego.”

“Ah,” Wei Chow said, turning around towards the group who had thought that he hadn’t heard. “I should stop singing, shouldn’t I?” He gave a pleading look to Li Zhou, who looked at his friends who were cringing in embarrassment.

“Go on, commoner,” Li Zhou said.

He turned to walk backwards before bowing his head. “This one’s name is Wei Chow.”

Li Zhou just nodded in acceptance and he turned to face forwards. For a group of aristocrats, they seemed awfully lacking in self-confidence. One would think that parents with their stature would at the very least encourage a stronger self-esteem, but it seemed like they were truly just skittish fowls at heart.

Well, they had to be real aristocrats. After all, their guards were carrying real weapons, and their clothes sure did look expensive. Still, they gave him the impression that they had somehow tricked the real aristocrats, stolen their clothes and their guards.

But the casual conviction of their prejudiced words was something one was hard-pressed to act convincingly. It had to be real.

They arrived in the Imperial Brewery in a short amount of time, a place that served both food and drink, but focused particularly on the myriad most popular alcoholic brews that the lands had to offer, most of them imported, but some locally made.

Li Zhou pulled him aside as his friends entered the establishment. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, commoner. You should have bowed when asked. You can’t pay for what’s in there.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” Wei Chow smiled reassuringly. “I’ll make sure all those brats you call friends are won over, or my name isn’t Wei Chow.”

“I don’t care what your name is. If you’re not able to pay, then know this; I will…” he faltered a little. “I will have my guards… beat you up.”

Wei Chow smiled. “How merciful, but don’t worry. I will treat you accordingly, alright?”

They entered and went to the table that the others had already sat in. When a waiter came, Wei Chow took the menu and checked the drinks.

“Gosh, that’s expensive!” Wei Chow exclaimed, causing the nobles around him to growl in frustration.

“But you can pay, yes?”

“Of course,” Wei Chow said. The most expensive liquor there was sat at a lofty one gold, the price matching all of what he had eaten prior. “I’ll have a crate of the double-distilled Heaven’s Tears,” he said.

“A-a crate,” the waiter repeated. “A crate contains twenty, so that is twenty gold.”

He oulled out a bag from within his robes and pulled out gold-coin after gold-coin until there were twenty stacked on top of each other on the table. The waiter took the order and the bequeathed money, smiling as the aristocrats all gave him pole-axed expressions, not having expected this turn of events.

“Y-y-y-you’re not a commoner, are you?” Li Zhou asked.

“Common as a blade of grass,” Wei Chow promised. “I’m just a commoner with money.”

“You think that counts for anything?” One of them said, rather harshly. “You’re probably just some fat merchant’s son, aren’t you? They never keep their money for too long, you know.”

“That’s no problem,” Wei Chow said. “I’m here for a good time, not for a long time,” he grinned. The waiter came back with a crate, placing it next to Wei Chow’s feet. He pulled out a bottle and sat it on the table as the waiter distributed the cups. Wei Chow stood up and poured every one a finger, before pouring himself one for the last time. He lifted his cup and waiter for the others to do the same thing. When they did, he downed the spirit, and watched as the others did the same.

They all looked wide-eyed, no-doubt feeling their throats burning. Even Wei Chow could say that the spirit was on the verge of besting him, the body of the liquor strong. His stomach felt aflame. “Wow,” he muttered. “That hit the spot, didn’t it?” When they had all recovered, they began to look at each other, their lips curling upwards at the situation itself. “Don’t worry, uncle Chow knows you’re all thirsty. How about another round?”

Li Zhou shook his head. “That would be irresponsible.”

“Come on,” Wei Chow said, shoving him lightly. The touch didn’t completely repulse him, so he saw that as a win. “It’s what real men do.”

Li Zhou, with fire in his eyes, held out his cup. “Just one more.”

“Seriously?” The lankier aristocrat asked.

“What’s the matter, Dai Lao?” Li Zhou smiled. “You can’t hold your liquor?”

Those surrounding Dai Lao laughed a little as Wei Chow poured Li Zhou another cup, before giving each of the aristocrats a turn except for Dai Lao, who steadfastly refused. “C’mon, Dai Lao,” Wei Chow said. “It’ll put hair on your chest.”

Li Zhou chuckled at the idiom, but said nothing, otherwise.

Dai Lao acquiesced. “Fine, but only a finger.”

With the drink poured in, they drank once more. Wei Chow’s eyes widened comically, shaking his head as the spirit attacked him once more. “Whoa! That felt like a kick to the balls!”

Li Zhou laughed, now. “Oh, that’s too vulgar!” He continued to laugh, spurring on the other two, except for Dai Lao, who seemed completely out of it. He made a mental note not to give him any more lest he puke and embarrass himself. The aristocracy was big on public embarrassments.

“This commoner sure ain’t so bad!” One of the nobles slurred. “What’s your name?”

“Wei Chow,” he said. “But you can call me Uncle!”

Li Zhou laughed uproariously, along with the noble that asked. Dai Lao, having finally gotten back his bearings, chuckled at the scene before him. Li Zhou hiccupped a little as he spoke. “You’ve got… the audacity to rival… a king.”

“The au-day-shus knight more like it!” Dai Lao slurred. “You look so strong, you know.”

“The audacious knight!” The other noble sang. “Come on, sing for us, Wei Chow! You have such a great voice!”

Wei Chow cleared his throat. “The Audaaacious knight!” He sang. “The most glooorious fights! He roams the land, he braves the sands, and when he sees the beautiful damsels, he sweeps them off their feet!”

The nobles joined along, circling back to the beginning of the chorus ad nauseum. Eventually, with one more drink in them, they began to dance about, uncaring of what it looked like for the few ‘distinguished’ patrons that were currently occupying the Imperial Brewery.

When they got tired, they settled down, but Wei Chow held the bottle back, unwilling to black them out completely. He would have a responsibility to take them back home, and like his blood brother would say, that would be troublesome.

When the festivities died down, Li Zhou patted Wei Chow’s shoulder. “I guess I was… uh… a little harsh… with you…”

Wei Chow nodded. “Just be confident in yourself, young master. Showing off to your friends is not the way to win their respect. You must command it.”

“You sound like… my father.”

“Don’t falter, kid,” Wei Chow patted his shoulder. “You’re a ‘Li’, aren’t you? You must have a lot to be proud of.”

“You’re… you’re right!”

“Just remember that, okay?”

The doors kicked open as a well-dressed gentleman entered with two women on each arm. “Waiters!” He shouted. “Prepare a table for three, and bring the best wine in the house!”

“Please let go of us,” one of the girls whispered. Wei Chow picked up on it clear as day, however, and when he took a better look at them, he recognized them as the girls from earlier that day.

“Are you kidding?” The guy muttered back. “Do you know who I am?”

“Please let go of us, little Magistrate.”

That made things much hairier. Wei Chow stood up and walked in the way of the scowling young man. “And who the hell are you?” The man asked.

“I think you should let the beauties go.”

“It’s the fat singer from earlier!” One of them observed.

“Do you know who I am?!” The little Magistrate asked. “And by the way, these women are with me here willingly. Isn’t that right, girls?”

The nodded uncertainly. Everyone with eyes would see that the little Magistrate was erring. “Stop it,” Wei Chow said, moving closer. “In this brewery, there are many distinguished patrons, all of which could spread word of your misdeeds far and wide. Would that not be damaging to your father, that everyone knows that his son is a philandering fiend?”

The little Magistrate growled at him. “I could murder you where you stand, and no one would call it murder. They would call it ‘killing vermin’. If you think you’re on my level, to speak to me as if I am an equal, you are sorely mistaken.”

“Reality listens not to status, young Magistrate,” Wei Chow said. “It is not I whose reputation is on the line. I am trying to help you.”

The little Magistrate seemed to be considering his course of action, growling as his eyes darted back and forth. Finally, he lifted his arms from the two women and stormed out the brewery.

Thus, the two girls remained, looking at Wei Chow with consternation. Finally, one of the girls huffed. “I won’t apologize if that’s what you’re expecting.” With that, she stormed out. The girl that remained looked at him apologetically before bowing solemnly. “Thank you so much, and I apologize for the way we treated you earlier this noon.” With that, she left the brewery as well.

When he returned to his table, his newfound noble-friends stared at him in awe.

Finally, Dao Lai spoke. “You’re a goddamn gallant knight, aren’t you?”

Wei Chow chuckled. “I am what I am.”

When the pleasantries were over, the nobles were escorted out with their guards, and Wei Chow headed for the hotel room so he could safely store his crate of China’s finest, drinking the opened bottle all on his own.