Song of Time – Dusk Awakening Verse - Chapter 7

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

After coming out of the student union’s tower, Gian hurried back to the dormitory building. After carefully putting away the imperial edict, he ran to the canteen on the ground floor for lunch.

Since there were not many students living in the school, the dormitory’s canteen was not significant. The blue and white floor tiles, white walls, small brown round tables, and chairs were simply decorated. He walked to the kitchen at the side of the dining hall and looked at the food shelves. There were all kinds of delicate dessert dishes, pot soup, and rice.

He took out his wallet from his pocket and opened it. There were only a few silver and brown coins lying at the bottom of the bag.” Alas…I have to find a job as soon as possible! “The young man sighed, took out a ten copper coin, and bought a bowl of porridge. After three or two bites, he wiped his mouth and ran out of the school with something on his mind.

On the west side of the Royal College, there was a bustling commercial street. The tall brown wooden arch at the intersection was engraved with three words, “Feng Ming Dao”. On both sides of the road were restaurants, tea houses, restaurants, shops, and there were many exotic foreign style foreign houses. It was a day off today. People were coming and going on the road, and from time to time, there were cries for selling in various shops, which were very lively.

The scorching sun made people stifled their spirits. Gian passed through the archway and walked straight forward along the stores’ sunshades held up on the side of the road. Not too far, he arrived at a small restaurant with the flavor of the south. The two-story square brick building, which covered more than ten square meters, was decorated in a very romantic way from South Island. There was a yellow wooden signboard at the door of the shop with four words “Where the Ship Docked” written in black paint. Beside it, there was a curved coconut tree, and its broad leaves swayed slightly in the afternoon sunshine.

He stood in front of the door and looked at the signboard. His heart was beating fast. Since last semester, this shop had been his permanent working place, and the boss was also from the South Island. He took good care of him for the sake of his hometown. Initially, he had agreed to continue his job after returning to the school, but now he was several days late. He didn’t know if something would happen.

He stood there uneasily for a long time and finally made up his mind. He took a deep breath and said to himself, “God bless.” then he pushed the door open and walked in.

The restaurant was quiet. The busy time for lunch had passed, and there were only a few guests drinking ice Max beer leisurely in the hall. The owner Dino leaned against the counter, humming a tune, and slowly wiping the glass wine glass. He looked about more than 40 years old, short and fat, slightly bald, dark-faced, with a curved mustache under his big nose, which made him exceptionally shrewd.

Hearing the ringing of the wind bell by the door, he hurriedly turned around. He greeted with a professional smile, “Welco… It’s you. “

Dino recognized the familiar young man in front of the door at first sight. He was stunned for a moment, and then his face darkened. He continued to wipe the wine glass intently, glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, and reproached in a low voice, “what’s wrong with you? You haven’t come to the new school for so many days. Even if you don’t want to do it, you should give me a clear message, right?”

“I’m really sorry, Uncle Dino. I… “Gian hurried to explain but was interrupted by the Dino who waved his hand.

“I don’t want to hear your reason…” The man raised his voice a little and turned to look at the young man with a lot of anger in his eyes. “Our business people only pay attention to integrity. Since you have agreed, you should follow the agreement. How can you be so late for so many days!? No matter what reason you have, the rules are the rules. My shop won’t hire those who don’t follow the rules…”

Hearing his reproach, Gian was speechless. He was indeed late. Although it was an irresistible factor, he must have brought a lot of trouble to the shop owner because he did not inform him in advance. After all, the beginning of a  new semester was the busiest time in this commercial street. Looking at his boss’s black and stern face, he knew that what he said was useless. He could only express a few apologies in succession and walked out of the door dejectedly.

The sunshine outside was harsh, but his heart was as cold as a pot of cold water. Looking at the passers-by on the street, he didn’t know where to go for a moment. Sitting at the bottom of the coconut tree, he sighed for a while before he got up and continued to look for a job along the road.

However, he was thin and a foreigner. Although there were many shops in the pedestrian street, no one was willing to give him a chance to work. He ran back and forth on the road. He was so tired that he was out of breath. His sweat was wet and dry all over his body. His clothes were stuck to his skin as if he had applied a layer of glue, which made him itchy and uncomfortable. In the end, he couldn’t move anymore. He sat down beside the entrance of the archway and wiped the sweat on his face randomly. He felt helpless in his heart.

At this time, the sun was slowly setting, and more and more tourists gathered on both sides of the road. They were waiting to participate in the more lively night market, and laughter was everywhere. However, Gian was not in a good mood at all. He lowered his head and stared at the smooth green bricks and stones. Just as he was about to go somewhere else to try his luck, a voice of surprise came from the side of the road. “What are you doing sitting at the entrance of the street?”   

Hearing the sound, he looked to the side of the asphalt road in the setting sun not far away. The prince in black was looking at him in surprise. Behind him stood a dark green military uniform of the royal guards far away, frowning and deep in thought.

“Shane, Jin Yuan…” Gian quickly stood up, patted his pants, and awkwardly greeted the two, “What a coincidence! Where are you going?”

When Shun saw his discomfiture, he raised his eyebrows and wondered: At noon, it was all right, what had happened? Could someone bully him? The prince knew that Gian worked in a restaurant on Feng Ming Dao last semester, and when he thinks about his delay in returning to school, he had a guess in his heart. But after all, it’s a personal business, and he couldn’t meddle in it casually. In a fit of anger, he didn’t want to answer either. Looking at the boy’s red face, he turned his head and winked as far as he could.

The guard immediately took out a light green bamboo pot from his bag around his waist, handed it to him, and said softly, “Drink some water first.” Seeing that the young man was sweating again, he took out a cotton handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face from left to right. Then he frowned with satisfaction.

Gian didn’t dare to move, and his face became more and more flushed with embarrassment. After he took his hand away, he said thanks awkwardly, took over the bamboo pot, and took a sip. He only felt that the tea in the pot was neither cold nor hot, sweet but with a faint fragrance, comfortable and refreshing. He couldn’t help but take a few more sips and drank up the little kettle. Embarrassed, he scratched his head and gave the kettle back as far as possible. Shane didn’t care about it at all. He only showed a comforting smile and buckled the kettle up again.

Shane kept silent all the time. Seeing that he had calmed down a little, he asked in a low voice, “haven’t you found a suitable place?”

“No…” With a long sigh, he couldn’t help but complain to his friend, “just because I’m a few days late, all the work that can be fixed to work has been taken away. He could take over such a temporary job, but he didn’t have much time to work apart from his study. Every time he had to ask on the spot, it was not a permanent solution. He had to sign a fixed contract.   

Hearing this, the prince frowned and thought, ‘he wants to help Gian arrange a job in his own industry, but this stubborn boy refused. He said he didn’t want to cause criticism. After rejecting several times, he could only give up.

Despite this, Shane appreciated his persistence. Seeing that he was sighing, Shane wondered if he should ask someone to find a job for him “coincidentally”. All of a sudden, the man next to him leaned forward and suggested in a low voice, “Yuno mentioned it to me not long ago and was about to ask someone to help look for a shop. How about…”

“How could he want to ask someone for help?” The prince turned his head in surprise, stared at the guards, and asked abnormally. He was not very familiar with Yuno. The arrogant shop manager never liked others to touch his land. He really didn’t know why he would give up his long-term stubbornness.

Jin Yuan smiled without answering. He glanced up and down at the world sea and continued to recommend, “I think he’s quite suitable. It’s better to go there than to stay here.”

As soon as he heard the two words “work”, Gian’s ears pricked up, and he stared at his two friends. As soon as Jin Yuan finished speaking, he hurriedly patted his chest and promised, “don’t worry. I can do anything. There will be absolutely no problem.”

Seeing that he was so nervous was afraid that he would refuse him, couldn’t help laughing. This silly boy agreed without asking. He was really not afraid of being sold. But since he had the chance, he would not treat his own people shabbily. He immediately nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll let you have a try.”

“Great!” When Gian saw that he agreed, he jumped up with excitement. He turned around and touched his head again, carefully inquiring about information: “What kind of job is it? Where is it? “

“It’s hard to explain it in one thirty. How about this? It’s late now. You go to have dinner with us. Let’s talk about it after dinner.” Shane drew the young man’s thin neck and led him forward. Gian had no choice but to stagger and run a few times to keep up with him, following him closely. The three of them walked along the street. They soon arrived at the Egret Pavilion, a famous garden in the middle of the pedestrian street.

This 7-floor old brick and wood tower looked quite old. The jade glass covering the slightly upturned eaves of the tower was a little mottled. Although the young man often worked on this pedestrian street, this exclusive high-end club for the aristocrats and celebrities had never been in the future. He looked up at the tower and saw the colorful patterns of countless legendary birds and beasts engraved on it. Suddenly, he felt a primitive and savage mysterious aura pouring into his face, and a sense of awe rose.

He followed Shane to the entrance of the tower, staring at the gilded wooden plaque and blinking his eyes. The servant in white, standing by the door, walked up to the prince with a smile and bowed to him. “My Lord, the banquet is ready. Please come with me.”

The prince didn’t say anything and nodded slightly. The man immediately led the way, and the three followed him through the ancient pagoda’s back yard. Behind the pagoda, the courtyard was surrounded by substantial green bricks and stones. There were pavilions, terraces, towers, flowers, and plants all over the ground, which was very elegant. They passed the river bridge and stopped in front of a four-horned pavilion with wooden beams and green bricks along the cobblestone path.

From afar, Gian could smell the fragrance of food floating from the pavilion. After the guide turned around and left, he stuck his head out and looked inside. In the pavilion, there was a bamboo mat covered with a pattern like water. There was a short wooden table. There were several Iced fruit dishes, a plate of steamed silver spotted fish, a plate of eight-layer cake, a plate of crisp and cold beef, and soup dumplings, meatballs, vegetable cakes, steamed dumplings. Each dish was placed neatly, and it was exceptionally exquisite.

Seeing that Gian was staring at the dishes, the prince knew that he was hungry. He patted him on the shoulder and said, “let’s eat first. We’ll talk about it after we finish.”

They sat on the ground one after another, make a clean sweep of eating. After they were full, the waiter brought a pot of sweet and sour fruit tea for digestion. The three of them leaned against the wooden railing of the pavilion, drinking tea and chatting.

“Because of some kind of agreement, I can’t tell you more details now…” The prince took a sip of the fruit tea and began to introduce the details of the workplace. “That shop manager is outstanding and doesn’t have much work. As long as you pass the interview successfully, he will tell you everything you should know.”

What kind of work was so mysterious. The Gian fox looked suspiciously at her friend’s calm face. He blinked and then asked, “then where do I work? Is it far from the school? “

“Not very close. It’s in the old temple in the east of the city, near the Water Pavilion at the back door.”

“In the temple? Will the temple also recruit new employees? “His eyes widened in confusion.

“Haha. You’ll know when you see it. “The prince turned around and looked at him with a smile. He was even more confused as he kept him in suspense.

The banquet was over, and the three of them chatted for a while before getting up and ready to leave.

When he finished his meal, Gian felt a little sleepy. He quickly walked to the stream outside the pavilion and fetched some water to wipe his face. The cold spring water cheered him up. When he raised his head, he saw a few large snow-white egrets flying not far away, curling up in front of him, and combing their feathers as if no one was around.

“There is egret here! So beautiful… “The young man carefully retreated back to the pavilion, afraid of disturbing this pure creature.

“This is the Egret Pavilion. How can there be no egret?” Shane shook his head with a smile. This silly boy was too stunned.

Gian couldn’t help but make a joke face at him and seriously retorted, “there is really egret in the egret Pavilion. Then, isn’t there really going to be a divine bird or a phoenix in the Feng Ming Dao?”

The prince was choked by his words. Jin Yuan smiled and helped him out: “Well…The name of the Egret Pavilion there is a story: legend of the tower at the beginning of the construction, the wooden beam on top of a common extremely large egret stopped singing after the tower was completed before fluttering wings to fly away again with no trace, hence the name of the Egret pavilion. These bitterns are specially bred by later generations, which is also a characteristic. After all, the capital city is not the bittern’s habitat. Just to feed these few babies, it takes a lot of time and cares for them.”

“Well. Jin Yuan is so learned.” Gian admired this seemingly omniscient senior the most. He praised and then showed his teeth towards Shane. The prince pretended to be disgusted.

They talked and laughed all the way back. Not long after, they arrived at the wooden plaque shop at the intersection. A black demonic magic car was parking on the asphalt road not far away. The magic car’s body was arched slightly, and a small phoenix golden badge was erected on the front of the magic car, which was the symbol of the royal family.

“Let’s go first. Remember to interview at the Old Temple tomorrow morning…” Shane gave the word towards the Gian, waved his hand, and just as he was about to get into the car, Jin Yuan came close to whisper to him as far as he could. The prince nodded suddenly and turned back to the young man.

“I almost forget that this is the gate pass.” He took out a silver-white badge from his trouser pocket and stuffed it into the hand of the world sea. “Go to the backyard of the temple tomorrow to find a square stone tablet. That’s the entrance. Remember to bring the badge with you.” He patted the boy’s shoulder with encouragement, and then sat on his magic car, speeding away.

A pass? Puzzled, Gian spread out its palm and stared at the small silver badge. There was nothing but a five-light star engraved on it. He turned the badge over and over several times and then compared it to the moonlight. The word “Shane” could be seen faintly from the five light stars under the faint light.

“……, he even engraved his own name, which makes people feel that it’s not reliable… “With a frown, he put the badge into his trouser pocket and set out on his way back with a bit of worry.

The night grew darker. The clear moonlight spread on the flat stone road, bringing the boy’s slightly shaking figure, and with a faint smile of the wind, disappearing behind the high red wall of the school.