Liam Brooks brought out those three bowls of disgusting leftovers from the kitchen, walked up to the drunkard, set the food down on the ground, and called out gruffly, “Hey, hey, hey, time to eat.”

The drunkard shifted his body, mumbled a few sounds, then suddenly opened his eyes wide. In a flash, he scrambled up and grabbed Liam Brooks’s arm tightly with both hands, asking anxiously, “What’s the date today? Where is this place?”

“Ow, ow, let go first, you’re hurting me!” Liam Brooks immediately felt a sharp pain in his arm and cried out in pain.

Liam Brooks’s cries seemed to startle the drunkard awake. He hurriedly let go, his bloodshot eyes scanning Liam Brooks, and his gaze instantly dimmed.

Rubbing his arm, Liam Brooks frowned and complained, “How many times have I told you? This is Dongjing Bianliang, it’s the fourth year of Xuanhe, the seventh day of the second month.”

He had never met such a strange drunkard in his life. Every time, the man would drink himself into a stupor, and when he woke up, he’d act like a madman, asking everyone, “What’s the date today? Where is this place?” After being told, he’d look utterly dejected, then desperately demand more wine.

At that moment, Old Steward heard Liam Brooks shouting and hurried out to see what was happening. He saw the drunkard with his head lowered, swaying unsteadily, muttering to himself.

Old Steward first waved at Liam Brooks, signaling him to go inside.

Liam Brooks glanced at the drunkard and went back into the house.

Once Liam Brooks had gone in, Old Steward called out to the drunkard, “Young man, young man.”

The drunkard was slightly startled, looked at Old Steward, and asked, “Uncle, are you calling me?”

That “uncle” made Old Steward laugh. He nodded and said, “Forgive my boldness, young man, but may I ask your name? Where is your home?”

“Oh, uncle, my name is Kevin Thompson, my home is—” At this point, Kevin Thompson suddenly choked up, his eyes growing moist.

Chapter 0002 The Drunkard (Part 2)

Old Steward saw Kevin Thompson’s sorrowful expression, as if he had something he couldn’t say, and asked, “Young man, you look so young—why are you so sad?”

Kevin Thompson closed his eyes and shook his head.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk; he just didn’t know where to begin. Besides, even if he did say it, no one would believe him.

In truth, he had traveled here from over nine hundred years in the future. He was 25 years old, a top student from Tsinghua University, already serving as executive chef and manager at a super five-star hotel, earning over a million a year. Recently, he had even married a beautiful woman, enjoying both career and family success—life was smooth and his future bright. By the way, his boss was also his father-in-law.

But fate is unpredictable, and disaster can strike at any time.

On his wedding night, his friends got him so drunk he passed out, and when he woke up, he found himself in the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was nearly scared out of his wits.

Although in his time, many people dreamed of traveling to the past, he was the last person who wanted it. He hadn’t even spent his wedding night, he still had family, and a beautiful wife waiting for him—this was absolutely not what he wanted.

So he tried to repeat the process, hoping that getting drunk again would send him back. He first went to a pawnshop, pawned the jade Buddha that had been passed down in his family, and used the silver to buy a jar of wine, drinking himself into oblivion. But the “goddess of luck” did not favor him again; when he woke up, he was still here.

Unwilling to give up, he spent the rest of his silver on more wine, drinking and sleeping, waking and drinking, for several days in a row, but still to no avail.

Old Steward saw that Kevin Thompson didn’t want to talk and didn’t press further. He took a small string of copper coins from his sleeve and handed it to Kevin Thompson, saying, “Young man, here’s some money for your travel expenses. Take it and go home.”

He had seen Kevin Thompson sleeping on the street for several days with no family coming for him, and with Kevin Thompson’s unusual accent, naturally assumed he was from out of town, so he wanted to give him some money to send him on his way.

After all, he was a businessman, and having a drunkard lying at his door every day was not a good look.

Actually, Old Steward was quite kind-hearted. If it had been one of those ruthless innkeepers, they would have had someone beat Kevin Thompson and drive him away long ago.

“Go home? Which home? Where would I go? I—I can’t go back.” The more Kevin Thompson spoke, the sadder he became, and by the end, he was crying.

Old Steward saw this grown man crying so miserably and didn’t know what to do. But seeing how pitiful he was, he couldn’t help but think of the current state of Drunken Immortal Inn, and suddenly felt a sense of shared hardship. He sighed and said softly, “Young man, young man, don’t cry. Well then, if you don’t mind how humble my inn is, you can stay here for a few days. We’ll figure things out as we go.”

Hearing this, Kevin Thompson stopped crying, deeply moved. In his own time, even if you died drunk by the roadside, no one would bother to check on you. Staring blankly at the old man before him, he asked, “Uncle, why are you being so kind to me?”

Old Steward smiled gently and said, “Alright, don’t ask so many questions. Go on inside.”