Ruins of the past

Chu Qiguang on the side was still thinking about his name, why Ergou's father gave him the name Chu Qiguang, and who was behind the scenes. He was not interested in talking to Wang Cailiang for a while.

The group of people came to the west of the county seat. Wang Chengwang rented a yard here in advance so that Wang Cailiang and Chu Qiguang could live here, and they would go back and forth between Yinglue Hall and Wangjiazhuang every day.

After opening the courtyard gate, Wang Cailiang asked the four servants to start cleaning and decorating the room and Feng Shui.

Wang Cailiang shouted: "Don't forget to put a basin of water for me at the east gate. The water grows the east wood, which will make me prosperous."

The landlord of this yard, whose surname is Sun, is an old woman in her sixties. I heard that her son and daughter-in-law have died, leaving only her and her grandson. In order to supplement the family income, I rented out the house.

Seeing that Wang Chengwang had arrived, Granny Sun immediately came out to greet him: "Master Wang is here?"

Wang Cailiang nodded and said to Chu Qiguang who was standing aside: "Brother Chu, this is the landlord Grandma Sun. She lives with her grandson in the east wing on weekdays and is also responsible for our morning and evening meals."

Grandma Sun looked kind and kind, and said with a gentle smile: "I have met Mr. Chu. From now on, if you want to eat anything you want, just tell me."

A little boy about five or six years old was hiding behind Grandma Sun. He was his grandson. He looked sallow and a little thin.

…

After a night of silence, Chu Qiguang meditated first, and then spent most of the time in the room applying Bailian ointment and practicing martial arts. Qiao Zhi was urging and giving guidance, constantly correcting Chu Qiguang's movements and luck.

With the use of Bailian Ointment every day, Chu Qiguang is sure to break through to the second level in more than a month. Unfortunately, he only has the money on hand to last for more than ten days at most.

After he fell ill in the evening, he also beat Chen Gang. Wang Cailiang was secretly stunned: "Brother Chu is really ruthless in teaching his subordinates. No wonder Chen Gang, a fool like him, was kept submissive by him." ’

Wang Cailiang and Chu Qiguang got up early the next morning.

In the yard, Grandma Sun was cooking breakfast and putting boiled eggs into the basket. His grandson looked at the eggs with a longing expression on his face: "Grandma, I want to eat eggs too."

"Didn't you just eat?"

"Still hungry."

Granny Sun said: "No, this is going to be taken to the Taoist temple to be offered to the Taoist Master. Look at how sick you are every day, and you are not allowed to be protected by the Taoist Master."

The grandson swallowed and could only continue to look at the eggs to quell his hunger.

On the other side, Wang Cailiang ordered the servants to wait on him to wash his face and change clothes, while Chu Qiguang brushed his teeth.

The brush of this toothbrush was the same one he saw Wang Cailiang use last time. He asked the other party for a new one afterwards. It was made with a bamboo pole as the handle, horsetails planted on it, and pine resin and Poria cocos dried and pounded into powder. Tooth powder.

Originally, dental hygiene had always been a big concern for Chu Qiguang. Now that he had a toothbrush, he decided to brush his teeth every day.

‘I can finally brush my teeth, but this ponytail toothbrush is too soft and I can’t brush hard enough. ’

While Chu Qiguang brushed his teeth, he sighed in his heart: "But I heard that nobles have better toothpaste and toothbrushes. Even if it's just for brushing my teeth, I have to climb higher." Not only will I need to use a good toothbrush, I will also make more and better toothbrushes and toothpastes. ’

Wang Cailiang on the side opened his mouth wide and asked the boy to brush his teeth. When he saw Chu Qiguang, he said: "Brother Chu, these teeth need to be brushed by someone else."

Chu Qiguang glanced at him: "You are quite particular."

Wang Cailiang didn't want to lose his reputation as the son of the richest man in Wangjiazhuang. Hearing this, he said: "Brother Chu! You don't know this. I spent fifty taels of silver to buy a tooth boy from another county. , the ancestral tooth brushing skill.

If you don’t believe it, you just brushed it yourself in the past two years, and I asked him to brush it. My teeth will definitely be better than yours in two years. "

"Really?" Chu Qiguang glanced at this ordinary-looking Yatong in surprise. He was actually worth so many Ergou.

Wang Cailiang said: "Why don't you believe it? Then let me, the tooth boy, clean it for you."

Qiao Zhi, who was squatting on the roof, couldn't help but said to Chu Qiguang in his heart: "If you listen to this bullshit's nonsense, even an ordinary farmer will be blown away by him."

Chu Qiguang asked: "How do you know?"

Qiao Zhi said: "I heard what their servants said."

"Okay, you'd better keep this tooth boy for yourself." Chu Qiguang glanced at Wang Cailiang helplessly. This birdman really likes to brag, and he really wants to pass on his mental illness to the other party.

Chu Qiguang said in his heart: "Master Qiao, do you want to brush your teeth? Didn't you say that the way to practice martial arts lies in every detail of maintaining the physical body? If the teeth are not good, it will affect the ability to eat, which will affect the physical body. Isn’t it very bad?”

Qiao Zhi immediately replied: "Bah! No one can trick me into brushing my teeth!"

Chu Qiguang said: "Then what should you do if your back teeth are broken?"

Qiao Zhi said proudly: "After I enter the Tao, I can naturally reshape my body and transform into a human form. Now my teeth don't matter."

After a while, Granny Sun came over with breakfast. The group had breakfast in the courtyard and then headed to the Yinglue Pavilion with the servant.

On the way, Chu Qiguang thought in his mind: 'If I use Bailian ointment every day, the four hundred taels of silver given by the Wang family can only last about ten days. Now let’s see how many good people there are among the students in the British Library. ’

In order to pass the martial arts examination in October this year and reach the third level of martial arts in the next five months, Chu Qiguang's goal is to practice with medicine every day.

But just one serving of Bailian ointment costs more than thirty taels. If you use Bailian ointment every day for these five months, you will need at least nearly five thousand taels of silver. The money you have now is definitely not enough.

If you also include the county's expenses such as entertainment, building relationships, and providing places for martial arts, then the money will not be enough.

Chu Qiguang did the math and realized that at least having tens of thousands of taels of silver would give him a sense of security.

…

Just as they were going out, two brown native dogs were squatting on the street opposite the courtyard, looking at Chu Qiguang and Wang Cailiang who were going out. One of the old dogs said: "Is it this man smelling like a cat again? The smell seems to be stronger this time, why does he live here?"

Another young native dog said: "This hanging man must have a cat at home."

The old dog licked his nose and said, "Let's go teach their cat a lesson sometime and let him know who is the underground emperor of this area."

…

Yinglue Hall, a school built by the big families in the county, is located in the north of the city.

Outside the gate of the academy is a screen wall made of blue bricks. In the Feng Shui theory of the Han Dynasty, it played a role in blocking evil spirits. Almost all wealthy families, even imperial yamen and Taoist temples would have it.

There is also a dragon-shaped relief on the screen wall, which tells the story of the dragon tribe from the East China Sea that ravaged the Central Plains before the founding of the Han Dynasty, and the human race rose up to resist. It reminds the students to be prepared for danger in times of peace and to practice martial arts diligently in order to protect their homes and country.

On the back of the screen wall is a piece of advice to study, which is said to have been written by the head of the Hao family who took the lead in funding the construction of the British Strategy Hall.

Wang Cailiang and Chu Qiguang crossed the screen wall and saw a middle-aged man wearing a silk gown waiting there. He was Song Yixuan, a teacher at the Yinglue Hall.

Wang Cailiang pulled Chu Qiguang forward and said, "I have met Mr. Song. This is my good friend Chu Qiguang, who came to school with me."

Song Yixuan nodded: "Your affairs have been taken care of, come with me." After saying that, he glanced at Chen Gang and Wang Cailiang's servants: "The servants stay in the outer hall aside. Don't bring them in again." .”

The two of them followed Song Yixuan into the gate. A couplet could be seen on the gate, which read, "When accumulated water becomes abyss, dragons will grow out of it; when tired soil becomes a mountain, wind and rain will flourish."

When you walk into the gate, you can see that the entire academy faces south and north, with Wenchang Pavilion and Wusheng Courtyard on the left and right. At the back are the flower hall, hotel, restaurant and the gentlemen's rooms.

Song Yixuan took the two of them to register as students and received license plates for entering and exiting the museum. Then he collected student shirts, practice clothes, books and other items. Afterwards, he walked towards Wenchang Pavilion. Wang Cailiang was not willing to miss the opportunity to show off, so he immediately explained the situation in the pavilion to Chu Qiguang.