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Introduction
A strong wind blows from the tip of the green grass

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Xu’s family owns several lands, Xu Baihu is also a military man. Life in the local area is not bad at all. With the small family wealth they have, they maintain an old servant at home to do cooking and cleaning work.

Only when dawn was over did the old Xu family’s maid slowly finish making breakfast. He came to knock on Chang Geng’s study room door, “Young master, Ma’am asks if you want to eat in his room or not.”

Chang Geng is currently concentrating on practicing calligraphy from existing samples, his hand movements pausing after hearing the maid’s call. He replied with practice, “No, Mother prefers peace and tranquility, I do not want to disturb her, would you like to greet me?”

The old maid was not surprised by the answer. Going back and forth all day between mother and child has become a routine, there is nothing new.

That is very strange indeed. Logically, Xu Baihu was nothing but a stepfather; the people who have real biological connections are Chang Geng and Xiu Niang. But only when Xu Baihu stayed at home did the mother and child couple eat at the same table, exchange greetings, show service, and pretend to be in harmony. As soon as the men from the family leave, they become even stranger than strangers, and don’t pay attention to each other. They live in the same house, but Chang Geng doesn’t even use the main gate; every day, he would run to their next door neighbor using the side door, the mother and child might not be able to see each other even though several months had passed.

Even before, when Chang Geng was infected with a serious illness that could make him lose his life, Xiu Niang only glanced at him with indifference, there was not the slightest concern about whether he would die or live.

In the end, Shiliu took him away and took care of him.

The old maid always suspected that Chang Geng was not Xiu Niang’s biological child. However, their appearance was similar to each other, no doubt that they must have a blood-related relationship.

Besides, for a vulnerable and fragile woman who is far away from her home country like Xiu Niang, who doesn’t even have the strength to defend herself … if not her biological child, why does she still hold on to this child?

That’s really incomprehensible.

After a while, the old maid brought a food container and said to Chang Geng, “The Old Master might come back today. Madam has asked the Young Master to go home early.”

Chang Geng understands what he means; when Xu Baihu returns, they must appear like a harmonious pair of mothers and sons. He nodded and said, “I know.”

His gaze fell on the food container. Suddenly, Chang Geng noticed a long hair on the handle, and the hand he had stretched out immediately snapped backwards.

The old maid’s hair is already white. This long strand of black, silky hair would certainly not be his. Xu Baihu hasn’t come home yet. In this household, counted with servants, there are only a total of three people. If it did not belong to the old maid, without a doubt, the hair strand must belong to Xiu Niang.

Chang Geng has a strange type of cleanliness 一 a son who hates his own mother.

He could eat leftover rice in his Yifu bowl without any problems while living in their next door neighbor’s house, but once he returned to his own house, as long as Xiu Niang had laid his hand on something, he would never touch it.

The old maid was aware of this strange characteristic. He carefully removed the hair and said with a smile, “Mistress accidentally let it fall to the surface of the box, no one has touched breakfast in it, please rest assured.”

Chang Geng smiled politely at her, “Don’t mind, I happen to have a few topics to ask Master Shen today. I will have breakfast at Yifu’s place.”

In the end, he did not receive the food container. He proceeded to collect all the notes and papers on the table, put them under his arms, then grabbed the heavy sword that hung on the back door and left.

Teacher Shen pulled his sleeve up and worked in the yard to anoint several pieces of steel armor that had been dismantled.

The steel armor was sent by City defense officers and soldiers. Officers from Yanhui City also have their own ‘Mechanics Division’ which specializes in maintaining military armor. However, the amount of armor that needed treatment was too much, and when in a hurry, they would also look for Mechanics from ordinary people to share their burden.

“Chang Bei Shi⭐ 一 Mechanics” are those who repair steel and machine armor. They deal with ‘iron friends’ all day, resembling the work of a craftsman. However, in the eyes of ordinary people, the Mechanics and those who cut someone’s hair or straighten someone’s nails are almost the same. That is work that is included in the ‘lower class’. Although it can put food on the table, it is not considered a big profession.

➖⭐T/N :
[长臂 师] 一 literally (in the first chapter) means Master of Long-Arm, a term that Priest made to refer to the mechanics in the universe.
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Teacher Shen is an educated man; no one understands why he has this unusual hobby. He not only likes to play with them in his spare time, but he also often uses these skills to earn money, slightly demeaning his educated and refined image.

But Shen Shiliu 一 who had entered a teenage’s dream accidentally, lazily stretched her long legs. He sat in the doorway, leaning on the door frame as if there were no bones in his body, an empty medicine bowl lying next to him 一 which didn’t even bother him to clean up after he finished drinking.

Shiliu stretched his lower back, reached out, and weakly waved his hand towards Chang Geng, “My son, bring me my wine bottle.”

Teacher Shen, whose hands were full of engine oil and dripping sweat, said to Chang Geng, “Don’t mind him, have you eaten?”

Chang Geng, “Not yet.”

Teacher Shen turned his head and growled at Shiliu, “Just woke up in the morning and is already lying around waiting to be fed! Why can’t you help just a little? Go wash the rice and cook a few bowls of porridge!”

Shen Shiliu tilted her head, deaf ‘just enough’, slowly asked, “Ah? What?”

“Let me do it,” Chang Geng was used to this scenario, “What kind of rice?”

This time Lord Shiliu had heard clearly, raised his long eyebrows, said to Teacher Shen, “Stop ordering the children to work, why can’t you do it alone?”

Teacher Shen, who was usually polite and gentle, was provoked by this jerk brother every day, anger clearly visible on his face, “Didn’t we agree that we would take turns? Not being able to hear was one thing, why did you never guard your words? “

Shen Shiliu continued his old tricks, again he could ‘not hear’, then asked, “What is he barking about?”

Very real.

Chang Geng, “……..”

Indeed it is quite comfortable to be a deaf person.

“He said that …” Chang Geng lowered his head and was stunned by the antics in Shiliu’s gaze, last night’s dream flashed right before his eyes. He suddenly realized that he was not so unaffected.

Chang Geng’s throat suddenly became a little dry, he tried to calm his mind and said with an expressionless face, “Please just sit down, don’t play tricks so early.”

Shen Shiliu hasn’t had a chance to get drinks this morning. With just a small portion of his conscience that had not yet been immersed in liquor, he smiled and took Chang Geng’s hand, borrowed the strength to stand up, patted the boy’s head intimate then into the kitchen.

He was really ready to work 一 Lord Shiliu who was carrying out tasks was a very rare event that had not been seen in a hundred years, almost comparable to the blossoming of iron trees⭐.

➖⭐T/N :
[铁树开花 tiě shù kāi huā] 一 literal; means an iron tree in bloom; Very unlikely or very rare events.
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Chang Geng hurriedly chased after him, only to see his Yifu recklessly grabbing several handfuls of rice, throwing them all into the pan, pouring water, and sprinkling water droplets everywhere. Next, he ‘lowered himself’ and put two fingers into the pan to mix and stir it for a while, then took it out, wagging the remaining water from his fingers and announced, “I have finished washing my part. Shen Yi, come here and make your turn. . “

Teacher Shen, “……..”

Shen Shiliu then grabbed the wine bottle on the table, and tilted his head back to take a sip, his movements were absolutely right, like moving clouds and running water.

… Sometimes Chang Geng suspects that his blindness is just an act.

Teacher Shen really admitted defeat. No longer doing vain quarrels with him, he washed his hands with saponins, rushed into the kitchen, reheated their breakfast, and began cleaning up the mess left by Shiliu.

Chang Geng took out the note he had written this morning and showed it to Shen Yi. After Shen Yi finished making his comments on them, Chang Geng put it on the stove to help guard the fire.

“Your handwriting has improved quite a lot. A lot of work was done recently, right?” said Teacher Shen. “I see that you are copying the writing of 《 Chang Ting 一 fu⭐ 》 by Marquis of Order⭐ 一 Gu Yun?”

➖⭐T/N :
Poetry written by Gu Yun, Chang Ting means ‘a place where people can stop and rest’; what might mean here is that he wrote this when he was resting in certain places.

[安定 侯 Āndìng Hóu] 一 Gu Yun degree.
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Chang Geng, “Yes.”

Shiliu who was relaxing on the side, after hearing this, he immediately turned his head. A strange expression appeared on his face.

Teacher Shen did not look up, “The Marquis of Order took over the army at the age of fifteen, his first battle had ended in a glorious victory.

“He became commander at the age of seventeen and continued the Western Expedition campaign under the Emperor’s orders. As he passed through the outskirts of Xiliang City, he saw remnants of the history of people from ancient times. He felt moved by the remnants of the previous dynasties that still exist , but hundreds of years have passed, with emotions rising, he wrote .

“Writing is one thing, but a group of hypocrites must secretly make copies and engrave them on the stone tablets 一.

“Thinking about it, Gu Yun was taught by a famous scholar at this time 一 Mo Sen, his words had a lot to learn by someone, only when writing he was young, with ambition of young enthusiasm, without realizing the vastness of heaven and earth, the experience is not as high … If you want to practice calligraphy, there are many ancient notes that you can use to study, why should you choose someone’s notes that are from our time? “

Chang Geng rolled up the paper that had been filled with calligraphy he had practiced and put it on the stove without hesitation.

“I heard people say that, Black Eagles, Black Armors, Black Cavalries 一 the three main factions of the Black Iron Camp 一 in the hands of the Earlier Marquis, had silenced eighteen barbarian tribes. Then he handed it over to the Young Marquis, he had made the Western Region bow his head them. Not that I like the words. I just wanted to know, the hand that ordered the three Black Iron Camps; what was the handwriting like? “

Teacher Shen unconsciously stirs the pot with a spoon, his eyes seem to have drifted to a distant place. After a while, he slowly said, “The Marquis of Order’s family name is Gu, his first name is Yun, called Gu Zi Xi, he is the only son of the First Princess and the Earliest Marquis, his parents died at the beginning of his childhood. He was pitied by the Emperor, brought into the Palace and raised there, the Emperor even gave him royal status.

“He should have lived a rich life lazing around the Palace, but he had to run to the Western Region to eat sand. Heroic or not heroic, I don’t know, I’m just afraid that his head might not be too well.”

Teacher Shen was wearing a white blouse, the collar of his robe was colored with engine oil, an old apron hanging around his neck 一 there were no women in this household, this pair of brothers lived together, none of them was more appropriate than the others. No one knows if the apron has been washed before or not because people can no longer see its original color; Wearing it is really very indecent (dirty).

Only that face is well-defined.

His nose bridge is high, when not laughing or talking, his profile seems very inspiring and almost unaffected. His eyelids trembled slightly, and suddenly exclaimed, “Since the Great Marquis died, the great achievements of the Black Iron Camp have sent fear and suspicion to the people at the top, plus lowly hypocritical subjects raging in court palace 一 .. . “

Shiliu who didn’t say a word until now suddenly interrupted, “Shen Yi.”

Two people who were on the side of the stove staring at him at the same time, Shiliu looked at the small spider web in the doorway.

Shiliu’s face shows no signs of alcohol, the more he drinks the more white his face becomes, the slightest emotion is absorbed into his eyes so you can no longer see them clearly.

He spoke in a low voice, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Brothers from the Shen family usually don’t care about manners. The younger brother does not want to respect his older sister, and the older sister will fulfill all of his sister’s whining. They will argue loudly from morning to night every day, but the bond between them is very good.

Chang Geng had never heard Shiliu speak in such a serious and rigid manner before.

He has a sensitive nature; he frowned because he did not fully understand this situation.

Shen Yi’s jaw tightened slightly. Realizing that Chang Geng was watching him, he subconsciously took back his emotions, and smiled, “I went too far 一 but words of contempt for the royal palace were just empty conversations for conversation after dinner, didn’t I? I just casually made some comment.”

Chang Geng could feel the atmosphere being awkward, he cleverly changed the subject and asked, “For ten years from the Northern Expedition to the Western Campaign, who is in charge of the Black Iron Camp?”

“No one is responsible,” Shen Yi replied. “After the Northern Expedition, the Black Iron Camp was initially calm; some people left, some had died, some older veterans in the army were left feeling very disappointed.

“After more than a decade, the soldiers of that year have been replaced by newer generations, equipment and equipment that hasn’t been replaced for years, all of which have been rusted and damaged.

“Until a few years ago, the Western Region began to rebel, the imperial court had no other solution but to allow the Marquis of Order to take this mission during the probationary period, and start again the Black Iron Camp,

“To say that Marshall Gu took command of the Black Iron Camp, it is better to say that he is once again training a large group of elite figures in the Western Region. If you have the opportunity, it is better for you to learn his current writing style.”

Chang Geng was surprised, “Teacher Shen has seen the writings of the Marquis from his last years?”

Shen Yi laughed, “Although it’s rare, sometimes there are one or two pages circulating on the market, all claiming to be genuine and genuine handwriting, whether they’re really authentic or not, I don’t know.”

He said while blowing white steam, placing their food on the table. Knowing his attitude, Chang Geng stepped in to help. When he brought a bowl of porridge, he passed by Shiliu. The man reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

Chang Geng grew faster than the average teenager, his stature was already greater than his peers. Although he still lacked some flesh and bones, his height had almost caught up to his young Yifu, so just by tilting his head slightly, he could already look directly into Shiliu’s eyes.

Shiliu actually has a pair of incredible peach blossom eyes, only when his gaze is scattered people will be able to see this, because once they become focused, his pupils will look like they have a pair of endless black ravines, hidden in a dark cloud where someone won’t be able to see the basics.

Chang Geng’s heart jumped, he lowered his voice and deliberately used a pronoun that he normally didn’t use, “Yifu, what’s up?”

Shiliu said casually, “Children must have fun, don’t go all day thinking about trying to be a hero, has there ever been a hero who has a good ending? What you need is food on the table and a roof on your head, a worry-free life is the best kind of life to live, a little under budget or too much downfall not to worry about. “

Shen Shiliu who was playing stupid was a normal thing that happened everyday, he rarely talked about something that made sense, but when he said it, those words were to immediately pour cold water on Chang Geng.

Shiliu is just a sick deaf blind, because of course, he has no plans or ambitions in life, nor does he have any determination. But how can a young child listen to these demotivating words?

Chang Geng felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, he felt as if he was being looked down on. He thought irritably, ‘Spending every day hanging around like you, then who will be there to support this family in the future? Who will provide your clothes and feed you? This is really easier said than done! ‘

Ignoring Shiliu’s hand, he answered only for his sake, “Don’t move. Please don’t burn yourself with hot porridge.”

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