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

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The Shen family did not pay attention to the rule of “staying quiet when at the table, staying quiet when it’s time to sleep“⭐. While eating, Teacher Shen gave Chang Geng a lecture on ‘Good Learning’⭐, after a while he began to lose his main focus point and finally mixed ‘how to maintain iron armor in winter’ into his lecture.

➖⭐T/N :
[食 不 言 寝 不 语] 一 Idiom; Don’t talk while eating, don’t talk after lying down to sleep.
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➖⭐T/N :
Daxue [大學] 一 “The Great Learning” is Classical Confucianism. This is part of the Sishu canon [四 “]” Four Books “, which was added as an integral Confucian writing on the order and harmony of society. It was originally a chapter of the classic Liji ritual [禮記].
➖

He is a man of great knowledge; whatever subject he could think of, he must have talked about it. On one occasion, he even eagerly explained to Chang Geng about methods to prevent and control horse-related illnesses, so that even a deaf man like Lord Shiliu could not bear to listen anymore and had to force him to be quiet.

After completing his lecture, when Teacher Shen cleaned the cutlery with dissatisfaction because he did not have the opportunity to talk more, he said to Chang Geng, “Today, I have to finish repairing all these Iron Armors. Those people didn’t give them the care right so it causes the joint to rust. I might have to go out to get some concoctions in the afternoon. Ge Pangxiao and the others are asking for a day off, do you have a plan? “

Chang Geng, “I will go to General Hill to practice …”

The word ‘sword’ had not even come out of his mouth, when he turned around, Shen Shiliu had hung his iron sword on the wall and stated, “My son, come on, Giant Kite will probably return to the city today, let’s go join in the fun.”

Chang Geng was helpless, “Yifu, I just said to Teacher Shen …”

Shen Shiliu, “What? Speak louder.”

Great. Start again now.

Giant Kite comes and goes, every year is the same. Chang Geng couldn’t think of anything refreshing and new, but before he could protest, Shiliu had already half dragged and half pulled him out of the door.

The heat of summer has not died down, people are still wearing thin clothes. Shiliu’s entire body clung to Chang Geng’s back, a bitter medicinal aroma circling around him.

Just like in his dream …

Chang Geng suddenly felt a strange irregularity. He lowered his head to avoid his Yifu, covered his nose and pretended to sneeze.

Shiliu grinned and teased, “Someone missed you, could it be that young lady with a round face from Old Wang’s house?”

Chang Geng finally couldn’t hold it in anymore, his expression tightened and he said bluntly, “Yifu, teasing your son like this … is that appropriate?”

Shen Shiliu, of course, would not think about it. He smiled and said, “It’s not appropriate? Oh, I’ve never been a father before. I don’t know the exact limits. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Whoever tried to talk to Shiliu, they would definitely explode in anger.

Chang Geng slaps this indecent man’s hand from his shoulder and comes out first.

Teacher Shen said from behind, “Shiliu! Remember to return early to chop firewood!”

Shen Shiliu walked as if his feet had been oiled and shamelessly answered, “Can’t hear you, goodbye!”

Chang Geng who was pushed half ran half walked asked him, “Since when did you start becoming deaf?”

Shen Shiliu just laughed, his expression incomprehensible.

At this moment, the two of them had just passed the main entrance of Chang Geng’s house, the main gate creaking then opened.

A woman in a white long dress came out, and as soon as Chang Geng saw her, the annoyance mixed with resentment on her face immediately disappeared.

It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on him from head to toe. Eyes that are still trying to suppress anger suddenly become empty 一 even the fire and its activeness has been fully withdrawn.

That woman is Xiu Niang, mother on behalf of Chang Geng.

She was no longer young, but her beauty did not fade in the slightest. Standing in the ray of morning light, he resembled a sketch of subtle beauty.

Such a woman, even if she is a widow, should not only marry a lowly mayor from a small town far off the border.

Xiu Niang fixed her clothes, cupped her hands together, and bowed gracefully, “Lord Shiliu.”

Shen Shiliu only directs his behavior that is not true to Shen Yi. In the presence of a woman, she immediately takes the form of a real man. He leaned slightly aside and avoided staring directly at Xiu Niang’s face. He greeted politely, “Mrs. Xu, I want to invite Chang Geng to have fun.”

“Thank you for bothering,” Xiu Niang smiled without showing her teeth. Then he turned to Chang Geng and whispered softly, “Your father will be back today. If you go out, remember to bring home a box of lip color for me.”

He spoke as gently as a mosquito 一 as if those words could disappear into thin air, but before Chang Geng could answer, Shen Shiliu had already interrupted, “Madame, take it easy.”

Chang Geng, “…….”

Only now did he have some vague ideas about his Yifu’s ‘deaf rules’ 一 every word of Shen Yi, he would not ‘hear’ any of them; the words of others, he must evaluate whether he wants to ‘hear’ it or not, and for those young ladies and women, even if a female mosquito makes a faint sound, she can without doubt hear it with crystal clear.

Not only is he lazy and lazy, he is also a flirty man!

It was as if the term “appearance like gold and jade but rotten inside”⭐ was specially made just for him.

➖⭐T/N :
[金玉其外 ， 败絮 其中] 一 Idiom; gold-plated exterior, but shabby and destroyed on the inside.
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When the Giant Kite will return, children from all nearby neighboring cities will gather together for the event at the city gate. Every time there is a crowd, there will be people who will take advantage of it and start their business. They slowly formed a large-scale market, locals called it “Yan Zi Market.”

Shen Shiliu has never learned to read other people’s expressions. Even though he was paying attention, he still wouldn’t think about it.

He seemed oblivious to the mood of his adopted son as he toured the crowded market in amazement, attracted to everything he saw.

Chang Geng is already full of resentment, he also has to follow Shiliu’s every step and keep an eye on him so he won’t get lost.

In recent years, the world situation is unstable, people are poor, and most of the things traded on the market are small things produced by local farmers. There is no good food and nothing good to drink, boring enough to spend.

It is said that war is the reason that has made people’s lives more difficult, and taxes paid by the general masses heavier and heavier after each year.

But in the past, after every battle, they could always recover for a while.

However, no one knows why in recent years, people never seem to have enough room to breathe.

Counting the last twenty years, the Great Liang first undertook the Northern Expedition, then the Western Expedition, became a great nation, and received respect among neighboring countries, upholding his honor.

But it is strange that people are becoming increasingly poorer and poorer.

Chang Geng was bored to death after wandering in the market without stopping so he wanted to evaporate deeply. He only hoped that Shiliu, the homeless person who was curious about these things, would soon feel tired so they could return. He would rather be Teacher Shen’s assistant instead.

Shen Shiliu bought a bag of roasted salted peanuts and ate them while walking. And as if he had eyes on the back of his head, he reached out and accurately inserted the salted peanuts into Chang Geng’s mouth.

Chang Geng was caught off guard, accidentally licked his finger, and finally bit into the soft flesh in his mouth in a panic. He screamed in pain and angrily glared at the troublemaker, Shiliu.

“Withered flowers can bloom again, one’s youth cannot stay forever.”

Shen Shiliu did not look back. He picked up a bean, lifted it, and pointed to the sun. His hands were extraordinarily beautiful, slender and white, like a pair of hands belonging to a young man from a pure family, more suitable for lifting chess pieces, or carrying notebooks; holding black beans is really not suitable.

Shen Shiliu said in a way like someone who has gone through many ups and downs, “When you grow up, you will understand that someone’s youth is only the size of a bean, that period will pass you by in a blink of an eye. It will never come back. Only then you will realize how much time you have wasted. “

Chang Geng, “……”

He really didn’t understand, how could someone like Shiliu have the courage to talk about things like ‘time wasted’?

At that moment, the crowd near the city gate suddenly burst into cheers.

Even though that person was half blind, he could still see the ‘Giant Kite’ which was slowly descending from a distance.

There are many flaming fins that point upwards, a million white smoke gushes out, their steam is like cotton falling from the sky.

Then, a large ship slowly emerged from the vast expanse of smoke, the eight dragon heads that adorned the front of the ship appeared as if they were real, and cut their way through the clouds as they moved forward with unmatched strength.

Shen Shiliu was surprised at first, then he tilted his head, the cinnabar-colored beauty mark on his earlobe seemed to flash red. He frowned, whispered, “Why is the ship so light this year?”

But his words quickly faded into the voice of the Giant Kite blaring loudly around them and the cheering that came from the crowd. Even Chang Geng, who was by his side, did not catch his words.

The children began to hold their own little bamboo baskets, struggling to get the best position and waiting for the ration.

A group of officers and men marched and moved, and the soldiers in charge gave the signal to stand behind the three-zhang⭐ tong hou⭐, waiting for orders.

➖⭐T/N :
Tong hou [铜 吼] 一 It literally means the roar of copper, the name of the loudspeaker in this universe.
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➖⭐T/N :
Zhang [丈] 一 An ancient measurement unit, equal to 3.2 meters.
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‘Tong hou’ is like a big horn, placed side by side on the city wall. There was a circle of green rust on the outside, it looked pleasant, and it looked like a carved flower.

The commander took a deep breath, raised his voice and spoke with one end of the barrel hou, the sound coming out from the other end was enlarged dozens of times, echoing nonstop.

“Kite has returned, open the 一 lane 一”

Two lines of officers and men after hearing the order, grabbed a large wooden wheel handle on the tower, and shouted in unison. They did not wear superiors’ clothes, showed their muscles, and used their strength to the full, wooden wheels from above spun and a road made of large stones under the city was divided into two.

The innumerable gears that spin together spin in a circle, and the bricks on both sides are divided into two streets.

The earth split, revealing a pitch black river underground, flowing through the entire city of Yanhui.

The commander blew a long sound from tong hou and the sound carried in all directions.

Giant Kite also responded with a roar. Then, the countless fiery wings simultaneously exerted pressure, and the steam frantically surged around 一 Giant Kite was ready to land.

Small pieces of the first ‘ration’ rained down from above, the group of small children below them in a frenzy, all reaching out to catch them.

Unfortunately, the way to send the ration was short. Soon after, the Giant Kite landed in the center of the river, proudly standing on the surface of the water, and stopped in front of everyone.

The body of the ship struck admiration in one’s heart, and the faint light of the cold metal was filled with unspeakable killing intent. The sound of the ship’s signal was terrible and tragic; the voice would not stop resonating throughout Yanhui City, as souls that had fallen on the battlefield of many millennia had awakened and sang in unison.

The Giant Kite entered the city along the dark river, little by little, through the water. A soldier on the boat made a long signal.

“Turn off the light 一 一”

Two wings of a burning ship were immediately put out: there was a burning smell comparable to firecrackers that had been blown up in the air. The Giant Kite moved forward, flowing along with the river current, decorations with dragon shapes all over its body resembling totems from time and time, bringing with it a demonic aura.

Chang Geng was watching the Giant Kite attentively from the crowd. Even though he said that he didn’t want to come and he had seen Giant Kite return many times, but when facing real goods, he was still stunned by the impressive size of the ship.

Even the North Patrol Unit is already this strong, then national weapons 一 three camps of Black Iron Camp 一 what kind of power will they see?

This young man who was confined in a remote and narrow corner of Yanhui city could not imagine it no matter how hard he tried.

The Giant Kite approached, a heat wave from the blazing fins that had been extinguished blew on someone’s face. Chang Geng involuntarily went to catch the person next to him and said, “Giant Kite has arrived, there are too many people here, let’s step back a little.”

But no answer came, he reached for thin air. Chang Geng turned around and found that his troublesome Yifu had disappeared.

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