Chapter 3 Leaving Home
Chapter 3 Leaving Home
After Chen Yuan finished chopping wood, Chen Tiezhu told him that he wanted to send him to the county to be an apprentice.
Chen Yuan was mentally prepared and agreed very sensibly.
The next morning, Chen Tiezhu invited Chen Laoer, who had not yet returned to the county, to his home to discuss the matter.
Chen Laoer is a thin man in his thirties, with a shrewd look on his face.
Maybe it was because he accepted the twenty cents from Chen Tiezhu, but his attitude was quite enthusiastic:
"Brother Tiezhu, I watched Erniu grow up. He is a good kid, honest, and strong. I have decided to take him to Baibing Hall. It will be a good choice for him. Don't worry..."
Chen Tiezhu asked:
"What kind of shop is this Baibingtang?"
Chen Laoer explained:
"Bai Bing Tang is the largest blacksmith shop in the county, with hundreds of blacksmiths. Every year, they recruit thirty or forty apprentices. Even the county garrison goes to Bai Bing Tang to buy weapons. Er Niu is very strong. If he goes to Bai Bing Tang, as long as he works hard and learns the craft, he will definitely be able to make a name for himself."
Chen Tiezhu finally felt relieved and said to Chen Yuan beside him:
"Erniu, follow your uncle Erhua to the county tomorrow. You must be obedient along the way and don't cause trouble for your uncle Erhua."
Chen Yuan smiled and said:
"Uncle Erhua, I will do whatever you tell me to do."
Chen Laoer nodded with a smile and stretched out his hand to pinch Chen Yuan's arm:
"Good young man, I haven't seen you for a few years. You have become stronger and stronger. Baibingtang likes to recruit apprentices with great strength. I'm sure you will be no problem!"
When Chen Yuan heard this, his eyes flickered slightly, but he still maintained a simple smile on his face.
……
Chen Laoer and Chen Tiezhu agreed on the time to pick up Chen Yuan the next day and then left.
Chen Li packed Chen Yuan's luggage and prepared a set of linen clothes, a pair of coarse cloth shoes, and three coarse flour cakes.
Perhaps because these things seemed too shabby, Chen Li secretly gave Chen Yuan another thirty cents.
Chen Yuan refused:
"Mom, I can't take this money."
Chen Li forced the copper coin into Chen Yuan's hand:
"You have a big appetite. If you can't eat enough at your boss's shop, just buy two coarse flour cakes. Don't buy white flour cakes. They are too expensive..."
Chen Li kept talking non-stop.
Chen Yuan was not impatient at all. He just listened quietly, feeling a warm feeling in his heart.
……
That night, Chen Yuan's brother Chen Daniu also returned home.
Chen Daniu is sixteen years old this year. Since last year, he has been working as a long-term worker in the home of Chen Rongcai, the only landlord in Chenjia Village. He also lives in Chen Rongcai's farm on weekdays.
Chen Tiezhu rushed to inform him today that Chen Yuan was going to the city to be an apprentice, so he took leave and went home.
After hearing about this, Chen Rongcai not only agreed to let Chen Daniu take leave to go home, but also asked him to bring back a box of fried vegetables and two white flour pancakes as a farewell gift for Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan only ate one white flour pancake, and almost all the fried dishes went into his younger sister's stomach.
In Chen Yuan’s previous life, these were the cheapest food sold at street stalls, but now, they are delicacies that the Chen family can only eat a few times a year.
Before going to bed, Chen Daniu quietly gave Chen Yuan a hundred coins:
"Erniu, this is what I saved this year, you can use it."
Chen Yuan refused:
"Brother, you still need to save money to build a house and marry a wife. I can't accept this money."
Chen Daniu stuffed the money into Chen Yuan's hand and said:
"When I asked for leave today, Master Chen told me that a poor family is rich on the road. I think that makes sense. You are away from home, so you have to spend a lot of money. I eat and live in the master's house, so I have to spend less money. You can take it..."
Chen Yuan no longer refused and took the heavy hundred copper coins.
Chen Daniu smiled innocently and said:
"Go to bed. You have to get up early tomorrow to travel."
After saying that, he closed his eyes and lay down. After a while, he began to snore loudly.
Chen Yuan lay on the bed, but he was not sleepy at all. He stared at the old wooden beam above his head, sighed softly, and then slowly closed his eyes.
……
The next morning, Chen Yuan got up early and ate three coarse flour cakes for the first time. He hid the coarse cloth bag containing the jade pendant close to his body, put on his simple luggage, and waited for Chen Laoer to arrive.
My younger sister just found out this morning that her beloved second brother was going to the county to be an apprentice and would not be back for a long time. She lost all the joy she had yesterday when she ate white flour cakes and fried dishes, and her face was covered with tears.
"Brother, please don't leave, wuwu, I can't bear to leave you..."
Chen Yuan squatted down, stroked the top of his little sister's head, and said softly:
"My dear little sister, I'm going to make a lot of money. When I come back, I'll buy you some white flour cakes, pork belly, and white cakes, okay?"
The younger sister grabbed the corner of Chen Yuan's clothes tightly, sniffed, and said:
"Really?"
"Really? When has my second brother ever lied to you?"
The younger sister pursed her lips and said:
"Then you can't be gone for too long. When I miss you, you have to come back to tell me stories and coax me to sleep..."
Chen Yuan said softly:
"Okay, second brother will listen to you. You should listen to your parents at home."
The little sister slowly let go of her hand:
"Well, I'm obedient. You must bring back white flour cakes, pork belly, and white cakes..."
Chen Yuan comforted his little sister, and Chen Lao Er also arrived. He walked into the open courtyard door and greeted:
"Erniu, let's go! Brother Tiezhu, sister-in-law, the journey to the county is long, we will set off now." Chen Yuan hugged his little sister, slowly stood up, and swept his eyes over his family members one by one, saying:
"Dad, Mom, Big Brother, I'm leaving now. You don't have to worry about me. If I have any problems in the future, I will ask Uncle Erhua to bring back a letter."
Chen Lao Er was stunned, then nodded and said:
"That's the truth."
Chen Yuan took one last lingering look at his younger sister, then his eyes turned resolute and he followed Chen Lao Er and got on the donkey cart.
“Oh—”
The driver waved his whip, and the gray donkey let out a long neigh, clattered with the sound of hooves, and walked away into the distance.
Behind him, the family stretched their necks and looked into the distance at the direction where the donkey cart was going away.
The donkey cart went farther and farther away, and Chen Yuan's figure became smaller and smaller.
The little sister suddenly broke free from Chen Daniu's hand and ran after the donkey cart, crying:
"Brother, don't go..."
The crying sound floated over with the breeze. Chen Yuan trembled and waved his hand, but never looked back.
……
The dirt road in the countryside was difficult to travel on, and the donkey cart took three hours to reach the county town near noon.
Looking at the crowded streets in front of him, Chen Yuan felt as if he was in another world.
He has never left Chenjia Village in the past three years, and today is his first time to enter the city.
Although the prosperity before his eyes was not worth mentioning in Chen Yuan's eyes, in order not to arouse Chen Laoer's suspicion, he still pretended to be a country boy who had never seen the world and found everything new and interesting.
On the way to the county town, he chatted with Chen Laoer all the way and finally got to know the world outside Chenjia Village.
Before this, he only knew that the mountain range near Chenjia Village was called the Chimang Mountains, where bandits were rampant, and that the county town was called Leping County.
Only today did he learn from Chen Laoer that the Chimang Mountains are over ten thousand miles long, running across most of the State of Qi, with only eight passable roads. Every year, a large number of caravans pass through it, which also feeds a large number of bandits.
Leping County belongs to Xin'an County of Yuzhou. It is adjacent to Yuanping Pass, one of the Eight Passes of Chimang, and connects Yuzhou and Qingzhou. It has been a prosperous gathering place for business and travel since ancient times.
Chen Laoer introduces apprentices to shops in Leping County every year. He has long been accustomed to Chen Yuan's performance and introduces shops along the street:
"This is Fenglelou, the best restaurant in the county. Their golden tripe soup is famous far and wide... This is Xinshenghao, the largest cloth shop in Leping County..."
Chen Yuan cooperated very well and exclaimed repeatedly, which further stimulated Chen Laoer's interest in talking and allowed Chen Yuan to have a deeper understanding of Leping County.
Halfway through the journey, Chen Lao Er bought three meat patties for six copper coins on the street and handed them to Chen Yuan:
"When Baibing Hall recruits apprentices later, there will be a test that will take a lot of effort. You should fill your stomach first."
Chen Yuan took the pancake and said with a silly smile:
"Thank you, Uncle Erhua."
Chen Laoer smiled and touched Chen Yuan's head:
"Good boy, once you enter the Hundred Weapons Hall, you must be sensible and careful in what you do, and don't anger the boss..."
While eating the meat pie, Chen Yuan listened carefully to Chen Laoer sharing his experience as an apprentice.
After Chen Yuan finished eating the meat pie, the two came to a large courtyard complex in the east of the city. Facing the street was a huge storefront with three words written on the plaque, and various ironwares were placed inside.
Chen Yuan was illiterate, but he knew that this should be the Baibing Hall.
Chen Laoer led Chen Yuan in through a nearby gate, turned into an alley with familiarity, and came to a courtyard.
Several young men around sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing the same style of grey coarse cloth short jackets, were guarding the gate of the courtyard.
A dozen middle-aged men like Chen Laoer lined up in the alley about ten steps away from the courtyard gate, leading a boy of twelve or thirteen years old, and entered the courtyard one by one.
After a while, some of the middle-aged men walked out alone, holding a cloth bag in their hands, with excited expressions on their faces, while others still came back with the young man, with grim expressions on their faces.
But no matter success or failure, everyone remained quiet and no one dared to make a noise.
Gradually, fewer and fewer teenagers were waiting for the test. Chen Laoer leaned over and whispered in Chen Yuan's ear:
"Erniu, the test later will ask you to move iron materials. You can move as much as you can, understand?"
Chen Yuan nodded gently:
"I understand, Uncle Erhua."
After waiting for a while, it was finally their turn. Chen Laoer smiled apologetically to the young men guarding the gate and led Chen Yuan into the yard.
The courtyard has a vast patio with a small mountain of black iron materials piled up on the left. The main door is open without a threshold, and the inside is also filled with black iron materials.
On the right side of the patio was an armchair, in which sat a man in his thirties, tall and thin, with a goatee, dressed in a silk robe, a ring on his left hand, and a dignified look.
Two young men in yellow cotton short coats stood beside the man, with their hands hanging down.
On the right side of the armchair sat an accountant with a small table in front of him, writing and drawing on a register.
After Chen Lao Er entered the room, he immediately pulled Chen Yuan and bowed deeply to the man in silk clothes, saying respectfully:
"I am Chen Erhua, nice to meet Manager Li!"
Manager Li nodded slightly, said nothing, and just waved his right hand.
The tall, gloomy-eyed young man in yellow on his right immediately said to Chen Yuan:
"I'll give you a quarter of an hour to move the iron materials to the warehouse. If you can move three pieces, you will be an apprentice of Baibingtang!"
(End of this chapter)