Chapter 5 Crouching Tiger

Chapter 5 Crouching Tiger

Chapter 5 Crouching Tiger
Chen Yuan followed Zhao Shan into the room and looked around carefully.

This courtyard has a large patio and a flat ground with several stone locks placed randomly.

There is an old locust tree on the east side of the yard. It has lush branches and leaves and a broad crown that covers half of the sky and casts a large green shade.

There was a stone table and a wooden weapon rack under the tree. There were only two weapons on the rack, a knife and a gun.

There are only two houses in the yard, one of which is the main house with a half-open door. A large water jar is placed under the eaves, and next to it are buckets, brooms, dustpans, mops and other miscellaneous items.

To the west is a smaller wing with its door closed.

Zhao Shan pointed to the wing room:
"Junior Brother Chen, you will live in this room from now on. I have to go back to serve Master. Please clean up first."

Chen Yuan smiled honestly and said gratefully:
"Okay, thank you for your care, Senior Brother!"

After Zhao Shan left, the smile on Chen Yuan's face slowly faded.

He closed the courtyard gate, thought for a moment, then bolted it from the inside before walking into the wing room.

The wing room must have been unoccupied for a long time, and the furniture in the room was covered with dust.

Chen Yuan put down his bag, went to the door of the main house, picked up the tools, and started cleaning.

There was not much furniture in the room, only a wooden bed, a cabinet, a square table, two short stools and a toilet.

The bed was empty, without any bedding or pillows, and the cupboard was also empty. There was only a candlestick, a teapot, and two upside-down ceramic bowls on the square table.

Fortunately, the toilet was very clean and there was no dirt.

In less than quarter of an hour, Chen Yuan cleaned the room thoroughly.

He pondered for a moment and cleaned the main room carefully again.

There were more pieces of furniture in the main house, but Zhao Shan was a rough man and usually didn't take much care of it, so the furnishings in the house were messy and there was a lot of old dirt in the corners.

Chen Yuan did not change the layout of the furniture in the main room, nor did he touch Zhao Shan's cabinets and bed. He just cleaned up the dirt on the surface.

Afterwards, he put the stone locks in the yard in order and swept away the loose dust on the ground.

Chen Yuan was strong and sturdy, and the work was not heavy, so in less than an hour, the courtyard was completely renewed.

Then he opened the door, moved a short stool, sat at the stone table, and waited silently for Zhao Shan to come back.

……

At dusk, when Chen Yuan was getting bored of waiting, Zhao Shan walked in with a big bag.

Chen Yuan stood up to greet him and said:

"Brother, you're back."

Zhao Shan placed the bundle on the stone table, looked around, and said in surprise:
"Did you clean all this?"

Chen Yuan smiled and said:
"I cleaned up the side room and cleaned other places as well."

Zhao Shan entered the main room and took a look, praising:

"Yes, it looks much cleaner. I didn't expect you to be so meticulous in your work."

Chen Yuan scratched his head and smiled innocently:

"My mother said that I don't know anything but I have a lot of strength. I have to work hard so that my boss can teach me real skills. Brother, you teach me martial arts, so you should be my boss, right? I'm afraid you think I'm lazy and won't teach me well."

Zhao Shan shook his head and laughed, but his gaze towards Chen Yuan became softer, and he said:
"Master has given the order, so I will teach you martial arts well... But why didn't you clean the cabinet and the bed?"

Chen Yuan waved his hand:
"My mother said that we must not touch the owner's things."

Zhao Shan nodded slightly, a look of satisfaction on his face, and pointed to the bundle on the stone table:
"Here are the bedding, clothes, and daily necessities I brought back for you, saving you the trouble of making another trip."

Chen Yuan unpacked the bundle, revealing a thin quilt and pillow, two sets of yellow cotton shorts, a wooden plaque with four Chinese characters engraved on it, a food box, and a white cloth towel.

He took these things back to the room, spread out the bedding, changed into a yellow cotton short coat, hung the wooden plaque around his waist, put the coarse cloth bag containing the jade pendant close to his body, and returned to the courtyard.

Zhao Shan looked him up and down and said with a smile:

"I don't know the exact size, so I picked two larger ones. How do you feel?"

"It fits me perfectly, thank you, Senior Brother!"

"These are summer clothes. We will give you two sets of winter clothes and beddings in winter. You will have to pick them up by yourself when the time comes... Come on, take the lunch box, and I will take you to get food."

Zhao Shan locked the gate and led Chen Yuan through two alleys into a courtyard.

There were three large houses in the courtyard, all with chimneys on their roofs, from which rose wisps of smoke. There were several large tables lined up in a row in the courtyard, with several wooden barrels filled with food on them.

Several servants wearing coarse cloth aprons were serving meals to a dozen gray-clad apprentices standing in line. From time to time, a few servants came out of the house and poured the steaming hot meals into wooden barrels.

A fat middle-aged man in a silk robe watched the servants serving rice to the apprentices and shouted from time to time:

"Hurry up! Don't be lazy! Where are the coarse flour cakes? Bring some more..."

When Zhao Shan and Chen Yuan walked in, the fat man smiled and nodded to Zhao Shan:

"Commander Zhao is here. What would you like to eat today?"

Zhao Shan clasped his fists and saluted:

"Manager Sun is here too. I'll still be the same as always. Just give me some more white flour cakes and stewed meat."

The obese man smiled heartily:
"Okay! Xiaoliu, come here and fill up Commander Zhao's food box. Ten white flour cakes, two large bowls of stewed meat, and a small bowl of vegetables!"

Under the envious gazes of the gray-clad apprentices, a young servant walked over quickly, took the food box from Zhao Shan with both hands, and turned to go into the house.

The wooden barrels in the yard were filled with coarse flour cakes and stews with very little oil and water, with only a little meat.

The gray-clothed apprentice was holding a ceramic bowl instead of a food box. Everyone had a fixed amount of food, just a bowl of stew and two coarse flour cakes. They couldn't eat whatever they wanted like Zhao Shan.

After Manager Sun gave his instructions to the servants, all the gray-clad apprentices greeted Zhao Shan enthusiastically:
"Brother Zhao, long time no see!"

"Brother Zhao, thanks to your help last time, I didn't get punished. If you need anything in the future, just tell me!" Zhao Shan smiled and clasped his fists in return, without any airs at all.

Manager Sun smiled and said:
"Commander Zhao is so popular!"

Zhao Shan smiled and said:

"I just helped a few brothers a little bit, it's nothing."

Chen Yuan's heart moved. It seemed that his senior brother was a kind-hearted person.

Manager Sun smiled, turned to look at Chen Yuan, and asked:

"Who is this……"

Zhao Shan said:

"This is Chen Erniu, the new disciple my master accepted today. Brother Chen, this is Steward Sun who is in charge of the kitchen."

Chen Yuan imitated Zhao Shan, clasped his fists and saluted:
"Erniu has met Steward Sun."

Manager Sun cupped his hands and said with a smile:

"So you are also the disciple of Manager Li, so you are not an outsider. Brother Chen, just tell me what you want to eat."

Chen Yuan smiled embarrassedly:
"I have a big appetite..."

Manager Sun waved his hand nonchalantly:
"Don't be polite, Brother Chen. Eat as much as you want!"

Chen Yuan smiled and said:
"Then thank you, Steward Sun."

He called Xiaoliu who was coming out of the house, handed him the lunch box, and said:

"Big brother, please help me pack five white flour cakes, two large bowls of stewed meat, and a bowl of vegetables."

Xiaoliu was flattered and quickly took the food box:

"I don't deserve it. I'll serve it to you right away!"

A strange look flashed across Manager Sun's eyes:
"Brother Chen's appetite is indeed not small."

Zhao Shan explained:
"Manager Sun, you may not know that my junior brother has supernatural powers, so it is normal for him to eat a lot."

Only then did Manager Sun realize.

Not long after, Xiaoliu walked out of the house and handed the food box to Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan took the lunch box, opened the lid, took a deep breath, and revealed an intoxicated expression:

"It smells so good! Brother, can I eat meat every day from now on? This is better than what we eat during Chinese New Year!"

Before Zhao Shan could answer, Manager Sun laughed and said:
"Haha, don't worry, Brother Chen. Not only will you have meat to eat every day, but you'll also have meat for every meal."

Zhao Shan said rather embarrassedly:
"I'm sorry to make you laugh, Manager Sun. Junior Brother Chen was born into a farming family. He lived a poor life in the past and has never seen much of the world..."

Manager Sun smiled and said:
"It's okay, Brother Chen is very straightforward and speaks his mind directly. He suits my temperament very well, haha!"

Chen Yuan scratched his head and looked at Zhao Shan embarrassedly:

"Brother, did I say something wrong..."

Zhao Shan shook his head:
"Let's go. This is not your fault. I'll explain it to you in detail when we get back."

……

The two men carried the food boxes and returned to the yard where they lived.

Zhao Shan put the food box on the stone table, and Chen Yuan took the initiative to go to the side room and bring out another short stool and placed it next to the stone table.

Zhao Shan sat down and opened the lunch box:

"Junior brother, you are much smarter when you work than when you talk."

Chen Yuan sat down opposite him and said with a silly smile:

"My mother said the same thing. She said that I'm stupid and can't talk. I just work hard. I need my senior brother to give me more advice."

Zhao Shan smiled and said:

"Then I will tell you about our Baibingtang's affairs..."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed and he listened carefully.

Zhao Shan opened the lunch box and said as he ate:
"Our Baibingtang has a great history. It is a branch of Baibingtang under the Fuhu Gang in the county city, which is located in Leping County. We are responsible for the ironware business in Leping County. The county's garrison troops, landlords, shops and farmers all come to buy ironware from our branch."

"Brother, what is the Fu Hu Gang?"

"The Fuhu Gang is one of the two major gangs in Yuzhou. It is very powerful, with thousands of members. It has three major branches: Baibing Hall, Shennong Hall, and Law Enforcement Hall. The leader, Luo Zhenwu, is a famous master of Huajin in Yuzhou, with unparalleled martial arts skills. My biggest dream is to join the main gang, learn advanced martial arts, and break through the inner strength!"

Zhao Shan's eyes were filled with longing, and he did not hide his ambitions in front of the innocent boy Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan said:

"Brother is so capable, there will definitely be no problem!"

Zhao Shan shook his head:
"My martial arts skills have only reached the bone refining stage, there is still a long way to go..."

"Bone refining?"

Zhao Shan explained:
"The realms of martial arts, from low to high, are divided into skin refining, bone refining, marrow refining, internal strength, Gang strength, transformation strength, and innate strength. I have been practicing martial arts for four years and have just broken through to bone refining. I am still a long way from internal strength."

Chen Yuan said nervously:
"Is it so difficult to practice martial arts? Then what level do I have to reach in order to save enough money to build a house and marry a wife?"

Zhao Shan stuffed a piece of stewed meat into his mouth and said:

"Brother, don't worry. You have divine power, which shows that your physical strength is not low. As long as you practice diligently, you should be able to do it smoothly before refining your marrow. It won't be difficult to get married, but it will be difficult if you go beyond that."

(End of this chapter)