Early the next morning, Shen Lang was fully dressed and energetic, striding to the county government office at Dianmao.
When he saw Zhu Hu and Lao Zhao, he had a cheerful face and greeted them without any grudge, as if the indignation in the teahouse yesterday did not exist.
Seeing him like this, Zhu Hu felt relieved, but he felt a little disappointed.
It was as if Shen Lang saw himself from many years ago——
The young man is passionate, and when he hears injustice, he becomes filled with righteous indignation. He wishes he could draw his sword in anger and kill all the injustice.
But this youthful spirit was soon ruthlessly suppressed by reality, and I had to calm down and live in peace...
So after an afternoon and a whole night of thinking, Shen Lang has come to understand the reality and the pros and cons?
As a seventeen-year-old boy, do you want to be so realistic?
Zhu Hu had a complicated smile on his lips. He felt quite uncomfortable when he saw Shen Lang laughing and chatting with his colleagues in the yamen, as if he wanted to mingle with everyone and make money in harmony.
At this time, Lao Zhao walked to him with his arms crossed and lowered his voice:
"I feel like that kid is holding something evil in his heart."
Zhu Hu was startled:
"What's the meaning?"
Lao Zhao hugged his chest with one hand, scraped the stubble on his chin with the other, and murmured in a low voice:
"Well... I can't say that he is holding back the 'evil', but I feel that what the boy is thinking is different from what he shows on face."
Zhu Hu was shocked:
"Old Zhao, what are you talking about in such a blabbering manner? Why can't I see it?"
Lao Zhao raised his hand and patted Zhu Hu on the shoulder, and said meaningfully:
"Xiao Zhu, you are still young and your eyesight is a bit shallow. I, Lao Zhao, are ten years older than you. I have been practicing in Gongmen for more than ten years. I have seen more people and things than you. You can't tell it. I can see that this is normal."
Zhu Hu snorted:
"You are ten years older than me, and you have been practicing in Gongmen for more than ten years, but your martial arts skills are not much better than mine. Aren't you just like me, just a seventh-level warrior?"
"Hey, can't you, kid, have some moral integrity? When I was a kid, my family was so poor that I couldn't get rid of it. When I was thirteen or fourteen years old, I could only live half full. My body didn't grow well, and my bones were so weak. I can cultivate to the seventh level, you should admire my talent!"
"..."
After chatting with Lao Zhao for a while, Zhu Hu took Shen Lang to patrol the streets again.
Along the way, Shen Lang was still talking and laughing with Zhu Hu. Just like yesterday morning, this behavior made Zhu Hu feel even weirder.
So the boy in the teahouse yesterday who complained about injustice and was filled with righteous indignation was just an illusion of my old Zhu?
Or is this kid really, as Lao Zhao said, harboring something "evil" in his heart?
The patrol in the morning was still the same as yesterday, wandering from the street to the end of the alley, and then from the end of the alley to the street, doing nothing like two people wandering around.
At noon, Shen Lang threw a silver dollar and invited Zhu Hu to have a banquet at the restaurant.
During the dinner, Shen Lang repeatedly asked for drinks, and every time he drank first as a sign of respect.
While he was drinking heavily, he suddenly asked casually:
"How is Young Master Zhao's martial arts?"
Zhu Hu was slightly startled, and glanced at Shen Lang subtly. Seeing that his eyes were the same, only curious. It seemed that he was asking purely out of curiosity, so he pondered for a while and said slowly:
"Although Young Master Zhao seems to be only at the seventh level of martial arts, you should know that there is a huge difference in strength between warriors of the same realm... Let's put it this way, if I don't use a musket, but just use a knife to fight him, I'm afraid it will be very difficult. Once the recruitment is over, I can hold a banquet at my house and collect contributions."
"But that's not strong! You need ten moves to beat Brother Zhu... Well, I'm sorry, Brother Zhu, I'm not saying you are weak, it's just..."
"Okay, okay, you don't need to comfort me. Weakness is weak. That's why I have to practice musketry!"
"However, given Young Master Zhao's family background, he would have been able to use a medicated bath that cost five yuan or more even when he was a child. Other expensive tonics would certainly be indispensable. But even so, he still needs ten tricks to take a bath.
Defeating you, Brother Zhu, shows that his talent is far inferior to that of Brother Zhu."
"Haha, who says it's not the case? The one with the surname Zhao has very dull martial arts qualifications. If I had his family background and the training resources, I would have been ranked in the sixth rank, or even the fifth rank. There might even be hope for the fourth rank.
…”
Anyway, they were drinking heavily in a private room and boasting, and with Shen Lang as the only audience member, Zhu Hu was not afraid of having his bullshit exposed.
It's impossible for someone to deliberately spend a huge amount of resources to expose his lies, right?
Shen Lang sighed:
"The seventh level of martial arts is a big threshold. To practice the breathing and breathing methods of the internal organs, resources alone are not enough. If you don't have the understanding and master the advanced breathing methods, the internal organs will not be tempered properly, and you will not be able to cultivate your internal strength.
"Even if you can barely cultivate your internal strength, it will only be superficial and crude. It will be good if you can just temper the Ren Du Second Meridian and achieve the Small Zhoutian Cycle..."
Zhu Hu nodded sympathetically:
"Brother Shen, you are right. Martial arts practice, physical strength and bones, and the strength of meridians are all important, but this understanding is also indispensable.
"The seventh-level breathing method, the sixth-level inner strength method, the fifth-level mental method of releasing internal energy, the fourth-level mental method of condensing true energy... which one does not require understanding? If you don't have enough understanding, you can't master it at all.
Deep mental skills.
"Brother, I actually have enough understanding. It's a pity that my family background is not good and I can't learn profound mental techniques. That's why I haven't been able to achieve great success in 'refining the viscera'. That bastard named Zhao has neither the cultivation resources nor the profound knowledge."
His mental skills, abilities, and understanding are all useless. He is about the same age as me, but he has not even cultivated his inner strength. It is a waste of resources..."
After bragging for a while, after eating and drinking, Shen Lang asked for leave again:
"I wish you all the best, brother, if nothing happens in the afternoon, I will go home and rest! It's really hot today. I always feel a little nauseous and want to vomit. I'm afraid it's heatstroke."
Heat stroke?
If you drink two kilograms in one meal, will you feel sick and not want to vomit?
By the way, although you were recommended to work in the yamen through a letter written by Mr. Mu personally, but you have been absent from work for the first two days of work. Do you think you don't take the work of the yamen seriously?
Zhu Hu complained in his heart, glanced at Shen Lang with a subtle expression, and still said yes without hesitation:
"Since you have heat stroke, let's go back and have a good rest."
"Hey, thank you for your understanding, brother!"
After leaving the restaurant, Shen Lang went to the drugstore and spent twenty-five silver dollars to buy five medicated bath bags.
This medicated bath bag is indeed expensive, but the effect is excellent and it is worth the money. It doesn't matter if it is more expensive.
After buying the medicated bath bag, I went shopping again and wanted to buy a fish tank for the little fish.
By the way, last night - to be precise, it should be around three or four o'clock this morning - we took the gunpowder and went home with Xiao Zhao, but they were strongly protested by Xiao Yu who stayed at home.
It protested against Shen Lang's partiality, taking only cats and no fish when going out for a night out. It protested against Xiao Zhao's charming waiter and vicious competition.
In short, he was dissatisfied that Shen Lang never took him out.
Shen Lang said, "Well, you are a fish and you can't stay out of the water now. Even if I want to take you out, I can't, right?"
Otherwise, when I go out in the future, I will put you in a big water tank and put you in a fine pen space?
Xiaoyu said no.
It means not to stay in the Dianjingbi space, but to be like Xiao Zhao, to show your head outside, see the scenery outside at any time, and talk to him at any time.
Shen Lang had no choice but to promise that he would buy a fish tank for him today and try to take him with him when he went out.
No, in order to fulfill his promise, Shen Lang came to the street to look for goods.
It's a pity that I visited all the county markets, no matter whether it was a grocery store, a jewelry store, a fish stall, or a flower and bird market, I couldn't find a glass fish tank——
It is said that it is already the Age of Discovery, flintlock muskets have also appeared, and there are still Taoist priests and wizards who are skilled in weapon refining. Transparent glass should have been available long ago.
The reason why you can’t find a glass fish tank may be because glass is relatively expensive now and no one uses it as a fish tank?
Or maybe Changsheng County is a small place without many new things?
In short, I couldn't buy a glass fish tank, so Shen Hai finally had to buy a large pottery basin to make up for it.
Although this large pottery basin is opaque, small fish can still float their heads out of the water, so it should be fine to see the scenery, right?
[Two consecutive posts every day, don’t you guys vote more? 】