Liu Zhentian looked at the reserved Zhang Cong in front of him and said to Aunt Cuihua: "Second sister, can this boy do any activities? I see that he is not even a heavy sack?"
Before Aunt Cuihua could speak, Zhang Cong said quickly: "Don't worry, sir. Although I am a little thin, I have been working since I was a child, planting land and cutting down trees. I have grown even a big tree from the mountain."
If you don’t believe me, ask Aunt Cuihua?”
Liu Zhentian looked at Aunt Cuihua with a suspicious look on her face. Aunt Cuihua nodded: "Zhentian, what Erhu said is right. The mountain people are not like your apprentices. They have to rely on strength to eat and carry things that weigh hundreds of kilograms."
It's common to get up and walk dozens of miles on mountain roads. If you really need to work, Erhu is an honest boy."
Liu Zhentian nodded and shouted: "Liu Ping, take Erhu to the back to wash up, find clean clothes, and find some food. After tidying up, let him clean the back hall."
A tall young man responded and led Zhang Cong to the backyard.
Sister-in-law Wang suddenly interrupted and said: "Master, let the Erhu live in the house. There is a lot of moving and carrying work in the yard. Several of the men are too old to do it. I think the Erhu people are also honest."
, and we are related to the second lady, so we shouldn’t care about the wages.”
Liu Zhentian glanced at Aunt Cuihua, who nodded: "This child's parents are gone, so he will stay in the house to feed himself and be a domestic servant."
After finishing speaking, he stood up and led Xiao Hua away. Liu Zhentian shouted from behind: "Second sister, if you need anything, tell me and don't see anyone outside."
Aunt Cuihua hummed without looking back and walked out of the martial arts hall.
Zhang Cong finished washing up and ate some steamed buns. It was only when he got to the back hall that he realized why so many servants were gone. The back hall was as big as an acre of land, and there were logs standing there. Many of the logs had been chopped down.
It was in a mess, with broken wood piles and sawdust all over the floor. Cleaning it was not only tiring, but also very troublesome.
Zhang Cong held a large broom and stood on the ground waiting for Liu Ping to leave, then picked up the broom and started sweeping.
Of course, Zhang Cong didn't feel tired. He swept out the infuriating energy with the broom. Not to mention the rotten wood piles, not even a speck of dust was left on the ground. He quickly swept the entire ground clean, and then stood in the back hall and looked around.
, and soon he understood how Liu Zhentian's sword skills were practiced.
Bury thick wooden stakes in the ground, and then chop and stab with a sword. It seems clumsy, but it is actually an immediate method. Every sword mark is visible to the naked eye, and it has good effects on accuracy, strength, and body skills.
exercise.
For ordinary people who do not cultivate Zhenqi, swordsmanship that is fast, accurate, and erratic is indeed considered a very advanced swordsmanship.
There are many tools for sword practice such as hanging coins and candlesticks in the back hall. It seems that Liu Zhentian is really obsessed with sword practice.
Just as Zhang Cong was looking at these tools, a little girl suddenly walked in from the front hall, holding a sword in her hand, and walked directly towards Zhang Cong.
This girl was about fifteen or sixteen years old, a little taller than Xiao Hua, and looked a bit like Xiao Hua. Zhang Cong immediately thought that this girl was probably Xiao Hua's cousin Liu Dan.
The girl stood opposite Zhang Cong and looked carefully. Zhang Cong was puzzled. Suddenly the girl smiled and asked: "Are you a fellow villager of Sister Xiaohua? Are you from that Ganoderma lucidum village?"
Zhang Cong nodded quickly: "Yes, Miss, I am Aunt Cuihua's neighbor, my name is Erhu, who are you?"
The girl covered her mouth and smiled: "I am Xiaohua's cousin, the daughter of Master Liu of the martial arts school. My name is Liu Dan. You don't have to be so polite. To give you what you have, just call me Liu Dan."
Zhang Cong quickly bowed and saluted: "You can't do this, miss. I'm a servant. I can't be so rude. If the master is unhappy, he will drive me away."
Liu Dan smiled and shook his head, and suddenly asked: "Do you know Sister Xiaohua's fiancé? What kind of person is he?"
Zhang Cong was stunned, thought for a while and said: "You mean Zhang Cong? Of course we know each other. We are from the same village. His parents have long since died. He lived with his grandma. Later, his grandma also passed away, so he lived alone.
, he is a nice person, but his family is in trouble and he doesn’t have much money.”
Liu Dan nodded: "I'm very curious, why does my cousin like a poor and ordinary countryman? And she still keeps waiting for him without changing her mind?"
Zhang Cong felt sad. Through the words of the little girl Liu Dan, he could understand that the Liu family was very opposed to Xiaohua's marriage to him, and even despised Xiaohua for marrying him. He couldn't help but say:
"Miss, we country people are different from you. Our feelings are very simple and our love is very simple. As long as we are in love, we will stay together for life. Just like Aunt Cuihua, Xiaohua's father has been dead for so long.
She would rather take care of Xiaohua alone than looking for a man, which shows how loyal she is to her relationship."
Liu Dan shook his head: "My aunt was very stupid. She actually eloped with a servant back then. It is said that at that time, all the betrothal gifts of the Guan family in the town were paid, and the young master of the Guan family was still an official in the royal city.
Regardless of such good conditions, we eloped with a servant. This incident made our Liu family a joke in Panlong Town. Moreover, my father, who was supposed to go to the royal city to be an official, was implicated and lost his job because of this incident.
Almost all those who enter the royal city."
Zhang Cong's heart moved and he couldn't help but ask: "Miss, this happened decades ago, how do you know?"
Liu Dan glanced at Zhang Cong: "Of course it was my mother who told me? Everyone in the government knows about this, how can it be false?"
Zhang Cong said nothing and continued to sweep the floor with a broom. Liu Dan suddenly asked: "Is that Zhang Cong still alive? Why don't you come to see my sister?"
Zhang Cong answered while sweeping the floor: "It should be alive, otherwise the Wang family would not send people to Ganoderma lucidum village to cause trouble, and we would not leave our hometown."
Liu Dan nodded and said no more. He unsheathed his sword and started practicing in front of a wooden stake. Although he was young, he still played well. Zhang Cong glanced at it without saying anything and put the broken pieces in a big basket.
Take the wood and carry it out.
"It seems that the Liu Mansion is still brooding about what happened to Aunt Cuihua. No wonder Xiaohua and her daughter are having a hard time. It seems that we really need to find an opportunity to take them out of the Liu Mansion."
Zhang Cong carried the big bamboo basket and walked out, thinking about it, when he suddenly bumped into a man walking towards him, and the sawdust in the basket suddenly scattered all over the floor.
"Stupid country people, don't you have eyes when you walk?"
The person opposite opened his mouth to curse. Zhang Cong looked up and saw a thin and short boy, probably in his early twenties, staring at him.
Zhang Cong was so angry that he ignored him. He lowered his head to collect the sawdust on the ground, cleaned it up and left.
Unexpectedly, this kid blocked Zhang Cong and refused to let him pass. He kept cursing. At this time, Liu Dan's voice came from behind: "Wang Hui, have you had enough? Erhu is carrying such a heavy basket.
Do I have to make way for you? I don’t blame you for not being smart, you are honest enough, brother Erhu, ignore him, I will take you to take out the garbage."
While talking, Liu Dan came over and led Zhang Cong out, leaving Wang Hui standing in the doorway angrily and staring.
"Ignore him. Several of my father's apprentices are arrogant. They think they are so good at swordsmanship, as if they can now join the royal city and join the army as officials. The former workers were bullied away by them." Liu Dan said angrily.
Zhang Cong's heart moved: "Although this little girl is a bit snobbish, she has a good nature. I just don't know if she will change when she grows up."
After more than a dozen baskets of sawdust were collected, the back hall was finally cleaned. At this time, many of Liu Zhentian's apprentices came, and they all gathered in the back hall to practice swordsmanship.
Seeing that nothing happened, Zhang Cong said to Liu Zhentian: "Sir, Sister-in-law Wang said that there is still some moving work in the house. I am free now. Go and have a look. Don't delay the work in the house."
Liu Zhentian looked at the apprentice who was practicing swordsman and said hum. Zhang Cong saluted and turned around and ran to Liu's house.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Mrs. Liu instructing two old men to move the flower tree. The flower tree weighed two hundred kilograms in a large vat. The two old men's faces turned red and they could not move a few steps.
Seeing Zhang Cong coming, Mrs. Wang quickly shouted: "Er Hu, come here quickly and move these flowers and trees to a shady place."
Zhang Cong responded, walked over, picked up the vat with both hands, and placed it on the shady wall.
A dozen large tanks were moved in the blink of an eye. Mrs. Wang was so happy that she opened her mouth from ear to ear. She greeted Zhang Cong and walked to the back garden. As soon as she entered the yard, Zhang Cong's eyes widened. Xiaohua and Aunt Cuihua actually squatted down.
I was washing clothes by the well. There were three large tubs of clothes, and it looked like they were almost piled up.
When Mrs. Wang saw Zhang Cong standing still at the door, she backed away from him: "What are you thinking about, silly boy? Quickly move the flowers and trees in the backyard."
At this time, Xiaohua and Aunt Cuihua also saw Zhang Cong. Aunt Cuihua showed a hint of embarrassment on her face and lowered her head to continue washing clothes. Xiaohua looked at Zhang Cong with a smile on her face and didn't even wash her clothes.
At this moment, a middle-aged woman suddenly walked out of the main room, threw a few clothes to Xiaohua and cursed: "Like a nymphomaniac, your dead husband didn't come over, but when he saw this servant, he was also smiling happily, just like you
Mom is no different."
Zhang Cong got up in anger and walked to Xiaohua in a few steps. Just as he was about to open his mouth to curse, Aunt Cuihua stood up, grabbed Zhang Cong and said: "Erhu, come here to meet my wife, this is my younger brother and sister-in-law."
Mistress of the Liu Mansion, do you know that you should listen to your wife more in the future?"
Zhang Cong held back his anger, bowed to the woman, walked to the wall and started moving the flowers and trees, and it was all done in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Cong walked to Aunt Cuihua and said: "Aunt, let me wash it for you. I washed it very clean. After that, I squatted down and started to wash the clothes."
The woman frowned and suddenly cursed loudly: "Where did you come from, a wild boy who doesn't even have any rules? How dare you touch the clothes of the woman in the back house? Do you think this is the countryside? You can touch whoever you want.
?”
Zhang Cong's face darkened, and he stood up suddenly, about to get angry. Aunt Cuihua stopped him and said: "Erhu just came from the countryside, and he doesn't understand many rules. Don't argue with him. Xiaohua and I are better together."
Come on, Erhu, you can finish your work and go out, we are almost finished washing."
Zhang Cong decided not to do it this time. Originally, he didn't want the little girls to live here, but now he saw that the Liu family basically used the girls as servants, and they were even worse than servants. How could he endure this?
At this moment, a shout suddenly came from outside the garden: "What are you making noisy about? You can hear it outside, how is that inappropriate?"
