As the two contestants left, the spectators gathered around the ring slowly dispersed. There was not much fun in Lantian Pass, and the ring contest was an important way for residents to relax.
Although the martial arts competition is exciting, it is impossible to delay the work at hand because of it, especially when the whole family has to rely on food to make a living. The vendors have to go about their own business after watching the martial arts competition.
It's over.
Just like the bun shop next to Ergou. At this time, the shop owner was walking back from the edge of the ring with a smile. Before that, he had let his children take care of the stall, but little did he know that his children were also looking up.
Looking towards the other side of the ring, he had no time to take care of the business of the bun shop.
The fillings used in this steamed stuffed bun shop are beef and mutton. There is a grassland just outside the pass, so the most fat and strong cattle and sheep in Lantian Pass are the most fat and strong cattle and sheep. On the contrary, pork seems to be precious, and only the wealthy families and military men in the pass are here.
Only then can I afford it.
The buns in this bun shop are sold by the box or by the basket, but in general it is much more cost-effective to buy a basket at one time, ten coins per basket. The basket is not big but it is full of seven meat buns. The main reason is that the shop
There is also a sign hanging next to it, which clearly says "big fillings and thin crust!"
After touching his somewhat empty stomach, Ergou waited for the shop owner to come back, took out ten copper coins from his pocket, put them on the table and bought a basket of steamed buns. After talking to the boss, he walked towards the ring with the steamed buns in hand.
go.
When Jiang Ergou walked to the edge of the ring, the crowd had dispersed. He placed Baozi and the Bronze Sparrow Sword next to Baozi. Then he supported the ring with both hands and Ergou sat down firmly.
On the arena.
He clapped his hands, then took out a bun from the cage and threw it into his mouth. As soon as Ergou closed his mouth and took a bite, he could immediately feel a fragrant soup flowing into his mouth, followed by the taste of mutton and...
The saliva rolled together.
Since the buns had just come out of the oven, it was still a bit hot to eat. After chewing a few times, Ergou swallowed the mutton and bun wrappers together with the remaining soup in his mouth.
I have to say that it is really refreshing to have such a steaming bun in the already chilly weather.
And just when Ergou was about to continue enjoying the cage of meat buns, he suddenly felt a person sneaking up behind him. At first, he thought that this half-grown man was eyeing his meat buns and was waiting for him.
After getting closer, I realized that he was aiming at the Bronze Sparrow Sword!
"Uh-huh! Ahem! Ahem!"
Ergou pretended not to see it at first, but just when the boy was about to touch the bronze bird sword, he coughed again, which frightened the boy and quickly retracted his hand.
Seeing that his little move was discovered, the boy quickly calmed down after the initial panic, and walked to the other side of Ergou and sat down on the other side with his little hands behind his back.
"What's so great? It's just a sword! It's not like I haven't seen it before. Last year, those cavalrymen on the grassland were shouting outside the city gate, and the general Suibian in the city ordered them to shoot and kill more than a dozen of them, leaving behind
There are corpses and swords all over the ground, that is, the soldiers in the city are quick, otherwise, I will definitely be able to steal one myself!"
This boy who looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old seemed to want to talk to him in this way, but Ergou found it very interesting and deliberately ignored him, wanting to see what other tricks he had up his sleeve.
The boy first carefully glanced at the man with the sword in front of him, and after seeing that he had no reaction, he quietly swallowed and continued.
"You are really stingy. You don't look like a man in the world at all. Half a year ago, a sword-wielding hero came to our place to compete. After he won, he showed me his sword for a long time. He
He also said that if he comes here again in three years, he will teach me three moves of swordsmanship!"
Ergou had some thoughts of chatting up a conversation, but he still wanted to see if this kid had any experiences he could tell, so he suppressed his inner urge to speak.
Seeing that the ranger, who he regarded as very cold, still had no reaction, the boy wanted to open his mouth to say something else, but it seemed that he had exhausted his mind and could not think of anything else, so he had no choice but to sigh and prepare to get up and leave.
"You have seen the world!"
Just when the boy was frustrated, he heard the man with the sword who was focused on dealing with Baozi speak again, so he immediately sat down with joy.
"That's right! I've thought about it. I can save a penny every day. So far, I have more than 500 penny. In three years, I will almost have another penny.
One tael of silver, and when I have learned the hero's three sword skills, I will also get myself a sword. I have already made an agreement with Uncle Huang at the blacksmith shop at Dongchengtou.
I really learned the three-move sword technique, and he charged me twenty taels of silver to buy me a sword!"
Listening to what this boy said, it seems that his family is in a good situation and he can save a penny every day. This is not something that any kind of family can afford.
While the boy was talking, four of the buns in the cage had already been swallowed by Ergou. He picked up the fifth one and shook it in front of the boy.
"If a sword and a cage of meat buns were placed in front of you now, what would you choose?"
The boy looked at Ergou as if he were a fool.
"I'll definitely choose the sword!"
"If it were me, I would choose meat buns."
"Then you must be a fool!"
"Cough cough cough!"
Jiang Ergou choked on what this boy said and coughed several times before continuing.
"You are the fool, big fool! I already have a sword in my hand, why should I choose a sword? Why don't I just eat a few steamed buns?"
After saying that, Ergou took the bronze bird sword without any shame and waved it in front of the boy's eyes. This made the boy who had been coveting the bronze bird sword so angry that he blew his beard and stared. He simply didn't have a beard, otherwise
Definitely cuter.
Jiang Ergou picked up the sixth bun and threw it to the boy. The latter took it in his hand and was a little confused. What did it mean? A piece of candy as a reward after teasing?
"What you said choked me, go find me a bowl of water!"
"You just want to bribe me with a bun, so I won't go!"
Ergou stretched out his foot and kicked the boy's calf.
"Go quickly and find me a bowl of water, and I will show you my sword!"
"real!?"
Before Jiang Ergou nodded in agreement, the boy stuffed the bun into his mouth and ran towards a tea stall.
The person setting up the tea stall was a woman, who should be the child's mother judging by her age. When the boy came closer, the woman started to pay attention to this side. Now she saw her child running towards the tea stall.
She smiled warmly at Ergou.
But what she didn't expect was that her son ran back to the stall, took a bowl of tea, and ran back without even saying hello.
After getting the tea back, this boy was very smart. He did not hand the water to Jiang Ergou immediately. Instead, he protected the tea and said, "Give the tea with one hand and the sword with the other."
When one hand had already grasped the ancient sword, the boy pushed the tea into Ergou's hand, and then took the long sword whose name he didn't know with both hands.
With tea, Ergou finished the last bun, but the boy's words almost made him spurt out the tea that he had not yet drank.
"Your sword is very ordinary. It seems that you are not doing well in the world! I guess you are just a little guy! You are not that powerful. Hey! How much money did you spend to buy this sword?
Yes. I'll give you a hand to see if you've lost money."
Trying hard to suppress the urge to take the sword back, Ergou said calmly on the surface.
"I didn't buy this sword. It was left to me by my master."
Hearing Ergou say this, the boy sighed again.
"Oh, I wish I had such a master."
"You just want to have a sword of your own and then go out into the world of martial arts? Have you never thought about studying?"
"What kind of books should I study? My father wants me to study, but I have never even heard of any teachers in the northern border area! Of course I want to go to the Jianghu to see it, because this is the only way,
I just became a great hero like my dad!"
"This... I'm going to take the liberty to ask, who is your father..."
I don’t know if this kid brought the topic here intentionally, but when he mentioned his father, the pride in his eyes almost overflowed.
"Listen carefully, my father is a senior infantryman of the Hupu Battalion in the 99th company of Qi Jian, one of the twelve generals under the command of King Xiao Shanyu of Liaodong! My father said it when he came back last time.
In two years, he will become a crossbowman, then a cavalryman, and finally a black-armored black knight respected by thousands of people! Tell me whether my father is great or not!"
If you say
How to please an adult, you are right to praise his child, and the same is true if you want to please a child, you are right to praise his father!
No, the boy who still held the bronze sparrow sword in his hand and was unwilling to let go lost himself in Ergou's shouts: "Your father is so awesome." It wasn't until the boy was satisfied that Ergou continued.
"However, although your father is powerful, the sword in the battlefield has no eyes, so you have never worried about your father's safety?"
At this moment, the boy looked at Jiang Ergou as if he were an idiot.
"You are really stupid. You are not as good as a child like me who can understand that no one will die in a war. But if everyone stops fighting because they are afraid of death, then who will defend this country? My uncle who joined the army with my father
I don’t know how many of my uncle’s deaths have occurred over the years! My father told me that he was fighting the enemy on the front line, not only to be worthy of the military armor on his body and the military pay in his hands, but also to hope that we, the two of us, in Lantian Pass
If he can be safe, as long as we are fine, he will have no regrets even if he dies in battle!"
At this point, the child who said he was not worried about his father's safety looked up to the north, his eyes dim. But then he immediately reflected a different brilliance, his eyes were so bright!
"After I have seen the world, practiced swordsmanship, drank wine, and gone to the capital, I will join the army just like my father and protect my future wife and children like him. At the same time, I will also
I want to tell my son and tell him what an amazing person his grandfather is!"
Hearing this, Ergou suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Su Ruyu when he met a veteran with a broken leg.
At that time, Ergou asked Su Ruyu if the soldiers on the border were ruthless people who were not afraid of death. They were the kind who would bite off a piece of the enemy's flesh with all their strength after losing their legs and arms.
But Su Ruyu said that there are no people in the world who are not afraid of death. The more accustomed the border soldiers are to seeing life and death, the more they fear and cherish their lives! This is also the fundamental reason why so many veterans survived in the end.
Ergou asked again, if you were afraid of death, why did you go to the front line and covet the military pay? But now you can do any business and you won't starve to death!
Su Ruyu gave Ergou an example at that time. He said that in fact, 80% of the border soldiers were locals on the border between Liaozhou and Jinzhou.
Even if they are afraid of death, they have to go up on their own, but if they are afraid of death, they dare to die! Because maybe less than a hundred miles behind them, there is a village where his family lives!
Su Ruyu once said at that time that there was a famous frontier fortress poem from the previous dynasty that was passed down: "There is no need to return a corpse wrapped in horse leather when soldiers are roaring thousands of miles away on the battlefield!"
He also said that this line of poetry has been regarded as a golden line by many famous people since ancient times, saying that it is the first poem of heroic spirit on the frontier. But he was the only one who said that this line had been misunderstood when he read it for the first time.
Thousands of years!
Who among the world doesn't want to be able to return to his roots and his soul after death? No matter how bad things are, no matter how bad things are, you still have to get a cemetery for yourself!
Why should the corpse be wrapped in horse leather? This sentence is not so much the heroic words of the soldier after he died on the battlefield, but it is better to say that it is the helpless comfort of the soldier who buried his bones in the wilderness!
Thinking of this, Jiang Ergou suddenly felt in awe of this boy's father, and also in awe of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the border! Not just because of their feelings for their family and country, but more because of their admiration for their sacrifice for their wives, children, and children.
The generosity and heroism of putting life and death aside just to be safe!
"May I have your name!"
Jiang Ergou asked proactively.
"My name is Tian Rongguan! My father gave me the name!"
Jiang Ergou raised his hand and touched his head.
"My name is Jiang Fuyu. From that, let's make an agreement. In three years' time, if you really bring your sword to the capital, ask for this name. Then I will also teach you three sword techniques!"
The boy named Tian Rongguan put his hand on the scabbard, and then pulled out the bronze sparrow sword. This smart long sword that even Ergou was unwilling to give him face was now caught by a doll.
in hand.
"It seems that I misunderstood you. The hero who passed by here said that a person who can be ruthless enough to take out his own martial arts for others to learn, if he doesn't want to accept you as his apprentice, then he is a real
Hero!"
Tian Rongguan's words made Jiang Ergou feel ashamed again. It seemed that he did not know as much as this kid. Although he always talked about being a chivalrous person, he himself never seemed to think about it seriously.