Chapter 1: Winter in Jinling Chapter 30: Can't Let Him Run Away
After breakfast, seeing that it was still early, Zhao Hao went to the local product shop on the street and bought pine needle tea, plum blossom cake, salted duck and Daqu.
Then he brought the four generous gifts that Nanjing people always bring when visiting guests and went to the blacksmith shop to apologize to Gao Wu.
Gao Wu was washing the floor in the shop. When he saw Zhao Hao come in, he suddenly felt awkward and didn't know where to put his hands. He opened his mouth and closed it, but became more and more speechless.
It was Gao the blacksmith who kicked him and cursed: "This evil creature has a dog's temper, and he takes my kindness for granted!"
Gao Wu then spoke awkwardly: "I was too reckless yesterday, I hope you don't blame me. You must not accept the things."
"It's not for you!" Zhao Hao rolled his eyes, put the things on the table and said, "It's for the old man to replenish his body, it has nothing to do with you." Then he pulled his face and said, "If you want to stop contacting in the future, just refuse again."
Gao Wu had no choice but to accept it.
Blacksmith Gao had a natural liking for the young man who had saved him. He pulled Zhao Hao into the house and insisted on inviting him to have tea.
Zhao Shouzheng couldn't finish school until dark, and Zhao Hao had nothing else to do, so he readily agreed.
Gao Wu set up a tea table in the shop, made tea for his father and Zhao Hao, and then went back to work.
He would never participate in something as difficult as chatting.
However, Zhao Hao and Gao Tiejiang got along very well. Through chatting, he learned that Gao Tiejiang was originally a blacksmith in Yiwu Mine. A few years ago, Japanese pirates were rampant, and the court recruited blacksmiths to make guns and cannons for the anti-Japanese army. Gao Tiejiang came to Nanjing and became a craftsman in Nanjing Shenjiying.
After working in Shenjiying for seven or eight years, Gao Tiejiang gradually grew old and could no longer do delicate work, so he retired from the military camp. However, because he had mastered the technology of making guns and cannons, according to regulations, he could not leave Nanjing and had to live near the military camp. He used the savings he had accumulated over the years to open a blacksmith shop in Caijia Lane, making farm tools, kitchen knives and the like for people to make a living.
Zhao Hao thought of the kitchen knife at home that was shining with cold light and almost chopped off his fingers, and he couldn't help but respect the craftsmanship of Gao the blacksmith.
After praising the old man for a while, he glanced at Gao Wu, who was working with his butt sticking out, and asked, "Brother Gao, how did you join the Qi Family Army?"
"This kid originally came to Nanjing with me, but he was born to be restless and couldn't stand the annoyance of hammering all day long." Gao the blacksmith glared at his son, angrily saying that his craft was going to be lost: "It is such a pleasant thing to hammer the iron billet thousands of times, quench it and into a shining weapon!"
"Yes." Zhao Hao hurriedly praised with ulterior motives: "Have you not seen the smoke and flames flying from the Kunwu iron smelter, with bright red and purple lights? The skilled craftsman spent several years forging a precious sword named Longquan!"
"Great, great! Great poem!" Although Gao the blacksmith didn't quite understand, he could understand that it was probably a compliment to the swordsmith. The excited old man patted Zhao Hao's thigh hard, wishing he could kiss him.
That was an arm used for forging iron. How could Zhao Hao's small body withstand such abuse? He grimaced in pain.
Gao the blacksmith quickly raised his hand to apologize. "I was too proud of myself. Are you okay, young master?"
"It's okay." Zhao Hao rubbed his sore thigh and forced a smile, "Uncle, continue."
"Where were we talking about?" Gao the blacksmith scratched his head and recalled, then slapped his forehead and said, "Oh, right, he didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps, and he played with swords and sticks all day, shouting that he wanted to go kill Japanese pirates. Later, when the Qi family army passed through Nanjing, he secretly joined the army without telling me, and stayed there for seven or eight years."
"Eight years." Gao Wu suddenly interrupted.
"Oh?" Zhao Hao looked at Gao Wu, knowing that he had finally organized his words.
Then Gao Wu said slowly: "Although I was not the first to join the Qi Family Army, I followed the Marshal to fight in the south and the north, from Zhejiang all the way to Guangdong, and I never missed a battle!"
Zhao Hao had a natural admiration for the Qi Family Army and was very interested in it. He asked, "Tell me how you killed the Japanese pirates!"
Gao Wu used his deep and rich voice to tell Zhao Hao about the great victory in Taizhou, where he won thirteen battles and killed more than three thousand Japanese pirates, and burned, killed and drowned countless people; the battle in Fujian, where he killed more than five thousand Japanese pirates; and the Guangdong anti-bandit campaign, where he wiped out more than thirty thousand pirates and chased the bandit leader into the sea...
When talking about his past achievements, Gao Wu was in high spirits and did not need to organize his words at all. Obviously, those bloody battles had been engraved into his bones and appeared before his eyes all the time.
He used a teacup to lay out a map on the table and explained the Battle of Hengyu to Zhao Hao in detail: "In this battle, our Qi family army first sank the Japanese pirate warships with artillery and bombarded the Japanese pirate camp. Then, we used the monk soldiers to forcibly land and break through the Japanese pirate camp, beheading the Japanese pirate leader and fighting a wonderful annihilation battle..."
"What a great coordination between infantry and artillery!" Zhao Hao clapped his hands in admiration, wishing he could witness the mighty Qi Army with his own eyes.
Gao Wu looked at Zhao Hao and said in a muffled voice after a long pause, "Infantry-artillery coordination, well summarized..."
At this time, Gao the blacksmith came over with a hot meal.
Zhao Hao suddenly realized that the two of them were so busy chatting that they didn't even notice when Gao the blacksmith left to cook.
Gao Wu quickly stood up to help his father serve the dishes. Gao the blacksmith looked at his son who had martial arts but nowhere to display them, sighed, then turned to Zhao Hao and smiled:
"It's just a simple meal, please bear with me."
Then he took out a bunch of money and handed it to Gao Wudao, saying, "Go to the old Ma's house across the street and buy some stewed vegetables."
Zhao Hao immediately stopped Gao Wu and said, "Don't dare to come and eat for free from now on."
Gao the blacksmith did not insist any more and called his son, saying, "Forget it. Young master is a free and easy person, and he would not like it if you are too polite."
"That's great." Zhao Hao picked up the bowl, picked up a piece of pickled cucumber and put it into his mouth, feeling quite refreshed. In fact, he had eaten too much and too late for breakfast, so it was just right to drink some porridge and eat some pickled cucumber. It was really not suitable for him to eat meat.
The three of them ate and chatted. Seeing that Zhao Hao was really easygoing, Gao the blacksmith asked tentatively, "There is one thing that I have never been able to figure out."
"Uncle, just say what you want to say." Zhao Hao took a sip of the porridge and said with a smile.
"Then I'll just say whatever I want to say." Gao the blacksmith looked at Zhao Hao, who had red lips and white teeth, and asked curiously, "I've seen that you are a man of integrity and righteousness, so you should be from a wealthy and powerful family. How did you end up like this with your father?"
Zhao Hao smiled bitterly and said, "To be honest, my ancestor was the former Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing. He committed a crime during the imperial examination this year and was dismissed from his post and returned home. He also lost all his family property. My father and I had no choice but to live here and barely make ends meet."
"So that's how it is." Gao the blacksmith sighed, then smiled and said, "Young Master is definitely not an ordinary person. I believe that your luck will turn around soon and you will see the sky again!"
As he said this, he patted his chest and said, "Don't look at the situation of this old man and his son. We still have some savings. If you need to make some money, just ask!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hao looked at Gao Wu in surprise. Gao Wu shook his head slightly, obviously not telling his father that he had just earned 500 taels of silver.
Zhao Hao was delighted again, thinking to himself that it was rare for him to be so tight-lipped, and he must not let him get away.
