The Shen family does not believe in "don't talk while eating or sleeping". While eating, Mr. Shen gave Chang Geng a lesson on "The Great Learning". As he was talking, he lost focus and talked about "how to maintain armor in winter". He was a generalist and talked about whatever he thought of. Once, for some reason, he enthusiastically told Chang Geng how to prevent and treat horse plague. Even the deaf Sixteenth Master couldn't stand it anymore and forced him to shut up.

After finishing the meal and talking, Mr. Shen was still not satisfied when he started to clean up the dishes. He said to Chang Geng, "Today I have to finish cleaning up these armors. They haven't been maintained for a long time, and some of the joints are rusty. I may have to go out to collect some herbs in the afternoon. Fatty Ge and Xiao Ge have all asked for leave to go out and play. What are your plans?"

Chang Geng: "Then I will go to Jiangjunpo to practice..."

Before he could even utter the word "sword", he turned around and saw Shen Shiliu had already hung his iron sword on the wall. He announced, "Son, let's go. The giant kite may be coming into the city. Let's go and join in the fun."

Chang Geng said helplessly: "Foster father, I just told Mr. Shen..."

Shen Shiliu: "What? Speak louder."

Okay, here we go again.

The giant kites came and went, and it was the same every year. Chang Geng couldn't think of anything new or interesting. But before he could protest, Sixteen had already pulled him up without saying a word, half dragging and half pushing him out.

It was late summer and the heat had not yet dissipated. People were wearing thin clothes. Sixteen pressed his whole body against Chang Geng's back. The faint scent of medicine in his arms suddenly enveloped Chang Geng, just as he had dreamed.

Chang Geng felt inexplicably uncomfortable. He lowered his head to avoid his little godfather, covered his nose, turned his head away, and pretended to sneeze.

Sixteen smiled and teased, "Someone misses you. Is it the round-faced girl from Old Wang's family?"

Chang Geng finally couldn't help but frown at him and said stiffly: "Is it appropriate for godfather to make such a joke with a junior?"

Shen Shiliu didn't take it to heart, and said with a playful smile: "It's not appropriate? Oh, I've never been a father before, so I don't know the limits. I will be more careful next time."

Anyone who takes Shen Shiliu seriously will be so angry that he will explode.

Chang Geng shook off the gangster's hand that was about to touch his shoulder and walked out first.

Mr. Shen reminded from behind: "Sixteen, come back early and chop the firewood!"

Shen Shiliu rubbed his feet and said shamelessly: "I can't hear you, see you later!"

Chang Geng was pushed by him and trotted along the way. He asked, "When did you become deaf?"

Shen Shiliu just smiled and said nothing, with an unfathomable look on his face.

At this time, the two of them happened to pass by the main gate of Chang Geng's house, and the door suddenly opened with a "creak".

A woman in a plain long dress walked out. When Chang Geng saw the woman, his face, which was a mixture of helplessness and annoyance, froze instantly.

He seemed to be poured with a bucket of cold water from head to toe. The eyes that had just suppressed his anger suddenly became empty, and even his anger and vitality disappeared silently.

The woman was Xiuniang, Changgeng's nominal mother.

Although she is not young anymore, her beauty has not diminished at all. Standing in the morning light, she looks like a graceful and quiet beauty.

Such a woman, even if she is a widow, should not be confined to a small centurion household in a border town.

Xiuniang bowed her head, bowed to Shen Shiliu, and said, "Master Shiliu."

Shen Shiliu only acted like a hooligan to Shen Yi. When he met a woman, he suddenly changed into a gentleman. He turned slightly to the side, not looking directly at Xiuniang's face, and greeted her politely: "Madam Xu, I'll take Chang Geng out to relax."

"Thank you for your concern," Xiuniang smiled without showing her teeth, then turned to Chang Geng and whispered softly, "Your father is coming back today. If you go out, remember to bring back a box of rouge for me."

Her voice was as soft as a mosquito, and could be blown away by a breath. But before Chang Geng could reply, Shen Longzi had already responded, "Hey, Madam, don't worry."

Chang Geng: “…”

At this moment, he had a rough idea of ​​the pattern of his adoptive father's deafness - he could not hear anything Shen Yi said to him, and he could selectively ignore what other people said to him, regardless of whether they wanted to hear it or not. As for those young girls and wives, he could hear every word even the buzz of a female mosquito.

Not only is he lazy and gluttonous, he's also a pervert!

The phrase "all that glitters is not gold" seems to be tailor-made for him.

When the giant kites returned, children waiting to pick up food for the geese and people from nearby villages gathered at the city gate to watch the fun. As the crowds grew, some smart people came out to sell food, and slowly a large market was formed in the area, which the locals called "Yanzi Market".

Shen Shiliu never reads people's faces - even if he sees it, he pretends not to see it.

He seemed unaware of his godson's gloomy mood, and was walking around the crowded Yanzi with great interest, showing interest in everything he saw.

Chang Geng had to deal with a lot of lawsuits, but he still had to follow him closely and make sure he didn't get lost.

The world has been bad in recent years and ordinary people are poor. Most of the things sold in the market are small things produced by farmers themselves. There is nothing good to eat or drink, and it is boring to death.

People say that life is hard because of the war, and the tax burden is getting heavier every year. But in fact, there were wars in the past, and after each battle, people could always rest and recuperate for a while. But in recent years, I don’t know what’s going on, people always seem to have no respite.

In just twenty years, Daliang first launched the Northern Expedition and then the Western Expedition. As a great country, the four corners of the world came to pay tribute. How majestic was that?

It’s really strange that ordinary people are getting poorer and poorer.

Chang Geng was so bored that he wanted to yawn. He just hoped that Shen Shiliu, a country bumpkin who was curious about everything, would have fun and let him go back soon. He would rather go and help Mr. Shen.

Shen Shiliu bought a bag of coarse salt beans that were roasted until they were pitch black, and ate them while walking. It was as if there were eyes behind his head. He stretched out a hand and accurately stuffed a salt bean into Chang Geng's mouth.

Chang Geng was caught off guard and accidentally licked his finger. In panic, he bit the soft flesh in his mouth, which immediately drew blood. He hissed in pain and glared at Shen Shiliu, the big trouble, angrily.

"Flowers bloom for a lifetime, but people never become young again." Shen Shiliu didn't look back. He picked up a bean, held it up and pointed it towards the sun. His hands were really well-shaped, slender and white, like the hands of a young master from a noble family. They should have been holding a scroll or picking up chess pieces, which was totally out of place with the roasted beans covered with black ash.

Shen Shiliu said in a condescending manner, "You will understand when you grow up. A person's youth is only as short as a bean. It will be gone in the blink of an eye and you will never get it back. Then you will understand how much time you have wasted."

Chang Geng: “…”

He just couldn't understand no matter how hard he tried. How could Shen Shiliu have the nerve to shamelessly say that others were "wasting their time"?

At this moment, people near the city gate suddenly burst into cheers.

Even if you are half blind, you can still see the "giant kite" pressing down on the horizon in the distance.

Countless fire wings pointed to the sky, and all the white steam burst out of thousands of layers of clouds and mountains. The steam was like a ball of cotton wool falling from the ninth heaven.

Then, a huge ship appeared dimly from the vast sea of ​​smoke, with eight giant dragons coiled on the bow lifelike, coming through the clouds with an unparalleled look.

Shen Shiliu was stunned at first, then he tilted his ear and saw a flash of red light on the cinnabar mole on his earlobe. He frowned and whispered, "Why is this boat so light this year?"

However, the surroundings were filled with the deafening roar of the giant kites and the noisy shouts of the crowd. His whisper, which sounded like a sigh, quickly disappeared without a trace. Even Chang Geng, who was following closely beside him, did not hear it.

The children began to hold their own small bamboo baskets, pushing and shoving each other to grab a position, waiting to catch the goose food.

A group of officers and soldiers on the city wall trotted out in a line, and the messenger stood behind a three-meter-high "bronze roar" and waited for orders.

The "Bronze Roar" is like an inverted trumpet, lying horizontally on the city wall. A circle of emerald green copper rust has grown on the outside, and the rust is arranged in an orderly manner, like a carving.

The messenger took a deep breath, aimed at one end of the bronze roar, and opened his mouth long. The sound came out from the huge "bronze roar", was amplified dozens of times, and echoed like a huge bell.

"The geese return, and the dark river opens..."

In response, two rows of soldiers grasped the huge wooden wheel handles on the city wall and shouted at the same time. With their upper bodies naked and their muscles exposed, they exerted force together. The wooden wheel as high as a mountain turned down with a "creaking" sound. A bluestone road under the city wall split into two, and countless interlocking gears twisted. The stone brick soldiers on both sides split into two groups and walked in opposite directions.

The ground cracked open, revealing a deep underground river that ran through the entire town of Yanhui.

The messenger blew a low and long horn, which came out from the bronze roar and lingered through everything.

A long trumpet sounded back from the giant kite, and then countless flaming wings exerted force at the same time, and the surrounding clouds and misty steam surged wildly - it was preparing to land.

The first handful of "goose food" fell down like flowers scattered from heaven, and the little guys below went crazy and stretched out their hands to grab it.

Unfortunately, the section for scattering food for the geese was not long. Soon, the giant kite sank into the underground river, stopped steadily on the water surface, and landed in front of people.

The ship was majestic and there was an indescribable murderous aura in the dim light of the cold iron. The horn sound coming from the ship was inexplicably tragic and majestic, and it echoed for a long time. The whole Yanhui Town was resonating with the "woooo" sound, as if the souls of the dead who had been on the battlefield for thousands of years had woken up together and sang in response.

The giant kite slowly sailed into the city along the underground river, making a loud noise of water, and the messenger uttered another long cry.

"Lights off--"

The flaming wings on the giant kite went out, and a slightly burnt smell of firecrackers wafted through the air. The giant kite moved forward along the current, and the dragons around it seemed like some kind of totem frozen in time, carrying an evil divinity.

Chang Geng watched the giant kite approaching from afar amid the crowded crowd. Even though he said he didn't want to come, he had seen the giant kite return many times. However, he was still shocked by the size of the giant when he saw it face to face.

If the giant kite on the northern tour is like this, what will the three camps of black iron, the country's powerful weapons, look like?

The boy was trapped in the remote and narrow corner of Yanhui Town and could not even think.

The giant kite approached, and the residual heat of its extinguished fire wings hit his face. Chang Geng subconsciously grabbed the people around him and warned them: "The giant kite is coming, there are too many people here, let's move back a little."

No one answered, and he grabbed nothing. Chang Geng turned around and found that his annoying foster father had disappeared without a trace.