Volume 1: A Stranger in a Foreign Land Chapter 12 Trouble at the Door
The days of doing nothing always pass quickly, and in the blink of an eye it is the end of summer.
One day in late July, Manager Liu came to inform Yang Ge that the inn had been renovated and that his "unfilial son" would soon be returning to Luting County. They should have a meal together to get familiar with each other, and the inn would be handed over to them from then on.
Yang Ge readily agreed.
Two days later, someone slammed the gate of the courtyard loudly.
“Woof woof woof…”
Yang Ge walked out of the house quickly, glanced at the little yellow dog in the yard, standing with its legs spread wide and yelling towards the gate, waved at it, and walked quickly towards the gate: "Here I come."
"Squeak."
He opened the gate, but was met with a punching fist.
Yang Ge subconsciously took a step back to stabilize his lower body, turned around and kicked forward with a whip kick.
"Bang."
Fists and feet collided, and a low muffled sound was heard in the air. Yang Ge and the man retreated at the same time.
"Internal energy? You really do know martial arts!"
The man shouted in a low voice, with an excited tone, "Are you asking me to catch your chicken feet?"
Yang Ge took a closer look and saw a tall and proud man with a weathered face standing outside the door.
At first glance, the most impressive thing about this man is his two muscular arms that prop up his thin shorts high, giving people the visual impression of excessive fitness.
But his huge fists, which looked fleshy and had no visible joints, showed that he was not just a simple weightlifter.
Yang Ge stared at the familiar face of the visitor, then looked at the pair of leather wristbands on his wrists, and said hesitantly, "Young Master?"
He suddenly understood why the old shopkeeper was so nervous when he saw the martial arts secret book, as if a cat had its tail stepped on. He never mentioned wanting to take a look at it or copy a copy.
Logically speaking, even if ordinary people know that this thing is not something they can touch, they will still be curious and want to collect it secretly.
After all, this is always an opportunity to make a name for yourself. Even if you can't practice it yourself, you can still leave it to future generations.
This time the case was finally solved. It turned out that the old shopkeeper had been deeply harmed by this for a long time...
"Wow, is it so obvious?"
When the big man heard Yang Ge call out his identity, he rubbed his big fat face in surprise, and then stepped over the gate with a familiar look.
But the next second he took another step back and looked up at the gate in disbelief: "Is this really my shabby yard?"
Yang Ge finally smiled, turned sideways to reveal the fresh and tidy courtyard, and made a "please" gesture: "Young Master, please come in."
"No wonder the old man likes you so much. He always says good things about you. You are indeed a good housekeeper!"
The big man stepped into the yard again with an exclamation of admiration, looking around at this elegant courtyard that looked like the courtyard of a wealthy family. He tried to recall for a long time, but could not connect the short and shabby courtyard before with this bright, fresh and neat courtyard.
"Do you like grapes? Why would you build a grape trellis in the yard?"
"When the grapevines grow, they can provide shade, so we can cool down under the trellises in the summer... and we can even get some grapes to eat."
"Then what's this pool for? For taking a bath in the summer? The pool is a little too small!"
"No, that's for fish farming. Next year, I'll plant some water plants and lotus roots, and put a few fish and shrimp in it, and the yard will come alive."
"How did you make this floor? I remember that polished slate is not cheap..."
"Oh, I bought ordinary stones. After laying them, I poured water on them and polished them smooth little by little with a grinding wheel."
Yang Ge brought out a pot of hot tea and waved to the big man, saying, "Young Master, please stop standing. Let's sit down and talk."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a respectable man!"
The big man came over with an amazed look on his face and sat down heavily on the small bamboo chair, making it squeak under the weight.
What surprised him was not the current appearance of this small courtyard. He had seen courtyards that were more magnificent and gorgeous than this one.
He was surprised that Yang Ge was able to transform the small, dilapidated courtyard that was likely to collapse at any time into the wealthy home it is today.
Yang Ge poured him a cup of hot tea and sat down with him: "When did the young master arrive?"
"Just yesterday."
The big man picked up the teacup and drank it in one gulp. He sighed in satisfaction, "Don't call me Young Master all the time. My family's small business can't afford to hire a master like you. My name is Liu Fuyou... Don't laugh. This is the name the old man gave me. What can I do about it? Outside, I'm Liu Mang. People who give me face call me 'Brother Mang'!"
"It's a nice name, very impressive... But are you going to fire me?"
Yang Ge laughed and joked: "Without my wages, I have no money to pay your rent!"
“Bullshit!”
Liu Mang slapped his thigh in annoyance. "If I had let you go on the first day I came back, the old man would have chased me with a broom and hit me... What I mean is, from now on, let's not talk about host and guest. You call me Brother Mang and I call you Brother. We are good brothers and we are loyal to each other. We will drink and eat together and go through fire and water together!"
Yang Ge wanted to laugh.
But he was professionally trained after all, so he held back and bowed, saying, "Then I'll trouble you, Brother Mang, for your guidance from now on."
Liu Mang waved his hand generously: "No problem, I came back this time to revive the reputation of my Iron Fist Sect in Luting County. It would be great if you knew martial arts..."
"Wait, wait!"
Yang Ge quickly waved his hand to stop him: "What reputation did you just talk about? Doesn't our family run an inn?"
Hearing this, Liu Mang looked at Yang Ge as if he were a fool. "How much money can you make running an inn? If you want fame and fortune, of course you have to open a martial arts school. Listen to my brother, running a martial arts school is very simple. Apprentices who come to learn from you have to pay a tuition fee, right? And you have to pay tea money for festivals and birthdays, right? If you have a lot of disciples, the wealthy families around here will want to hire people to look after their homes. Don't they have to build good relationships with us? In the future, when you go out and travel around, just say you are the owner of a martial arts school. Wouldn't that be very prestigious..."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute..."
Yang Ge wanted to interrupt but couldn't, so he could only forcefully interrupt again: "Does the old shopkeeper know that you want to turn the inn into a martial arts school?"
Liu Mang waved his hand nonchalantly: "He's an old man, how can he understand the affairs of us young people? Listen to me, brother, opening a martial arts school is really a promising thing. Your kicking skills just now looked very powerful. From now on, I will teach you the boxing and you will teach you the kicking. In the martial arts world, we will call it 'Fists and Kicks Are One'. Doesn't it sound very impressive..."
Yang Ge: ...
So, you never mentioned this to your dad at all, right?
It is true that no one knows a son better than his father. You are really a prodigal son who is honest and trustworthy to everyone!
…
Liu Mang stayed with Yang Ge for most of the day, trying his best to persuade Yang Ge to join him in opening a martial arts school.
Of course, Yang Ge couldn't agree to his request, but it was not easy for him to refuse openly, after all, he was Manager Liu's only son.
In the end, he could only bite the bullet and say: "I will listen to the old shopkeeper. As long as the old shopkeeper nods, I will open a martial arts school with you."
Liu Mang went home confidently to confront his father.
Yang Ge walked him all the way to the street corner.
When he returned home dizzy, as soon as he stepped through the gate, he heard Dahuang's crazy barking and pouncing on him.
Yang Ge stroked Da Huang's bristly head soothingly, frowned, glanced into the room, and sighed, "Master Shen, a door is for walking through, not climbing over."
The next second, a clear voice, tinged with a hint of laughter, rang out from the closed door: "I've been chasing tigers and hunting wolves all day long, and I've never failed. I never expected to be pecked in the eye by a guard dog!"
Yang Ge sighed again, let go of Da Huang and walked into the house listlessly, wondering if the posture he used when getting up in the morning was wrong, otherwise why would all these troublesome people come to his door together?
When he pushed open the door, Yang Ge saw Shen Fa sitting at the head of a square table, with a gilded tiger-head and ox-tail knife leaning against him. On the table were a pot of wine, a package of roast chicken, a package of pork head meat and a package of peanuts.
He was still wearing the same black suit with dark patterns that Yang Ge had worn the last time he saw him, but there was a scar on his face and he looked a bit more fierce.
He looked at Yang Ge who pushed the door open and said with a smile, "Why do you sigh every time you see me?"
Yang Ge: "Maybe nothing good will happen after meeting you?"
Shen Fa made a "please sit down" gesture and replied with a smile: "Nonsense, I helped you solve the problem last time."
Seeing his gesture, Yang Ge rolled his eyes in annoyance, thinking to himself, 'As if you are the master': "Compared to you, Timon is nothing!"
Shen Fa nodded as if it was a matter of course: "That's right!"
Yang Ge's eyes were almost rolling up to the sky.
Shen Fa picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the pig's head meat: "Eat your food, why are you standing there?"
Yang Ge shook his head like a rattle: "If you don't tell me what you want from me, I won't dare eat it!"
Shen Fa slapped his head sideways and scolded him with a smile: "Can't you be a little stupid? Being too smart will make life very tiring!"
Yang Ge was not used to his familiarity, so he rolled his eyes and moved his butt to the other side.
Shen Fa pretended not to see it, picked up the wine glass and took a sip, then said slowly: "A Tartar spy escaped from Shangjing City with a very important military intelligence. Our people intercepted him here, but his Qinggong is too good, and our people can't catch up with him. The "Eighteen-Move Wind Leg" you have practiced is quite good. If you attack, you should be able to entangle him and give our people a chance to kill him!"
Yang Ge nodded, looking like he understood: "It's a token of allegiance, I understand!"
Shen Fa looked him straight in the eye and said seriously, "You can't live alone forever. Since you've taken the first step, why not try a few more?"
Yang Ge was silent for a long time. Finally, he reached out and picked up the chopsticks, picked up a peanut and put it into his mouth, saying softly, "When you take something from someone, you're grateful. When you eat something from someone, you're soft-hearted..."
A smile appeared on Shen Fa's face: "I knew I was right!"
Yang Ge put down his chopsticks and looked at him, saying seriously, "Let me make it clear first, I won't kill anyone!"
Shen Fa laughed: "Can the Tartars be considered human beings?"
"It's your business what you say."
Yang Ge shook his head and said firmly: "My parents only taught me to be a good person, they never taught me to kill."
Shen Fa was silent for a few breaths, then he picked up the wine pot and poured a glass of wine for Yang Ge. He sighed softly and said, "Your hometown must be very prosperous and peaceful, right?"
Yang Ge opened his mouth to answer, but when the words came out, he felt that something seemed wrong.
He thought for a long time, then raised his glass with both hands to toast Shen Fa: "I take back what I said just now... I won't kill anyone unless it's absolutely necessary!"
Shen Fa asked doubtfully, "Am I wrong? Is there war in your hometown as well?"
Could it be that... the painter made a mistake?
Yang Ge replied, "Conflicts and disputes exist everywhere. My hometown is peaceful because many people have used their youth and blood to keep conflicts and disputes out of our lives..."
Hearing this, Shen Fa was deeply touched, but he did not show it on his face.
He asked softly, "Do you want to be like them?"
Yang Ge shook his head: "I may not be able to become a person like them, but I think I shouldn't run away."
Shen Fa smiled, raised his glass and clinked it with Yang Ge's, then drank it all in one gulp and said softly, "I want to be that kind of person!"
Although the words were soft, they were powerful.
