Chapter 4 Country People The day for selecting the book boys came quickly. On the third day after the news reached the village, the ox cart that was going to take Zheng Fa to Zhao's house arrived at the village. "I also want to go to the city to play!" Little sister Zheng Shan pulled Zheng Fa's sleeve stickyly. The Zhao family's main residence is located in the inner city of Jingzhou City. Not only Zheng Shan, who is only six years old, but even Zheng Fa has never been there. "Shan'er!" Before Zheng Fa could say anything, her mother had already pulled her little ear and scolded her, "Your brother is going to the main house. There are so many people watching him. He is not going to play. Are you going to make trouble again?" Looking at his little sister who was covering her red ears with tears in her eyes, Zheng Fa touched her round head and said, "If I have time, I will bring you some delicious food from the city." …… "Mom, I'm leaving." Standing next to the ox cart, Zheng Fa said goodbye to his mother. Mother Zheng did not say anything. She just took out a clean coarse cloth bundle and untied it. Inside was a flatbread and a few slices of bacon. She handed it to the old man driving the cart and said, "My lord, you have been traveling hard. I made some food. There is nothing good at home. It will be a snack for you on the road."
The old man took the pipe from his mouth and took it with a smile. Mother Zheng saw him accept the bag and then asked, "This is my child's first time going to the city. He is still young, so I hope you can take good care of him and make sure he doesn't offend you." "No problem." The old man glanced at Zheng Fa and said, "This kid is very obedient. He won't make any mistakes. Maybe he can even have a bright future." Mother Zheng glanced at Zheng Fa and whispered, "I don't expect anything from him in the future. I just hope he comes back safely..." …… The ox cart was getting farther and farther away from Zheng Fa's home. Looking back, he could still see his mother and little sister looking at the ox cart from afar. "Sit tight!" The old man driving the cart in front suddenly said something loudly, and the long black whip in his hand crossed the air and hit the cow's buttocks. The car suddenly accelerated, and Zheng Fa was caught off guard. He fell backwards and had to hold on to the guardrail to steady himself. The wind whistled in my ears and rice in the fields beside the car flashed past. The speed of the ox cart was beyond Zheng Fa's expectations. It was difficult for him to estimate the current speed of the bus, but it felt no slower than the buses he had taken in another world. The cart was a very ordinary one, the kind usually used to deliver vegetables, with wooden boards underneath and guardrails on both sides. But the ox driving the cart was not ordinary. It was different from the ones he had seen before. This ox was huge, almost three or four meters long. The most eye-catching thing is a tumor growing on the cow's spine. When the cow runs, the blood vessels on the tumor bulge out, and you can even see the surging red blood in the blood vessels. What surprised Zheng Fa even more was that despite the huge size of the bull and its fast speed, its hooves landed silently and steadily, as if it was riding the wind. "Are you scared?" the old man laughed. “This cow?” "This is no ordinary cow, it's called Danzhu Cow. I heard it has a trace of spiritual beast blood, so it can travel a thousand miles a day! And this precious cow is not only fast, but also steady!"
"Spiritual beast? A trace of blood can be so magical..." "Our Zhao family is not an ordinary family. There are only a handful of people in Jingzhou City who can be as powerful as us!" "The Zhao family is so powerful?" "Amazing? More than amazing! We have an immortal in our Zhao family!" Speaking of this, the old man was a little proud: "Since our ancestors gave birth to descendants in Jingzhou City a thousand years ago, our Zhao family has had people who have been able to enter the immortal gate and obtain immortal fate in every generation!" "Immortal Sect? I've always heard that the Zhao family is backed by the Immortal Sect. Is it true?" Zheng Fa's spirits lifted. After all, he was born in Zhuangzi, and his understanding of this world might not be as much as that of another world. Although I have heard many legends about immortals before, none of them were as certain as the old man's. "Which of the three great families in Jingzhou City doesn't have a fairy background?" The old man took out a piece of bacon, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it. He took a look and said, "You want a fairy fate?" Zheng Fa nodded. "For the sake of this bacon, I kindly advise you that it is not something that people of our status can dream of. I have been in the Zhao family for half my life, and I have never seen a single hair of an immortal." Zheng Fa pursed his lips and said nothing. Only the sound of the whip accompanied the silent journey. At noon, the oxcart stopped in front of another farm of the Zhao family, and a boy of the same age as Zheng Fa got on the car. As soon as he saw Zheng Fa, he looked a little uncomfortable, and asked with a bit of hostility: "Are you going to be the Seventh Young Master's servant too?" Before Zheng Fa could speak, the old man driving the cart said lazily, "It's not just you two. There are nearly dozens of Zhao family members in Jingzhou City who are of the right age. Who of you didn't come? It's just that you live far away, so you asked me to pick you up." Zheng Fa was stunned. He only knew that the Seventh Young Master was favored, but he didn't expect that the competition for a small position as a book boy would be so fierce? The young man who had just got on the bus seemed to understand what the old man meant. The expression on his face restrained slightly, but he still sat in a corner away from Zheng Fa. Zheng Fa could feel that his eyes were glancing at him from time to time along the way. After a long while, the young man finally spoke: "My name is Huang Yu, what's your name?" "Zheng Fa." "Have you ever been to elementary school?" "Been there." Huang Yu's face looked uglier again. Zheng Fa added: "But I only attended for one year and then stopped." "I went to elementary school for five years!" Huang Yu said excitedly. He moved and sat next to Zheng Fa: "If I wasn't too old, I would have gone when the Seventh Young Master selected his book boy." Zheng Fa laughed secretly in his heart. This guy probably felt that he was not a threat to him, so his attitude became much better. "After five years of elementary education, you are almost certain to succeed this time." Zheng Fa followed up on what he said. Sure enough, even though Huang Yu tried his best to conceal it, his eyebrows were dancing and he looked smug. Instead, the old man driving the cart sneered. "I don't know what the identity of this Seventh Young Master is. There are actually dozens of people competing for the position of a book boy, and there is also a talent like you, Brother Huang."
"You do not know?" "I have lived in the farm for a long time, and my eyes and ears are cut off..." Huang Yu looked him up and down, and saw that his clothes were clean but old, and the corners of his sleeves were so white from washing that they were translucent. His fear of Zheng Fa disappeared. He thought about it, closed his mouth and did not answer. Zheng Fa knew that this person probably didn't want him to get any extra information from him. It was the old man who was driving the carriage who spoke up. He answered Zheng Fa's question: "Our Zhao family is divided into three branches, and the eldest branch is the lineage of the head of the family." "Could this Seventh Young Master be..." "Yes, the Seventh Young Master is the only legitimate son of the eldest wife. The wife has only one daughter and one son. Therefore, although the Seventh Young Master is young, he will be the head of the Zhao family in the future. It is said that the current steward of the Zhao family's eldest wife was a book boy when he was young. He is very respectable." Zheng Fa understood it immediately. Of course, being a book boy is not a powerful position, but this thing is similar to the so-called old ministers in the history books of another world, who have served the emperor well. What we fight for is a future. "Besides, I heard..." The old man turned around and glanced at Huang Yu, "Seventh Young Master's elder sister is the immortal seed of this generation of the Zhao family. She has long been favored by the immortals! For the position of the book boy, let alone you, even the children of the well-known stewards in the city are vying for it! Hey, what's wrong with having attended elementary school for a few years?" Zheng Fa now understands the value of the position of the Seventh Young Master's servant. The only legitimate son of the family head. My elder sister even got the chance to become an immortal. The position of this seventh young master is as stable as a rock. Zheng Fa glanced at Huang Yu standing beside him, and saw that his face had turned red. He probably knew that the old man was criticizing him: Even though you went to school a few years longer than Zheng Fa, you are still better than those kids in charge in the city. You are from the country too. (End of this chapter)