"Well said!" a cheerful voice came from the side.
Qin Mu turned around and saw that four people had entered the courtyard and were emerging from behind a tree. The leader, Qin Qiong, had a broad smile on his face. The one who spoke was a tall, handsome middle-aged man with bright eyes who was sizing up Qin Mu.
The other two are senior student Yan Lide and a little guy named Li Dejiang.
"Father! Senior Brother."
"Uncle Qin, Uncle Li!"
"Father!" A chorus of shouts erupted in the courtyard.
"Mu'er! Let me introduce you, this is the Duke of Wei."
"Qin Mu greets the Duke of Wei." Qin Mu respectfully bowed. He had guessed it was Li Jing when he saw Li Dejiang standing behind him; the newcomer was indeed Li Jing. He had long heard of the renowned military genius Li Jing.
“No need for such formalities, Huai Dao,” Li Jing said, extending his hand to help him up.
"Please sit here, Lord Wei," Qin Qiong invited.
Qin Qiong led the group directly to the big tree, which was Qin Mu's favorite place to stay, and Qin Qiong liked it too.
Seeing that the sun was almost at its zenith and it was time to eat, Qin Mu ordered someone to bring out the hot pot.
This was a freshly made round table specifically for hot pot, and the group looked at it with great curiosity after sitting down. They lit the fire, served the food, and arranged the plates. This time, the preparations were more complete, with ginger, scallions, and garlic, though these were small garlic cloves, which had a more authentic flavor, although their production wasn't as high as large garlic.
Qin Mu personally prepared the sauce for them and explained how to eat it. Although there were no chili peppers, mustard made from mustard seeds could be used as a substitute.
The wine was poured, and Qin Qiong began to drink.
"I've heard from my son that Uncle Bao has returned with an extraordinary son, and seeing him today, I can confirm it's true," Li Jing said, putting down his cup in admiration.
"You flatter me, Lord Wei," Qin Qiong said with a smile. He was very satisfied with Qin Mu, and was naturally happy to receive praise.
“I’m not trying to flatter you. Most young people wouldn’t understand what I just said. Let alone young people, there are very few under thirty who can grasp the difference between state of mind and will. Not to mention understanding oneself,” Li Jing sighed.
"Lord Wei, if you say that, it will make him arrogant. There are plenty of geniuses in Chang'an, not to mention the whole world," Qin Qiong said with a smile.
“Huai Dao, from what you just said, you seem to have some knowledge about battlefield warfare,” Li Jing asked, turning his head.
"Reporting to Duke Wei, I can only say that I know a little about it, and I would not say that I understand it."
"Throughout history, whose leadership style do you prefer?" Li Jing asked.
Not knowing why Li Jing asked, Qin Mu honestly replied, "If I had to say who I like, I would still prefer Wu Zi. In his life, Wu Zi fought seventy-six major battles against the feudal lords, winning sixty-four of them and drawing twelve, without a single defeat. Wu Zi's military tactics were to defeat the enemy with fair and square tactics and to deal with the enemy with superior forces. The Wei Wu soldiers not only trained hard, but their armor and weapons were also second to none."
“You’re quite right, but not entirely. It should be said that all skilled military strategists prefer to wage war in a fair and square manner. Taking risks is only a last resort. The way of war is to engage with the enemy through orthodox means and win through unorthodox means. First and foremost, you must be able to withstand the enemy’s attacks. Taking risks and using tricks are just supplementary methods. As long as you have absolute strength and attack without arrogance or impatience, all of the enemy’s tricks will be useless.” Li Jing nodded and explained.
"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Wei. Mu'er, please remember it." Qin Qiong said with a smile.
"Thank you, Duke of Wei, I understand." Qin Mu knew that Li Jing was reminding him not only of military strategy but also of how to conduct himself.
“I didn’t say anything. I came today because I heard that Huai Daorang won the award and is running a winery and restaurant together, but he’s not allowed to contribute any money. That won’t do. Although the Li family doesn’t have much money, we can still come up with some. I’ll have someone send five hundred strings of cash over tomorrow,” Li Jing said with a smile.
Qin Mu also knew that Li Jing was a very low-key person. The fact that he could get his son to invest was probably because he wanted to find a friend for his son. His personal visit today was likely an investigation.
"We're all friends, so naturally we should support each other. Money is a small matter; it's just to make everyone's life better and to make it easier for everyone to buy things," Qin Mu replied.
Li Jing was even more satisfied with Qin Mu's answer, and said with an even wider smile, "We older generation won't interfere in the affairs of you young people. Whether you can make a name for yourself or not depends on yourselves. I'm relieved that you've taken care of me if I win the award."
"My younger brothers are all good kids, it's my duty to take care of them," Qin Mu said, glancing at the few little ones sitting upright below him.
Praised by Qin Mu, the little guy, who had always been reserved in front of his elders, finally smiled, looking at Qin Mu gratefully, and becoming much more confident. It's worth noting that they had always been considered rude and unteachable.
"I heard you're teaching your younger siblings to read. Could you tell me what you mainly teach?" Li Jing asked curiously.
I learned a little from my son that Li Dejiang said Qin Mu's teachings were very interesting.
"Second sister, go and get the book," Qin Mu said, turning his head.
Having never sat at the same table as Qin Qiong before, Qin Yuxin, who had been too shy to speak and kept her head down, hurriedly got up to get her study books.
With a series of thumping footsteps, Qin Yuxin quickly ran back and handed a stack of documents to Qin Mu.
"I teach them different things according to their interests and ages, mainly literacy and arithmetic. When they are old enough, we will still need to ask a tutor to teach them. After all, I don't know how to teach people." Qin Mu respectfully handed the Xuan paper in his hand to Li Jing and said.
"Clouds against rain, snow against wind, evening glow against clear sky..." Li Jing opened the book bound by Qin Mu and began to read softly. This attracted Yan Lide, who was standing nearby, to come over and watch.
"Good, very good. It's simple, easy to understand, and catchy. It's very suitable as an introductory book." Compared to Qin Qiong, Li Jing was much more knowledgeable. He only read a short passage and felt that it was good. He nodded in praise.
Yan Lide nodded in agreement and curiously took the following sheets of paper from Li Jing's hand.
"Junior brother, what is this?" Yan Lide asked, puzzled, after taking a look.
"This is to teach them basic arithmetic, this is addition and subtraction, but I've simplified some things. My second sister and the others are just starting out, we'll talk about the more complex stuff later," Qin Mu explained after glancing at them.
With Qin Mu's explanation, Yan Lide immediately understood. He then flipped through the questions and answers at the back and said with great interest, "Junior Brother's way of setting questions is really interesting. It is indeed much more convenient for beginners. It seems that Junior Brother is very proficient in mathematics."
"Not bad," Qin Mu said modestly. He wouldn't dare compare himself to others in other aspects, but when it came to calculations, he was second to none, whether it was equations or functions. He considered himself much better than most people today.
The key is that with the increase in mental strength, his mental calculation ability has improved a lot. In the past, he had to write out a formula, but now he can know the answer just by thinking silently. He discovered this when he was looking at the blueprints.
Seeing Qin Mu's confident demeanor, Yan Lide asked, "Is there anything you don't understand about the calculations on the blueprints?"
"Not yet, but there are some things I don't quite understand about why it was designed this way," Qin Mu replied.
"Really?" Yan Lide was somewhat skeptical, then thought for a moment and said, "Then let your senior brother test you."
"Senior brother, please give me the questions," Qin Mu said with a smile.
Seeing Qin Mu's defiant attitude, Yan Lide's spirits lifted, and he thought about how to give him a good whack to prevent him from becoming arrogant and complacent.
"Junior brother, listen carefully! There's a diagram, the bottom is thirteen zhang long..."
Yan Lide presented an irregular geometric shape, which was child's play for Qin Mu. As Yan Lide presented the question, Qin Mu sketched out the pattern in his mind and quickly solved it when the question came.
"The main beam is 9.6 feet long, and the central pillar is 9.9 feet long. I wonder if my answer is correct?" Qin Mu opened his eyes and replied.
"Not bad!" Yan Lide was taken aback by Qin Mu's immediate response, assuming Qin Mu had encountered this before. He nodded and said, "Here we go again!..."
At first, Yan Lide just asked questions randomly, but Qin Mu answered them almost instantly. Later, he had to use his brain to come up with some questions that had never appeared before, and the numbers kept getting bigger and bigger.
However, none of this stumped Qin Mu. It was Yan Lide himself who needed to calculate for a while before figuring out the answer. In the end, Yan Lide even started asking for advice.
"Junior brother, how did you calculate that 980 feet?"
"This involves the issue of angles. For many shapes, once you know the angle, calculating the others becomes much simpler," Qin Mu replied.
"Tell your senior brother about it!" Yan Lide asked excitedly.
"Ahem! You fellow disciples, why don't you wait until after the meal to talk about it?" Li Jing coughed twice and said.
"Oh, oh, oh! Sorry, I forgot." Yan Lide looked up, glanced blankly at Li Jing, then came to his senses and smiled apologetically.
"I'm so sorry to have kept everyone waiting. Let's eat!" Looking at the already boiling hot pot, Qin Mu smiled apologetically and then quickly put the meat into the pot.
“Junior brother, you have completely surpassed me in the art of mathematics. I was originally planning to teach you formations later, but it seems there’s no need for that,” Yan Lide sighed.
"Senior brother, you flatter me. I still have a lot to learn," Qin Mu said modestly.
“Master Yan is right. I just heard Huai Dao’s calculation ability. Even I can’t compare to it. It’s better to learn about this formation as soon as possible. It doesn’t require a very complicated calculation method, but the amount of calculation required is enormous.” Li Jing stroked his short beard and said.
“That’s right, just as Duke Wei said, the trouble with formations lies in the massive amount of calculation. The position of each node cannot be off by the slightest margin. The earlier we get involved, the sooner we can become familiar with them,” Yan Lide agreed.
"Whether it's a battle formation or a military formation, it's all related to the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams. You can read more books on this subject, and if you have any questions, you can ask me," Li Jing said calmly.
"Thank you, Duke of Wei." It was a rare and wonderful thing to receive guidance from Li Jing, so Qin Mu quickly expressed his gratitude.
"No need to thank me, I'll just answer your questions later," Li Jing waved his hand and said.
Qin Mu understood that he didn't want others to think he was too close to him, so he nodded understandingly and said nothing more.
"Eat, eat, Duke Wei, try this. The hot pot Mu'er ordered tastes even better than the sweet soup," Qin Qiong invited with a happy smile. His son had not only given him a huge boost today, but he would also receive guidance from Li Jing in the future; he couldn't help but be overjoyed.
As Qin Qiong started eating, Li Jing also picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. Yan Lide did the same, lagging behind Li Jing by picking up a piece of fish and placing it on his plate.
"Mmm! Delicious!" Imitating Qin Qiong, he dipped the food twice in the dish before putting it in his mouth. Stimulated by the spicy wasabi, he swallowed it and felt a warm sensation in his stomach before nodding in approval.
No one spoke after that, not even a sip of wine; everyone focused on the meat in the pot. Only when the entire pot of meat was finished, and Qin Mu was putting more in, did they put down their chopsticks.
Although they were immune to heat and cold, that was only in terms of external factors. Even though Qin Qiong and Li Jing were physically strong and had a high absorption capacity, they still broke out in a few beads of sweat.
"That feels good!" Li Jing exhaled.
"Come on, have a drink to calm your nerves!" Qin Qiong raised his glass in invitation.
Not only wine, but Qin Mu also had someone bring up some bone jelly, this time with ice added.
"Crunch! Crunch!" Li Jing crunched the ice cube loudly, then swallowed it before saying enviously, "Uncle Bao, you have such a good life!"
“This isn’t from our family’s cellar; Mu’er made it,” Qin Qiong said, shaking his head.
"I plan to offer a large amount of ice at the restaurant as an after-dinner drink," Qin Mu explained.
"With these things as a foundation, your restaurant business will definitely be booming, Junior Brother," Yan Lide nodded in admiration.
"Hehe, I just need to ask my senior brother to help with the design. Although I have a general plan, I don't know if it's feasible, and I'm also unsure about how to construct it," Qin Mu said with a smile.
"It's no big deal. I'll take a look later. When it's under construction, I'll arrange for two people to come and keep an eye on it for you," Yan Lide readily agreed.
"If I had known you had so many good things, I would have invested more money," Li Jing said with a smile.
"If Duke Wei really wants to invest, that's fine too. After this restaurant is built, we can open a few more, since Chang'an is such a big city."
"Alright." Li Jing nodded calmly. He wasn't too concerned about money. He had two sons; the elder could inherit the title, and the younger could easily become an official. With a small family, he didn't need to worry too much about the clan. For him, stability was the greatest advantage.
However, for someone like Qin Mu, a stable investment is always welcome, especially since his family is just a small shareholder and doesn't attract much attention.
Everyone was very satisfied with the meal. The two large bowls of meat and vegetables prepared by Qin Mu were all eaten, and the three adults, including Li Jing, finished the entire jar of wine.
Li Jing left gracefully, while Qin Mu sent the younger children to the courtyard to digest their food, since they had eaten until their bellies were round.
"Junior brother, your design is truly ingenious! How come I never thought of it before?" Yan Lide exclaimed with wide eyes after listening to Qin Mu's explanation on the second floor of the courtyard.
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