43. Unsharpened knife
Taiping Medical Clinic has always been a non-competitive place. On Anxi Street, no matter how many vendors come and go, from spring to autumn, from winter to summer solstice, the clinic is always there, making people feel at ease.
But Taiping Medical Clinic suddenly became lively.
The prince and the princess climbed over the wall, Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er stayed here, laughter, fire, and an endless stream of wanderers...
Chen Ji stood outside the door, looking at Old Man Yao with a complicated expression: "Master, do you want him to teach me sword skills?"
Old Man Yao stood outside the door with his hands behind his back, saying indifferently, "The Liang family's swordsmanship is unrivaled in Yuzhou. There are many people in this world who possess the skills, but few who seek the truth. Learn well."
Chen Ji was curious: "What is the difference between skills and Tao?"
Old Man Yao answered slowly, "Tao is the direction of nothingness, and skills are the path under your feet. Remember, if you use Tao to control skills, your skills will succeed; if you use skills to control Tao, your skills will fail."
"Then you still want me to learn sword skills first?"
"First, learn how to progress from sword techniques to sword arts. This is the Liang family's own secret, but the Liang family has no descendants now, so this skill might be lost at any time. What if Liang Gou'er suddenly gets the urge to pass it on to you... By the way, you've made a lot of money recently, so you'll pay for the food for these two Liang family members."
Chen Ji became alert: "Are you still thinking about my little tricks?"
Old Man Yao: "I'm thinking of you."
Chen Ji: “…”
At this moment, Liang Maoer's voice rang out from the backyard: "Excuse me...where are we going to sleep?"
Chen Ji hurried in: "Let's sleep in the apprentice dormitory. Our bunk bed is big enough for five people."
Liang Maoer quickly said, "No, no, this bunk bed is a bit crowded for five people. My brother can sleep here, and I'll sleep in the kitchen."
Chen Ji smiled and said, "It's okay. It won't hurt to squeeze in. Winter is coming soon and the kitchen will freeze you to death."
"All right……"
Liang Gou'er was already fast asleep. Liang Mao'er gently placed him on the bed and took off his shoes and socks for him.
However, after Liang Mao'er finished all this, she did not sleep. She turned to look at Chen Ji and said carefully: "Well... I can help with the work, cleaning, cooking and washing clothes. I am not afraid of being tired."
Before Chen Ji could answer, Liang Maoer took a wooden basin and took away the dirty clothes and socks from the apprentice's dormitory. He then went to the kitchen stove to get some wood ash, squatted in the yard, scooped up a few buckets of water and started to wash them, as if he was afraid that the clinic would go back on its word and no longer want to take the two brothers in.
Wood ash and soapberries were the natural detergents of that era. People who had the means would also add some mint, scutellaria baicalensis, and lotus leaves to rub the clothes, which would have a faint fragrance after washing.
Liang Mao'er was fat, and squatting on the ground was a bit strenuous for him. Chen Ji thought for a moment and brought a small chair for him: "Sit down and wash."
Liang Maoer looked up and smiled, "Thank you... I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble."
Chen Ji looked at the other person. If Liang Gou'er was not beside him, Liang Mao'er would not look like a gangster at all. He would look more like a hardworking waiter in a restaurant.
"Don't you have any money left?" Chen Ji asked in confusion.
"Actually, I've secretly saved a little, but I can't let my brother know," Liang Mao'er said with a simple smile, "I plan to buy a few acres of land in the countryside of Luocheng once I've saved enough money. That way, even if my brother doesn't work for the rich, we can still survive."
"That's not enough to pay for your brother's drinks."
"We'll talk about it later..."
When Liang Maoer finished washing all the clothes accumulated by Liu Quxing and She Dengke, her stomach suddenly made a rumbling sound.
Liang Mao'er looked embarrassed: "Um...is there any food in the clinic? Anything will do, I'm not picky about food."
Chen Ji to Liang Mao
The son brought a large bowl of cornmeal porridge, a plate of pickles, and four multi-grain cakes left over from last night.
But Liang Maoer finished eating in one breath, wiped her mouth, and looked at him silently again.
Chen Ji took a deep breath and took out four more multi-grain cakes and a plate of pickles...
After Liang Mao'er finished eating, Chen Ji said quietly, "Your brother has to teach me swordsmanship quickly."
"Ah? Are you in such a hurry?" Liang Maoer was stunned.
Chen Ji said seriously: "If your brother doesn't teach me, I'm afraid I'll regret it..."
Liang Maoer hurriedly asked, "Have you ever practiced swordsmanship before?"
“I haven’t practiced.”
Liang Maoer thought for a moment and said, "Then let me teach you first. I know all the basic knife skills."
As he spoke, he straightened his chubby body and swung it twice: "When my father taught my brother to practice swordsmanship, he also asked me to learn from him, but I don't have the talent and can't learn it."
Chen Ji looked at Liang Mao'er's clumsy moves, raised his eyebrows and changed the subject: "Is your brother like this before?"
"That's not true," Liang Mao'er said quickly. "My brother didn't drink before, and he never went to places like that. Back then, he was the best swordsman in Yuzhou. He single-handedly killed bandits from three mountains with his sword. Ordinary people from the underworld who came to Luocheng had to pay their respects to him first."
When Liang Maoer talked about his brother's past glory, his eyes were filled with memories and longing.
Chen Ji asked curiously, "What happened next?"
Liang Mao'er's tone dropped. "Then my sister-in-law showed up. She was very beautiful and gentle, and she was very kind to my brother and me. When my brother was practicing swordplay, she pestered him to learn how to use it, but after he finished, she disappeared. Since then, my brother stopped practicing swordplay and started enjoying drinking."
The Liang family's swordsmanship is not to be passed on to outsiders. This is not only the Liang family's ancestral precept, but also the Liang family members are well aware of the secret of cultivation, and no one can practice together.
However, Liang Gou'er passed on his sword skills to others, and ended up with such a fate.
Chen Ji asked curiously, "Did your sister-in-law never show up again?"
Liang Maoer thought for a moment: "My brother said that she might have returned to the Northern Jing Dynasty..."
Before he could finish his words, Liang Gou'er, drunkenly leaning against the door frame, angrily said, "I told you not to mention this again!"
Liang Mao'er shrank her neck and said, "Let's not talk about it anymore. Let's not talk about it anymore."
Liang Gou'er squinted at Chen Ji and asked, "Do you really want to learn swordsmanship?"
"I do," Chen Ji said sincerely.
"Then let me ask you, why do you want to learn knife skills?" Liang Gou'er asked again.
"Self-preservation."
Liang Gou'er burst into laughter. "Then you shouldn't learn the sword! Sword techniques require a lot of power. Those who learn the sword should first have the confidence to split mountains, not talk about self-protection. When you want to protect yourself, you have already given up your sword!"
Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked, "Then what should I learn?"
Liang Gou'er threw his sword to Chen Ji and pointed to the kitchen: "Bring some firewood. Once you chop it, I'll know what you should learn."
Chen Ji went to get a piece of firewood and stood in the yard. He drew his knife and chopped it along the cracks in the firewood.
The long knife was stuck on the surface of the firewood. It was not until then that he realized that Liang Gouer's knife was not sharpened!
How is it possible? An unsharpened knife could chop through Lin Chaoqing's bamboo hat in mid-air?
He looked at Liang Gou'er: "Why is this knife not sharpened?"
Liang Gou'er said carelessly, "Because there's no need."
Chen Ji didn't know how to respond for a moment. Between the "most serious" and "most frivolous" answers, Liang Gou'er chose the most pretentious one.
At this time, Liu Quxing and She Dengke were also awakened. They leaned on the door frame and peeked out.
But Liang Gou'er carefully looked at the crack marks on the old
, I don’t know what I’m looking at.
Without saying a word, he took the long knife from Chen Ji's hand, and with a casual wave of his hand, the firewood standing in the middle of the yard was split into two, with a smooth cut surface.
Liang Gou'er turned to look at Chen Ji. "The sword is domineering. My Liang family's sword technique is impartial and unyielding. No matter if you have any flaws or not, I will strike you with my sword and your whole body will be covered with them. The sword in your hands no longer feels like a sword. It's more like a sword that targets flaws and strikes with unconventional strokes. So you shouldn't practice swordsmanship. You should find someone to learn sword skills from."
"Does personality determine one's path?" Chen Ji pondered.
"The heart and the mind must be in harmony. If the path you take doesn't align with your heart, you won't go far," Liang Gou'er explained.
Liang Mao'er, standing by, was puzzled: "Brother, you said before that the sword is king, which is very similar to our family's swordsmanship."
Liang Gou'er looked at Chen Ji and said meaningfully, "The sword I'm talking about isn't the long sword at your waist, but the swords in the Jing Dynasty Martial Temple. So you shouldn't learn swordsmanship from me, you should go to the Jing Dynasty Martial Temple to learn swordsmanship."
Chen Ji was stunned for a moment.
He was once carried into the ancient battlefield by the ice flow, and the people in the battlefield once asked him: Who stole my sword seed?
Is the type of sword the other party mentioned related to the type of sword in Jingchao Wu Temple?
Chen Ji asked, "Can we only go to Jingchao Wu Temple to learn?"
Liang Gou'er thought for a moment and said, "There should be someone in Ning Dynasty who is practicing, but the last time he made a move was more than ten years ago, and everyone who saw him make a move is dead."
Chen Ji fell into deep thought.
If I really have to go to the Jing Dynasty Martial Temple to repair it, then does that mean I have to make great achievements in the Ning Dynasty, be promoted step by step, and eventually be transferred back to the Jing Dynasty?
But that will take time.
Liang Gou'er looked at him and said, "Don't practice with the sword anymore. Practicing with the sword now will only make you crooked. It will be difficult to straighten it out later."
Liang Maoer muttered softly: "Brother, if he doesn't practice, where will we live? What will we eat..."
Liang Gou'er immediately changed his tone: "You can practice stances and footwork first! As the saying goes, if you teach boxing without footwork, you'll be beaten by your master! Footwork is the foundation of the whole body's power. If you don't practice footwork, you can only use the strength of one arm when you punch, but how much strength can one arm have? If you practice footwork, the power will flow from the legs to the hips, from the hips to the waist, and from the waist to the arms. In this way, the power of the whole body is concentrated at one point, and then..."
Before he could finish his words, he heard someone shouting at the door of the clinic: "Chen Ji, Chen Ji!"
She Dengke looked over suddenly, and Chen Ji frowned. They both recognized that it was Chunhua's voice.
She Dengke hesitated again and again, but in the end he did not step out of the room. Chen Ji came to the door of the clinic and asked curiously, "Miss Chunhua, is there anything wrong?"
Chunhua's eyes were still swollen from crying. She took out an invitation and whispered, "My wife has invited everyone in the clinic to attend the literary gathering at the palace this afternoon. She said she has something important to discuss with you."
Chen Ji opened the red invitation, which read: I would like to prepare a banquet on the evening of September 10th, inviting scholars and intellectuals from Luo City. I would like to extend my greetings to you. I am honored that you will be late.
————Zhu Yunxi from Prince Jing’s Mansion.
The literary gathering was organized by the Crown Prince, and Concubine Jing wanted to use this gathering to discuss the Liu family's affairs in detail with me?
Chunhua looked at Chen Ji eagerly, and gently lifted up her sleeves, only to see that they were covered with whip marks from being whipped with a rattan stick.
Chen Ji shook his head: "Miss Chunhua, it's useless to show me this. If I don't want to go, even if you get beaten up again, it has nothing to do with me."
Chunhua was anxious.
But Chen Ji changed the subject: "But tell Concubine Jing that I will go."
…
One chapter today.
The principal’s new book “Rebirth: Receive $100 Million Every Day”: When the wheel of fortune begins to reverse.
In this life, Lin Dong wants to be the driving force behind the scenes and enjoy the life of a top rich second generation.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
