107, Complaint
107, Complaint
"call out--"
The arrow shot out and passed by the target.
Lu Mingfei put away the bow in his hand and took a closer look. He saw that the target was empty, which made him feel a little embarrassed. If there was an enemy standing opposite him, the arrow he shot would not be able to hit the enemy at all.
"Come again, you missed a little just now." Zhao Lang handed an arrow to Lu Mingfei. This time he stood behind Lu Mingfei and taught the young man how to shoot the arrow. "Raise your hand a little higher and move it a little closer."
“When the arrow is released, do not hesitate, and do not move your hand, but keep it in this direction.”
"shoot!"
Lu Mingfei almost subconsciously followed Zhao Lang's instructions. He loosened his hand holding the longbow, and the arrow on the string flew out with a "whoosh".
“Bang!”
The arrow was firmly stuck in the target, and the tail was still shaking gently.
Lu Mingfei smiled slightly. He turned to look at Zhao Lang, and just as he met his gaze, he grinned. However, the smile didn't last long before he put it away and said with some distress, "Without your guidance, I wouldn't be able to hit the target at all."
"No one is born a sharpshooter. Sharpshooters are made through practice. You will become one if you practice more." Zhao Lang's archery skills today are the result of practice since childhood. It is not something that can be achieved overnight.
Hearing this, Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. He knew that the sharpshooters of later generations were also trained. Of course, there were many people with high talent in this area, but they were only a minority. The majority of people were trained after birth.
Holding the bow in his hand, he felt it was a bit troublesome to have to nock the arrow again every time he shot it.
Thinking of this, he had an idea in his mind, so he said to Zhao Lang: "What do you think, wouldn't it be more convenient if we made a crossbow? A crossbow can shoot multiple arrows at a time, without having to nock an arrow and then take it out. While we are changing arrows, the enemy can kill us in one blow."
"Bows and arrows are only suitable for long-range attacks, not close-range attacks," said Zhao Lang.
"But crossbows are not only suitable for long-range attacks, but also for close-range attacks." Imagine if the enemy stood right in front of them, they could use a crossbow to shoot them into a sieve. Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei was more inclined to use a crossbow, which was actually closer to the modern wooden cannon.
Zhao Lang pointed out a reality: "Bows and crossbows are too expensive to be used by the military."
"Then we can get one ourselves and play with it?" It seemed like there weren't any laws or regulations prohibiting the use of wooden cannonballs in this world. Lu Mingfei thought about it and realized that there really weren't any. Otherwise, almost every wealthy family would have a large number of guards and weapons, which would be illegal!
However, if he wants to make a crossbow, it may be a bit troublesome, and an ordinary blacksmith shop may not be able to make it for him.
But what if he disassembled the crossbow's parts and asked a few blacksmiths to make it? Wouldn't others know what he was going to shoot?
In his previous life, he had been very interested in special forces. In college, he even studied them and various cold and hot weapons, including crossbows and wooden cannons. Given the current technological level and conditions, he certainly couldn't build rockets and artillery shells, but as for crossbows and wooden cannons, he could consider getting a couple for self-defense.
"If you want, I'll get someone to make you one."
"You don't need to find anyone, I can do it myself."
"Um?"
"You'll know when the time comes."
Lu Mingfei blinked, remaining mysterious.
Zhao Lang looked at the boy's mischievous appearance, then shifted his gaze to the bow in his hand and asked, "Are you still practicing this?"
"Practice. Learning one more skill means one more way to save your life!" Lu Mingfei held the bow in his hand, put an arrow on it, and continued to practice archery.
But that night he stretched the bow so hard that his arms were completely exhausted, and his archery skills had not improved much.
After practicing archery for a while, he also practiced horse riding before taking the carriage of Prince Ding's mansion back home.
Lying in bed in the middle of the night, he touched his aching arm. This feeling… was truly sore! He didn’t know if he would be able to pick up a pen and write tomorrow!
***
After the college entrance examination, all the candidates had to wait for the list from the government to come out before they could know whether they had passed or not.
However, after the college entrance examination, Lu Mingfei didn't slack off. While waiting for the results, he studied every day according to his planned schedule. During this time, he would occasionally visit the private school to consult with the teacher, but he mostly studied at home, occasionally taking time to visit the bookstore to read.
He has stopped writing storybooks since the county examination began, so he has no time to earn pocket money recently.
He now wakes up at six every morning, exercises for an hour, then eats breakfast. After breakfast, he sits in his study and reads until noon before making lunch. In the morning, several of his younger brothers go to the escort agency to learn martial arts from the master and don't return until noon.
At noon, his father and mother would come back from outside, and the family would have lunch together.
In the afternoons, his father and mother would go to work at the pancake shop, leaving the children at home to study with him. He would take half an hour to teach his younger brothers new words and arithmetic. Then, in the evenings, he would go to Zhao Lang's place to learn archery and horsemanship. His days were packed, with little time for rest or leisure.
That day, just as he finished lunch, his father and mother came back, bringing his second uncle, fourth uncle, and two cousins home.
"Father, Mother." Lu Mingfei came out of the kitchen and saw that the people following his father and mother were not too surprised. He called out with a normal expression, "Second Uncle, Fourth Uncle."
"Qilang has grown up so much, he's almost as old as us." Seeing his handsome, scholarly nephew, Lu Laoer regretted not splitting up with his second and fourth branches when the third branch split up. If their second branch had split up at that time, they would have joined the clan leader in growing bean sprouts, earned some money, and sent their son to school. Learning to read would have been better than working like a slave at home for so many years to support their eldest nephew's education.
Lu Lao Si also envied his third brother for having a well-educated child. This nephew, only in his teens, was already a Tongsheng (Tongsheng) and had placed first in the last county exam. He might even become a Xiucai (Scholar)! There weren't many Xiucai (Scholars) in the entire capital prefecture who were only in their teens. This nephew's future was definitely limitless.
Lu Mingfei did not miss the look his second uncle and fourth uncle gave him, but he did not forget that his father and mother were locked in the house waiting to die, and his second uncle and fourth uncle and their wife closed the door and hid in the house. Even if his father's brothers could lend a helping hand to his father and help him find a doctor to treat his injuries, he might not be so indifferent to these uncles now.
But since they were guests now, he politely invited his second uncle and fourth uncle to come in and sit down.
"This is our second child, named Mingrui. The other three are children of our friends." When they got into the house, Lu Youtian introduced his youngest son and other little children to his brothers.
"This child looks exactly like Qilang when he was little, especially his eyes. He's obviously a smart kid." Lu Lao Er looked at his little son in his brother's arms, his eyes filled with envy. Their second wife only had one son, and the rest were girls. He didn't know how his third brother and his wife were so lucky to have two sons, both of whom were boys.
"Haha, you're quite naughty." Lu Youtian touched his youngest son's cheek and let him go back to his seat to eat.
Zhang Qi and Zhang Xiaobao were a bit reserved when they saw the Lu family's guests. However, Lu Mingcong and Lu Mingrui didn't pay much attention to the guests, nor did they show any fear. They continued to eat as usual.
Knowing that there were four more people to eat at home that day, Lu Youtian brought back a few braised pork buns from the bun shop when he came back. Together with the homemade food, it was enough for so many people to eat.
The reason they say "take" is because now when they go to the pancake shop to buy pancakes, Mr. and Mrs. Lu won't take their money. Similarly, they often bring food to the pancake shop for Mr. Lu and his family. Now, the braised meat they provide to the pancake shop is basically not profitable, and they only pay the cost price.
However, the two companies have been doing business together since last year and have made some money.
After everyone had lunch together, Lu Youtian asked the boys to go out and play, and he sat in the house with his eldest son, his two brothers, and his nephews who had come with him to talk.
They chatted for a while, and then Lu Laoer turned the topic to some things in his hometown. He cried to his third brother about the difficulties they had faced over the years, and how they only got a bag of grain and two houses that originally belonged to them when the family split up, and nothing else.
"We can't find work right now. If we don't have any income at home, once the bag of food at home is finished, our family will starve." When he said this, Lu Laoer couldn't help but sigh.
Lu Lao Si also had a look of sorrow on his face. He said, "My second brother and I have been either farming at home or working for the landlords for years. We took every penny we earned back home to give to Mother. When it came time to divide up the family property, Mother said there was no money at home and refused to give a single penny to our fourth and second wives. Now we don't even have money to buy salt."
Lu Youtian and his son Lu Mingfei listened quietly without expressing any opinions.
Seeing that his third brother and nephew were silent, Lu Laoer hesitated for a moment before asking, "Didn't Qilang tell Wulang and Liulang last time about some ways to make money? Qilang, if you have any ways to make money, could you tell us about them?"
"Yes, Qillang, if you help your fourth uncle and your second uncle, we will not forget you." Lu Laoer also said.
Lu Wulang and Lu Liulang, who were sitting on the side, both looked at their cousin, waiting for him to tell them the way to make money.
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