In the small yard, a small hill was piled up with several exquisite river stones, and a winding stream was dug around the hill. The rushing stream hit the porcelain bottles specially placed at the bend, making crisp sounds of "ding ding, dong dong, buzzing", which suddenly filled the small yard with vitality.

There is a four-season red maple tree planted on the top of the hill. The red leaves as big as a child's palm occasionally fall and land in the stream and float away along the stream, adding a bit of poetic beauty to the courtyard.

On one side of the courtyard are six exquisite bamboo houses, where the maids live.

On the north side of the yard is a small building in the shape of a bamboo shoot. There are three living rooms on the lower floor, bedrooms on the second floor, and the smallest top floor. There are few cigarettes burning, and when the wind blows, you can faintly hear the hollow sound of the xun.

Chu Tian closed the courtyard door with his backhand, walked to the front of the small building, went up the stairs to the second floor, and pushed open the door of the bedroom on the second floor.

"Auntie Hong, get up and receive the guests!" Leaning lazily against the door frame with the pink hydrangea on her bun shaking, Chu Tian knocked on the door with a smile and called out to the step-out bed in the bedroom with a thick bed curtain drawn.

After a long while, a sweet voice, as if it had countless small hooks, slowly drilled into your ears and into your heart, hooking your internal organs and making them tingle and numb, came faintly: "Chu Tian, ​​Mr. Chu, even those who go to brothels are not as diligent as you."

"Auntie Hong, you said Qingliu Cottage is a brothel, aren't you afraid that Auntie Lu will tear your mouth off?" Chu Tian smiled particularly brightly, walked leisurely into the room, sat at the round table in the middle of the room, picked up the half-pot of remaining tea, washed a teacup, poured himself a cup of cold tea, and took a sip slowly.

Hong Gu laughed and said slowly, "What's the difference between a zither house and a brothel? Well, it's just right that you're here, so there's less trouble!"

The bed curtain moved, and with two "snap" sounds, a palm-sized booklet with a blood-red cover and a one-foot-long jade ruler fell in front of Chu Tian at the same time: "Well, test yourself. Another year has passed. Have you made any progress?"

The jade ruler is one foot long and has ten long scales on it. Each one-inch long scale is divided into ten small scales.

Chu Tian raised his eyebrows, smiled, grabbed the jade ruler, exerted a little force with his palm, and saw a white light on the jade ruler. Gradually, the white light became longer and longer, gradually approaching the first inch of the jade ruler.

The bed curtain was slightly opened, and a pair of beautiful bright eyes looked at the jade ruler in Chu Tian's hand through the gap.

After a full cup of tea, the white light on the jade ruler reached about the eight-point mark and could no longer move forward at all.

Chu Tian laughed, looking complacently at the lighted scale on the jade ruler and said, "Eighty years of cultivation, I'm only a few days away from turning eighteen, not bad!"

Putting down the jade ruler, Chu Tian flipped through the blood-red cover booklet. After turning over a dozen pages, he said with a smile, "Hong Gu, look, at this time last year, I only had 55 years of cultivation. I gained 25 years of cultivation in one year. I am still working hard!"

As he spoke, Chu Tian pulled out a very thin carbon strip from the cover of the booklet and wrote something on it. There was no name on the booklet, only a number consisting of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches and numbers. Under this number, Chu Tian wrote the words "Year, Month, Day, 80 Years of Cultivation".

The bed curtain moved, and the pair of beautiful eyes disappeared. Hong Gu sighed, "Compared to ordinary people, they are not bad, but that's all. Hey, who made me run into you guys who are so troublesome?"

The bed curtain moved, and a palm-sized jade box flew out and landed silently in front of Chu Tian.

Chu Tian put down the booklet in his hand, picked up the jade box and opened the lid. There were only six thumb-sized brown pills inside, which gave off an extremely pungent yet lasting smell.

"Wow, six leopard embryo pills!" Chu Tian stood up with a smile on his face, and bowed to the bed nonchalantly: "Hong Gu, you have a conscience. Agou, Aque and I have been squeezing money in Baimang River for three years, and 90% of the money has been spent on you. You are really generous!"

"Get lost!" A pillow with a faint fragrance flew out and hit Chu Tian's head hard. "Do you have the nerve to do that? How much of your profit is left? I had to beg you guys for these six leopard embryo pills with great difficulty."

With a cold snort, Hong Gu shouted, "Go back and tell those two boys that there aren't many children left in Yingkou, so don't let them die."

Putting away the six leopard embryo pills, Chu Tian looked at the bed solemnly and said in a deep voice: "Hmm? Did Hong Gu receive the news?"

With a sigh, Hong Gu said slowly, "Well, I was just sending someone to look for you, and now you're here, saving me the trouble. Do you still remember Zhou Dangtou, who was thrown into the Baimang River by you?"

"Zhou Dangtou, that old ghost, how could he not remember?" Chu Tian touched his cheek and said with a smile, "I was young and soft-hearted at that time, so I broke Zhou Dangtou's arms, but his vicious wife stabbed me in the face. If it weren't for Hong Gu having the antidote for the viper venom, I would have been disfigured if not dead. It's such a pity for my handsome face!"

"His son is back!" Hong Gu said calmly, "Zhou Dangtou's son Zhou Liuyun went to the capital of Dajin to study twelve years ago and became a disciple of the master of Bailu Academy. He just returned to Jizhou seven days ago and became the dean of Jizhou Academy. He is the first person under the master of Jizhou Academy."

"Wow, the second leader of the scholar group!" Chu Tian frowned.

"Stop talking nonsense. He's a serious abbot, what's the second village chief?" Hong Gu scolded angrily, and said softly, "It's okay if he's just a abbot, but if he dares to cause trouble, these two people can break his legs, and it won't cause any trouble."

With a heavy sigh, Hong Gu said helplessly, "It just so happens that he is married to the Ling family. The ninth daughter of the Ling family, Ling Yinhua, just got engaged to him five days ago. Three days ago, Ling Yue was admitted to the Jizhou Academy as an exception, and even became the direct disciple of the master of the Jizhou Academy."

"Behind the Ling family is the Chu family, and the Yizhou Academy is the old stronghold of Yizhou literati... Bah, bah, the Yizhou Academy is the gathering place for Yizhou literati." Hong Gu said unhappily, "Aren't you just bringing trouble to your doorstep?"

Chu Tian frowned: "Zhou Dangtou's son, he must not be a good person."

After thinking for a while, Chu Tian stood up with a smile: "Don't worry, Hong Gu, I have a way to deal with him. If it really doesn't work, I will ask Hong Gu to help me."

While smiling, Chu Tian turned around and walked away.

Suddenly, the curtain of the bed moved, and Hong Gu asked lazily, "Are you still having nightmares?"

Chu Tian shuddered slightly, and continued to walk out: "Now it's a spring dream. In the dream, it's you, Hong Gu, and sometimes Lu Gu!"

A cold snort came from behind the curtain of the bed, and Hong Gu said angrily, "Die outside, I will collect your body someday!"