23 I'm going to blow him up!!!
◎Huo Yan: The eagle that soars high in the wind must return to the wind.◎
Pilan Hall, the small palace where Huo Yan and Huo Qubing temporarily lived.
Huo Yan added white soil① to the jar while stirring the boiling bark and hemp in the pot with a long wooden spoon.
The servants below added firewood from time to time.
Huo Qubing sat on a rectangular wooden board in the courtyard, basking in the sun. The sun was a bit too strong, so he took off his brocade robe and tied it casually around his waist, leaving only a light white shirt on his upper body. He skillfully used a knife to cut open the paper Huo Yan had made. As he did so, he glanced at the sweaty Huo Yan and said, "Your recipe is wrong again. Not only is it shedding hair, it's also very brittle."
Huo Yan sighed, put down the spoon, jumped off the table, and waved his hand, "Forget it, this is the last pot."
Huo Qubing did not comment. He rolled the grass fibers on his hands before lifting up the thin, translucent half piece of paper.
"Uncle has so many fine cloths and hemp papers, but they are not as good as this one in my hand!"
Huo Yan rolled his eyes at the words and took the sharpened charcoal, looking at the piece of white paper in his hand.
However, the palace maid was curious and boldly asked Huo Qubing.
Huo Qubing stayed beside Huo Yan, playing with the small ball in his hand. When he saw Huo Yan rolling his eyes, he smiled even more smugly, like a showy little white cat.
"It is not something that can be told to outsiders."
Huo Yan turned his face away, clearing his mind of all thoughts and concentrating on the design of the keel waterwheel.
But not long after, he stopped writing and became a little annoyed. He threw away the waste paper he was drawing on, shook off the hair on his hands, and had a gloomy expression. It was obvious that he was as annoyed as if he wanted to use a cannon to shoot at a mosquito.
Huo Qubing tacitly took the piece of paper and made room for him.
"The wood is too hard. You should hammer the ball."
Huo Qubing threw the ball, and Huo Yan didn't stretch out his hand, the ball automatically fell into his hand.
He looked over and saw Huo Qubing smiling and winking at him. Huo Yan's cold face could no longer be maintained and he suddenly smiled as well, then continued to concentrate on painting.
Huo Qubing's ball was the only thing that Huo Yan could catch without making any effort.
[I see. It seems like Bingbing said that because Yan is such a waste of paper.]
[Hhh, this is because Bingbing is too confident. He thinks what he made himself is valuable.]
[This, oh, how sick.]
[No wonder Ah Yan rolled his eyes at him, he was completely speechless.]
…
[The sickly smile only makes me feel that some people can live like the sun.]
[The brightest Bingbing in Chang'an City!]
[A smile can calm down the irritable Ah Yan.]
[Bingbing's existence is like the sun, the sun of Ayan.]
…
Huo Yan had only finished a part of the painting. The paper was torn and the charcoal pencil was blunt, so he put away his pencil, gave a few words of advice to the servant who was making the paper, and then went out to play Cuju with Huo Qubing.
They played Cuju just between two people, and they definitely couldn't go to Jucheng where Liu Che often went to play. They just found an open grassland, and the two of them called a few servants to play Cuju with each other.
After playing it twice, Huo Qubing found it boring.
The servants thought he was blaming them, and were afraid that he would be unhappy, so they began to tremble with fear.
Huo Yan caught the ball, dusted it off, and said calmly, "You want to go out."
Huo Qubing glanced at him, took the ball from his hand and walked back.
“You can’t run here.”
For Huo Qubing, who loved running in the streets of Chang'an as freely as the wind, the palace was a very dull and boring place. Before he even left, he was warned not to offend this noble person or that noble person. He could only see half of the sky.
Huo Yan was silent for a moment before he said, "Then leave the palace. If you feel like you're being held captive, you might as well try your best to break free."
Huo Qubing turned his head to look at him, then strode towards Liu Che's inner court.
"Then let's go!"
Huo Yan followed closely behind, walking side by side with him.
No one expected that they would meet Liu Che head-on.
"Those two little brats over there, let's go ride horses in Shanglinyuan, do you want to go?"
Liu Che laughed loudly, followed by a group of young men in riding clothes.
Huo Qubing rushed over with his eyes shining, "Uncle, let's go!"
The momentum of the small ball running was like a thunder and fire, and the small ball behind it was also pulled by him and became very fast.
Liu Che picked up Huo Qubing, who was in the lead, and pinched his little face with a smile.
"Then let's go. Uncle will pick out a pony for you and Ayan."
Huo Qubing responded in a crisp voice.
Huo Yan was led to Liu Che's side. After paying his respects, he walked to Wei Qing's side and called Gongsun Ao and Su Jian "Uncle Gongsun" and "Uncle Su".
Gongsun Ao and Su Jian both laughed.
Wei Qing stroked his hair, picked him up, and whispered, "Have you been wronged? Why did you run away?"
Huo Yan put his arms around his neck, buried his face in the crook of his neck, and acted coquettishly without saying a word.
"I want to go home."
He whispered.
Wei Qing's heart melted. The corners of his lips curled up, his eyes curved slightly, and his slightly upturned almond-shaped eyes seemed to suddenly bloom into a sky full of flowers. It was the clear, elegant and gentle look that Huo Yan was familiar with.
"good."
Huo Yan lay on Wei Qing's chest and heard Wei Qing say.
[I want to go home!]
[I also think it’s time to go home.]
[Let’s go home. Even the sky is too small in this palace.]
[Chang'an's Changfeng should not be imprisoned.]
[Bingbing should run.]
[Run!]
…
It is not known what Wei Qing and Liu Che said, but Huo Yan and Huo Qubing returned to the Wei Mansion that day, with Wei Zifu reluctant to let them go.
After not being home for half a month, Huo Yan felt a long-lost excitement upon returning. He followed Huo Qubing and a group of followers around Chang'an City, playing with cats and dogs, just like the two leading young dandies in Chang'an City.
Huo Yan's little house is now a landmark in Chang'an. As more and more people know about it, it becomes more and more lively. Sometimes, because there are too many people, even Huo Yan himself cannot enter. Huo Qubing can only sigh at the tower every day, and then mutter to himself to play by himself during the closing time.
It's said that on the opening day, there weren't many people around, but the manager, following Huo Yan's instructions, constructed a gatehouse out of bamboo, wrapped it with colorful ribbons, and adorned it with flowers. They also neatly hung under the archway various animal-skin dolls stuffed with rice bran, bran, and buckwheat husks, as well as wooden toy cars, waterwheels, and other small contraptions.
Children are most easily attracted to new things and will immediately pull adults over.
The adults were also curious. When they heard that these were free and could be obtained by winning games, they couldn't wait to go in.
Since then, it has been out of control, and many people say it's like an addiction.
The activity of catching dolls is even worse, as it relies on luck. Some people succeed in one go like Huo Qubing, while others, like Huo Yan, fail even after fifty tries.
But the kids next to me were watching me eagerly, so I had no choice but to hold on and try to get the guaranteed prize.
Now you have the small dolls, and you can exchange ten, twenty, thirty or even sixty small dolls for a more exquisite fully embroidered large doll.
This place is not only loved by children, but also by women. When they are tired of playing, they go upstairs to the place specially reserved by the store, order some snacks or drinks with their friends, lie on the animal hair chairs and chat.
Within half a month, the dolls launched by Huo Yan became hard currency among the children of the powerful and wealthy in Chang'an City.
It is said that a certain duke spent tens of thousands of strings of cash in one go to buy wooden sticks for his little grandson, and bought almost every doll and car that the little grandson liked in the store!
The wealthy and powerful were always wealthy, and membership cards could easily be topped up with thousands of coins. Eventually, there was so much money that Huo Yan had to set a limit. When he had the money brought to Chunyu Tiying's house by oxcart, she thought he was robbing the treasury and lectured him for a while, only to be relieved after he explained. Huo Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
It was also heard that the little grandson showed off his stock at a gathering of other children and gave some to the little girl he liked.
This immediately pushed Huo Yan's toy house's reputation to the top.
If there is a list of the most fun places in Chang'an, this little house would probably be at the top of the list.
The toy house was a real money-maker; even the daily allowance Huo Yan set aside for Huo Qubing kept growing. With more money, a virtuous cycle flourished: he acquired more toys, membership cards, coupons, and a rapid turnover of toys, changing them almost every seven days. Some items were difficult to display, but as soon as Huo Qubing showed them around, all the children of the lower-ranking officials knew how to play with them and began to beg for them.
Huo Yan always believed that having enough money was difficult. But once he had enough money, expanding his base and making money more profitable was easy.
In two months, he bought two more places in the suburbs of Chang'an, hired many of the original female workers and craftsmen, and had people make a lot of textile machines and sewing machines, which solved the problem of completely getting rid of the downstream production chain. It also increased the income of many farmers who depended on the weather for their livelihood and hunters in the mountains, making their lives much better.
Even for the wives of minor officials who could not appear in public, he was willing to ask his steward to make small plush pendants for Zhuo Wenjun who came to him on her own initiative. This thing was simple, just sew it together according to the cut scraps of cloth.
Life is difficult for ordinary people and powerless officials, but it's also difficult for the powerful. Huo Yan enjoys the feeling of making money, but he's not a miser. On the contrary, he always believes that money is just a tool. Tools should be returned to their proper place.
He earned power and money through his own abilities, and helped others through his abilities.
Well, there is also the barrage to help. He doesn't like to owe favors to others, so he asks them to tell him the names of their ancestors, and he will find some and send some money. The words in the barrage are, "Leave some blessings, leave some blessings, and suddenly meet a benefactor; luck for future generations, luck for future generations, and accumulate good deeds."
Therefore, even though the talk of Chang'an City recently is all about him, he remains unmoved despite the winds coming from all directions.
In the sixth year of Jianyuan, Chang'an East Market.
It is still cold in early spring.
Huo Qubing, the major shareholder of Chang'an Toy House, who could only squeeze in during the holiday, wrapped himself tightly, stepped on his walnut bicycle, and sped up on the cobblestone road.
Behind him, Huo Yan was also dressed like a little bear. Huo Qubing increased his speed, but it didn't scare Huo Yan. Huo Yan hugged Huo Qubing's waist, took a sip of cold air from behind, and giggled.
"Brother, do you think I can get Mr. Sima to polish the outline of my "The Monkey King" for free this time? The person I approached a while ago couldn't do it."
Yes, he just wrote an outline. As for the rest, he wanted to find someone to work on and polish it, but he couldn't find a suitable person, so he had to look for someone who was known to have good writing skills.
Huo Qubing stepped forward and spoke loudly upon hearing this.
"If he doesn't want to, I'll help you talk to your uncle. He won't dare ignore you in front of your uncle."
Huo Yan smiled, "Brother still cherishes me."
Huo Qubing also laughed, "Shameless little thing, who cares about you?"
He asked Huo Yan in the back, "We'll be closed tomorrow. Do you have any new snacks?"
"There's one you're sure to like. I'll have the chef make it for you later." Huo Yan chattered non-stop, discussing his plans with his sole shareholder. "There are a lot of girls coming here now, and some prefer quietness. I work in the service industry, so I have to consider them. I'm also planning to open another room to sell clothes and jewelry. Calculating the dates, it's time to rotate the mystery scripts, and there are also activities to promote with the New Year approaching. Aunt Wenjun said she has some ideas, but she hasn't given me a response or plan yet."
He curled his lips, "Mr. Sima is just an extra. Aunt Wenjun is my partner. It doesn't matter if he doesn't want to. I can also ask Mr. Dongfang Shuo. There are so many people in the world who can write plays. If all else fails, I will have no choice but to go to the palace and ask His Majesty for help."
Huo Qubing's hair had grown quite a bit longer, now hanging down to his shoulders. He wore earmuffs and a headband. Upon hearing this, he showed no sign of being a shareholder, and gloated, "I guess if you enter the palace this time, you'll be hanging around with your uncle. Your uncle has been quite fond of Old Man Dong lately, so why don't you just read the Spring and Autumn Annals with him?"
Huo Yan was dressed similarly to him, his jade-like face full of wicked smiles. He said directly, "My dear brother, as a shared destiny, I have been caught. Are you still far away?"
He paused, and in a rather yin-yang tone, he imitated Liu Che's words, "Qubing, come, your uncle will teach you military books."
Huo Qubing was stunned for a moment, but before he could refute, he seemed to see something and stopped the car abruptly.
Huo Yan fell straight onto his back after he stopped her, and was beaten until tears welled up in his eyes.
He rubbed his nose, thinking he had bumped into someone, got up from Huo Qubing's back, and hurriedly looked forward.
A bicycle can’t kill anyone, right? My bicycle has training wheels!
It was not until he saw the long imperial procession parked in front of the palace, the empty shop and Liu Che inside the shop that his eyes went dark. He covered his buzzing head with his hands, no longer afraid of the cold, and rushed forward.
"Oh my god! He's a scumbag! Does he know how much money I'll lose if I stop for one day? Ahhhh, let him die!"
I want shredded pork jerky!!!
【Author’s words】
Huo Yan: Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Huo Yan was destined to have a princess killed. First there was the beautiful princess of Qin, Princess Can, and later there was the white moonlight of Han, Princess Wei Qing.
The psychotic CEO A Yan and Zhu Zhu, who are both smart and witty, must be paired with Princess Bai Tian and the sickly little sun.
Ahem, if Ah Yan really met Liu Che, he'd be completely defeated. Maybe it's just like attracting like.
In the sixth year of Jianyuan (135 BC), Sima Xiangru was sent as an envoy to Bashu. Prior to this, Xiangru had served as a palace attendant for several years, and his wife Wenjun was also there.
Ah Yan wanted to get Sima Xiangru for free, but he didn't expect to be taken advantage of by someone else. hhh.
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