mortal clerk

Chapter 10 When Li Hua Blooms

Li Laoer woke up early in the morning, feeling much lighter. He groped around but couldn't find the iron sword. He thought to himself, this kid was impatient, and it was meant to be given to him in the first place.So Li Laosan got tools and got busy with bamboo, wood and animal skins.

Xia Dalian and Li Laosan were busy packing some travel items to prepare for Li Qingniu's going out.

Under the big locust tree at the east end of the village, Li Qingniu summoned his brothers to show off.

"Brothers, have you seen it? This is my family's ancestral treasure. It is something used by immortals!"

Wang Ergou looked envious: "Brother Qingniu, show me your treasure!"

The rest are also eager to see.Li Qingniu was also arrogant, he handed the sword forward, and said proudly: "Take it, take it, let you learn a lot."

Several people took the iron sword and played with it, while asking: "Brother Qingniu, is this really the iron rod that I picked up from your ancestral grave that time? Why did it become like this?"

Li Qingniu didn't know the origin, but he said: "What do you know, this ancestral treasure of my family is naturally extremely mysterious. Be careful, don't break it!"

"Hey, since it's a treasure, how could it be broken?"

"You know what a fart, the more treasure you have, the more you should cherish it!"

The tree root took the iron sword, a little reluctant: "Brother Qingniu, are you going to take this treasure to the county to make a big career?"

"That's natural. Do you know how far the county is from here?"

……

Seeing that everyone was talking about it and couldn't explain clearly, he said loudly: "Just walking will take half a year!"

The big man asked again: "Then we have to wait for half a year before we can play together?"

"Stupid man, it takes half a year to go to the county, and half a year to come back. Even if I go back to the county, it will be a year before you see me. Besides, I went to the county to study. Maybe there will be a big career there, so it may be how many years before you see me again."

Everyone was amazed: "It took so long!"

"Why, brothers, if you really don't want to part with me, why don't you go with me?"

Everyone heard the words, and immediately boiled: "Okay, okay! We will all go with you! Follow Brother Qingniu to make a big career. Brother Qingniu will be the general, and we are all your vanguard generals."

"I don't believe it. We agreed to go together last time, but none of you came."

Li Qingniu immediately took back the iron sword from the tree root, and looked at these friends who had been playing since they were young.

"Forget it, you just stay in the village. When I really become a general, big brother, I will definitely not forget you. How do you say that? I won’t forget, not to mention you Niu Ge and me!”

Wang Ergou stared at Li Qingniu and thought for a while and asked seriously: "Brother Qingniu, what will my sister do if you leave? Didn't you say that you will marry my sister when you grow up?"

Li Qingniu said embarrassingly with a red face: "Ergou, isn't that just for fun, why do you take it seriously. Besides, your sister is six years older than me!"

"Then you don't mean that a man keeps his word, I don't care, anyway, you promise to keep his word!"

After finishing speaking, he turned his head away from looking at Li Qingniu. Li Qingniu thought that he couldn't let his brothers think that he was a person who didn't keep his word and didn't show loyalty, so he boasted.

"Don't worry, a man keeps his word, but I don't know when I will come back. If your sister can't wait and marries someone else, don't blame me."

"Okay, you keep your word!"

Li Qingniu played with his brothers for a while, and bid farewell to these brothers who had been with him since childhood.At this moment, he seemed to feel that something had changed, that he was different from these brothers.

When Li Qingniu came home, he saw his second dad doing carpentry in the yard. After thinking about it, he mustered up the courage to come to him.

"Second Dad, I took the iron sword, and I will return it to you now."

The second brother Li didn't answer, he stopped his work and asked, "What are you doing with the sword?"

Li Qingniu chuckled: "Aren't I going to let Wang Ergou and the big guy learn a lot!"

Li Laoer was thoughtful: "Second Dad, I once heard that the children of those aristocratic families in Shendu can wield swords when they are 12 years old. You are already 12 years old. This sword can be regarded as handed down from your ancestors. You return it to me!" What are you doing?"

"Second Dad, do you mean this sword belongs to me?"

"Silly boy, this sword was originally yours."

Mr. Li thought to himself, our family has been sparsely populated for more than 600 years, and it happened to be in your hands. Let it show up, maybe the ancestors arranged it secretly, and this sword is reserved for you.Then he handed Li Qingniu a scabbard made of bamboo slices and animal skin.

"You haven't practiced martial arts, and now you are carrying a sword on your back, which will bring disaster instead. This scabbard is just right."

Li Qingniu took the scabbard happily, only to see that the scabbard was closed with two pieces of bamboo, and then wrapped with animal skin.Insert the iron sword and wrap it tightly with cloth. There is a rope made of animal skin at each end. It is more like a thick stick on the back of the body, and it takes a few steps to carry it.

"Second Dad, your scabbard is too long, spanking while walking!"

At this time, Li Laosan packed the full luggage in a bamboo basket and handed it over.

"And this!"

"Ah! It's so heavy, I can't carry it!"

Li Qingniu took it and turned his back on his body, feeling too heavy to stand upright.

"Do you think that when you go on a long journey, you just run empty-handed? This long journey is really hard! Do you still want to go?"

"Isn't it just a backpack, I can carry it!"

Li Qingniu was not willing to admit defeat, he carried a basket on his back and slung his sword scabbard which was about the same height as him, he stubbornly hopped around the yard a few times.

Li Laoer looked at Li Qingniu's foolishness, afraid that he would break him before he went down the mountain.

"Okay, okay, I won't leave today, let's just let it go, and we will go down the mountain early tomorrow morning."

Before dawn the next day, Xia Dalian got up to cook. She also steamed three big baskets of steamed buns and wrapped them in cloth.

After the family had breakfast, the Li family brothers took Li Qingniu to bid farewell to Li's mother and were about to go out.Xia Dalian chased out from the house, hugged Li Qingniu and confessed.

"Xiao Niu'er, do you remember everything Grandma told you?"

"Oh, Mom, I remember, don't worry, I will definitely listen to my second dad on the way."

"Silly son, you must eat well on the way!"

After finishing speaking, he took out a purse embroidered with the word "Ping An" from his bosom and handed it to Li Qingniu.

"This is some money saved by grandma. You keep it close to your body. If you want something to eat on the way, just buy it yourself. Don't keep asking your second dad for it. Do you understand?"

"Mom, what do I need this money for?"

"You silly boy, can you still feel like you are at home when you go outside? Everything on the road needs money. We are also to blame. You have never left home, so you don't know how important it is to use money."

After all, there was a cry.Li Qingniu saw that his mother was about to cry, so he quickly smiled and said, "Grandma, don't worry, I will take good care of it."

After saying that, he turned his head and walked out of the courtyard door.Xia Dalian looked at her son's thin figure carrying a big pannier, a cloth stick, and a bag of steamed buns around his neck, walking away with a ding ding dong dong, feeling filled with reluctance.He chased after the plum tree in front of the yard and shouted loudly: "Xiao Niu, eat well!"

However, it was too far away, when Li Qingniu looked back, he saw a tall plum tree at the gate of the yard, full of white flowers, blowing away with the wind.
　Haikou boasting, if it has no strength, it will only attract ridicule and disaster!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)