Linxia

Chapter 201, Three Encounters

At the factory, workers' dormitories are being built and venue construction for skills training classes is underway. At the same time, plans are being made to recruit staff.

In order to put on a full show, Fang Lin did not recruit any teachers above the level of scholars for the skills training class. At most, they were students of advanced age, and some were just literate people without any official titles.

Firstly, most of those scholars were deeply poisoned by the eight-legged essay, and they talked about all kinds of nonsense all the time. Fang Lin was afraid that they would ruin their students. After all, he was here to train a team, not to train poor and pedantic scholars who were dogmatic and conservative.

Secondly, this will also allow the Gu, Ma, Shao, and Duan families to relax their vigilance and make them believe that they are just nouveau riche with shallow background and small team, and they need to cultivate some management talents. At that time, it will not seem abrupt to carry out some loyalty education.

During this period, the first part of "The Investiture of the Gods" was released.

Although many readers saw that this was not the second part of "Journey to the West" and complained that Fang Lin was not doing his job and started a new book before finishing Journey to the West, and that this practice of "not filling the old hole and starting a new one" was really inhumane, although they said so, they still bought the book honestly and expressed their support.

There are even die-hard fans from other places who take the boat overnight to buy the products in order to see them two or three days earlier, as distributors in other places are usually two or three days behind.

Fang Lin had already established a golden brand, and the quality of "Investiture of the Gods" was self-evident. In terms of the grandeur of the worldview, it was even better than "Journey to the West", and it was the best popular novel of this era... Therefore, when it really started selling, it went without saying that it was a huge hit, from teahouses and pubs to all walks of life, a carnival was set off again.

Investiture of the Gods recreated the grand occasion of the original Journey to the West. It was talked about in every street and alley, and became another phenomenal cultural event.

"Journey to the West" and "Investiture of the Gods" also proved that Fang Lin's attainments in mythological novels were not a flash in the pan, and he established two unsurpassed monuments in the field of mythological novels.

It was with the launch and promotion of his works that the blueprint he had described to Prefect Pu was gradually realized. Today, there is a saying that "all novels in the world come from Huai'an". Huai'an has become the center of popular novels in the south. In fact, because the capital has political attributes and is relatively conservative, it is not an exaggeration to say that Huai'an is the center of popular novels in the entire Daxia.

……

During the past half year, whenever Fang Lin went out, many people asked him when the second part of Journey to the West would be released, especially in the days after the release of The Investiture of the Gods.

However, he has his own ideas about this matter, and is currently trying to persuade Emperor Hongtai through the second part of Journey to the West.

Because of this, it will naturally not be launched so quickly to satisfy Emperor Hongtai, and of course, he will not be kept in suspense too long.

Fang Lin was sensible and deliberately left room for improvement, writing a less mature draft in which some Taoist concepts and poems describing plots and scenes appeared crude. He sent it to the capital so that Emperor Hongtai would have room for revisions.

Sure enough, this sense of participation really aroused Emperor Hongtai's interest, and he enthusiastically participated in it and made modifications.

Fang Lin was generous in praising the changes sent by Emperor Hongtai and always gave positive feedback, but he was not a yes-man who agreed completely. He carefully considered his words and discussed some individual points.

In short, the core is to enhance Hong Taidi's feeling of participating in the creation and to make the other party have a better experience.

Fang Lin and Hong Taidi discussed back and forth in letters, and now, they have become de facto pen pals.

——Unlike pen pals in later generations, there was no instant messaging software in this era, and Emperor Hongtai was not a tyrant. He used his power to expedite letters that had to be sent 800 miles away. Therefore, it would take about a month to go back and forth. If it happened two or three times, it would be two or three months. It is for this reason that the second part of "Journey to the West" was so slow.

Even so, without instant communication, Fang Lin, through his previous life's psychology and experience as a bad woman, also launched a dimensionality reduction attack on Emperor Hong Tai. With precise control and repeated pulling, Emperor Hong Tai's mouth was hooked. Just look at the frequent golden elixirs that were given to him in the past six months.

This also made Fang Lin quite worried. Emperor Hongtai would not be able to take the golden elixir for long if he continued to do so without restraint. He also hinted at this, but Emperor Hongtai did not take it seriously. So he had no other choice. If he really gave him direct advice, he was afraid that it would ruin their friendship.

Apart from these, Fang Lin just accompanied Tian Xuan and Qiu Qiu.

Although I took good care of my daughter, babies of this age have weak constitutions and can still get sick. The most dangerous time was when Qiuqiu had a fever that went up and down for three days… Fortunately, I had noticed it early on and urgently invited an imperial physician from Yingtian who had been well-known and had retired from the palace to help my daughter get through this ordeal.

In front of the Fang family's doorstep, a piece of land was paved with sand so that Qiuqiu could learn to walk. This way, if she fell, it wouldn't hurt.

On his first birthday, Qiuqiu, who was still learning to walk, got off Fang Lin and started walking. His little feet seemed firm and steady on the smooth sandy ground, and the sand made a crisp sound under his feet.

The little guy found that he could walk and giggled with joy. He turned around and called "Daddy" and "Daddy". He walked back and forth, his heart was filled with joy.

——Perhaps because she was told stories since she was young and was influenced by them, at this time, she already knew some short words, such as daddy, mommy, hug, eat, play with the baby, etc.

Since Qiuqiu learned to walk, Guaiguai and Huahua have been in a dark and miserable life. As children, they don't have much strength, and often pull out a tuft of hair when touching them. The cats and dogs in the house all hide from her. Qiuqiu also likes Guaiguai and Huahua very much, and always likes to chase them. Then you can often see the scene of chasing cats and dogs at home.

However, Guaiguai and Huahua are very understanding. Even if Qiuqiu accidentally hurts them, they will not attack. They will even come over and chase away the Xin family's big rooster if it approaches, like their two most loyal guards.

After her daughter turned one year old, Fang Lin and Tian Xuan decided to have her sleep in a separate room, so they built a small bamboo bed for her in the next room.

Qiuqiu had an idea in mind. Fang Lin and Tian Xuan put her in her crib, but she didn't cry or make a fuss. She drank milk from the sheepskin milk bag Fang Lin made for her and fell asleep. But when Fang Lin and Tian Xuan went out, she would come from the next room as quietly as a cat, holding a milk bag in her mouth. Without saying anything, she would quietly go to the next room, climb onto the bed, and lie down next to Fang Lin or Tian Xuan.

Sometimes Fang's mother saw it, and sometimes Fang Lin and Tian Xuan noticed it only after a while, and they all couldn't help laughing.

Fang Lin often tells Qiuqiu stories and holds her in his arms to coax her to sleep. Perhaps because she has been trained since childhood, she has a strong comprehension ability and can understand many stories.

For example, when telling the story of "Huluwa" for the first time, Fang Lin noticed that halfway through the story, she kept covering her ears, and after a while, she opened them a little bit, as if she was spying on where Fang Lin was talking about. This action was repeated several times.

Fang Lin noticed Qiuqiu's movements and saw that her little face was red with nervousness. After thinking for a while, he understood what was going on: she didn't want to hear the story of her grandfather being killed. When she heard that her grandfather was in danger, she immediately covered her ears, but she was also thinking about where the story was going, so she opened her little hands from time to time to listen to whether the danger was over.

"The Calabash Brothers" has been told more than once, but Qiuqiu only heard the plot about Grandpa's death the first time.

Not only in "Huluwa", but also in "Snow White", whenever Snow White is about to eat the poisoned apple and the protagonist faces danger, she quickly covers her ears.

……

If the weather is fine, Fang Lin often takes Qiuqiu out for a walk.

Go out of Xixiang Hutong and walk east for three or four miles to the riverside - this is the river formed by the river flowing through the city, with embankments built on both sides.

There are many lush and green sycamore trees planted here. Walking under the trees on the river bank, the sun shines through the leaves onto your body and the road, creating a mottled scene.

On this day, Fang Lin brought Qiuqiu out. Every time they went out, Qiuqiu liked to walk. From time to time, he would quickly walk in front of Qiuqiu and turn back to look at her little face. Qiuqiu would quickly turn her face away and not let him look.

The two of them played this childish game all the way, laughing non-stop. Soon they came to the river. At this season, there were no flowers here. There were some small stones on the ground and stone benches to sit on. Fang Lin brought his daughter and wandered around here, looking for some beautiful stones and throwing them into the river to see who could throw the farthest.

——My mind is so empty, with nothing to do and no worries at all. I squander my time lavishly and wantonly. My mind is as clear as the high and blue sky after a rain.

In the afternoon, a little boy of the same age as Qiuqiu came with his grandmother. The two little guys quickly started playing together, competing to see who could pick up more leaves, running around and having a lot of fun.

However, they didn't play for long before the two little ones had a falling out for some reason. Qiuqiu pulled Fang Lin to leave, and the child looked at the father and daughter with a bitter face, sniffing his nose, and pouting his lips, reluctantly watching them leave.

Fang Lin pulled Qiuqiu and continued forward to their secret base.

This is a remote corner with some palm-sized holes underground. The father and daughter often come here to dig. Some of them are empty, while others contain animals.

Once, a small black insect was taken out. Fang Lin took Qiuqiu to pick up branches, soil, and leaves to make tiles, made a small house, and put the insect inside.

Another time, after a heavy rain, the two of them found a praying mantis, which was still alive but dying. They also built a small house for it, and Qiuqiu also gave it some snacks that he bought on the road. The next two times they came, the praying mantis was still there. Every time Qiuqiu saw it alive, he clapped his hands and was very happy. But in the end, the praying mantis died, so the two of them dug a hole under the tree and buried it.

When they came here today, the father and daughter found a lone cicada that had fallen from a tree. Qiuqiu held it in her palm, raised it high, and said, "Fly! Fly!"

The cicada staggered, flapped its wings and flew away from her palm, and the entire summer flew away with it.

……

The happy time passed in a flash, and soon it was approaching dusk. The clouds in the sky looked like they were burning, which was very spectacular.

On the way back, the evening breeze was blowing, and the leaves of the sycamore trees and the sparkling river water were all sparkling with silver light, as if the whole world was shining.

On the way, I met a fortune teller with a clear face, gray beard, and holding a flag with the word "fortune telling" written on it.

"My dear, we meet again," he said.

Fang Lin looked at the other person and recognized that this was the fortune teller in hemp clothes who had once told fortunes for Xin You and Master Ou from Xin Laoguan's family.

Today, he was still wearing the old linen clothes, but they were washed very cleanly. He used to wear a pair of torn cotton shoes without roots, revealing his dark ankles, but this time he looked different, wearing a pair of clean, half-worn cotton shoes.

"Young man, do you want to have your fortune told?" asked the fortune teller in hemp clothes.

"Okay. I said it last time. I'll count it next time we see each other. But don't count me. Count my daughter instead!" Fang Lin said with a smile.

Qiuqiu was not afraid of strangers, but this fortune teller in sackcloth clothes was blind in one eye, and his face was indeed a little scary for a child. She tilted her head, buried it in Fang Lin's arms, revealing half of her face, and only used one eye to secretly look at the fortune teller in sackcloth clothes.

After listening to Qiuqiu's birth date and eight characters, the fortune teller Ma Yi looked at Qiuqiu's face and said, "This girl has a very difficult fate. She shouldn't live to adulthood..."

As Fang Lin listened, he suddenly remembered that his daughter Qiuqiu was seriously ill some time ago and had to be cured by a retired imperial physician.

Although he knew that these fortune tellers were most likely using rhetoric to mislead people, he couldn't help but feel a little confused since it concerned his daughter, but he didn't show it on his face.

"If this person dares to say that he will help me solve my problems for money, then he is probably fooling me. It is not a big deal to fool me and cheat me out of money, but he dares to curse my daughter..."

Fang Lin thought so, narrowed his eyes, and asked: "Since it is 'supposed to be', what about now?"

"However, the people close to her have great merits and great blessings, so they are blessed. That hurdle has been passed, her fate has changed, and she will have a safe and smooth life from now on." The hemp-clothed fortune teller said, looking deeply at Fang Lin, as if hinting at who the person with great blessings is.

Fang Lin suddenly remembered that he had presented sweet potatoes to the court, which were gradually promoted by the court and saved countless lives. Perhaps this was the great merit and blessing that the other party was talking about?

However, the probability is still to guide people's associations, but no matter what, he likes to hear the auspicious words this time, even if it is a lie, he is willing to be lied once.

Fang Lin gave all the ten taels of silver he had on him to the other party as divination money.

The fortune teller in hemp clothes did not think it was too much, so he accepted all of them. Finally, he said, "Things never happen more than three times. The fate between me and the young master has ended. I don't think we will see each other again. Take care, layman."

After saying this, he folded his hands, put them into his sleeves, held the "fortune telling" flag between his legs, and turned and left.

He didn't know whether their fate had really ended or the fortune teller in hemp clothes left Huai'an after this fortune-telling. For the rest of his life, he never saw the other person again.

……

On the way back, Qiuqiu was probably tired and lazy, so she buried herself in Fang Lin's arms and refused to get down, so Fang Lin had to carry her back.

In the open space of Xiaowu Mountain, the aunties and grandmas have already left. Smoke is rising in the alley, and the aroma of cooking is wafting everywhere.

At this time, the sun had disappeared, the wind was a little cold on the body, and there was a slight sound of wind in the air.

Fang family.

As I entered the door, a soft halo enveloped me, and the slight chill was dispelled.

"Brother Lin, the meal is ready."

"Where have you two been for the whole afternoon? You just came back." Fang's mother also said as she brought over the steaming hot meal.

During the meal, Fang Lin talked about his encounter with the fortune teller in Ma Yi, and the whole family was amazed. However, when he said that he had given ten taels of silver, Fang's father and mother laughed at him and said that he was stupid and had been cheated.

……

(End of this chapter)