The Life of 36 Months Old Child

  Zhen's life is bitter but his body is getting better day by day, Sun Langzhong's medicine is very effective.

  Today is the day of re-examination, Zhenming had asked for a day off from the blacksmith's shop, got up early, came back from morning exercise, washed and dressed, ready to go out, just opened the gate of the courtyard, Feilong rushed in from outside, holding two stones in his hand, one was a silver-black crystal, the other was all black, emitting metallic luster, sharp-edged small stone.

  He exclaimed excitedly: "Zhen Ge, I've found what you wanted! Take a look, is it one of these two?"

  He was drenched in sweat, his face flushed bright red, and he was panting heavily, as if he had just sprinted ten kilometers non-stop.

  Zhen Ming's eyes lit up as he heard the words, and he carefully took the two stones from Fei Long's hands to examine them.

  Fei Long looked at him with a tense face, and after a while, Zhen Ming didn't respond, so he couldn't help but ask: "Zhen Ge, don't you know what the chromium ore and tungsten ore look like either?"

  Zhen Ming shook his head: "I'm not very sure either, I just saw the photos in books when I was in school, but this is my first time touching the real thing, so I couldn't be certain if these two are... But they look similar, it would be great if we had a detection device?"

  Fatty Dragon curiously asked: "What kind of detector? Is it for sale? I'll go buy one for you!"

  "Even with money, you can't buy it; in the whole of Luoyang, only one person has it."

  "Who?"

  "Peony Fairy."

  Fei Long was taken aback, who is the Peony Fairy of the Hundred Flowers Building? These ordinary people wanting to see her is even harder than ascending to heaven. "What can be done?"

  "This matter will be discussed later, I have to go to Sun Langzhong for a re-examination today. You haven't gone to find Yueliang since you came out of prison, right? Let's go together."

  ……

  The air is fresh in the northern suburbs of the city in the early morning, and the sunshine is gentle.

  Zhen Ming and Fei Long ran to Sun Langzhong's thatched cottage, and when they reached the gate of the courtyard, Fei Long was already panting, while Xing Er and Huan Er happened to push open the door from inside the courtyard.

  Their faces were tinged with a hint of sorrow, and Xing Er's eyes were red-rimmed, clearly having cried.

  The two of them went forward and greeted them, but Xing Er still had an expression that showed she didn't care.

  As the two approached, Fei Long asked them what had happened. From Huan Er's mouth, he learned that Yue Er's condition had worsened and Sun Lang Zhong said she wouldn't make it through the year.

  ……

  The girl led the two into the yard, where Moon was walking out of the room with a veil over her face, holding a bamboo sieve in her hand, which contained half-dried medicinal herbs.

  Although veiled, it can still be seen that she is thinner than half a month ago, with a pale complexion and no blood color.

  Xing'er saw that she wasn't lying down and complained, "Everyone says not to let you do these chores, can't you just lie down properly? What if you faint again later? Do you need something, I'll get it for you, isn't that okay?"

  The moon smiled weakly: "How can I lie in bed and have people serve me? I'm not at the point where I need a dry father and you to serve me. If it's like that, I'd rather die."

  "Spit! Spit! Don't say that you'll die! Spit it out and say it again, you will definitely live to be a hundred years old, don't say anything unlucky!"

  Xing'er ran forward and tried to snatch the bamboo sieve from Yue'er's hands.

  "Silly child, are you saying I'm not even allowed to handle such a small matter? Can things in this world really go as you wish?"

  Yuèr refused Xìng's help, coughing as she walked unsteadily into the courtyard and placed the bamboo sieve on the wooden frame.

  Seeing Yan Mingxu and Fei Long standing beside him, especially when he saw that Fei Long was unharmed, a hint of delight flashed in his eyes, and he slightly bowed to pay his respects: "Young Master Yan, Young Master Fei."

  Zhenming bitterly returned the courtesy, while Feilong on the side had a bright red face, at a loss for what to do with his hands and feet.

  The moon's gaze lingered on Fei Long's body for a moment, and she said with concern: "Fei Long, you've lost weight."

  Fei Long, who was worried that Yue Er would look down on him, almost burst into tears at her gentle concern. Zhen Ming Sui secretly patted his shoulder to remind him of his demeanor and turned to smile at Yue Er: "Miss Yue Er doesn't need to be polite, your illness is not suitable for excessive movement, you should rest more, drink more water, and don't overwork."

  "Thank you, Master Zhen, for your concern. Since I'm not feeling well, I won't be able to entertain you both. Please, come in and sit down. Xing'er, can you help me attend to the two young masters?" Yue'er instructed Xing'er before turning around and entering the room.

  ……

  In the pharmacy, Sun Langzhong carefully pulled out the needles from Zhen Mingshu's body one by one, wiped them clean with alcohol, and put them back in the needle case.

  "You've recovered quickly, beyond this old man's expectations."

  "It's all thanks to Dr. Sun's exceptional medical skills." Zhen Ming reluctantly got up, put on his clothes, and then took out a silver ingot worth about ten taels from his pocket and placed it on the table.

  "What's this?" Sun Langzhong exclaimed in surprise.

  "This is the medical bill I gave to Dr. Sun."

  "You won't be using this many, take them back quickly."

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly and said, "It's hard to guarantee that there won't be any more headaches in the future. When the time comes, I'll have to trouble Dr. Sun again. Even if it's just a deposit with Dr. Sun, I'm a big spender and can't save money on my body. It's also a precaution for rainy days. Isn't Miss Yue's illness also going to cost money? Consider it as my little bit of kindness."

  Sun Langzhong looked at him, a hint of gratitude flashing in his eyes, and no longer declined, asking: "Where did you suddenly get so much silver?"

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly and found a job for himself at the Wu Chi blacksmith shop, briefly telling him about the wanted poster.

  Sun Langzhong stared at him for a while, then asked: "Are you the great strongman who is said to have lifted a 400-jin stone lion with one hand in Luoyang City?"

  Zhen Ming was slightly surprised: "Dali Shi?"

  Sun Langzhong told the story of what had been widely spread in Luoyang for the past few days, and Zhen Ming only then learned that his experience as an apprentice blacksmith had already been circulating in Luoyang. Sun Langzhong laughed and exclaimed: "So it was really you! No wonder you could recover so quickly, it seems you have a special gift, born with divine strength, I was blind to it."

  "It's not some kind of innate talent, just knowing some simple physical principles and making use of them..."

  Zhen Ming was bitter but did not hide it, and explained the general principle of the sliding wheel set to Sun Langzhong.

  Sun Langzhong listened and, although he didn't quite understand, couldn't help but exclaim: "There's actually such a wonderful and mysterious technique in the world! I've heard of it before - there were some extraordinary people from the Western Regions who were well-versed in the art of mechanical puppets. They could create all sorts of mechanical puppets that could lift heavy weights with ease, climb rocks and walls, fly through the air, and disappear into thin air. I never thought such a magical and ingenious thing existed! Today, my eyes have been truly opened!"

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly: "It's not that exaggerated, it just utilized some physical principles to transfer most of the stone lion's weight onto the supporting frame, the principle is actually very simple."

  As they talked more and more, the old man and the young man chatted about everything under the sun, until unknowingly they started talking about Yue's illness.

  It turned out that Yuè ér was originally the top courtesan of Hóng Xìng Bié Yuàn.

  Since childhood was kidnapped, at the age of ten has been grown into a beautiful and elegant girl, learned piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, later was sold to Yihongyuan, relying on her beauty, became the top courtesan in Hongxiao Bieyuan Xiaoyuan, because of playing a good pipa, plus her elegant appearance, gentle and refined temperament, has a bit of Baifenglou Huaxianzi's style.

  The procuress who was in charge of her daily life secretly accepted some money from a group of dissolute young masters, often inserting some ambiguous words into the conversation, wanting to persuade Yuelan to break the rules and stay overnight, but unexpectedly she was scolded severely by Yuelan after being found out.

  The lady was going to treat her sincerely, considering the madam had served her for many years. She thought she just made a mistake and didn't fire her, only deducting one month's salary as punishment.

  But little did she know, the madam pretended to apologize on the surface but harbored hatred in her heart. Moreover, she had connections with some ruffians from Luoyang and secretly found a few thugs who kidnapped Moon at midnight, defiled her body, and sent her back to the brothel after beating her up badly.

  The procuress, however, pretended to be kind and invited a doctor to treat her illness. She took good care of her in front of the bed, and when Yueliang woke up, she was desperate and wanted to kill herself by swallowing gold. However, the procuress hugged her tightly with tears and snot, begging her to live on for her sake, saying that if she died, she would not survive either.

  Yuèr had been sold to Hóng Xìng Bié Yuàn since she was a child, and relied on the madam's care. Seeing her crying and tearful appearance at this time, her heart suddenly softened, and she dispelled the idea of seeking death.