Save one trick up your sleeve

  Life is bitter and somewhat puzzled.

  The next day after returning to Luoyang from Sun Langzhong's thatched cottage, he suddenly remembered that Yan San was still thrown into the pigpen. When he called a car back to the original place, Yan San had disappeared without a trace.

  He remembered that he had tied up Yan San tightly, absolutely impossible to escape, and originally wanted to bring him back to the government office after returning. Unexpectedly, he heard the news that the county magistrate of Henan was stabbed to death on a woman's bed in Hong Xing's residence.

  This dispelled his idea of sending someone to the government office.

  Sending people to such government offices, I'm afraid it's not guaranteed that they won't end up like last time when they caught a thief on the street, but ended up getting themselves sent to the detention center instead. He had heard many stories about corrupt officials mishandling cases, and being beaten with fifty large boards might be considered a relatively fair verdict in this era.

  When passing by Luohe River, I found that Zhang's tofu stall has been reopened by someone else.

  What is being sold is also tofu.

  Instead of buying tofu, a young woman with heavy makeup and dressed in a revealing outfit, exposing a large area of her chest, smiled and greeted passersby.

  The stove of the tofu stall had a big sign inserted on it, which read "Tofu Western Sichuan Bao's".

  There were quite a few customers at the tofu stall, all of whom were some dissolute young masters with flirtatious smiles on their faces and eyes fixed on the woman's plump buttocks.

  Every time the woman from Bao Na twisted her hips, swayed her waist and brought the tofu in front of them, intentionally bending down to show off the vibrant spring scenery on her chest even more, the guests would take advantage of it and stretch out their hands to pinch her plump buttocks, pinching her until she coquettishly refused and loudly shouted "No way".

  All the young masters are infatuated with this old lady boss.

  This atmosphere is something that all men can't help but want to go forward and buy a bowl to try.

  Zhenming was bitter and had just bought a bowl of food, but before he could take a sip, he heard the pillar shouting from afar: "I knew you were here slacking off! Hurry up and bring me to find that refractory material you mentioned, don't think about cheating me again!"

  ……

  In the smelting room of Wei Chi's blacksmith shop.

  Wei Chi Jing De and Liu Wu Zhou stood beside the fiery furnace, gazing at the glowing red metal block inside. Their faces wore expressions of astonishment tinged with helplessness.

  The goods in the kiln have been burning for a whole hour.

  However, the alloy in the furnace showed no signs of melting.

  "It seems that kid was telling the truth." Liu Wuzhou felt a bit disheartened, "This alloy can't be smelted without his high-temperature converter furnace, and our ordinary wind box furnaces are probably not enough. Unfortunately, that kid even smashed that one small converter with a hammer!"

  Wei Chi Jing De, who had just taken off his cowhide apron, said: "I've always said he's not a person to be trifled with. If he says we can't smelt this alloy, then he must have confidence in saying so."

  Liu Wuzhou still didn't give up and turned his head to look at him: "You watched him smelt the alloy with your own eyes, yet you don't even know what method or materials he used?"

  Wei Chi Jing De smiled wryly and shook his head: "I think he came prepared, adding a certain proportion of carbon powder to the mixed materials. Even if Ou Yezi's ancestor were reborn, I'm afraid he wouldn't know what that black powder is made of. And even if he knew the material, he wouldn't know the precise ratio of the mixture. Trying thousands of times would still make it difficult to refine an alloy like his. I also wonder how a layman like him came up with these methods out of thin air."

  Liu Wuzhou said, "This little scoundrel is really too cunning. I'm afraid that after this matter, he will be unfavorable to our mining group. If we don't get rid of him early on, I'm afraid he will become a great scourge for my mining group!"

  Wei Chi Jing De sighed: "Alas, if this person could be used by our mining group, he would surely add wings to a tiger. Unfortunately, I didn't treat him sincerely at first, and he had no intention of staying in the mining group for long. This time's matter may have already made him feel distant."

  Liu Wuzhou was somewhat displeased: "Are you saying I did something wrong?"

  Wei Chi Jing De remained silent.

  Liu Wuzhou's eyes flashed with a hint of displeasure, and he looked at this sworn brother who even he couldn't guarantee would win. He knew that Wei Zhengde had already harbored resentment towards him because ten days ago, he hadn't listened to his advice and was determined to kill Zhen Mingsu after obtaining the secret formula from her, in order to prevent it from falling into someone else's hands.

  If it were someone else, whoever dared to disobey his orders would have been dealt with long ago. But Wei Zheng was different. The Tang Dynasty could do without many people, but it absolutely couldn't do without Wei Zheng. If Wei Zheng were to become disheartened and leave, the dynasty would likely collapse by half.

  He could only sigh and defend himself, saying: "Although I was blocked by that kid this time, didn't he still agree to hand over the secret formula in order to save his life? He wouldn't dare play any tricks, getting the alloy's secret formula is just a matter of time."

  Wei Chi Jing De bitterly smiled and said: "I'm afraid things won't be that simple."

  Liu Wuzhou impatiently interrupted him: "I've already given him a deadline, if Zhuo can learn the refining method, he can keep his life, otherwise, even if he escapes to the ends of the earth, I'll still be able to catch him!"

  Wei Chi Jing De knew Liu Wu Zhou's temperament. Once he made up his mind, it was hard for anyone to change it, even if it were his sworn brother of many years.

  He changed his tone: "By the way, didn't you say that this time you came back to introduce your brother-in-law to me? Why haven't I seen him?"

  "This thing I'm only telling you, don't breathe a word to anyone else. My brother-in-law is an extraordinary person. My sister rescued him from the jaws of death several years ago, and then somehow she fell for him and insisted on marrying him. They got married just last year. He's originally from Luoyang but hasn't been back in years, probably taking care of some family matters. When he gets back I'll introduce you to him, haha, he's the most skilled person I've ever met, even you might not be able to gain an advantage over him."

  "That's a must-see." Upon hearing this, Wei Chi Jing De's face revealed a hint of excitement.

  ……

  By the Luo River in the south of Luoyang City.

  Zhen Ming sat on the riverbank where he often sat before, holding a bowl of steaming tofu flower in his hand, drinking and gazing at the surface of the Luo River.

  Suddenly, a human head emerged from the surface of the Luo River.

  It was Zheng who came to find him.

  At this time he stripped to the buff, exposing his upper body, and jumped into the icy Lao River, occasionally tumbling and turning in the water, diving down and floating up.

  His lips had been frozen black, and he was only shaking, shouting towards the shore: "Where is it?! The river is all mud and sand, where did you get refractory materials?!"

  On the shore, Zhenming slowly and laboriously drank a mouthful of hot soy milk. Although the taste was far from the fragrance and sweetness of Zhang's grinding, on such a cold day, even if it wasn't very good to drink, it was still a different kind of enjoyment.

  The pillar in the water looked at him with eyes that were almost spitting fire, just about to swim ashore to severely teach this guy who was treating him like a monkey.

  "This is the only serious thing to say: 'A sharp sword is forged in sharpening, plum blossoms are fragrant after bitter cold. Without experiencing wind and rain, how can you see a beautiful rainbow? No one can easily succeed, go find it again, if it's that easy to find, I wouldn't let you get wet either. Do you think I'm playing with you for fun? Where do I have so much idle time?"

  He finished speaking and slowly sipped a mouthful of hot soy milk, with an air of having nothing to do, as if he was as idle as a patient with cerebral palsy.

  Zhu Zi's teeth chattered with cold sweat, but his eyes blazed with fire: "If you dare to play tricks on me, I will definitely kill you."