Chapter 28 I am Qin Lei
The young man in a wheelchair smiled and said: "This is also a remarkable skill, what's your name? How old are you?"
"My name is Erwa, Zhao Erwa. I'm thirteen." He seemed to be quite troubled by this unpromising name.
The young man in brocade clothes smiled tactfully and asked, "Can you read?"
The second child's head shook like a rattle drum, and his father also showed an embarrassed expression.
The young man in brocade nodded and called out to Erwa to get up.
The second child thought to herself, no matter what, she couldn't get up. If she got up, it would be all over. So she lay on the ground, looking at the official in his wheelchair with a bitter expression.
The young man in brocade saw his lazy appearance, somewhat amused, and considering the wound on his back, he dared not laugh out loud. He said to a nearby guard with a pale complexion: "Shi Da Ge, bring me the 'Book of Dismissing Guests'."
The guard nicknamed Shi Da Ge smiled and took out a thin booklet from his quilt, respectfully handing it to the young man. The young man asked the guard to turn to a certain page, then handed the book to Er Wa, saying to her in a gentle tone: "These two pages have forty small figures, each with different movements. Now I'll give you thirty breaths of time; if you can draw more than half of them by then, I'll acknowledge that you have skills."
Erwa took a deep breath, accepted the booklet, and her hands trembled slightly. Erwa's father also tightly grasped his hem, looking even more nervous than his son. The younger brothers and sisters stood far away on the ground, looking over here with a hint of fear.
The young man smiled at Erwa and said, "Now the timing begins." He also asked Shi, a stone surname guard, "Brother Shi, please keep track of time."
A great man once said that when a person sits on a hot stove, one minute is like an eternity. If it's with the girl you love, a day will fly by like a second. Erwa has never heard of this saying, but his current experience is exactly the same as what the great man discovered.
So, experience belongs to the masses, while discovery belongs only to a few people called geniuses.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The second child had just finished reading it once, and then the stone guard said: "Time's up."
The second child pouted and thought that this person was afraid of him stealing his rice bowl, so he deliberately shortened the time.
At this time, a guard handed over paper and pen. Erwa grabbed the strange black bamboo stick, grasped it, and made a stroke on the tray. The fragile bamboo charcoal couldn't withstand his brute force and broke cleanly.
The second child sneaked a peek at the person in the wheelchair, then snickered and said, "I'll just use this instead." After that, he picked up a withered branch and used his foot to scrape the ground vigorously several times, stirring up clouds of dust.
The second child's father stared blankly at his son, with a mixture of worry, pride and expectation in his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~
To everyone's surprise, the second child reproduced all forty little men exactly as they were on the ground, without a single mistake, even in the same order as in the booklet. The surrounding guards who were ready to watch the excitement were shocked and stunned.
The young master in the wheelchair also sighed with good fortune, as it was rare to discover such a genius in this era without universal education. It's even more rare that he would kneel down and ask him to take him in. Could this be the legendary "good fortune comes from misfortune"? The young master couldn't help but indulge in fantasy.
The second child saw the crowd's shocked faces and thought she had successfully moved them, but when she didn't see any reaction from these people for a long time, she couldn't help but anxiously ask: "Can you really take me in?"
The little guard behind the wheelchair saw Erwa's tense appearance and couldn't help but feel some sympathy. He whispered in someone's ear who was trapped in a certain emotion: "Your Highness, Your Highness..."
His Highness came back to his senses and nodded at Er Wa: "Not bad, you have skills. You can go back now."
Erwa was overjoyed at first, but her enthusiasm was short-lived. Her face fell, tears welled up in her eyes, and she choked back a sob: "How can this be? How can you bully a child like that? Didn't we agree that if I had the ability, you'd take me in?"
"Ah, this esteemed official, if you think our Erwa still has some use, then take him in."
The young master in the wheelchair innocently spread out his hands and teased, "Don't you want to go home and tell your mom? Don't you want to show off to your little friends?" He then winked at Er Wa.
Erwa heard this, and the tears that were about to fall were suddenly held back. Her face, which had been bitter for a moment, instantly turned into a smiling face, just like the famous folk art of Western Qin Han Dynasty - Bian Lian (Face-Changing). He 'thumped thumped thumped' and gave three loud knocks on the ground to his future master, saying loudly: "Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master!"
The young man in a wheelchair smiled at him and waved his hand: "Go quickly, I'll leave someone here to wait for you."
The second child nodded vigorously, got up, and didn't care that her knees were covered in dust. She jumped and ran towards the village, shouting loudly as she went: "I'm finally going to the city! I won't farm anymore!"
His younger brother and sister did not understand his thoughts, but they could clearly feel his joy. So they also shouted loudly 'go to town, don't farm' and laughed as they jumped up and followed him.
The second child's father saw that his son had finally achieved his wish, and while he was relieved, he also became worried. He looked at his son's back with difficulty, feeling deeply hesitant.
The young master in the wheelchair saw Erwa's father with a reluctant and happy mixed expression, and suddenly thought of his own father in this life. He couldn't help but feel some envy towards Erwa. He spoke warmly to Erwa's father: "Brother, don't worry, this child will definitely not be bullied by others if he follows me."
Actually there is a second half of the sentence: "Only bullied by me." He just doesn't say it.
The second child's father felt much more at ease after hearing this. He scratched his head and smiled foolishly, asking the young master: "Haven't asked your honorable surname yet?" Thinking to himself: I don't know who you are, where should my son look for you in the future?
The young master smiled warmly at Erwa's father, a gentle breeze blowing by, lifting the scattered hair on his forehead, revealing a handsome and clean face, with bright and clear eyes.
"He said in a clear voice: 'My name is Qin Lei.'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The motorcade continued on its way into Zhongdu.
Qin Lei has returned to the car, Er Wa did not follow up, he will set off with the remaining guards a day later.
The official road of the Qin state is wide and smooth, enough for a dozen horses to gallop side by side. The surface is firm and even, and carriages can travel on it steadily and smoothly, forming a striking contrast with the bumpy and uneven official roads of the Qi state.
The carriage was sturdy, but not exquisite. Sitting inside, apart from feeling spacious, it couldn't be considered comfortable, far inferior to Shen Luo's vehicle. Qin Lei placed a quilt on the seat, only then did he feel somewhat comfortable. He couldn't help but miss the luxurious comfort of Qi Guo's carriages.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~divider~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to the art designer of Qidian for making a cover for me, it's so beautiful. Considering the cover, great hero, please leave your recommendation ticket behind.

