Chapter 29: Zhang Fei appears in Youzhou

  Youzhou, Zhuo County, Zhuo Prefecture. Ma Chao and Cui An entered the city after paying the toll and wandered aimlessly on the main street.

  Ma Chao went wherever he wanted, and Cui An was always by his side, following him. He never asked any questions, even though he didn't know what Ma Chao's goals were.

  Ma Chao was just strolling around, looking at the dazzling array of things on the street. He couldn't help but think that apart from food, all these other things would be worth a fortune in his past life. Han Dynasty antiques, although Ma Chao didn't understand the market for ancient artifacts, how could anything from the Han Dynasty possibly be cheap? What a pity, he lamented to himself.

  Two people settled down, and Ma Chao didn't go out again, but instead recalled the bits and pieces of the past year. Time passed too quickly, and in the blink of an eye, he had been away from home for over a year. In the past when he was studying, he could still return every year, but now he wouldn't be going back, and didn't know how his parents and younger siblings were doing.

  Thinking back to the past year or so, I have gained a lot. In Wuyuan, I saved Cai Yong and his daughter, and then let Cui An send them safely to Wu County. In Yunzhong, I joined the Pingzhou army, and as it turned out, my seemingly impulsive action at the time allowed me to meet Zhang Yang. I followed Zhang Yang and they did something big, personally experiencing the bloody scene of Lü Bu killing his enemy Tan Shi Huai. Unfortunately, after one battle, except for Zhang Yang, all the people I was familiar with died in Pohan Mountain.

  Later, Lü Bu led the army back and was discovered by Ding Yuan again. Ding Yuan forced Lü Bu to acknowledge him as his adoptive father, and Lü Bu became the chief clerk. Afterwards, with Zhang Yang's help, he escaped from the Bingzhou army and arrived in Jizhou. In Zhaojia Village, he met Zhao Yun, and under Tongyuan's guidance, his martial arts skills made great progress. He also made a promise to Zhao Yun.

  After leaving Zhaojia Village, I arrived at Hejian's Ao County and met Zhang Heng. Everyone got along well, but seeing each other like that, they also had their own thoughts, so I didn't ask for much, just pointed out the future situation to him. On the way out of Hejian, I saved Tang Zhou halfway, this person might become a key figure in the future if used properly. Finally, I sent him to Guangzong City and later came from Guangzong to Zhuoxian County, Zhuo Prefecture.

  Ma Chao was recalling the various experiences he had over a year, while on the other side, Cui An saw that Ma Chao didn't seem to have any intention of going out again, and he himself had long since fallen fast asleep.

  Although this year has been quite fruitful, at present, my own foundation is still only Cui An. In a chaotic world, it relies on soldiers and talent. To raise an army, money and grain are needed, but how can we get these? By robbing? Robbing whom? Besides, I estimate that's not feasible. Engaging in commerce should be able to earn some money, but what kind of business is good? Forget it, let's not consider these for now. Let's first rely on my own intuition to gather some talent, even if they can't be used by me temporarily, at least we can establish some connections.

  After thinking about all this, Ma Chao suddenly discovered that Cui An had already gone to see Duke Zhou, and even drooled.

  He couldn't help but laugh at the sight, this Cui An was indeed someone who could fall asleep anywhere and anytime as long as he was on a bed. Sometimes even Ma Chao himself envied him, perhaps sometimes thinking simply was also a good thing, at least he wouldn't lose sleep and could have a good rest.

  Anyway, since he wasn't planning on going out, let Cui An sleep. Ma Chao took out the two books that Nan Hua had given him, which included marksmanship and sword fighting techniques, as well as astrology and medical skills. He wasn't particularly interested in astrology, but he loved reading about medicine and would often take it out to read, even if he couldn't understand much of it. At least he had memorized the prescriptions for treating illnesses and detoxification, which he considered crucial for survival.

  The next morning, Ma Chao was ready to wake up Cui An, who was still fast asleep. This kid could really sleep! From the previous day's afternoon, he had slept all the way until the next morning, at least ten hours. He thought to himself that in this life, no, even adding the last life, he had never slept for such a long time. He truly didn't know how Cui An's brain was wired.

  "Fortune, fortune! Wake up, get up!"

  "What? Dinner already, Master?" Cui An asked after opening his eyes.

  Ma Chao couldn't help but smile, "Right, let's go out and eat!"

  "Great, I'm starving!" As soon as he heard about eating, Cui An immediately got up. Looking at that speed, it's undeniable that food has a much greater attraction to Cui An than beauties.

  The two of them went to the roadside noodle stall and ordered four bowls of noodles. Ma Chao was full after eating one bowl in the morning, while Cui An had not eaten dinner the night before, so he wanted to eat three bowls to make up for it. After finishing three bowls of noodles, Cui An was almost full, but he still wanted to eat more. However, Ma Chao told him to eat a little less in the morning, and that would be enough. So, he had no choice but to listen to Ma Chao.

  After finishing the noodles, Ma Chao settled the bill and the two left the noodle stall. Ma Chao had come to Zhuo County to find Zhang Fei, having previously inquired that Zhang Fei's father, Zhang Yong, was a butcher in Zhuo County town and also had some reputation there.

  The market had already opened, and they walked towards Zhang Xiong's butcher stall. When they arrived at the place pointed out by others, Ma Chao found that there was only a partner-like person selling meat there, but Zhang Xiong was not there.

  Ma Chao walked up to the butcher's stall and asked, "Fellow, where is your master?"

  The butcher's apprentice looked up to see a handsome young master, about 14 or 15 years old, who appeared to be the son of a wealthy family, accompanied by a fierce-looking big man who was staring at him with a menacing gaze.

  The fellow looked at Ma Chao's appearance and didn't dare to offend him, let alone with the fierce god Cui An by his side.

  "This young master, our old master has something on today and can't come, so the business will be handled by the younger ones."

  "Oh, I see. Then where is your master's residence? We have business to pay our respects to him!"

  "Pal, upon hearing this, hastily replied: 'Not far from here, go straight ahead, at the second intersection turn left, and the first house is Old Master's residence.'"

  "Thank you!"

  "You don't have to be polite with me, young master!"

  Ma Chao and Cui An walked in the direction that their companion had pointed out, and when they reached the first intersection, they heard someone shouting loudly from the alley: "Everyone run quickly, Zhang Fei has come again!"

  Ma Chao stopped in his tracks and looked around, only to see four boys about ten years old running out of the alley. Judging from their appearance, it seemed as if they were being chased by some fierce beast behind them.

  What made him stop wasn't anything else, but because someone had shouted that Zhang Fei was coming. As soon as Ma Chao heard the name Zhang Fei, he involuntarily stopped in his tracks.

  Four young men ran out of the alley, and then two more walked out from the front and back of the alley. The one in front was about thirteen or fourteen years old, but actually only ten years old, with a height similar to Ma Chao's, but with a more robust build, with a leopard-like head and ringed eyes.

  He shouted at the four people running ahead: "If I see you bullying the weak again, Zhang Fei will not let you go!" After finishing, he waved his fist at the four people running ahead.

  Ma Chao took a look and it seemed that this was indeed Zhang Fei. It was worth coming here after all, and unexpectedly, he met Zhang Fei for the first time.

  He hastily stepped forward, "Excuse me, are you Zhang Fei?"

  Zhang Fei looked at Ma Chao, "Not bad, I'll act as before and won't change my surname, I'm Zhang Fei of Zhuo County! What's your business?"

  "I am Ma Chao, Ma Mengqi, I have come specifically today to pay respects to your father."

  "Oh? Looking for my dad? Alright, follow me!"

  After finishing, Zhang Fei instructed the young man behind him for a few words, nothing more than if the four of them bullied you again, just come find me and so on. The young man behind thanked Zhang Fei profusely before leaving.

  After he left, Zhang Fei led Ma Chao back home.

  As soon as he entered the house, someone said to Zhang Fei, "Young master, you're back!"

  Zhang Fei walked up to the speaker, "What's going on, Sheng Bo?"

  The speaker was Zhang Fu's steward, Zhang Sheng, who was forty-five years old. All he heard him say was: "Young master, the old master took two more doses of Mr. Zhao's medicine today, but his body is still not getting any better, and his condition has become even more severe."

  "What? My father's illness has worsened?" Zhang Fei didn't care about anything else, and after instructing Zhang Sheng to take good care of Ma Chao, he hastily rushed towards his father Zhang Yong's residence.

  Ma Chao didn't go either, and could only ask Zhang Sheng, "I don't know what illness your master is suffering from?"

  Zhang Sheng looked at Ma Chao and they came with Zhang Fei, thinking that they should be the young master's friends, and didn't hide it. "The old man's body has always been very good, but from this year on, his body is getting worse day by day. More than a dozen doctors have seen him, and he has taken dozens of medicines, but there is no sign of improvement in his illness."

  Ma Chao nodded upon hearing this, "Where is your master unwell?"

  "It's lung disease." Zhang Sheng replied.

  "Please follow me, sir has asked me to take good care of you two, please follow me to the guest room first."

  "Then let's trouble Zhang Gong for his hospitality!" Ma Chao and the other followed Zhang Wei towards the guest room.

  After arranging the accommodation for Ma Chao and others, Zhang Sheng bid farewell and left. In the house, Ma Chao took out the medical book given to him by Nan Hua, which he had always carried with him, and now wanted to take a look at the part about lung disease to see if he could find a prescription to cure Zhang Xiong.

  More than a dozen doctors couldn't cure the illness, it must be quite serious. Youzhou Zhuo County is the largest city in Youzhou, and the doctors in the city are naturally not mediocre. Each of them has two brushes, they all can't cure the illness, Ma Chao wouldn't think he could cure it himself, but he had the medical book left by Nan Hua.

  What is Nanhua, that's an old monster. As long as you know what disease Zhang Xiong has, and then treat the symptoms with the prescription in the medical book, even if it can't be cured, at least it can alleviate the symptoms. It's hard not to say that Ma Chao has considerable confidence in Nanhua. He held the medical technique and carefully read through the chapters on lung disease treatment. Ma Chao is also a last-minute effort. Fortunately, his memory after rebirth was abnormal, otherwise these things would not be remembered until the monkey year and horse month.

  After a long time, he finally remembered everything. Zhang Sheng also came to the door and said that the young master had invited them to dinner. It turned out that it was already evening without realizing it.

  Ma Chao and Cui An followed Zhang Sheng to attend the banquet. When they arrived at the hall, Zhang Fei was not there.

  "The young master is still in the old master's house keeping him company. Please wait for a moment, I'll go and invite the young master over."

  Ma Chao and others would not provoke Zhang Fei, as he had been living with his father for many years. Zhang Fei's father, Zhang Yong, was also a well-known knight in Youzhou when he was young, who was generous and willing to help others, and was generous to friends, so the life of the Zhang family was always good.

  After Zhang Fei was born, because Zhang Fei had always yearned for a scholarly and book-loving person in his life, but he himself only knew a few martial arts moves and didn't understand the books he read, so he spared no effort and spent a lot of money to make Zhang Fei a knowledgeable person. He added many scrolls and even found a teacher to teach Zhang Fei to read.

  Actually, Zhang Fei was a very intelligent person, but he didn't like to read books. When the teacher taught him to recognize characters and write, he could remember them all after learning. Especially his handwriting was excellent, which was the most impressive. However, when the teacher taught him to read books, he would forget what he learned today by tomorrow, and if he didn't forget tomorrow, he would definitely forget the day after tomorrow. What he could remember was very little.

  I don't know if he inherited Zhang Fei's genes or what, but Zhang Fei was really not interested in the things in books, so he never studied seriously. He wasn't very interested in literature, but rather in martial arts. If he had to do something related to literature, it would only be calligraphy and painting beautiful women. Although Zhang Fei didn't like reading books, he admired people with knowledge, just like his father Zhang Fei was influenced by him.

  Originally, Zhang Xiong thought his son would study hard and make a name for himself in the future, unlike him who could only sell pork. But unexpectedly, his son was just like him, good at martial arts but not literature, it seems that he will also follow in his footsteps and become a butcher selling meat in the future. He sometimes can't help but sigh, this is indeed his own fate, nothing can be done about it, the path one takes is their own, and one's children have their own blessings.

  Since Zhang Fei loved martial arts, Zhang Yong later didn't interfere with him anymore. As long as his son was upright and walked straight, he could do whatever he wanted, and as a father, he wouldn't ask too much.

  It must be said that Zhang Xiong is a rather open-minded father. Later, Zhang Fei also found another teacher to teach him martial arts. He would often sneak out of the city to learn in the mountains, and it's been almost five years now. Even Zhang Xiong doesn't know who Zhang Fei's teacher is, but one thing that can be confirmed is that Zhang Fei's martial arts skills have been improving rapidly.

  Last year, Zhang Xiong still sparred with Zhang Fei, but Zhang Xiong was no longer a match for Zhang Fei. He sometimes thought of these things and sighed with emotion, now his son had surpassed him by far.