Chapter 25: Drinking and Talking on Gathered Mountain

  Tong Yuan took over Ma Chao's book and flipped through it page by page. He didn't read quickly or slowly, but just roughly glanced at it.

  After a while, he saw that it was about half the time and said to Ma Chao: "Meng Qi, let me take this book first and have a closer look, then I will explain to you the gun method that you can't understand!"

  Actually, with Tong Yuan's ability, he can now explain to Ma Chao the ones he doesn't know on the spot, but Tong Yuan plans to say it tomorrow. Firstly, he wants to take a good look at Nan Hua's book. For Tong Yuan at this level, these gun and knife techniques are of no great use to him, but as soon as he sees the book, he can recall the scenes of his past martial arts exchanges with Nan Hua, which is also a kind of nostalgia for the deceased.

  Two is that Tong Yuan appreciates Ma Chao, not just because he is the successor of Nan Hua. Although Ma Chao is young, he gives Tong Yuan a feeling of being mature beyond his years, with a maturity that doesn't quite match his current age. But Tong Yuan didn't have the energy to think too much about these things, in short, he wanted Ma Chao to stay with him for a while longer.

  "Agreed!" Ma Chao hastily agreed.

  "Meng Qi, you don't have to leave for the time being. Just stay here first, and as for your living arrangements with Fu Da, you two can figure it out yourselves."

  Ma Chao was delighted to hear the conversation in front of him, it's just what he wanted. However, after hearing Tong Yuan mention that the accommodation problem would be solved by themselves, Ma Chao thought to himself: "So you're not going to take care of this at all, and let us handle everything ourselves?"

  But thinking about it, Ma Chao and the others wouldn't let Tong Yuan help them build a house together. Even if Tong Yuan was willing, Ma Chao and the others couldn't let him. But this was a small problem for Ma Chao, he and Cui An solved the housing issue in just one afternoon.

  What? You ask how to solve it. Isn't that simple? Ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, money can make ghosts grind mills. If only Ma Chao and Cui An are not enough, they can hire people, right?

  Two men came out of Tongyuan and went down the mountain, then found Old Man Zhao and asked him to help find a dozen young and strong people who knew how to build houses. Before long, Old Man Zhao led them all over.

  "Meng Qi, I've brought all the people you wanted, now it's up to you to discuss the rest."

  "Many thanks, Old Zhao!" Ma Chao hastily expressed his gratitude, indeed the old man was very kind.

  Then he discussed the price with these more than a dozen young men, and after agreeing on the price, all of them were eager to start working in the mountains. In fact, given Zhao Laobo's character and status, even if nothing was given, these dozen or so people would still help Ma Chao and his group. But Ma Chao didn't want it that way.

  Old Zhao has already helped himself a lot, and it's getting troublesome to always bother him. He really can't bear it. Moreover, the villagers of Zhaojia Village are all very nice, Ma Chao likes them very much. Money is ultimately an external thing, if someone helps, they naturally cannot be shortchanged on their pay, this is what should be done.

  Ma Chao led a dozen or so people up the mountain, and after they started working, it was completed in just one afternoon. After all, only Ma Chao and Cui An lived there, so two small single-person huts were easily built. Although the hut is small, blocking general wind, frost, rain and snow is not a problem at all. Simple as simple, but absolutely guaranteed quality, absolutely not some rubbish project of Ma Chao's previous life.

  It's already the end of September, and winter is just around the corner. As for heating, Ma Chao had thought it through long ago - he would burn coal, after all, he has plenty of money, and as long as he doesn't squander it, he'll be fine for a few years. Besides, aside from himself, there's also Cui An, this wealthy master, who brought even more money with him. This kid's brain doesn't always work properly, but one thing he understands is that without money, you can't get anything done.

  In the evening, the five of them had a bonfire party on the mountain.

  Ma Chao had Cui An go into the mountains and hunt a deer, which he brought back. Everyone gathered around the bonfire to roast the venison, chatting and laughing together.

  Tong Yuan looked at the four young people chatting and laughing, and he also felt a little sentimental. When he was their age, he was like that too, but as he grew older, he devoted himself to pursuing the pinnacle of martial arts, and later sought the elusive Heavenly Way, so much so that he didn't get married, and his friends were few, and he never had a life like theirs.

  Even people I know, there probably aren't many left now. Lao Gui is gone, Nan Hua has entered the Tao, and after teaching Zhao Yun martial arts, I'll probably follow in one of their footsteps. But no matter which path it is, it's not that important to me anymore. What's most important now is to teach Zhao Yun well, so my skills can be passed on.

  Thinking of this, Tong Yuan looked at Zhao Yun and smiled with relief. Among all his disciples, only Zhao Yun could make him feel this way. Seeing today's Zhao Yun reminded him of his own past, for wasn't he also like the current Zhao Yun when he was a young man?

  Tong Yuan didn't eat much venison, people like him don't have many desires for food and drink anymore. However, he did drink some wine. At that time, when he asked Zhao Yun to buy wine, he was still surprised. It had been more than two months since Zhao Yun went up the mountain, and it was the first time he saw his teacher asking for wine. He always thought his teacher didn't drink wine.

  Zhao Yun was still young, and looking around the world, there were not many warriors who did not drink. It wasn't that Tong Yuan didn't drink, it's just that he couldn't remember to drink anymore. When Tong Yuan was younger, he also enjoyed good wine, but he never got drunk. Later on, in pursuit of a higher level of martial arts, he gradually stopped drinking, and only when he was extremely happy would he remember to drink a little to celebrate. That's how it used to be, let alone now that he had reached this realm.

  Tong Yuan just drank a little, and the rest he gave to Ma Chao and his men.

  "Meng Qi, you guys go ahead and drink! I'll just head back to rest first." Tong Yuan stood up and left, Ma Chao and the others also stood up, "Alright! Master Uncle, you go rest!"

  Tong Yuan called Ma Chao to his side and said, "If Yunzi wants to drink wine, he can only have a little. If you let him drink too much..." He didn't finish what he was saying, but Ma Chao understood what he meant.

  "You dare not!"

  "That's good, Mengqi, you go."

  "Good!" Ma Chao sat down again and ate and drank with everyone, while Tong Yuan returned to his own room.

  As expected, soon after Tong Yuan left, Zhao Yun approached Ma Chao's side, staring at the wine jar beside him with shining eyes.

  Ma Chao looked at Zhao Yun and thought to himself, "Indeed, his teacher was right. This kid Zhao Yun has come for the wine."

  "Hey, Meng Qi Shixiong, let's discuss something."

  Ma Chao pretended to be unaware, "Younger brother has something to say, but it doesn't matter if you speak!"

  "Since that's the case, I'll say it. It's been a long time since I've had a drink, brother. You see if..." Zhao Yun reached for the wine jug, but his movement was blocked by Ma Chao.

  "Junior brother, it's not that I won't let you drink wine, but a man must drink wine!" Zhao Yun nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

  "But you just saw that Master Shu specially called me over and clearly told me not to let you drink." Ma Chao said, looking embarrassed.

  Zhao Yun thought to himself, "It's all over, I have no choice but to obey orders," and so he gave up.

  "But anyway..."

  "Could it be that Big Brother has a good idea? Please tell us, Big Brother!"

  Ma Chao smiled, "Younger brother, Master Uncle only said don't go drink on your own initiative, but what if you're forced to?"

  Zhao Yun's eyes lit up, "Big brother, you're saying..."

  Ma Chao continued to pretend to be foolish, "Me? What did I say?"

  Zhoa Yun also smiled, "Big brother didn't say anything, it was Fu Da big brother who didn't understand the situation and had a few drinks with little brother. By the time big brother found out, it was already too late to stop." After Zhoa Yun finished speaking, he even praised his own cleverness, but he didn't know that he had already been tricked by Ma Chao once.

  Ma Chao then handed the wine jug to Zhao Yun, who indeed did not drink much, only taking three sips before returning the jug to Ma Chao. He and Ma Chao then started chatting.

  Wine, Zhao Yun had only drunk once before, and that was at Old Man Zhao's place. Although wine wasn't particularly expensive, it still wasn't something the impoverished Zhao family could afford back then. When learning martial arts from Old Man Zhao, he let Zhao Yun have a sip, saying that men would eventually drink wine anyway, so having some now didn't count as being too early.

  From then on, Zhao Yun couldn't forget about wine. Mainly because after listening to Old Man Zhao's words, he felt that men must drink some wine, regardless of age. But later, there was no more opportunity for him to do so. He went into the mountains to learn martial arts from Tong Yuan, who had never drunk wine before, and naturally neither did Zhao Yun. It wasn't until today that he finally got this chance. When Tong Yuan asked Zhao Yun to buy wine earlier, Zhao Yun almost couldn't resist sneaking a few sips, but he knew it was not allowed, and his teacher hadn't given him permission either, so he didn't make a move. After Tong Yuan left, he finally found the opportunity and succeeded in one go.

  As Zhao Yun spoke, Ma Chao also thought of himself. Although he didn't often drink, he would occasionally have a few drinks. Thinking about this, he recalled the time when he was five years old in the noodle shop in Hanyang County, where Dong Zhuo had treated him to meat and wine. Who knows where Dong Zhuo is now serving as an official? Will they ever have another chance to drink together and eat meat in this lifetime? If they meet again, perhaps it will only be as enemies.

  Two people ate and chatted, but the wine was gone. Because Ma Chao drank a few mouthfuls, the rest were all drunk by Cui An alone. This kid had no interest in chatting, drinking and eating meat on his own, nobody cared about him, it was only when you talked to him that he would say two sentences to you, for the rest of the time he just ate meat with big mouthfuls.

  The wine was all drunk, and Cui An still blamed himself. Why didn't he buy some wine to bring back when he went down the mountain? Next time I go down the mountain, I'll definitely buy a dozen or so jars to bring back up the mountain.

  Cui An poured the wine jug again, but not a single drop came out. He could only shake his head helplessly. Ma Chao and Zhao Yun looked at each other and smiled wryly.

  Ma Chao is the most familiar with Cui An, he knows very well about Cui An's drinking capacity, which is quite large. Normally when Cui An is around Ma Chao, Ma Chao basically doesn't let him drink, and Cui An also listens to him. However, during those few months when he wasn't around Ma Chao, he was finally liberated, but now that Ma Chao is back, he dares not drink too much again.

  He found Ma Chao and Zhao Yun looking at him, "My lord, I won't drink anymore, this, this is enough."

  Ma Chao and Zhao Yun laughed again, "Fu Da, very good. Wine should be drunk in moderation at ordinary times, excessive drinking will harm the body and delay things!"

  "No! My lord! I will definitely listen to you!" Cui An patted his chest with a loud slapping sound.

  Don't look at what he says on his mouth, in his heart, it's over, and from now on, he can't drink more by the master's side, and can only do so.

  Cui An was thinking about wine, Ma Chao had just gotten to know Zhao Yun with great difficulty and had established a relationship with him, to be honest, all of this was beyond his own expectations.

  Now that Tong Yuan is not here, he has a great opportunity to pull his relationship with Zhao Yun closer, and of course, he will not let it go in vain.

  "What ambitions does my junior brother have?" Ma Chao asked very seriously.

  Zhao Yun was taken aback, he didn't expect Ma Chao to ask him this question. But Zhao Yun blurted out without thinking: "A man should be like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing! Drive away the barbarian slaves and make our great Han dynasty's prestige mighty!"

  It's indeed the case, Ma Chao had heard people say before that Zhao Yun followed Gongsun Zan because Gongsun Zan had a strong attitude towards foreign tribes and repeatedly repelled the invading enemy forces of foreign tribes. Therefore, Zhao Yun thought Gongsun Zan was a hero worthy of his service, so it can be said that Zhao Yun had the ambition of Wei and Huo in his heart.

  Although he was a native of Jizhou, Jizhou was too close to You and Bing, which were adjacent. So Zhao Yun knew the cruelty of the alien tribes from an early age and also made up his mind to grow up like Wei Huo.

  Ma Chao nodded in agreement, his right fist clenched and pressed against Zhao Yun's left chest. "Younger brother, well done! I, your older brother, also think the same way. If we have the chance in the future, you and I will ride together across the battlefields!"

  Zhoa Yun heard this and also hastily nodded his head, he didn't think that his senior brother would be so affirming of him.

  "Junior brother, I think that day will come!" As Ma Chao said this with absolute confidence, Zhao Yun suddenly had a feeling that what Ma Chao was saying today would become reality on some future day. Maybe it really will be that way someday, he thought to himself.

  "Clouds are looking forward to the day Meng Qi brother said!"

  "It'll be worth the wait!" After hearing Zhao Yun's words, Ma Chao felt happy in his heart. Didn't he see that Zhao Yun had changed his form of address? The previous "Shixiong" and "Shidi" were because of their relationship with Tong Yuan, but now the new form of address represented Zhao Yun treating himself as a friend who could be interacted with. Let's take it one step at a time, Ma Chao wasn't in too much of a hurry for now, he firmly believed that Zhao Yun would eventually become a member of his camp.

  "Hey, you two! What's with all the fuss? Look, your venison is going to be overcooked!" Zhao Yu suddenly shouted at Ma Chao and Zhao Yun.

  Ma Chao and Zhao Yun had roasted venison before they met, but it was not like that, just like from Africa. They were busy talking, how could it not be mushy after such a long time?

  Zhoa Yun looked at the meat on the fire, then looked at Zhao Yu, and finally reluctantly looked at Ma Chao. Ma Chao responded with the same gaze, and they tacitly understood each other. Cui An wouldn't care about these things, he just ate and drank by himself. But Zhao Yu must have known long ago, she was deliberately reminding them only at the last minute.