Chapter 63: Unfamiliar Until They Clash

  Li Qinchong and his men said: "I came today just for this matter, specially to apologize to Brother Liu. As the saying goes, 'Don't hit a smiling face', please don't take it to heart, brothers. Let's see what Brother Liu thinks first. What do you think, brothers?"

  The servants thought to themselves: "This is also true, when they meet the master, if the master forgives them, what else can we say? If not... probably should be forgiven, how deep is Li Lang's relationship with the master!"

  They made way and let the steward come forward, who led Li Qīn and Tiān Wèi together into the inner courtyard.

  As soon as he entered the backyard, before he could see anyone, he first heard shouting. Li Qin hurried over and when he arrived in front of the horse enclosure, he saw a wicker couch placed on the empty ground, Liu Sheng was half-reclining on the couch, holding a handful of tender grass, yelling at a little colt, apparently training it.

  This little foal was born not long ago, with a large skeleton and very lively, running non-stop in the yard, with red hair all over its body. To see the shape of the horse's head, it really looks like a rabbit's head, but you have to look carefully, otherwise, according to Li Qian's horse-reading technique, nothing can be seen.

  Li Qin laughed and said: "Brother Liu is so enthusiastic! This is a little colt born to Huo Tan. Has he been named yet?"

  Liu Sheng saw him coming, naturally delighted, and smiled: "Not bad, it's indeed the Fire Spark, I'll name it Chi Tu. Now let's tame it first, after a few years, its majesty will be revealed, for now, it doesn't show much..." His voice gradually became softer as he caught sight of Dian Wei.

  He snorted, Liu Sheng turned his face away. He was not a narrow-minded person and was willing to make friends with heroes, but Dian Wei had broken his leg, which made him lose face terribly. Even if Li Qiang was present, he would still turn his face away and ignore Dian Wei.

  Li Qian didn't rush to explain anything to Liu Sheng, nor did he let Dian Wei come over. He walked over and grabbed the Red Hare horse, rubbing it vigorously. This was the famous horse that would shake the world in the future. He laughed and said: "Since it will be so majestic later on, I'd better pluck a few of its hairs now. Otherwise, there won't be another chance later, and I'm afraid it will kick me!"

  The red rabbit horse has no resistance at all, and is pinched by Li Qin to scream. Xi Lü's voice is very tender, with a look of a little pony in the horse!

  Liu Sheng hastily turned his head around and said with great concern: "No, no, brother don't pull its fur, or else when it grows up later, it will definitely kick you, and who knows, it might even bite!"

  Li Qian burst out laughing and let go of the reins of his horse, walking over to sit down beside Liu Bei. "Brother Liu," he said, "with your support, our castle has finally taken shape. From now on, this will be our base of operations. That's why I've come today - I want to ask for your help in giving our castle a name!"

  Liu Sheng was greatly shocked when he heard that he had to name the fort, as a notable figure in Fuping, no matter how great a notable figure he was, he was still a Qiang person, which was an unchangeable fact. As for official matters, he had never been qualified to participate, let alone give names to forts, something he had never even thought of.

  Liu Sheng shook his head and said: "This, this... how can that be? Your castle, how can I give it a name?"

  "Is this my castle?" Li Qin shook his head and said, "No, it's not my castle, but our castle. Without Brother Liu's support, how could we have built this castle? If anyone deserves credit for building the castle, Brother Liu should be considered first! So, isn't it fitting that you name the castle?"

  Liu Sheng's face turned red, and for the first time in his life, he felt embarrassed. He said, "Helping you out is what a brother should do, but as for naming this fortress, I'm really not good at it. Besides, I'm just a Qiang person, how can I have the qualifications to name a Han family's fortress?"

  Li Qīn's expression turned serious, saying: "Brother Liu's words are not pleasant to hear. What is a Qiang person? What is a Han family castle? You are my elder brother, we are lifelong good brothers, how can we forcibly distinguish between Hu and Han? Moreover, one must not forget the well-digger when drinking water. Without Brother Liu, there would be no such castle. If you don't have the qualifications, who does? Brother Liu, please name someone qualified..."

  At this point, he glared with his eyes and said loudly: "No matter who Brother Liu is talking about, I'm the first one to disagree!"

  Liu Sheng's face turned red like a big red cloth, and he muttered: "Brother, this is too much praise for me! But naming it, I'm not good at it... How about calling it Fu Jiao Fortress?" Li Qin was from Fu Jiao Village, so after building the fortress, it would be normal to call it Fu Jiao Fortress. Liu Zhongyan didn't tell him about the name of the fortress, and he had already left without hearing this.

  Li Qilin burst out laughing, clapping his hands and saying: "Fu Jiao Bao, what a great name! Heroes think alike, Brother Liu is a hero, and by borrowing Brother Liu's light, I too will become a hero. To be honest with you, Brother Liu, I had previously thought of a temporary name, also called Fu Jiao Bao, and was thinking of asking you to come up with the formal name, but didn't expect that you would also think of Fu Jiao Bao! It seems we're on the same wavelength!" Even if Liu Sheng hadn't thought of it, he would have been reminded.

  Liu Sheng was both surprised and delighted. He laughed, saying: "Really? Such a coincidence! It seems that we two brothers are indeed... truly brothers!"

  Dian Wei stood beside him with the gift, Li Qian didn't introduce him, and Liu Sheng ignored him. He had no choice but to stand there like that. When he heard about the naming, he curled his lip and thought: "Isn't it just changing the village name to a fortress name? The simplest thing ever! This can also be dragged into friendship, friendship is everywhere!"

  Li QIN said: "I have another request, this matter is a bit difficult, but brother Liu must agree, you first agree, I dare to say."

  Liu Sheng heard this and glanced at Dian Wei beside him, thinking to himself: "Do I need to plead for him? Hmph, killing someone is just a matter of beheading them, let alone not having killed anyone. As long as this person apologizes and makes amends to me, I'll forgive him. From now on, I'll have one less enemy, but gain a powerful friend - this account I can settle clearly."

  His face turned serious, and he turned his head towards Dian Wei, saying: "Brother, please speak."

  Dian Wei also hastily stepped forward a small step, waiting for Li Kui to speak to him.

  It was unexpected by both of them that Li Qin did not mention Dian Wei's matter, but instead said something even more surprising. He said: "Brother Liu, I was appointed as the castle master by the county magistrate of Tang County and cannot change it, but this castle master must have a deputy! Brother Liu, can you help me out and become the vice-castle master of Fu Jiao Castle?"

  Liu Sheng suddenly turned his face around, staring at Li QIN with wide eyes and stuttering: "W-what? What did you just say, brother? I didn't quite catch it?"

  Letting him name the castle is already a great honor, a Hu person naming a Han family castle, not to mention elsewhere, in Fuping it's the first time, I reckon it's rare in other places too, can be said to be extremely rare, only appears in extremely special circumstances. And being the deputy master of the Han family castle, this is even more unprecedented!

  Liu Shengwan did not expect to be helping with this kind of thing. He sat up straight on the couch, his eyes wide and staring at Li Qin.

  Li Qian said slowly and deliberately: "I would like to invite Brother Liu to be the deputy master of Fu Jiao Fortress, as my deputy. When I lead the army outside and am not in the fortress, all matters big and small within the fortress will be handled by Brother Liu. Will you help me?" He spoke very slowly, but his attitude was extremely resolute, and he stood up and bowed to Liu Sheng with a formal invitation, requiring Liu Sheng to give a positive response.

  Liu Sheng's mouth was agape for a long time before he closed it, and his eyes were even slightly red as he said: "Brother, I really...I'm truly speechless. Although I am the head of the Daliang tribe, with a Han name and living in Han territory, the government has never treated me as one of their own people, and many ordinary people also look down on me. The only person who can truly appreciate me is you, brother!"

  He ignored the pain in his leg, struggled to get up, stood on one leg, and didn't use crutches. He raised his hands like Li Qian and said: "Dare not disobey orders. Li Lang, I, Liu Sheng, swear to heaven that from now on, my wife and I will be people of Fu Jiao Fortress, born in Fu Jiao Fortress, die in Fu Jiao Fortress, and vow to never betray until death!" He no longer called Li Qian "brother", but instead called him "Li Lang".

  Li Qinxin stretched out his hand and grasped Liu Sheng's hands, saying: "Shared blessings!"

  "We share the same hardships!"

  Dian Wei watched with shining eyes, Young Master is indeed formidable! With just the title of Deputy Fort Master, he has pulled Liu Sheng into the castle, and also brought in the entire Dalang Qiang tribe. Once the Dalang Qiang becomes a vassal tribe, other Qiang tribes will surely follow suit, and the power of Fu Jiao Fort will rapidly expand!

  Li QIN's invitation to Liu Sheng, conformed to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. For a powerful man like Liu Sheng, his physiological and safety needs were naturally met, and as the leader of the Dalang tribe, his social needs could also be satisfied. However, in the larger environment, he couldn't satisfy his esteem needs. Li QIN satisfied this need for him, so what was left was his self-actualization need, which meant that Liu Sheng and his Dalang tribe would contribute their talents to the great cause of building Fuguo Fort!

  Dian Wei didn't understand these things, but he thought Li Qian's approach was very correct and could solve almost half of the key problems in the process of building a castle.

  Li Qinfu helped Liu Sheng sit down, and only then did he point to Dian Wei and say: "Brother Liu, this man is called Dian Wei. He is my subordinate, and from now on, he will also be your subordinate. From now on, you can beat him or scold him as you like, no matter what, he must endure it!"

  Although Liu Sheng might forgive Dian Wei, he would still feel somewhat unwell in his heart. However, for the sake of Li Qiang's face, he wouldn't say it out loud. But once he became the vice castle master, he wouldn't need to care about saving face anymore because he could just do as he pleased!

  Liu Sheng immediately became magnanimous and had the broad-mindedness of a superior, waving his hand and saying: "It's completely unnecessary, we're delighted to have such subordinates, how can we scold and beat them? That won't do!" He nodded and smiled at Dian Wei, and immediately calmed down.

  Dian Wei apologized to Liu Sheng with a gift, thinking of the bigger picture. From his personal perspective, he was naturally unwilling, but after hearing what Liu Sheng had to say, he hastily said: "Lord Liu, I have been rude to you before, please forgive me!"

  Call me sir! Liu Shengxi was overjoyed and shouted loudly: "Good, good. I see you're tall and strong, it must be hard to find a suitable horse for you. Come on, bring the horses here, let Dian Wei try them one by one, whichever he chooses, I'll give him that one!"

  Li Qin laughed and said, "This is what they mean by 'not fighting, not knowing each other', a hero appreciates another hero!" He glanced at Dian Wei, chuckled, how about it, wasn't it worth coming? You've managed to get on a good horse, now you can choose whatever you want.

  Dian Wei was grinning from ear to ear, hehe, couldn't stop laughing, the young master is indeed formidable! Following the young master, everywhere is bright!

  ——

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