Chapter Fifteen: First Encounter with Zhang Fei

  Within seven days, Liu Hong's illness was cured, and his whole family was overjoyed.

  As the saying goes, "Great difficulties do not kill, and there must be good fortune afterwards." Not long after Liu Hong's recovery, a new governor named Cheng Tao, also known as Zi Bo, arrived in Zhuo County. He had previously served as the county magistrate of Fan County in Dong Prefecture, where Liu Xiong, Liu Hong's father, was the prefect. At that time, Cheng Tao had been appointed by Liu Xiong as the county magistrate and had since risen through the ranks to become a governor. Grateful for Liu Xiong's recognition and promotion, he promoted Liu Hong to be his administrative assistant, with a salary equivalent to 400 dan of grain. From then on, the Liu family was free from worries about food and clothing.

  Liu Ze found it inconvenient to use his laptop at home. If his family members really discovered it, he would have a hard time explaining himself. So Liu Ze slipped out of the house and went outside.

  There is a river in the south of Zhuozhou City, not very wide, but with clear water. However, it's really not easy to find a river as polluted and turbid as this one in ancient times.

  Since crossing over to this era, although he had opened his laptop twice, Liu Ze still hadn't taken a systematic look at what was inside. Now that he's back home, he finally has some free time to take a good look at the things in it.

  The encyclopedia in this book is comparable to Baidu, covering all aspects of the past 5,000 years and spanning 80,000 miles. It's quite comprehensive, although it lags far behind in terms of depth of knowledge, but its breadth of knowledge is unparalleled. The data is categorized and indexed, making it very convenient to search.

  Just as Liu Ze was mesmerized, a sudden shout came from behind: "Hey, I thought you were looking at some treasure, but it's just a broken mirror."

  This shout was too loud, as if the clear sky had cracked a thunderbolt. Liu Ze was startled and turned his head to see a child of about eleven or twelve years old, who was sturdy and strong, with eyes as big as bronze bells, dark skin like charcoal.

  He was standing sideways, and from the side, the screen of the laptop could not be seen.

  Liu Ze saw him and wanted to laugh, the whole person was like just crawling out of a coal heap.

  That little black kid saw Qian rushing towards him with a smile, and he couldn't help but frown, shouting: "What are you laughing at?!"

  Liu Ze closed his laptop and stood up, saying: "Nothing, I just think it's getting dark outside."

  That little black kid looked up at the blue sky and white sun, the bright sunshine made him somewhat puzzled, a bit like a monk who couldn't understand what was going on, scratching his head, doubtfully tired: "Nope, looks like the sky is still quite clear."

  Liu Ze burst out laughing and thought to himself, "This little black kid is quite straightforward." He said aloud, "If you stand there and block the sun, won't half of the sky turn dark?"

  The little black kid knew that Liu Ze was talking about his dark skin, and he couldn't help but get angry: "You dare to say I'm black, are you looking for a fight?" The little black kid obviously didn't like it when others said he looked black, and as soon as he heard the word "black", he got furious and clenched his fists, ready to fight.

  Liu Ze used to be an assistant coach at a martial arts school for several years, and has practiced martial arts, boxing, taekwondo, swordsmanship, knife fighting, and marksmanship. Although he no longer works at the school, his skills have not been neglected, and he continues to practice as a form of physical exercise. This time back home, his daily morning training is also unstoppable despite wind or rain.

  Unfortunately, his elder brother Liu Bei seemed uninterested in martial arts, instead enjoying music, dogs and horses, and wearing beautiful clothes. Seeing this foolish young black boy today, who was about the same age as himself, he had a mind to exchange blows with him. He cupped his fists and said: "Liu certain has some itchiness today, and wants to learn from you."

  Hei Xiaozi was furious when he saw someone dare to challenge him, and he threw away the things in his hand, clenched his fists and rushed towards Liu Ze.

  That black kid came with a fierce momentum, but Liu Ze's movements were quick and agile. With just a slight dodge, he avoided the heavy punch, stretched out his right foot to hook him, and hooked onto his ankle. The black kid couldn't stop himself and fell to the ground, biting into the mud.

  Liu Ze laughed and said: "It's like this, isn't the taste of a dog eating mud pretty good?"

  Hei Xiaozi sprang up from the ground, his lungs almost bursting with rage. Clearly, he had never suffered such a great loss before. He bellowed: "You little scamp, I'm going to fight it out with you today!"

  He rushed up again, but this time he didn't rush in. He probably also saw that Liu Ze's movements were extremely agile and didn't hastily attack, instead stably defending the lower position, advancing step by step, swinging his fists left and right, not giving Liu Ze a chance to take advantage of an opening. Liu Ze took a look and thought this little black kid was rough but had some finesse, wasn't stupid at all, and in his heart he had a few points of admiration, so he didn't dare be careless again, and focused on fighting back.

  Only saw the black little boy's fists and feet being used together, attacking fiercely, Liu Ze had no way to dodge for a moment, and could only forcibly take his punch. The two fists intersected, and Liu Ze felt that his right hand was like a heavy blow, shaking his arm sore, and secretly thought in his heart: this black charcoal head's strength is quite big, and it's not inferior to an adult man at all. It seems that I have to use my real skills. At this time, he made out the side kick of Taekwondo. Taekwondo attaches great importance to leg power, with swift and powerful kicks, quick and fierce, one kick is like a thunderbolt.

  As expected, Liu Ze's few side kicks were as fast as lightning. The little black boy didn't have time to react and was kicked by Liu Ze several times in a row. Even though he had thick skin, he couldn't withstand the consecutive kicks and retreated with a series of thuds.

  Liu Ze's body moved forward, and he used his capturing hand to press him firmly onto the ground. "Black charcoal head, do you admit defeat or not?"

  That little black kid was like a stubborn donkey, shaking his head like a rattle drum, shouting repeatedly: "I won't obey! I won't obey! I'd rather die than obey!"

  Liu Ze let him go and said: "Alright, hit me again."

  The two of them fought from noon till sunset, until they were exhausted and finally stopped. They lay on the grass, panting heavily. Liu Ze felt extremely pleased and comfortable in his heart, saying: "Hei Tan Tou, your kung fu is not bad either."

  The little black boy panted heavily, and when Liu Ze called him "Black Charcoal Head" again, he was enraged once more, shouting loudly, but it was clear that both his voice and momentum were much weaker than before. "Don't call me Black Charcoal Head, I have a name."

  Liu Ze suddenly became interested and said: "That's right, we've been fighting all day, but I don't even know what your name is. What's your name?"

  "My name is Zhang Fei!"

  As soon as the little black kid finished speaking, Liu Ze, who was originally half dead from exhaustion and couldn't even get eight horses to move, suddenly jumped up and exclaimed: "You're Zhang Fei?"

  Zhang Fei was slightly surprised, staring with his big eyes and said: "What's wrong? Is there anything wrong with me being called Zhang Fei?"

  Liu Ze was over the moon, like he had found a treasure, no, even more excited than that. Zhang Fei, after all, was one of the top generals in the Three Kingdoms. With just one loud shout on the Yangping Slope, he could make the river water flow backwards and send Cao's army fleeing. And now, Liu Ze had actually run into him here! Calculating, Zhang Fei was only 13 years old this year, whereas in the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Zhang Fei was already 26 when he met Liu Bei. It's all just nonsense made up by Luo Guanzhong. As for Guan Yu, that's a different story - he was from Hebei Province and their meeting depended on fate. But Zhang Fei was from Zhuo County, which had a small population back then - even with 40,000 to 50,000 people, it would be considered a big county. How many people could there be in a county town that's only a few miles wide? Moreover, Liu Bei's family lived in the village of Lou Sang in the southeast of the county town, while Zhang Fei's family was just north of the city - their homes were only about 10-15 miles apart. For someone like Liu Bei who loved to make friends and gather followers, it would be impossible for him not to know or befriend someone as exceptional as Zhang Fei. And now, Liu Ze had actually met this mighty general before anyone else did, and under such unexpected circumstances - no wonder he was ecstatic!

  Liu Ze hastily bowed and said: "I didn't know it was Brother Zhang Fei, I've been rude to you just now, please forgive me."

  Zhang Fei couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, and he chuckled: "I should be the one apologizing. But your boxing skills are so impressive, I've been fighting every day, and today was the first time I felt satisfied, it was exhilarating! Even if I get scolded by my old man when I get back, it's worth it."

  Liu Ze only then saw Zhang Fei's wretched appearance, his leopard head and ring eyes had been beaten into a pig head and panda eyes by himself, his face was covered in bruises, with several places still oozing blood, his clothes were even more pitiful, tattered and torn to shreds, and were also covered in mud and hay, looking extremely disheveled. Turning around to look at himself, he wasn't much better off either, and couldn't help but burst out laughing, saying: "Let's call it a day for now, Zhang Fei brother, if you're willing, we can have another match another day?"

  Zhang Fei's spirits lifted at this, and he repeatedly said: "Good, good, good! We'll settle the score another day. But you're older than me, so I should be calling you 'older brother'. What should I call you, Older Brother?"

  "Lou Sang Village Liu Ze is also."

  "Alright, Liu, same place tomorrow, we'll meet again if fate permits."

  Then the two of them packed up their things, and just as Liu Ze was putting his laptop and solar panel into his backpack, he heard a miserable cry behind him. He quickly turned around to see Zhang Fei with a long face, saying: "I'm doomed, I didn't even finish one painting today, when I get back my old man will definitely beat me to death."

  Liu Ze had no choice but to give him an idea, telling him to go back and tell his old man that today at the market he ran into a few hooligans teasing good women, he took justice into his own hands, went up to rescue them, but was beaten by the hooligans until his nose was blue and his face was swollen. He believed this could deceive his old man. As for Liu Ze himself becoming a hooligan, he didn't think much of it. After all, stabbing his friend in the back was also an unavoidable thing to do. Besides, Zhang Yuanwai might not necessarily come looking for him.

  Zhang Fei obtained the clever plan and returned home excitedly. Liu Ze also went back home, his father was on duty at the government office today for the night shift, his mother was busy preparing dinner in the kitchen, while Liu Bei had run away without a trace. Liu Ze let out a sigh of relief and quietly slipped back into his own room, changed into clean clothes, and washed his face. However, Deng Shi still noticed something during dinner and asked him about it. He could only make an excuse saying he accidentally fell by the river, fortunately, Deng Shi didn't ask further, just reminded him to be more careful.

  In a few days, or about ten to eighteen days, he and Zhang Fei would get together to discuss boxing and kicking. Although they didn't fight as desperately as last time, Liu Ze still gained a lot of practical experience from the back-and-forth exchanges. Liu Ze also taught some techniques that suited Zhang Fei, who was obsessed with martial arts and learned very quickly. With his bravery and versatility, his kung fu improved rapidly, and he admired Liu Ze even more, surrendering to him completely.

  Liu Ze, however, felt somewhat disheartened. His physical condition was no match for Zhang Fei's, and although he could hold his own with his deep martial arts foundation, he knew that given time, the difference in their innate physical abilities would make it impossible for him to surpass Zhang Fei, who would become one of the most famous generals of the Three Kingdoms. Thinking about this, Liu Ze couldn't help but sigh. His aspirations were beautiful - to ride a horse and wield a spear, laughing proudly at the world - but his "hardware" was an insurmountable barrier. To think that he could become a famous general like Lü Bu, Guan Yu, Dian Wei, Zhang Fei, or Zhao Yun was simply a pipe dream.

  But in an instant, he let go of it. Although he couldn't have a strong body, he had the mind of the 21st century and possessed knowledge that this era didn't have. Heaven is always fair; when one door closes, another window opens. Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan weren't all physically powerful generals, but they eventually became overlords. So, in this era, having only martial power can't solve everything. Sometimes the mind is more important than strength.