Chapter 55: The Heavenly Material and Treasure Wood (6)

  On this side, Lan Zhi was almost unable to contain her joyful emotions as she packed up her belongings with the help of several close girlfriends and amidst a flurry of flattery and congratulations. On the other side, Zhou Wenbo had already started chatting idly with Duan Shichen.

  Zhou Wenbo wanted to test whether he had really recruited a talented person, so he used today's opportunity to observe and judge the talent of this Duan Shichen, young master Duan.

  System displays highest attribute: Intelligence. Intelligence attribute: 72

  His intelligence is not particularly high, compared to the Three Kingdoms, basically as long as he is classified as a civil minister type of character in the Three Kingdoms, his intelligence is generally above 70. Although there are no unexpected surprises, this obviously suffices, Zhou Wenbo currently governs only 20,000 people, and this young master Duan Shichen still has room for improvement.

  In this era, women were not allowed in the military camp, but at that time, there was no garrisoned army in the camp, only a team of people and an officer left to guard it. Zhou Wenbo was still able to bring Duan Shichen and Lan Zhi to stay for one night, but by the next day, he had to find them another place to live.

  That night, Zhou Wenbo arranged Duan Shichen and Lan Zhi to stay in the residence of the main general of the army. This is also one of the most luxurious places in the camp, with several smaller rooms besides the grand hall for discussion, where the main generals and their entourage live.

  Zhou Wenbo was still nearly ten centimeters shorter than Duan Shichen, so his clothes couldn't be lent to Duan Shichen to wear. On the other hand, Liu Meng's size was similar to that of Master Duan, so Zhou Wenbo arranged for a clean cotton robe to be given to Duan Shichen and ordered the servants to wash the only thick garment Duan Shichen had worn for several months.

  Duan Shichen had been spending almost every day in the Fu Rong courtyard since he discovered that his childhood friend, Lan Zhi, was working as a courtesan about half a year ago. However, after all his money ran out a month ago, nearly all of his belongings were pawned off, and for over ten days now, he had been left with nothing but the tattered cotton robe on his back.

  If it weren't for the fact that they had fallen on such hard times, Duan Shichen would never have resorted to selling the purple sandalwood Buddha statue he had carved as a token of his filial piety to his grandmother.

  That evening, Zhou Wenbo invited Duan Shichen and Lan Zhi for dinner.

  When the tall and handsome Duan Shichen, with a slightly shy Lan Zhi, walked into Zhou Wenbo's line of sight with his head held high and chest out, it made Zhou Wenbo's eyes light up instantly. After Duan Shichen tidied himself up, he was also a handsome and elegant young man. Standing together with Miss Lan Zhi, they were a perfect match, a lovely couple.

  After dinner, Zhou Wenbo officially appointed Duan Shichen as the secretary of the army, and Duan Shichen thanked him and accepted the appointment.

  In this era, the clerk's position is considered the most basic military civil servant. They are mainly responsible for copying and conveying documents and orders within the army, but do not have the power to draft military orders. Compared to the clerk's position, it is like the difference between a secretary and a chief secretary in today's officialdom.

  Zhou Wenbo was not unable to arrange a higher official position for Duan Shichen. In fact, the new army he was about to train was in urgent need of civil officials. As the Grand General of Zhao State and the commander-in-chief of the army, he naturally had the power to appoint anyone to any official position in the military.

  However, every country and family has its own rules. Zhou Wenbo also had his own rules for using people. Newcomers who had not yet achieved anything would suddenly hold high positions, which not only easily provoked jealousy in others, but also had a bad influence on oneself and the whole team.

  Of course, Zhuge Yu's official position is another matter. As Zhou Wenbo's fourth senior brother, he had known him for nearly three years and believed that he had a relatively accurate judgment of his ability and character. Moreover, the heavy snow in Luoyang on that day made Zhou Wenbo have a clear goal for future strategic development. Now that Zhuge Yu is undertaking the important task of recalling and rallying defeated troops to enter Shu, such a great talent cannot be underestimated.

  Moreover, the system has determined that Zhuge Yu's intelligence is as high as 90, and it is clear at a glance who is superior and who is inferior.

  After dinner, Duan Shichen and Lan Zhi returned to the house. From the time Duan Shichen was thrown out of the door until now when Lan Zhi gained her freedom, the twists and turns of events made them want to pour their hearts out to each other. It wasn't until today that they finally felt settled down. The couple held each other tightly, relying on and embracing each other.

  On the other side of the partition wall was a pair of mandarin ducks, and Zhou Wenbo felt a bit bored alone.

  He now doesn't need to sleep every day, and can't sleep either. Every day is equivalent to half a life longer than others, which is the effect brought by his innate talent [abundant energy]. This is naturally a great benefit for him, but on such a lonely night, he really doesn't know what to do.

  Zhou Wenbo lay on the bed playing with Duan Shichen's family heirloom, a purple sandalwood Buddha statue, but his mind had wandered to Luojing City tens of miles away.

  Jun Zhang will be accompanied by the upcoming new military training on this side, and it is certain that he will be his main activity place in the next stage. This may be a long-term separation between Qing E and Hong Zhuang, which has never happened before. I wonder if they will miss him?

  Just as Zhou Wenbo was daydreaming, the system actually made an appraisal of the wooden carving in his hand.

  Purple sandalwood carving (white object): ornamental plaything, has collectible value.

  Note: The density of this purple sandalwood carving is lower than normal, please be aware.

  Zhou Wenbo saw this prompt and suddenly became curious. He knew that purple sandalwood was the densest wood, and dry purple sandalwood had a density slightly greater than water, so it would sink immediately when submerged in water.

  Zhou Wenbo scooped out a ladle of water from the corner vat and put the wooden Buddha in it, but to his surprise, the wooden Buddha still had a small block exposed above the water surface and was actually floating!

  Zhou Wenbo curiously tapped the wooden carving with his fingers, and the "thud" sound seemed not to be hollow. Out of curiosity, Zhou Wenbo took down the Longquan treasure sword hanging on the wall and cut open the bottom of the purple sandalwood carving.

  This Longquan treasure sword is indeed a masterpiece, extremely sharp. Zhou Wenbo didn't use much strength and easily cut open the bottom of this purple sandalwood carving.

  Just as it was cut off and separated, a piece of something fell onto the bed along with the base!

  Zhou Wenbo quickly picked it up and took a look, and it turned out to be a brown granule the size of an egg yolk!

  This thing looks like a pine nut in shape, but Zhou Wenbo dares to swear that he has never heard of a pine nut the size of an egg yolk. The pine nuts he bought in his previous life were all about the size of sunflower seeds, and although this fruit grain model in his hand is similar, the size difference is too big.

  The grain of the fruit had been hidden in this wooden carving for a long time, and the originally thick and solid fruit shell had cracked open, releasing a faint fragrance that began to surround Zhou Wenbo's body.