Chapter 26 Morning Training

  Back at the inn, it was already time for lighting the lamps.

  A Fu was picking up the tables and chairs in the guest house, Nie Ling Tong was writing and drawing under the lamp, with a lot of copper coins and gold bars piled up beside him. Zhao Tie Shan was holding an old iron kettle, standing not far from Nie Ling Tong, drinking wine from the kettle while blowing cowhide.

  "Lingdang sister, you don't know, Chang'an City is really big. Ah, from Chang'an City to this Suzhou City, it's like entering a village. Zhao Tieshan squinted his small eyes and blew the cow, "Think back then, I was a regular at the largest wine house in Chang'an City, Drunken Immortal Building. Ah, actually, Lingdang sister, I've never told you that I'm also a person of status, it's just that recently I've been hiding too deeply, and you didn't notice."

  Zhao Tieshan said, wiping his greasy palms on the apron in front of him.

  Nie Lingdang still lowered his head and calculated the accounts.

  Zhao Tieshan continued drinking, "Lingdang sister, after I regain my status, I'll take you away from Suzhou City. You're not fond of being a shopkeeper, are you? We can open a hotel as big as the Drunken Immortal Pavilion... Don't think I'm penniless, let me tell you, I'm the eighteenth generation single heir of the Zhao family cuisine."

  Song Kai was secretly amused at the door, this Zhao Tieshan had a thick skin, would boast, hooking up with young girls must be a good hand, but these were useless in front of Nie Lingdang, Nie Lingdang was a princess from the Turkic side, what kind of world hadn't she seen, naturally wouldn't be attracted by Zhao Tieshan's tactics.

  "Have you eaten?" Song Kai walked over and asked.

  Zhao Tieshan saw Song Kai, immediately bowed his head and chuckled: "The boss is here, the boss! How dare we eat without you? Everyone's been waiting for you. I'll go to the kitchen to prepare the dishes."

  As he spoke, Zhao Tieshan bent down and ran away.

  Song Kai looked at Zhao Tieshan with a strange expression and asked: "What's wrong with this guy? He doesn't seem to be talking right, has he done something bad?"

  Nie Ling Tong smiled, and when he wasn't wearing a band-aid on his face, he was still quite handsome. "I didn't do anything wrong, I just said you're not as strong as him, nor are you as skilled with your hands. If it weren't for this guest shop of yours, you'd definitely be worse off than him."

  Song Kai was puzzled, "What's wrong with Zhao Tieshan, why is he framing me?"

  Nie Ling closed the account book, her eyes fixed on Song Kai, "That's still because of your stunning beauty. He thinks you're the most threatening person in this store, so he belittles you in front of me, afraid that I'll fall for you."

  Song Kai rubbed his nose, "Is that so? Then he should also look down on Fu Bo, you might have been fooled by Fu Bo too."

  "Song Kai!" Nie Zhong shouted in a state of panic, "You've just been with Fu Bo! You've just been with him!"

  Busy Ah Fu hehe straight smile, waving his hand, "You two stop arguing, I dare not want Ling Dang young lady, Ling Dang young lady gets angry, old slave can't bear it."

  "Haha," Song Kai walked over and patted Ah Fu's shoulder, "Don't worry, Uncle Fu, I absolutely won't let Lingdang harm you."

  Nie Lingdang furrowed her brow, "Song Kai, the lady is in a good mood today and won't bother with you. But if you provoke me again, be careful or I'll break your bones."

  Song Kai puffed out his chest, "Who's afraid of who? I'll become a top martial artist tomorrow."

  The dishes were served quickly and the four of them sat down together to eat.

  "Dingdong, how much money is in our store?" Song Kai asked.

  "About eighty-three taels of gold, but it's all income from handling membership cards," Nie Lingdang replied while eating chicken pieces.

  Song Kai nodded, "Prepare twenty taels of gold for me tomorrow."

  "What's wrong?" Nie Lingdang's mouth, which was chewing on a piece of chicken, stopped and asked nervously.

  "Mind your own business! This store is mine," Song Kai hummed.

  Nie Ling Tong hummed and said, "But I'm the shopkeeper, you have to tell me. Seeing so much gold taken out at once, my...my heart aches."

  "....Well, let's go buy some tea and have lunch, I'll tell you later," Song Kai waved his hand.

  After dinner, Mr. Fu boiled some hot water, washed up and then went to bed.

  Not long after lying down, the wooden board at the head of Song's bed creaked.

  "Knock knock knock!"

  "Knock knock knock!"

  Still quite rhythmic.

  Song Kai hummed: "What's going on!" He knew that the other side of the wooden board was Nie Lingdang's house.

  Nie Lingdang leaned against the wooden board on the wall and said, "Song Kai, I've thought about it carefully, and I think your investment is too hasty."

  Learning is quite fast, and I also know the word "investment".

  "It won't be a loss, that tea garden will definitely make money," Song Kai said as he lay in bed.

  "Even if it's profitable, it'll take a long time to recover the cost, Song Kai. Today, I thought about what you said regarding working capital and reserve funds. Our store has a lot of reserve funds, but your investment in the tea garden will take too long to recoup the costs. It'll take at least five years to earn back the 20 taels of gold. However, our store might not be able to operate due to the reduction in working capital," Nie Lingdang said, leaning against the wooden wall. After thinking for a moment, she simply pushed her bed over and lay down on it, with only a board separating her from Song Kai, making it easier for them to talk.

  Song Kai did not think that Nie Ling Tong could really understand all these things. As a 21st-century person, he had been receiving a lot of information since childhood, and the idea of worshipping money was deeply ingrained in his bones. However, it was still quite difficult for Nie Ling Tong to understand various information in such a short period of time.

  "I understand what you're saying," Song Kai lay on the bed, closing his eyes. "But I had to buy that tea garden. The owner of the tea garden is a good person, it's just a pity he's a bit foolish. If I didn't buy it, within a year, everyone in that estate would have been struggling to make ends meet."

  Nie Lingdang fell silent on the other side, and after a while, only Nie Lingdang's low muttering could be heard: " Humph! You're a good person! Go to sleep!"

  "Uh, GOODNIGHT!" Song Kai muttered a sentence in English.

  "Aunt's... and uncle's too." Nie Lingdang muttered a sentence, and the two people fell asleep.

  The next morning, while it was still dark outside, someone knocked on Song Kai's door.

  Song Kai got up and opened the door to find it was Uncle Fu.

  "What's wrong, Fu Bo?" Song Kai yawned, having lived in the Tang Dynasty for so long, he had finally gotten used to the habit of waking up early and sleeping early.

  "Big Brother, there's a middle-aged man on horseback outside calling for you, saying it's for training," Ah Fu looked at Song Kai with suspicion. "Big Brother, who is that person? Is he trying to cheat you?"

  Song Kai slapped his forehead and remembered his appointment with Zhou Ce. He immediately returned to the house, got dressed and washed up.

  "Song Kai! What are you doing getting up so early, you bastard!" A complaining voice came from the wooden board side, it was Nie Lingdang.

  "Sleep on it, brother is going to become a martial arts master," Song Kai chuckled and left.

  Outside, Zhou Ze rode on horseback, with his right hand still holding onto another horse.

  Song Kai was stunned for a moment, ride a horse? This is a difficult problem, the key is that the current stirrup is very simple, what if you fall...

  "This is a good horse, very gentle, don't worry," Zhou Ce beckoned with his hand, "If you don't even have the courage to ride this horse..."

  "General Zhou, rest assured, I will show you my determination," Song Kai said, pulling on the horse's mane as he prepared to climb up.

  "Don't pull the horse's mane, hold its neck," Zhou Ce instructed slightly on how to mount the horse.

  Song Kai panted as he climbed up, thinking to himself that if he didn't exercise more, he'd be done for. No wonder they say "not even enough strength to tie a chicken".

  Zhou Ce nodded and briefly explained some key points about horse riding, then pulled the reins to move forward at a slow trot.

  Song Kai followed behind, and after a while, he was completely familiar with the key points of horse riding.

  Two horses sped up, rushing towards the southwest corner of Suzhou City. About half an hour later, they arrived at the westernmost point of Suzhou City, and further back were Lingyan Mountain and Tianping Mountain, where Xi Shi was said to have lived.

  Due to the mountainous terrain, the city wall was built very simply. After passing through a small gate, there is a relatively flat valley. At this moment, more than 800 people are standing in the valley, chatting and laughing.

  Everyone spontaneously gathered together and stood in a very neat formation when they saw Zhou Ce and Song Kai arrive.

  Song Kai dismounted and stood at the edge of the team, very self-aware.

  Zhou Ce stepped forward with a serious expression, walking from the left side of the formation to the right, and then spoke up: "Deputy Commander, how has training been for this half month?"

  A middle-aged man in loose clothing came out and said, "Commander Hui, everything is as usual."

  "Good!" Zhou Ce said loudly, his face still somewhat pale.

  "Duwei, how's your injury?" The deputy commander asked with concern.

  "No problem, in another half month, I can fight with my brothers again to protect the city," Zhou Ce nodded, "From today on, every morning I will continue to supervise your military training, not a single day can be stopped! Alright, let's start the morning training!"

  The crowd shouted and began to train on their own, some standing still, others fighting against wooden stakes, some wielding swords and guns, while others fought bare-chested.

  Song Kai's blood was boiling with excitement, he took off his clothes and prepared to start.

  "Song Kai," Zhou Ce walked over, "you may be my brother, but during training, I won't go easy on you."

  "Of course, I understand!" Song Kai nodded, "I'll start from wherever, Commander Zhou can give the orders."

  "Let's train our muscles first, stand still for two quarters of an hour and punch out a thousand times," Zhou Ce nodded.

  Song Kai joined the training army, thought for a moment, and decided to add some modern training methods, such as push-ups and sit-ups, who knows if it would be more effective.

  The entire field occasionally heard the sound of "heh", Song Kai was training alone, and it was already boring. Now there are so many people training together, it's actually quite interesting. Moreover, this team is completely equal, as long as you have strong strength, knife skills, and gun techniques, you can be promoted to become a partner, ten husbands, or hundred husbands. If you can defeat the deputy team leader, you can become the deputy team leader. Everyone's training also has a goal and comparison.

  About an hour later, everyone took a break and someone brought breakfast. The breakfast was roasted meat, rice, and pickled vegetables, which tasted pretty good.

  After eating, take a short rest and train again. It wasn't until more than an hour and a half later, or more than three hours, that the morning training finally came to an end.

  Song Kai casually wiped the sweat from his body and put on his jacket.

  "You're doing well, I hope you can keep it up," Zhou Ce walked over and said with a smile.

  "That's for sure," Song Kai said as he and Zhou Ce walked shoulder to shoulder back.

  "From now on, this horse will be kept at your place first. Every day at 5 am sharp, come here for training. When I have time, I will teach you the Tiger Roar Sword Technique and Internal Energy Cultivation Method. I believe that after a month, you will become very strong."

  "Alright, thanks a lot, Big Brother Zhou! By the way, after dinner, let's go to the tea garden together again. To be honest, I'm a bit afraid of Taihu gang when I go there alone."

  "Hmm, it's better if more people come next time..."