Train model 207

  "Oh, this is our factory's new deputy commander, Liu Ziguang, who also serves as the head of the accounting department. He's a true all-around talent in both literature and martial arts! He made great contributions to the counterattack at Licheng Castle, and the pair of Qing Emperor's boots he presented this time were captured by him. He's our Iron Factory's number one brave general. Commander Yuan has asked Father several times to let him take Liu Ziguang back to be his vanguard officer, but Father just can't bear to part with him." Peng Jingrong introduced Liu Ziguang with a hint of pride on her face.

  "And another thing, Liu Ziguang is the real hero who defeated the Qing country's linked horses. My sister and I witnessed it with our own eyes under the city wall. That Huang Zhen from Haizhou was beaten to the ground by me in Xuzhou Prefecture, and even I couldn't defeat him, let alone defeat the linked horses. Defeating donkeys is about right for an old lady like her." Peng Jingrong added.

  Speaking of Liu Ziguang, he's the pride of Second Miss, a talent she discovered herself. Whenever she meets her sister, she has to boast about it no matter what. Even if Xu Xiyuan doesn't mention it, she'll introduce him to Liu Ziguang after a while, because this miss from the National Duke's Manor is a female hero who loves martial attire and hates red dresses, and she likes to make friends with heroes and chivalrous men.

  "Oh, and there's the true or false Monkey King, but since both sisters said it was real, little sister naturally believed." Xu Yuhui stopped in her tracks, carefully sizing up Liu Ziguang.

  Liu Ziguang was neither a handsome young scholar with red lips and white teeth, nor a robust hero with a tiger's back and bear's waist. Wearing a narrow-sleeved arrow robe, he looked like an ordinary warrior.

  "The storyteller said that the young general in white robes had a face as smooth as jade, and was exceptionally handsome. He was eight feet tall, with a waist circumference of also eight...” Xu Yuhui said, suddenly stretching out her hand to push Liu Ziguang violently, while at the same time tripping him up with her foot. Unfortunately, they were standing right next to the pond, where there was no railing to stop them. With Xu's swift movement, it was like a sudden clap of thunder - even the quick-reacting Peng sisters could only let out a sharp cry: "Be careful!"

  However, the next scene was a bit unexpected. Liu Ziguo didn't get pushed into the water, but instead Xu Yuhui almost fell in, her body tilted and nearly parallel to the water's surface. One of her hands was being held by Liu Ziguo, which kept her from falling in, and the two maintained a posture similar to that of a Latin dance, with an ambiguous atmosphere.

  It was Xu Yuhui's sudden move that made Liu Ziguang immediately start a counterattack, taking advantage of the situation to push her away, but in a flash of inspiration, he thought to leave some face for the little girl and reached out to grab Xu Yuhui's hand again.

  Liu Ziguang said, "Miss Xu, how can you walk so carelessly and trip in your own courtyard?" With a slight exertion of force, Xu Yuanyu stood up smoothly, her small face flushing red as she hid the hand Liu Ziguang had pulled behind her back. She was so embarrassed that she couldn't speak. Originally, she wanted to test Liu Ziguang's depth, but not only did she fail to push him away, she also ended up making a fool of herself. However, it could be considered a success - the young man in front of her, dressed as a warrior, was able to dodge her swift and fierce push, which meant he had quick reflexes. What's more, after being pushed, he suddenly reached out to grab her just as she was about to fall into the water, which was incredibly fast, so much so that she didn't even see how he did it.

  Men and women do not make contact, oh, the little girl's hand has never been pulled by a man before, she is so shy that she can't help it. Fortunately, the two sisters of the Peng family pretended not to see anything, but they were actually holding back their laughter, wanting to laugh but afraid of hurting the little girl's self-esteem.

  Luckily, they arrived at the Jingmiao Hall just in time. Once inside, Peng Jingrong instructed that the gifts brought for Xu Yuanyuan be opened, and everyone dispersed their attention a bit to ease the awkward atmosphere from earlier.

  This is a two-sided building facing the pool, with a fresh and elegant style, small and delicate, mainly used by the national government to entertain female guests. After both parties sat down, the servant opened the gift box, lifted several layers of silk cloth, took out a few exquisite small things, and Peng Jingwei personally assembled them on the Eight Immortals table.

  Jewels and jade, silk and satin, rare antiques and calligraphy paintings were too common in the Duke's mansion. Local products couldn't be presented as gifts either, so Tie Xiong had prepared a model of a small train this time.

  This train model is handmade, the locomotive head is made of pure silver, with a large emerald embedded in the front. The wheels are specially painted red, and the carriage is finely carved from nanmu wood. The windows have transparent shells inlaid, and the small doors can be opened. A set of wooden figures, a set of iron rails, and a train station are also included. The figures can stand inside the locomotive or at the station as passengers. The rail sleepers and tracks are connected together, with nanmu wood sleepers and copper tracks painted black. The train station is made from small blocks of nanmu wood, assembled without using a single nail, showcasing exquisite woodworking craftsmanship. The entire model is extremely delicate, with high-quality materials used throughout, making it no less valuable than precious jewels.

  After assembling it, Xu Yuhui excitedly circled around the table, with a look of loving it so much that she couldn't bear to part with it. The family members of the Guo Gongfu household around her also stared with wide eyes, having seen trains before, but never one as small as this.

  Peng Jingwei and her sister smiled at each other, took out a key, inserted it into a hole on the locomotive's head, turned it a few times, then opened a small cover on the locomotive's head. Family members brought over an iron box that had been prepared in advance, Peng Jingwei added several pieces of red-hot charcoal with tongs, then picked up a small bottle and poured some water into the locomotive's head, flipped a switch, and the little train immediately started moving, with white steam coming out of the chimney, looking very realistic.

  Watching the train running around the octagonal table, Xu Yuhui clapped her hands excitedly, "How cute is this little train! It's so much fun. How does it run? Does it burn charcoal?"

  Peng Jingrong patiently explained beside her, "Such a small train head can't hold a steam engine, so the train is driven by a mainspring. The few turns Xiaowei just made were to wind up the spring. As for putting charcoal fire in, it's to produce steam and make it look like a real train, adding some visual appeal."

  "Oh, great! Let's move it to the attic and have a carpenter build a platform for it." Xu Xiuyuan was clearly very satisfied with the gift, holding the wooden figurine and arranging it randomly everywhere.

  "It's a pity to put this train on a wooden board." Liu Ziguang chimed in, and the young lady from the Rongguo Mansion didn't even understand how to play with it, what a bumpkin. Seeing everyone looking at him suspiciously, Liu Ziguang quickly explained: "Such a delicate model should have a special room set up for it, with mud piled up into mountains, plains, grass planted, trees inserted, rivers dug out, clear water poured in, and a small stone bridge built. Several small-scale cities should be built, with dozens of feet long iron tracks laid between the cities. The track should be double-tracked, one train is not enough, set up two or three trains to run against each other, that's what I call having fun."

  Three girls were amazed, to say that playing with these things is still the boys' forte. Liu Ziguang didn't play with high-end toys when he was young, and he used matchboxes and iron wires to make a handmade train, which he pulled on sandy ground. He once dreamed of having a large-scale model one day, although it never came true. Now that he's contributed this idea, it's also considered a wish fulfilled for himself.

  "What a great idea!" The three girls praised together, and Xu Yuhui immediately ordered the servants to prepare an empty room and soil, sand, grass, and also asked someone to find a jeweler to make another ten zhang according to the shape of the iron rails, with bends and forks that can be connected together, divided into small sections.

  A few people were fiddling with the toy train while chatting, it turned out that they had known each other since childhood. In those years, the Duke of Wei led his troops to garrison in Xuzhou Prefecture for many years. Peng Changzhu's iron factory was still a blacksmith-led righteous army at that time, and they fought several victorious battles with the imperial army. The Duke and Peng Changzhu became sworn brothers. The two families often came and went, but later in the political struggle, the two families advanced and retreated together, without any reservations, and the Duke also lost his power. The iron factory's network of relationships in the capital was also greatly discounted. However, this friendship has been preserved.

  The young ladies were chatting, Liu Ziguo couldn't get a word in edgewise and could only sit idly by. Just as he was getting bored, he suddenly heard someone outside shout: "Duke Guo has arrived."

  Before the words had fallen, a majestic figure entered the Jingmiao Hall, tall and strong, with a beard, about thirty years old, even walking was full of strength, stepping on the ground with a loud noise, worthy of being the descendant of Xu Da, the first general of the Ming Dynasty.

  "It's actually Peng's sister who has arrived, sorry for not welcoming her from afar, forgive me, haha. Quick and loud speech, obviously a generous person. The young Duke Guo and the guests exchange greetings."

  Guo Gongye and his siblings, as well as the Peng family sisters, were old acquaintances. The only stranger was Liu Ziguang. Without anyone else speaking up, Xu Xiyuan took the initiative to introduce him: "Big brother, this is the real White Robed Young General, who defeated the linked horses under the city of Lijing, and chased the Qing emperor so hard that he lost his boots - the great hero Liu Ziguang."

  "Ah, so you're Liu Ziguo." The Duke stroked his beard and scrutinized Liu Ziguo.

  "This is a duke of the Great Ming Dynasty, Liu Ziguang did not dare to be presumptuous, cupped his hands and bowed: "It's me, Liu Ziguang, deputy general of the Iron Guard. I pay my respects to Your Excellency."

  "It's indeed a hero emerges in youth, I went to see the newly appointed Tongzhi Huang Zhen of the Brocade Guard, one look and it's clear he's a fake, relying on eunuch party relatives to falsely claim military merit and cheat his way into office. Alas, the tea houses are still talking about his heroic stories, truly shameless. The eunuch party is ruining the country." Duke Guo is indeed a perceptive person, with no nonsense in his words, constantly criticizing the eunuch party.

  "Big brother~~" Xu Yuanyuan shouted reproachfully.

  "What's there to be afraid of? I'm only speaking the truth, and we're all our own people here. What is there to fear? Besides, Father tolerated them for so many years, but in the end, they still didn't let him off, and he was driven to death by the eunuchs! As for me, I have a strong martial arts background, but I can only serve as the commander of the Imperial Guard. Although it's an elite force that serves the emperor directly, I'm not even allowed to see the emperor in person. Can you say that the eunuchs aren't hateful?"

  "That's it, let's not talk about this anymore. You've always said you can't find a worthy opponent, but today someone has finally appeared to compete with you." Xu Yuhui was goading Guo Gongye into a martial arts match with Liu Ziguang, and it seemed she was also the kind of person who reveled in chaos, quite similar to Second Miss Peng Jingwei.

  "This is what I have in mind, General Liu, don't decline it." This Duke was also a skilled martial artist, just like his sister.

  It's not a poetry contest, which is actually my strong suit, Liu Ziguang agreed with pleasure.