The Sixteenth Section: Seeing the Tiger's Foot

  Before becoming a big shot, one must respect the current big shots. This is Yun Ye's 20 years of work experience. The year-end is just around the corner, and going home is almost a month away. Although things are busy, I need to recognize my family members, arrange for them, and take care of them. I also need to be on guard against Li Er's small-mindedness, and often go to the Qin Mansion to see Qin Qiong off. Where do I have time to visit the homes of a few familiar big shots? But not visiting is not an option. Old Cheng is waiting for delicious food, Wei Chong is waiting for delicious food, Li Jing is waiting to ask about the whereabouts of the whiskered guest, and Li Ji claims to be at home waiting for Yun Ye to come and get beaten up. These few can be ignored for now, but I must go visit Niu Jin Da's home, although he is a bit abnormal, he is extremely good to Yun Ye, sometimes even more considerate than Old Cheng. Such an elder must be visited, and I will go today.

  Her head was slapped by her grandmother, saying that there was no advance notice before rushing to the door, not only impolite but also making a joke of herself. The Hou Mansion couldn't afford to lose face because of that person. Her elderly self considered the Hou Mansion's reputation more important than anything else and wouldn't allow any slight disrespect. Suddenly being in a high position, it was understandable to be a bit overly cautious, but for her grandmother, going along with it was fine. Whether it was right or wrong didn't matter, as long as she was happy and could live a few more years, that would be Yun Ye's greatest happiness; having a loving grandmother was better than anything else.

  For Yun Ye, it's best to go to Lao Niu's house with a jar of strong wine and some braised dishes, dressed casually and in high spirits. Don't be surprised or put on airs, just show respect as a junior. Lao Niu probably likes that too. If you go with a big fanfare, not getting beaten up would be lucky, but getting beaten up is inevitable.

  The old lady wanted to powder Yun Yan again, saying that a beautiful young man with red lips and white teeth would be wasted if he didn't dress up. The old lady's words were suspicious of Wang Po selling melons, Yun Yan would rather die than comply, after applying the powder he had the idea of burning down the house, let alone the fact that his aunt was still holding a silk flower in her hand.

  Wangcai insisted on going, so he followed. Whose horse likes to visit neighbors? Nowadays, the most leisurely person in the house is him. In the morning, the groom accompanied him to run around Zhuque Street, and when they met people buying food, they would go up and sniff, if it was delicious, they would chew for a while, if not, they would turn their head and leave with a snort, making the groom either apologize or pay. You can't say that Wangcai's monthly allowance is higher than the groom's. When he saw people selling rice wine, he was particularly happy and wouldn't move without drinking two bowls. Now, every day, there are people selling wine waiting for Wangcai at this time, greeting him warmly like an old friend. Wangcai wasn't alone; each time he drank, he invited the groom too. Who knows if it's true or not? Anyway, that's what the groom said. Every day when they came back, the two of them would stumble and stagger. Yunyan didn't care; Wangcai's allowance was enough for him to eat some snacks and drink a little wine. As long as his sworn brothers were happy, he didn't care who Wangcai invited to drink with him. He warned the groom that as long as he didn't bully Wangcai, he could do whatever he wanted, but if Wangcai suffered any grievances, it wouldn't be easy to get away with just a few slaps.

  Lao Zhuang went to the Zhuangzi, wanting to arrange for the old brothers who had retired from the army, and there were also over a hundred people with families. The city couldn't accommodate them, but they also liked going to the Zhuangzi, where they could still receive land to farm in the spring. They were all farmers, and leaving the land would be equivalent to losing their lives.

  The newly built Houfu was said by Old Lady to be magnificent, a ten-entry large house, occupying dozens of hectares, with a single water's blue-brick tile-roofed house, and many courtyards that made people easily get lost. What Old Lady valued most was the ultra-luxurious gate, which could be seen from three miles away with its majestic cloud-shaped characters.

  If it weren't for her grandson being in the capital city, she wouldn't have come to the old mansion to revisit old memories and feel sad.

  I originally planned to let all the brothers move into our house, but was met with collective opposition from Grandma, Aunties, and Third Brother's wife. They said that even if the rooms are empty, they cannot allow the bodyguards to enter the inner courtyard, at most they can stay in the front yard, the back yard is off-limits. Non-family members are not allowed to enter. What a strange custom, without any practical spirit. In the end, Grandma got annoyed and said that men shouldn't worry about family matters, just take care of themselves.

  Back to Taipingfang, Yunque's jealousy drove him to call this place Taiping House. A group of old and powerful people, not to mention their superior martial arts skills, none of them were someone that this small marquis could afford to provoke. The Old Cow's house was very ordinary, perhaps due to the fact that there weren't many people in the household, the residence looked simple and unadorned, with a sturdy appearance, the holes on the wall could serve as shooting holes, the corner tower had an open view, convenient for commanding, just lacking a few catapults on the wall, and a few bed crossbows, it would be a complete battle fortress. A deadly weapon to kill enemies.

  The hunchbacked old servant led the way in front, muttering indistinctly that it had been a long time since there were any guests at home and the atmosphere was cold and cheerless. He also said that the woman who brought food to the door last time was beautiful and he hoped to see her again. Yun Ye thought of scolding him, "You're thinking about the person who brought food to your house? You're too annoying! With a Yanwang Temple like this, how can you expect guests to fill the hall?"

  An old cow and a big horse, with golden knives, sat on a low couch waiting for Yun Ye to pay his respects. Next to them, a plump woman stood by the stove brewing tea, while on the right side of the low table sat a person with a clear and elegant face wearing a fur coat.

  Young people, it goes without saying that this is the old cow's whole family. He doesn't have a bunch of concubines, and there aren't any flower-like maids in the house either. The one who sent Yun Ye to the back house was still a middle-aged servant woman over 40 years old. Old Cow refused the title of Duke, only willing to be a Marquis, low-key and muddled.

  The waist had not yet straightened up, and then heard Old Cow say:

  "This old man is too venomous, as soon as he opens his mouth, he puts on a hat that looks down on people. Not to mention Yun Ye can't bear it, even the Crown Prince would be unable to eat or sleep with this criticism."

  "Uncle Niu, it's not your fault that I haven't come to pay my respects until now. Our household has been in a mess and only just got sorted out, so I rushed over here to ask for a bowl of wine to drink. Apart from going to see Duke Yi Guo, you are the first person I've visited."

  "Haha, this kid is still smooth-tongued and has a pleasant personality, knows how to make people happy. Let me introduce you to your aunt," said Old Niu with satisfaction as he introduced his family to Yun Ye.

  "Little nephew Yun Ye wishes Auntie a good day, is Auntie in good health?"

  "I often hear your uncle talk about you, saying you're a talented young man. Your aunt has been looking forward to meeting you, and now that we've met, it's clear you're quite the charmer. I hope you'll come visit us more often. And don't worry about Tiger Brother's mobility issues, it's good for young people like you to spend time with him." The warm woman's words made Yun feel very much at ease with this family-style conversation.

  "Little Yan, don't blame me for being your brother. This is my first time back in Chang'an, and I didn't get to visit the old lady at home, which was impolite." Niu Xiantu, sitting on the mat, made an effort to sit up straight and pay his respects to Yunyan. He wasn't good at talking, and after saying one sentence, he blushed and his hands were awkwardly placed.

  "Brother Tiger, don't worry too much. I'll take a look at your injured leg later," Yun Ye had already planned this out. He heard that Niu Jianhu was eighteen years old when he competed in horse racing with others, unfortunately fell off the horse and was trampled by the horse, severely injuring his calf. If they could save part of his calf, Yun Ye still had a way to make a prosthetic leg for him, as long as he trained for a period of time, it would be no different from a normal person. But if the knee was also cut off, then there's nothing that can be done. Under current conditions, it's impossible to create two reverse joints and ensure they move smoothly. The range of motion in the ankle is relatively small, as long as the quality of the card holder is guaranteed, making a fake foot is still possible.

  The cow sees the tiger and has given up hope for its own legs, but is grateful that Yun Ye still remembers its disability.

  The old cow is different. He has seen Yun Ye's skills, and without saying anything else, he just mentioned the matter of Old Qin's blood transfusion to save his life, which spread throughout Chang'an City. To verify the truth, he personally visited Qin's mansion yesterday to visit Qin Qiong. Although it's been a few days since they last met, Old Qin now has a full face of red glow and is full of energy. Although he can't go to battle and kill enemies anymore, he can still ride horses and walk like normal people. Yesterday, he even boasted that if he could recover for some more time, he would find Yuchi old fool to compete with him in gun skills and not let this old guy monopolize the glory. Since he can make Old Qin, who was on the verge of death, ride a horse again, there's no reason why he can't make his son stand up. In these five years, watching his previously vigorous son gradually become disheartened has been his biggest heartache. Yun Ye is notorious for not releasing the hawk without seeing the rabbit, and if he says he will help his son, then there's an 80% chance that his son will be able to stand up again.

  "Uncle Niu's nephew has brought some food from home today, and he even got a jar of good wine especially for you. Why don't we drink it with our lunch today?"

  "Get out! You see Tiger Brother still can't get up from the ground, and you're thinking of drinking? This is for Tiger to take a look, as long as Tiger gets up, the wine in my house is yours to drink." Old Cow got up from the low bed, grabbed Yun Ye and came to Tiger's side.

  "Father, the child's feet have all been amputated, so don't make things difficult for Xiao Yan anymore. Besides, haven't you searched everywhere in Chang'an for famous doctors these past few years and still found no solution?"

  "You don't know squat, how can those mediocre doctors compare to this kid? If he says one day that men can give birth to children, I'll believe it."

  "Yun Ge, do you really have a way to make Hu Er stand up like a normal person?" Mrs. Niu still understood her husband and wouldn't give their son false hope if there wasn't any. She was so anxious that she trembled and couldn't speak clearly.

  "As long as Brother Tiger's knee is fine, it's not a big deal." Yun Ye said with a smile, being able to bring hope to others, doing more of such things won't hurt.

  As soon as the words fell, Mrs. Niu "kao lou" fainted, and Old Niu hugged his wife with a smile, his beard and hair all standing on end, tears streaming down his face. Niu saw Hu jumping up to grab Yun Ye's collar, saying repeatedly: "Little Ye, I just don't have feet, my knees are fine, look, look!"

  He made the cow see the tiger and let him sit on a low couch, lifted his robe, took off the cloth wrapped around his injured leg, checked his skeleton, no problem, his tibia and fibula were intact, but his foot was cut off from the ankle. Making this prosthetic limb is not difficult, as long as suitable materials are found, and with the help of a hundred refined steel plates as the frame, it's not hard. In those years when taking the high-level technician exam in Chengdu, the abnormal teacher made a topic that used a pile of silicone, plastic to make molds by himself, and then slowly used a cutter, pliers and other tools to polish out the shape, also had to meet the size standards, find a disabled person to wear it, let the disabled person judge the comfort, fit, and all aspects of the standard qualified before can be evaluated as high-tech. The only thing is that there is no silicone, which doesn't stump Yun Yan, using cow tendon to cook, almost indistinguishable from silicone, and even surpassing silicone in quality. In the case of not considering the cost, it's estimated that even old cows will come to find elephant tendons.

  The whole family waited for Yun Ye's words like waiting for a verdict.

  "Brother Tiger doesn't know what kind of foot you like? Tell me and I'll get it for you."