The beautiful Western Border was full of mystery and hope.
They went to Liupan Yundu and left Grandma Wang Ning, who was homesick, in her hometown. After Grandma Wang Ning repeatedly urged her to stay, Grandma Liu Yu decided to spend the Spring Festival with her old friends in Yundu.
The others continued to ride the two Wind Descending Heavens Swamp, heading west to Nanliu.
Passing through Chuncheng, Nanzhao, and Baoshan, was not far from Chen Liping's hometown.
This was a quaint old town. In the past, it was called Chen Village, but now it was called Chen Clan Ancient Town. Everyone in the village also had the surname Chen. The old brick and tile-roofed houses stretched for nearly a kilometer. The old town was clean and tidy. Compared to the other old towns in Nanliu, there was not much of a commercial atmosphere here. The people still retained a lot of simple folk customs, unlike some of the old towns that had been ruined by developers. They destroyed the previous culture and could not build a new civilization. It was not like a thing in any way.
When they arrived at Chen Liping's hometown, Chen Clan Ancient Town, Zheng Jianyi said that his home was about 50 kilometers away from here. However, there were no more cars in this area. They could only walk, ride horses, or ride cross-country motorcycles. This time, they wanted to go back and see if they could build a wind power station for their hometown. As long as they could charge it, they could use high-power electric motorcycles. The oil here was more expensive, so it was more difficult for the people to use it.
When they arrived at Chen Weizheng's new house, the family's friends and relatives had already prepared the strongest camp, waiting for them with a grand ceremony. The degree of enthusiasm completely exceeded Chen Weizheng's expectations. People sang and danced, using pure wine and a noble ceremony to welcome their arrival.
Chen Liping told Chen Weizheng to pretend to be drunk after three bowls of wine. The people here would not stop until they were drunk. Chen Liping knew that if she wanted to make Chen Weizheng really drunk, she estimated that these people added together would not be enough.
Pretending to be drunk also had its benefits. He could sleep comfortably and also enjoy Liu Yi's care. Seeing Hua Zheng and his mother pouring water and wringing a towel to help him wipe his face and hands, Chen Weizheng almost laughed out loud. He really wanted to reach out and hug Liu Yi and Hua Zheng. Perhaps, this was the legendary joy of familial love! Enjoyment, yes, this was true enjoyment.
He slept until the next morning. The sound of Liu Yu and Hua Zheng waking up early woke Chen Weizheng up. Looking at his watch, it was past seven in the morning. The sun rose later in the south. This was due to the difference in time zones. Chen Weizheng understood the scientific reasoning. Liu Yu and Hua Zheng were preparing to go downstairs to the courtyard for their morning exercise. Chen Weizheng didn't want to sleep anymore after sleeping for twelve hours. He got up and changed into sportswear, preparing to go out with the children to exercise.
Walking out of the gate of the courtyard, there was the old town's new embankment road. A small river flowed down from the old town, and after a small curve, it reached the new residential area. From here, the ancient town was surrounded by a small river and half-hidden by the green trees beside the river. In the morning fog, it was faintly discernible, sometimes bright and sometimes dark. It was a bit like a mirage.
On the new embankment road, there were already many people doing their morning exercise. Most of them were old men who practiced boxing. A few youths in martial attire were practicing their swords. The long tassels of their swords drew out sword intent in the morning light. With the ancient town as the backdrop, it made one feel like they had returned to the Middle Ages.
Hua Zheng was independent. He found a relatively spacious area and after a few minutes of preparation, he began practicing the Jiaojiquan routine. Liu Yu's boxing was clearly inferior to Hua Zheng's, but every move was meticulous. Chen Weizheng didn't interrupt them. Instead, he ran in the direction of the ancient town. As he ran, he made some stretching movements. It was natural and casual.
After running back, Chen Weizheng found that the place where Hua Zheng and Liu Yu practiced boxing was already surrounded by people. Chen Weizheng squeezed in and saw Hua Zheng practicing with an old man in martial attire. The old man's wrist was a little red and swollen. This was because Hua Zheng had gone easy on him. Hua Zheng used a little more force this time. His right hand was a fist, not a finger. The old man probably felt a little pain because he swung his hand with all his strength and hissed.
"Are you done practicing?" Chen Weizheng asked.
"Yes," Liu Yu and Hua Zheng answered in unison.
"Go wash up and prepare breakfast." Chen Weizheng cupped his hands and bowed to the surrounding onlookers. Then, he apologized to the old man who was beaten.
The old man smiled and said, "I overestimated myself. I saw that kid was so engrossed in the fight that I wanted to test his strength. I was presumptuous!"
Chen Weizheng saw that the old man didn't blame him. Instead, he took the blame. He knew that the old man was cultured and well-mannered. After apologizing again, he left.
Chen Liping had already prepared the Jiaojiquan rice noodles at home. This was similar to the rice noodles in Gu Yi City. The so-called rice noodles should be a different name for rice noodles. The thin round rice noodles were boiled in boiling water, filtered, and put into a bowl. Then, the yellow skin, crispy meat, and cucumber were minced and spread on top of the rice noodles. The golden yellow layer looked very delicious. Then, she added garlic, chopped green onions, and dried pickles to make another green and white layer. Then, she added sesame oil, pepper oil, soy sauce, peanut oil, and some chili pepper, monosodium glutamate, and white vinegar. The Jiaojiquan rice noodles were fresh out of the pot.
When Chen Weizheng returned home, Hua Zheng and Liu Yu were each holding a big bowl and eating in full swing. When he asked them what happened just now, Xiao Yu said that he and Hua Zheng were practicing. A few old people came over and said that their boxing wasn't good. He said that it was fine as long as it was good. The old people were unhappy and found someone they thought was an expert to spar with. In the end, he was beaten seven or eight times by Hua Zheng. He was afraid that they would have to find a doctor when they went back.
Hua Zheng said, "I didn't want to fight with him, but he insisted on fighting with me. That's the result."
Chen Weizheng said, "Be careful in the future. These old people are old and their bones are brittle. It's easy to break them. If you accidentally break them, it will be troublesome."
Chen Liping asked what was going on. Xiao Yu told her everything again. Chen Liping said that it didn't matter. Everyone in the town knew that they were experts. Maybe there would be people who would continue to spar with them.
Sure enough, in the morning, the experts who wanted to spar with them came. They didn't come to spar, but to give gifts. They said that the old man who had sparred with them in the morning admired Hua Zheng's martial arts very much. He specially sent a few local specialties as a souvenir for the child. Chen Weizheng couldn't refuse and had to accept it. At first glance, it was a rattan box. In the local primitive forest, there was a kind of wild rattan. Its surface was smooth and flexible. The local people used it to weave boxes, tables, bookshelves, and even complete sets of rattan furniture. This kind of furniture was lighter than wooden furniture and looked elegant and beautiful. According to records, the ancient people also used rattan to weave battle clothes. It was not only waterproof, but also difficult to penetrate. It also had a certain buoyancy in the water. In the past, when Zhuge Kongming burned the rattan armored soldiers, it was possible that he burned the people of this place.
Although the rattan box culture was ancient, the style was very fashionable. It was the popular model of a trolley box with telescopic rods and pulleys. Opening the rattan box, there were some contents inside. There were a few bags of preserved fruit, assorted papaya candy, licorice mango, plum, lemon plum, appetizer Duoyi, and many other varieties. There was also a knife of local rice paper. The rice paper produced by the local people was very popular in the world of painting and calligraphy. After Master Xu Beihong used it, he said that this kind of paper not only had the advantages of "authentic" rice paper, but also had a big advantage: After painting, no one could steal it.
Hua Zheng's favorite was still this knife of rice paper. Chen Weizheng said that politeness demands reciprocity, so he should prepare a gift and send it back. It was not good to accept a gift for no reason. Chen Liping's father said, "The person who gave the gift is a brother from the same family. Speaking of which, he is Chen Liping's uncle. This small gift is not a big problem. If there is a chance in the future, he can just return the favor."
At noon, everyone was preparing to go to Zheng Jianyi's house and was busy preparing. Ou Jie drove to the city and bought four large 60v electric motorcycles. He did not need the batteries from the merchants and each one was priced at 3,100 yuan. Chen Weizheng took out four 500AH batteries and installed them on the motorcycles. He was ready to drive the motorcycles in.
First, he decided who would not go in. The area was too small, so Ruan Lei did not go in. Zhang Xiaoxian accompanied Ruan Lei and also did not go in. Hua Zheng began to feel more and more interested in the ancient town's scenery. The rice paper inspired him and he was going to draw an ink painting of the ancient town and give it to his grandfather as a return gift. Since he did not go in, Liu Yi could only stay.
Chen Weizheng's motorcycles were attached to Xiao Yu. Ou Jie's motorcycles were attached to Zheng Tien-tien, Wang Hongtao's motorcycles were attached to Wang Ning, and Zheng Jianyi's motorcycles were attached to Chen Liping. In addition, there were a lot of bags of various sizes. The four motorcycles were full of things.
First, there was a section of secondary road that was about five kilometers long. The motorcycles came to a large river. The secondary road crossed a bridge here and led to the border of the Wa Kingdom, Hachi Port. Zheng Jianyi's hometown was at this fork in the road. Following the river, it was more than 40 kilometers downstream. The motorcycles went along the small road beside the river. This was a place where the road could not be built. The mountains were high and the valleys were deep. There were a few places where they had to get off the motorcycles. The motorcycles maintained a speed of about 10 to 20 kilometers per hour. Zheng Jianyi estimated that it would be dark by the time they reached their home.
After three hours of traveling more than 30 kilometers, Zheng Jianyi found a spacious place to stop. There was a large drop in the river, and the river rushed over, creating yellow waves on the rocks.
"Old Zheng, what river is this?" Ou Jie asked.
"Wen River." Zheng Jianyi said, "Another 10 kilometers and you'll reach our village. From our village, you'll reach the border three kilometers down. The Wa Kingdom is on the other side."
"Then can't we go abroad for a trip?" Wang Ning said.
"That depends on the situation. If it's peaceful during this period of time and the Wa Kingdom is not at war, I'll bring you guys to trade for some trinkets. Their jadeite stones, tortoises, and small lacquer boxes are all pretty good. There's also coffee. This time, you can bring more. It's much better than the fake Blue Mountain in Gu Yi City." Zheng Jianyi said.
"What are we going to trade for?" Liu Yu asked.
"We didn't prepare any supplies, but we can just buy them with money. RMB is a hard currency over there." Zheng Jianyi said.
"Old Zheng, can you guys hunt here?" Chen Weizheng suddenly asked.
"Up to you!"
"There's a Mongolian gazelle up ahead. It can't be someone's pet, right?" Chen Weizheng asked.
"Mongolian gazelles are wild. Black gazelles are domesticated. It can't be." Zheng Jianyi said.
"That's good!" Chen Weizheng took out a Longshan 2015 and aimed in a direction. He fired five shots in a row. There were no explosions. He used solid bullets. At this time, Wang Hongtao and the others saw a Mongolian gazelle fall to the ground 200 meters away. By the time they reacted, Chen Weizheng had already run in front of the prey. With both hands, he lifted the Mongolian gazelle onto his shoulders. Only when they carried the seventy pound Mongolian gazelle back did they realize that there was a problem. The car couldn't fit it anymore. How were they going to carry it back?
At this time, two diesel motorcycles came in front. Zheng Jianyi looked and saw that it was his younger brother and brother-in-law. His family had received a letter and came to pick them up.
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