Outside the door, Zhang Shou, who had just returned, looked sideways at Zhang Chen standing beside him. Seeing the young man's face turning pale and blue, and feeling guilty, he dared not look him in the eye. He could not help but smile, and then turned around and walked out. When he heard footsteps behind him, it was clearly Zhang Chen following him. He asked without turning his head, "You shouldn't think Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu are ungrateful now, right?"
There was no answer from behind, but the breathing seemed to be heavier. He did not continue to provoke Zhang Chen, but continued to walk forward calmly. It was not until they were far away from the brightly lit lobby, and the darkness around them was like a dark cloud, surrounding them from all directions, tightly wrapping them up, that he heard a weak voice behind him.
"Young Master, do you really think I'm suitable to go to Xingtai?"
Without waiting for Zhang Shou's answer, Zhang Chen's mood became even more complicated. The capital city was already cold in the first month of the year, and it was even colder at night. After just a short while outside the lobby with the heating on, he felt his whole body was cold, and even his teeth seemed to be chattering. However, he didn't want to move.
"My father has only one son like me. I am not as ambitious as my elder brother Zhu Er. I have always been content with getting by. Therefore, I am neither good at literature nor martial arts. Everyone says that each generation of the Duke of Qin's Mansion is inferior to the previous one. So, young master, you said before that you wanted me to proudly say in front of my father that your son is not as good as my son, and his father is worse than my father. I feel very happy."
"But that's all I can do. Before, because of the spinning machine, I went to learn about it and how the weavers and spinners lived... But I just thought they would live better with the new machines, but I didn't think that far. For a duke like me who has never experienced a hard day, is it useful to sneak to Xingtai?"
You said so much in one breath and asked such a complicated question, but I just want to ask you one thing... Don’t you think it’s stupid to stand in the wind and talk on this night when the north wind is howling
Zhang Shou touched his nose, which had become dry and even itchy from the wind, and turned around unhappily, saying expressionlessly: "How do you know if you haven't done it? It's important for people to know themselves, but you also need to know that man can conquer nature!"
"Okay, stop talking nonsense and go to the study to talk!" Zhang Shou had just finished speaking when he suddenly heard a voice coming from behind him without any warning: "Master, lanterns."
Zhang Shou turned around suddenly and saw Ah Liu standing there, holding a festive red lantern in his hand. If this happened in a normal mansion with people living there, this scene would not be surprising. However, in this mansion that had been vacant for many years and only had lights on in the front, it was really terrifying to see a person holding a lantern suddenly appear!
Especially when the light of the big red lantern shone on Ah Liu’s expressionless face, it was simply like a horror movie!
Zhang Chen's reaction was more intense than Zhang Shou's - because he was not that familiar with Ah Liu - he even took four or five steps back in one breath. If it weren't for the smooth bluestone corridor under his feet and no other obstacles behind him, he might have been so scared that he sat down on the ground!
It was not until Zhang Shou shouted that he breathed a sigh of relief: "A Liu, are you trying to scare me to death?"