When Sui Zheng, a teacher with frosty temples, saw a student and a disciple with a disparity in status, the old man's face was both relieved and proud.

One is Xie Qiao, a young man from a poor alley.

One is Shentu Xinfang, a three-rank military general guarding the border pass.

The two of them saluted one after another and sat upright.

The old man first looked at Shentu Xinfang, who was not in the ancient well, and after shifting his gaze, he smiled at the slightly cramped disciple Xie Qiao and said, "Do you know his identity?" I have never mentioned it to you before, and that's because Xinfang has only studied under me for a while, and strictly speaking, he is not my first son, but only one of the students. ”

Xie Qiao nodded, and then he was a little stunned, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Sir, the disciple thinks that his qualifications are dull and he can't inherit your mantle, and compared to Senior Brother Shentu, I am even more far behind, why?" ”

The old man smiled softly: "You are the only disciple I have been admitted to the sect so far, maybe this is also the fate of master and apprentice between you and me." As for why Xinfang didn't worship me as a teacher, maybe Mr. didn't have that fate with him, and besides, I don't want him to be tied up in many things because of the name of master and apprentice, and he can't help himself, you will understand later. ”

The young man didn't ask any more, of course he couldn't imagine what kind of treacherous calculations and deceit were contested between those who were in high positions, all he wanted was firewood, rice, oil, salt, and peace and security, but obviously even survival now became a difficult choice.

Sui Zheng pondered for a moment, looked at the young man and suddenly asked softly: "Xie Qiao, because of some things, Mr. will leave Pingyang soon, do you want to go with Mr., or continue to stay here?" ”

Xie Qiao was surprised: "Leave? Where is the gentleman going? ”

Sui Zheng smiled and gave the boy an ambiguous answer: "Go to a gentleman where to go." ”

Xie Qiao thought about it seriously, "Sir, I have to ask my mother's opinion first." ”

Everything was obviously expected by the old man, and he was not surprised, so he smiled happily: "My parents are not far away, and there must be a way to travel." If you can, do you want to leave, get out of Binh Duong, and see the world outside? ”

Because of his own reasons, Xie Qiao shook his head and replied against his will: "I don't want to do it for the time being." ”

Sui Zheng nodded slightly, he didn't want to disturb the life trajectory of this disciple too much, he just hoped that Xie Qiao could be an ordinary person in peace, and it would be good if he had no illness and no disaster for a lifetime, the old man sighed, and he didn't know if his appearance was a blessing or a curse for the young man? Is it good or bad? Then he added: "Let you come here, first, to let you know that Mr. is about to leave, and second, you didn't come to Xueshu today, I heard your mother say that the county government has something to do and can't leave, Mr. is worried about whether something happened to you?" ”

Xie Qiao hesitated, paused slightly, and quietly glanced at the "senior brother" on the side with his spare eyes, Shentu Xinfang smiled and nodded, because before entering the school villa, the two reached a consensus, he chose to temporarily help the young man stabilize his injury, and conceal Xie Qiao's injury together, as long as the old man does not see any clues, Xie Qiao, who was affirmed, said seriously: "Sir, the disciple is fine." ”

With Shentu Xinfang's deliberate cover-up, the old man couldn't see anything wrong, and he didn't suspect him, so he bowed his head and said, "It's okay." ”

After that, the old man chattered and told the young man all kinds of trivial things after he left, completely leaving Shentu Xinfang aside and ignoring it, and in the end, he entrusted Xie Qiao to the Lumen master like "Tuogu".

Shentu Xinfang was helpless about this, he respected this old man who was also a master and a father, otherwise he would not have come here to Pingyang to meet the old man, and he had to pinch his nose to recognize a "junior brother".

And Xie Qiao's expression was complicated, and he had mixed feelings for a while, he had an indescribable awe of this "senior brother" who had disappeared for many years and fell from the sky today, as well as curiosity, which always made people indescribable, such as fishing in the abyss, he didn't think it would be a good thing to have such a famous "senior brother".

The more you gain, the more you lose.

The old man surnamed Sui didn't know what the two of them were thinking, and after looking at the sky, it was already dark at night, and he remembered the young man's mother, so he asked Xie Qiao to leave first and go home to report safety to the woman.

When the young man's figure disappeared into the night, the old man retracted his gaze and asked with a smile: "Xinfang, what do you think of this kid Xie Qiao?" ”

Shentu Xinfang, who was observing and testing the young man from beginning to end, said bluntly: "The qualifications are average, the roots are average, the talent is average, and the heart is acceptable." ”

Sui Zheng was noncommittal, recalling the different scenes when he first saw the two of them in the past, and turned his head to look in the direction of Xie Qiao's departure, stretched out his right hand and raised it, and said with a smile: "You may not know, when I first met Xie Qiao, he was only nine years old, his clothes were tattered, black and thin, probably only so tall, he was a little beggar begging along the street, maybe because of the hot weather, and the dizziness of hunger, he accidentally collided with me for a while, I still remember the child's eyes looking at me at that time, clean, clear, bright, and panicked, I was moved by compassion for a while, and I thought about pulling the child, even if it was to let him eat a full meal, so I gave him a reward of one or two silver on the grounds that he would find a place to stay for me, but the child asked not for gold and silver, not for himself but for his relatives, people are inevitably amorous, and afterwards I accepted him as a disciple, I did not ask for his gold list title, and even entered the cabinet to worship the prime minister, just thinking that he would retire to the countryside, a hundred years later, it would be good to have such a kind-hearted disciple to accompany him, and then take into account his family situation, In the past three years, although his qualifications are mediocre, he has always been diligent and studious, hard and serious, never self-pity for his own situation, but optimistic, self-reliant and self-reliant, and has not asked for anything on my side, complained about anything, I just simply hope that he can live a peaceful and healthy life as an ordinary person in the countryside without illness and disaster. ”

"The ruler is short, the inch is long, in my opinion, Xie Qiao is a piece of unpretentious jade, a fledgling eagle in the mountains and jungles, but Xinfang you are different... Do you remember what your husband said to you when you were studying under me? ”

Facing this old man, Shentu Xinfang was like a student who had made a mistake and was waiting for his master to be trained, and said respectfully and solemnly: "I remember, Mr. said at that time that I was a sharp blade, too sharp, and I needed a scabbard to hide the edge, otherwise it would be easy to hurt others and myself, so Mr. has been polishing my heart intentionally or unintentionally, and then the world was in turmoil, and I did not live up to Mr.'s teachings and did some irreparable things." ”

The old man looked at this student who had the reality of master and apprentice but did not have the name of master and apprentice, and his thoughts drifted away for a while, and he sighed: "No wonder you, in that era when the people are boring and chaotic, it is really useless to be a scholar, you join the army to set things right, how can you rely on your mouth to fight on the battlefield, attack the city and defeat the enemy, you have your last resort to do that, Mr. does not put his beak, just take Mr. himself, if the pen is useful, how can I sink into the sea and sink into the sea many times to admonish, in vain, On the contrary, it annoyed those who were in the corpse position and took the opportunity to offer slander, and ended up like this..."

The old man suddenly stopped talking, and his expression was sad.

Shentu Xinfang inadvertently uncovered this long-sealed scar, felt a little guilty, quickly changed the topic, and said softly: "Sir, when do you plan to leave?" ”

The old man waved his hand, signaling that it was okay, and sighed: "It's all some old yellow calendars, it's dusty when it turns over, the deceased is gone, and the living are like this." ”

Then he laughed at himself and said:

"Five days later, since you are here, it is no longer important for me to stay here, Mr. "Returning to the hometown" to steal a few years of leisure, it is time to go back and continue to be a sewing maker. ”