Zhao Shun only felt that the name of the Daylily Garden was not worthy of its name. She and Zhou Pianran had already walked into the garden, but they did not see many daylilies, only some unknown small flowers blooming in full bloom on both sides of the bluestone road.
No one deliberately pruned them, and the flowers and grass were crowded and stacked on top of each other, but they naturally formed a scenery that was quite wild.
The two of them walked for an unknown amount of time. Zhao Chun was in better health, but Zhou Pianran could hardly hold on any longer. Fortunately, after walking around a small lake, they finally saw the yard with the words "Three Thousand Four Bailu Shilu Number" written on it.
"We're here, let's go in." Zhao Shun helped her up and stumbled inside.
The yard is not big, but it is very desolate. Weeds are rampant all around. In the middle is a large tree nearly three meters high. Its branches and leaves spread out below to form a shade. Three women in gray clothes are sitting around a table below. When they see someone coming in, they all jump. Very surprised.
The woman on the far right looks the oldest and has smile lines on her face. She is clearly a kind person. She asks: "Are you two new disciples?"
Seeing Zhou Pianran's legs trembling and her lips dry and white, he knew she was tired from walking, so he stood up and brought two stools.
The two of them thanked each other quickly, and Zhao Chun answered: "Yes, my name is Zhao Chun, and her name is Zhou Pianran. They both came in today."
The woman said "Oh" and said, "My surname is Cui and my name is Lan'e. Next to me are Hu Wanzhi and Lian Jing. You two can just call me Senior Sister."
Hu Wanzhi has a pointed chin and long eyes, and is mean-spirited. Lian Jing has a round face and round eyes, which makes her quite lovable. Zhao Chun quickly matched his name with his appearance and said, "Hello, three senior sisters."
Zhou Pianran took a few sips of the warm water handed over by Cui Lan'e, calmed down, and called her senior sister obediently.
"There are eight rooms in this courtyard. We live in three of them from the right. The one from the left has been used as a warehouse and cannot be occupied. You two are so young and don't live far away. You live next to us so that we can take care of you."
The two nodded and accepted Cui Lan'e's kindness. She was even happier and said: "You are all tired. Let's sit down and rest for a while. Wan Zhi, go and see if there are any clothes for the disciples in the warehouse and give them to each of them." Get four sets for a change."
Hu Wanzhi didn't say much, nodded and walked towards the warehouse. Cui Lan'e said to Lian Jing: "Ajing and I are going to clean up those two houses. They must have been unoccupied for several years and they must be all dust."
"How dare you trouble the senior sisters!" The two of them jumped up from their stools and hurriedly tried to stop him.
Lian Jing laughed twice and said: "Do you think your Senior Sister Cui and I are working with brooms and dustpans? It doesn't take much effort to remove dust, so just sit back and relax!" Her voice was sharp. It was so detailed that if Zhao Chun hadn't known that she meant no harm, he would have almost thought it was a sarcastic comment.
When there were only two people left in the hospital, Zhou Pianran said: "The senior sisters who live together are really enthusiastic."
Zhao Shun nodded, agreeing with this statement. It's better to live with kind people than with people who are mean-spirited.
As Lian Jing said, the two rooms were quickly tidied up.
They led the two of them into Zhou Pianran's room first. There was a Babu bed, two high and low cabinets, a set of tables and stools, a wooden shelf for placing things and a full-length mirror next to the table. There were not many things. The room seemed a little empty.
Cui Lan'e joked next to her: "It's empty now. You won't realize how small this room is until you live in it for a long time!"
At this time, Hu Wanzhi also came in from the door with a pile of clothes, eight sets of green shorts and brown trousers. This color made the person look like a tree, and Zhao Shun laughed twice in his heart.
"Why are ours different from those of our senior sisters?"
Lian Jing looked like "you don't know this either" and told the two of them their goodbyes in detail.
It turns out that the concept of one hundred thousand preparatory disciples is somewhat watery. Half of them are disciples who have been in the sect for more than five years but have not left the sect.
The Lingzhen Sect couldn't support them in vain, so they divided the sect's tedious chores and let these "expired" disciples do it. They practiced while working every month. Even if they were lucky enough to break through to the late stage of Qi training, they would just change their identities. , become outer sect deacons, only by breaking through the foundation building, the sect will lift their imprisonment, and they can choose to become elders or leave the sect.
Elder Lin, who had previously tested their spiritual roots for them, was such a legendary figure. He climbed up from a handyman, successfully built a foundation, and became an elder.
But for decades, this is all that can really be done, and more people are struggling at the bottom of the endless world, unable to see the light of day.
This is the case for the three senior sisters. Among them, Lian Jing, who has four spiritual roots, is the youngest. She is twenty years old this year and is in the middle stage of Qi training. She is only one year late to be promoted to an official disciple of the outer sect. When she mentioned this, she Still a bit unwilling.
As for Cui Lan'e and Hu Wanzhi, one was in her early thirties and the other was in her twenties. They both had five spiritual roots and were still in the early stages of Qi training. When they saw Zhou Pianran, who also had five spiritual roots, they felt a little more pity.
"It's nothing. I will go home after five years. My parents and brothers are waiting for me to go back!" The little girl seemed to have seen her relatives waiting at the door of her house, her eyes sparkling.
"You are also a careless person. You are still waiting to go back to the small world to reunite with your family." Cui Lan'e saw many disciples from other small worlds, and at first she wanted to go back. After seeing the abundant spiritual energy in Hengyun World, she I'm fighting to be a handyman and don't want to go back.
"It's good that she has a home to go back to. It's also a thought. Those of us who are homeless will have nothing if we leave the sect." Lian Jing sighed and asked Zhao Shun, "What about you? You He is the Three Spiritual Roots, and he is the most promising one here to become a formal disciple. You don’t want to go home too, do you?”
Zhao Shun waved his hand: "My mother died young, and there are many brothers and sisters in the family. My father may not even know my name."
"Then you look a lot like Wanzhi."
Hu Wanzhi looked fierce but timid. She explained softly: "My mother left when she gave birth to me. There are many people in the family, and my father doesn't care much about me."
No wonder Lian Jing said this, the two people's life experiences are almost exactly the same.
Cui Lan'e talked about some important things in life, and then told the two to rest for a while and go to the dining room for dinner in the evening.
"The preparatory disciples and the handyman disciples all live together. Each dining hall is in charge of a hundred courtyards for meals. Although they are not necessarily full of people, there are still four to five hundred of you who are new this year. Let’s go earlier later so as not to have hot food.”
They say they are disciples of the Immortal Sect, but their lives are not as good as those of powerful mortals. Here the weak are the strong, and they do not regard the handymen as human beings at all. They have to compete for work and food. If Zhao Shun cannot break through to the mid-term within five years, he will be in trouble in the future. So too.
Unlike Zhou Pianran, she always has a family behind her, good or bad.
Zhao Shun took the things and returned to his room. Most of the furnishings were the same. She locked the things she had brought down into the low cabinet, folded the clothes and put them into the high cabinet, then lay down on the bed and prepared to close her eyes and take a nap.
When Cui Lan'e came to call, she had regained her energy. The clothes she had been given had been treated with dust removal techniques and could be put on directly. Zhao Shun put on new clothes and took a look in the mirror.
It really looks like a small tree!
The three elders and the two younger ones walked to the dining room. On the way, they met other handymen, more or less young girls behind them. They talked to each other and treated Lian Jing very differently from Cui Lan'e and Hu Wanzhi. After learning that Zhao Shunsheng had three spiritual roots, his attitude changed drastically and he smiled happily.
Zhao Shun was not very sociable and could only smile awkwardly. Those people were also satisfied, saying that she was "naturally smart", "a bright future" and "promising to attain enlightenment".
All the way to the dining hall, Zhao Shun's lips were stiff. Lian Jing laughed at her for being a good-for-nothing but useless person on the inside. She reminded her again: "From now on, you can just listen to whatever they say, and you don't have to answer or smile at them." .”
"Won't it offend anyone?"
"No way, they will only think that you are really capable!" Lian Jing smiled, and neatly put a few big pieces of meat on the two new girls, "Here, eat it while it's hot, only eat it when you're full. Practice with strength.”
The cafeteria is just like the campus cafeteria in Zhao Chun's previous life, except that no one is serving food, and everyone who comes has to help themselves. You can eat as much as you want. If you don't finish eating, you will be deducted. However, that is the treatment of a handyman, and there are no such rules for preparatory disciples. .
Zhao Shun couldn't ask for the deliciousness of the big pot dish. He only had enough to satisfy his hunger. When he actually ate it, he found that the rich red sauce was quite delicious.
From the time they left the small world until now, they had only drank some water and hadn't eaten yet. She and Zhou Pianran were so hungry that their chests were pressed against their backs. They finished eating in three or two mouthfuls. Cui Lan'e told her: "Don't eat too much at one time just because you are hungry." , I don’t feel it now, and I won’t know the feeling of bloating until I go to bed at night.”
Zhao Chun understood this and put down his chopsticks after finishing the last bite. Zhou Pianran looked at her, then at the three senior sisters, and finally put his chopsticks aside obediently.
Cui Lan'e nodded with satisfaction, put away their bowls and chopsticks, and placed them on the shelf by the wall: "After you finish eating, put them here, and someone will come and clean them up."
The two of them wrote it down, and the trip to the dining hall was concluded successfully.
On the way back, the handyman on duty had already lit the lamps, and the whole Hemerocallis garden was enveloped in a peaceful and quiet atmosphere. Zhao Chun saw that in many yards only half of the rooms had lights on, and he had questions and said: "Senior Sister Cui, those rooms No one lives here?"
Cui Lan'e shook her head. Before she could speak, Lian Jing's sharp voice rang out: "How can we not live with people? It's just that they have all run away!"
"Ah Jing!" Cui Lan'e scolded her, and explained the reason to them in a soft voice.
After all, there are very few women who can be equal to men in the world of cultivation. The higher the realm, the more equal the status becomes. This is because the lack of physical speed and strength is gradually made up, and women can be free and easy without relying on others.
But the handyman is different. For disciples in the Qi training stage, unless they can accumulate spiritual energy in the middle stage, their innate strength will still play a decisive role in the battle. And among the tens of thousands of handymen, how many can reach the middle stage, and how many of them are women?
The lower the realm, the more like mortals they are, marrying each other and forming families. Most of these families are dominated by men with stronger martial arts. The women in Hemerocallis Garden also moved with their families and lived in Qingzhu Garden.
This is already an unwritten rule among the outer sect of the Lingzhen Sect, and all the deacons turn a blind eye. After all, it is a matter of mutual consent, and it is difficult for others to criticize it.
Cui Lan'e knew that women's lives were difficult and had good intentions toward them. Lian Jing is young, and is in the middle stage of Qi training, which is rare among handymen. She has never suffered hardship, so she cannot empathize with those women, so she feels that they have no spine and can only rely on others.
"Actually, this is not Ah Jing's fault. Those who don't know are not guilty. You are different from us, Zhao Chun. One day, you will walk out of Hemerocallis Garden and even go to the other side of Guantian River.
“You may be as powerful as Elder Qiu, but even a person like that who can move mountains and reclaim seas is never truly at ease.
"The reason why we are alive is because the strong have fear and compassion."
Zhao Shun thought about Cui Lan'e's words while lying in bed for a long time. She was always grateful to be alive, so she was always kind to others, but what about herself?
She is not willing to accept the charity of the strong. If the world lives because of the fear and compassion of the strong, then why can't she, Zhao Shun, be that strong?
She has no right to interfere with or criticize other people's choices. What she can do is to always be vigilant and not to follow the same path as them.
She is her own Zhao Chun, and she only lives for herself in this life.
