"Sixth Master, Fourth Master."
Zhang Aotian, who was sitting in the shop reading a book, saw the two approaching and quickly stood up and saluted.
Ma Liu asked with a smile:
"How did you do in the county exam this time?"
"It shouldn't be a big problem."
Zhang Aotian answered very implicitly. Under the guidance of Fourth Master, he learned to be humble.
Ma Liu nodded happily and said:
"At your age, it is not easy to pass the county examination. If you can pass three tests in a row and pass the Jinshi, it will be considered a name in history. The teachings from me and your fourth master are not in vain."
"I will work hard."
Zhang Aotian pursed his lips hard, his determination to become an official was very firm.
The bookstore is a special existence in Caishikou. Everyone knows that it has a background and is not easy to mess with.
But even so, there are still guards who come to extort money every now and then.
If they don't give money, they will forcibly remove a pile of books and find a bookstore to sell them, euphemistically calling them tax credits.
The guard put down the book when a kind-hearted neighbor next door came to persuade him, saying that the child had taken the county examination at a young age and would definitely become an official in the future.
Do you think that's the end of it?
Early the next morning.
The vegetable shop next door was splashed with feces in front of its door. The smell was so bad that passers-by had to avoid it, and seven or eight shops around it were also affected.
Don’t you like to be a good person?
Come on, I'll let you be the one!
If you dare to spoil my good deeds, you will always have a bucket of this golden juice.
Zhang Aotian carried more than a dozen buckets of water before rinsing the door of the shop next door. He did nothing all day long, squatting at the door and mopping the floor.
Suffering a little hardship is nothing to him.
But if it affects others, it will make him feel guilty and uncomfortable, and even paying money to his neighbors will not relieve him of this self-blame.
And knowing that it was the guards who did it, so what?
Most of the government officials were recruited from the private market, and most of them were rogues.
Not to mention that Zhang Aotian has not yet become an official. Even if he does become a minor official one day, unless he is also working as an errand in Shuntian Mansion, he is not in the same system and cannot really govern others.
If you are lucky and become a high official in the future, with your own power, Shuntian Mansion will definitely give you face, and it will not be a problem to manage a few servants.
But at such a high level, a fourth- or fifth-grade official would cling to trivial matters, and after so many years, he would be a bit petty, which makes people look down upon him.
There is no shortage of people who truly hold grudges in this world. If Zhang Aotian insists on venting his anger on these rogue officers, no one can stop him.
But in the early years, they just threw a bucket of dung at the door of the shop next to yours, not at the door of your book shop. Are you so nosy?
At most, Zhang Aotian gritted his teeth and went all out to be unreasonable. He rewarded these people with twenty pieces of board to make them remember.
As for killing people, beating them to death directly, or retaliating secretly and crippling these people, the official will definitely be punished for his job, and then the official will be finished.
Ma Liu had a sharp nose. He had been unaware of being in the distance just now. Now when he stood in front of the shop, he suddenly felt a strong smell of shit coming to his nostrils.
Looking at the source of the smell, I saw a puddle of water stains in front of the vegetable shop next door. After washing it, the smell was still strong.
He has rich experience in the world, most of which involves dealing with small people. He immediately asked:
"Did you offend someone next door?"
Zhang Aotian said helplessly:
"The day before yesterday, I met a few gangsters who came to the bookstore to make trouble. The neighbor said something for me, and then I suffered."
"..."
Ma Liu and Fourth Master Xiao looked at each other, somewhat speechless.
Even if you can't find a protector, you still have to find a strong subordinate for the child to intimidate the young ones.
Ma Liu secretly transmitted the message:
"Fourth Master, you know a lot of people. Do you have any suitable candidates to protect the Tao?"
Fourth Master Xiao shook his head and said:
"I have not been involved in worldly affairs for many years. My old subordinates have all died, and those who have gone into seclusion have gone into seclusion. The remaining ones are difficult to contact and can easily arouse the emperor's suspicion. You still need to take care of this matter."
Ma Liu could only think about the people he knew well.
The three of them came to the yard and cleaned it spotlessly, as did the house.
Zhang Aotian went out to buy some vegetables, steamed rice, and after a lot of busy work, Ma Liu felt more comfortable eating the simple four dishes and one soup.
When it came to food, he had a candidate in mind.
"I'm going out."
After dinner, Ma Liu said hello, walked out the door and walked straight towards the Xiuzhen Workshop.
Of the 108 squares in the capital, Xiuzhen Square has the most hidden demons.
In the words of the Demon Ji Xiaowei, if you hit them with a stick, seven out of ten people will show their true colors.
When the late emperor was in power, he once wanted to rid the capital of demons and restore a healthy place to the world.
As a result, the order had not yet been issued, but was only discussed with the ministers, and the news was leaked. The capital was ablaze that night, and riots continued, turning it into a hell on earth, with more than 100,000 people killed and injured in one night.
The number of demons exceeds everyone’s imagination, covering all walks of life and penetrating into every corner of life.
If they really start to kill, the entire capital will be paralyzed, and the monster with no way out will be completely ready to fight, exposing its cannibalistic nature. In the end, the poor people will be the victims.
Later, the late emperor came up with the method of dividing black and white.
As long as the demons don't cause trouble or harm anyone, just treat them as ordinary people.
Standing outside the yard at the end of the alley, Ma Liu's nose twitched, with a strange look on his face.
Animals mark their territories by peeing, and urine contains information about their age, gender, male hormones, and more.
The smell of urine in this courtyard was just one step away from entering the Taoist realm, but it came from a rhinoceros demon who was only five years old.
"The world is so big and capable people emerge in large numbers, so we should not underestimate it."
When Ma was six or five years old, he was still wearing crotchless pants. He couldn't even dream of what it was like to enter the Taoist realm.
This little rhinoceros demon's father had an adventure. He once found a colorful tree in the mountains with a dragon-shaped fruit on it. He was reluctant to eat it and gave it to his child.
As a result, Su Longxi was weak and had a high fever for seven consecutive days after taking the medicine. He became a fool, stupid and stupid.
The demon corpse felt so guilty that he could not let go of his child until his death.
Following the memory of the demon corpse, Ma Liu took out the key from the small hole under the threshold and opened the door. He saw a little guy with a body and rhinoceros legs sticking out his butt and eating grass roots.
The weeds in the yard have been eaten all over the past few days, and the roots have been pulled out.
Seeing a stranger coming, Su Longxi did not panic. Instead, he pulled out the grass root with a silly smile, handed it to Ma Liu through the air, and said:
"eat."
Lao Liu smiled and waved his hands, sighing in his heart.
People are divided into good and evil, and so are demons. There are many people with good nature.
If we abandon the idea of race, there is not much difference between humans and monsters. They are all just a mass of ants struggling to survive in the world of mortals.
With a flick of his finger, a force of his fingers knocked Su Longxi unconscious. Ma Liu put on his golden gloves and stepped forward to check. He also used the method of ecstasy to check the child's mind. After making sure that he was not pretending to be stupid on purpose, he put them on the child. Put on your clothes and go out.
Suddenly, he turned around and looked at the dead colorful trees in the courtyard.
It was this tree that bore dragon-shaped fruits, but it was difficult to sustain in ordinary water and soil. It had never regained its vitality over the years and was so bare that even the bark had been eaten away by Sulongxi.
"This trip made a fortune."
