Volume 1: This Heart's Desire Chapter 36: Long Live the Brick

  Two people who were arguing happily suddenly both froze.

  Take a look at the blue and white porcelain, take a look at the sugar people who can't eat well, and then take a look at each other.

  Each turned their head away...

  ……

  Finally, Tai Shi Lan bought a green bean cake to reward Jing Tai Lan. The little guy immediately smiled with joy, hugging the cake box and licking it mouthful by mouthful, like a greedy cat. Rong Chu looked at this little guy's greedy appearance and thought of how he used to disdainfully ignore a table full of top-grade pastries, compared to now savoring a three-copper-piece green bean cake with relish, and then looked at Tai Shi Lan who was standing with his hands clasped together and a self-satisfied expression on his face, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  Is it a sigh of Long Yu's shallow beach being teased by shrimp or a sigh that evil people have their own evil grinding?

  "Seize... seize..." Jing Tai Lan suddenly shouted loudly.

  The two people who were distracted only realized that a fat little boy had snuck up and grabbed the green bean cake box from Jing Tai Lan's hand and ran away.

  Because they were close to the children, the guards didn't notice that the green bean paste was stolen and didn't care. The safety of their master is what matters most; things can be bought again if they are stolen.

  Tai Shi Lan suddenly raised an eyebrow, grabbed the crying Jing Tai Lan and rushed out.

  "What are you doing?" Rong Chu shouted loudly, wondering if this woman could calm down for a moment?

  Tai Shi Lan was unreasonable, so Rong Chu had no choice but to order the guards to quietly follow him. After turning a corner, they saw that Tai Shi Lan had already blocked the fat little boy with the blue brick.

  She didn't charge forward, but blocked the alley entrance, with her hands clasped across her chest, and nodded at Jing Tai Lan.

  "Up!"

  Jingtai Blue hesitated for a moment.

  "What kind of man are you? You don't even dare to take back what's been robbed from you?" Tai Shi Lan glared with his eyes, turned around and left.

  Jingtai Blue rushed towards Xiao Pangzi immediately. Tai Shi Lan shouted behind him, "There are bricks on the ground!"

  Zhao Thirteen, who had just rushed over, clutched at his chest...

  Jingtai blue bravely picked up the bricks, but being small and weak, he couldn't move them. He even tried to throw stones, but they didn't reach his opponent. Seeing that the adults weren't intervening, the little fatty changed from being timid to jumping and laughing loudly, "Come on, come on!"

  "Ahh——" Jing Tai Lan suddenly shouted and rushed over, knocking down Xiao Pangzi.

  Little fatty was startled, after being pressed down by Jing Tai Lan and punched once, he finally came to his senses. After all, he was a few years older and had more strength, so with one flip of his body, he turned Jing Tai Lan over and started punching him. Jing Tai Lan was punched several times, but unexpectedly, his physique was also exceptionally good, beyond that of ordinary people. Before long, he flipped over again. The two little boys, who together weren't even eight years old, were rolling around on the ground, one on top of the other, fighting with their faces bruised and dusty.

  "Th...th..." Zhao Thirteen looked at the little rascal who was tangled up with someone, looking a bit dizzy, and waved his hand to summon his guards, "Brothers, come..."

  "What's wrong with you?"

  Zhao Thirteen glared at Tai Shi Lan - Is this woman only capable of saying this one sentence?

  "Th...th..." Zhao Thirteen panted heavily, pointing at the dust-covered Jing Tai Blue who was gradually gaining the upper hand.

  "Very well." Tai Shi Lan said coldly, "A true man's nature. What, you want to lend a hand?"

  "Of course!"

  "How can you help? Ganging up on him? One-on-one? With a three or four-year-old kid?"

  Zhao Thirteen was stunned.

  "Fighting beyond one's rank is called ferocity, facing a thousand soldiers alone is called solitary bravery, using the small to defeat the large is called wisdom." Tai Shi Lan didn't even give him a glance as he walked past to help Jing Tai Lan clear the field. "Using the large to bully the small is called stupid."

  Zhao Thirteen was sweating profusely, his face dripping with sweat. He turned sideways and looked at her with a faint smile that seemed to be both a smile and not a smile.

  "He couldn't persuade her." He glanced at Tashiro's profile, his smile growing more sinister.

  Some women should not be persuaded by words alone.

  ……

  "Bang." Jing Tai Blue Knight landed on Xiao Pangzi's body and gave him a punch that was not strong but had great momentum.

  "Very good." Taishi Lan said loudly in praise, "Jingtai Blue, this is your victory, you can dispose of him, how do you plan to dispose of him?"

  Jingtai Blue lifted up her flower cat face and looked at her, big eyes full of inquiry.

  "It's better for you to pursue the remaining bandits!" said Tai Shi Lan, "You decide yourself!"

  Jing Tai Lan thought for a moment, looked at the messy green bean cake wooden box beside Xiao Pang Zi, and grabbed it.

  "Slap."

  He heavily slammed the wooden box on Xiaopang's head.

  Tai Shi Lan loudly praised, Jing Tai Lan was delighted, Tai Shi Lan generously lent his shoulders to Jing Tai Lan to ride on, and bought green bean cakes for Jing Tai Lan again. Jing Tai Lan cheered and sang on Tai Shi Lan's shoulders while eating the green bean cake, and the cake powder fell all over Tai Shi Lan's head. Tai Shi Lan didn't mind at all, and the mother and son left with their heads held high.

  Rong Chu and Zhao Thirteen gazed at the triumphant mother and son's backs as they walked away.

  "Do you feel," Rong Chu said thoughtfully to his loyal subordinate, "that he has changed a bit?"

  "Hmm." Zhao Thirteen thought this woman was really perverted.

  "She seems to have taken on the role of father as well." Yung Cho said.

  "Hey!" Zhao Thirteen thought, "If this scene today is reported to the imperial court, how many people will die?"

  "This won't do......" Rong Chutu supported her chin, and unconsciously floated out a sentence, "Then where is my position......"

  "Huh?" Zhao Thirteen snapped back to reality, staring at his master in shock. "What did you say?"

  "Ah?" Rong Chu also came back to his senses, his expression turning serious. "What are you thinking? Protect the Emperor!"

  "Ah? Ah! Protect the Emperor!"

  ……

  Tai Shi Lan had already walked far with Jing Tai Lan on his back, passing a street corner to the largest market in Dong Chang City. He heard the sound of gongs and drums, as well as a crowd of people surrounding something, seemingly looking at some sort of notice. Tai Shi Lan didn't like crowds, so he tried to avoid it, but Jing Tai Lan's fur stood on end with excitement, pointing at the crowd and barking loudly. Since Tai Shi Lan had planned to reward him today, he walked over and squeezed into the crowd.

  She narrowed her eyes as she read the notice.

  "Guangwu Camp, Southwest Route, 25th Division, recruiting talents from all over the world..." She read. The name "Guangwu Camp" seemed familiar, and after thinking for a while, she suddenly remembered that it was probably the place where Cui Shita wanted to go.

  Rong Chu personally recommended, Anzhou held a literary and martial arts competition, only selecting one person, Yin Shitao. It's very obvious that it was an elite concentration camp. Many countries have similar settings, or it can be said that the Huangpu Military Academy of Southern Qi?

  Below the notice, two middle-aged men with greasy hair and wearing long gowns were squatting with their legs crossed, eating melon seeds. They had none of the demeanor of a "Huangpu Military Academy" instructor. A crowd of onlookers surrounded them, picking their noses and scratching their heads, also showing no signs of reverence or admiration for the "Huangpu Military Academy".

  A group of young people with medicinal plaster on their foreheads, wearing uniform silk short jackets that looked more like hoodlums than soldiers, were distributing "propaganda materials" everywhere. It was obvious that the other side was extravagant, and the propaganda materials were printed into exquisite little booklets with high-quality paper. Most people took them, some immediately used them to wipe their noses, some took them to wrap books, and some mothers squeezed in, soon holding a pile of them and excitedly saying they would take them home to make shoe patterns.

  The person distributing flyers was chewing on a piece of sugar and casually handed one to Tai Shi Lan, "The best second company in the province is recruiting talents! The world's winds and clouds are born from our generation, once you enter the second company, time will fly by!"

  Tai Shi Lan opened it and found that it was indeed detailed. It first introduced the long history and glorious background of Guangwu Camp - the oldest academy in Southern Qi, as well as the entire continent, along with Da Yan Lingyun Academy and Dongtang Tianji Fu, known as the three top academies of the time. Its predecessor was the Royal College, which like Da Yan Lingyun Academy, initially only recruited princes and officials above the third rank in the capital, and had produced famous Southern Qi generals such as Bian Lecheng and Xu Guanglie, as well as the youngest Grand Scholar Wen Zai.

  Five years ago, the Duke of Jin, Rong Chu, submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting that talented individuals be widely recruited, the door threshold be abolished, and outstanding civilians from all over the country be absorbed into the school. This advice was later adopted with distinction. The Guangwu Camp in the capital city of Lijing still maintained its original enrollment standards. Immediately afterwards, Rong Chu took the lead in opening the Guangwu Branch Camps in various places, lowering the threshold, and selecting local talents. All branch camps were named after Guangwu, only numbered according to the order of establishment. This place is the 25th Guangwu Branch Camp, also the last established branch camp. And Tuo Shitao went to the 2nd Branch Camp located in Xiling Province, one of the largest and strongest branch camps in the region.

  The flyer listed in detail all the talents from Guangwu Camp, and at the very top, in a particularly large font that shone with golden light, was Rong Chu's name, followed by the notation: Commander-in-Chief of the Reputation of the Guangwu Branch of the Heavenly Army.

  Tai Shi Lan weighed the flyer in her hand and slightly curled up the corner of her mouth.

  Honorary Commander-in-Chief? What a peculiar title. Does he have the power to deploy troops? Does he have personnel rights? Does he have financial rights? None of these, right? Such an idle reserve force that must be the elite backup during wartime, would the emperor dare to let him take charge? Ridiculous.

  She took another look at the enrollment conditions listed by Er Wu Ying and her eyes lit up.

  What a wonderful thing in this world!

  Free admission!

  Provide three meals, each meal must have three meat dishes and three vegetarian dishes!

  Providing a separate dormitory, at least two floors up and down, with a garden, including a garage (carriage)!

  Equipped with a dedicated laundry room, racecourse, public martial arts arena, and a flower hall (nightclub)!

  Located in the lower reaches of the Mingjing River, close to Cuifeng Mountain, with beautiful scenery and convenient transportation. Every ten days off for one day, free access, and special cars are available for outings!

  In short, Guangwu Camp is an essential treasure for home entertainment, education and leisure. It provides perfect services in all aspects of learning, life, spirit and needs, offering the best high-end club experience!

  Tai Shi Lan started searching back and forth for the recruitment conditions, searched for half a day... couldn't find it.

  Look over there, a group of rough-looking men are queuing up, some with bare chests, others with their pants half down, barefoot, pale and thin, selling dog skin plasters, with nine-dragon tattoos on their arms...

  Such superior conditions, no admission threshold?

  Tai Shi Lan was pondering the authenticity and reliability of this heavenly cake, when she caught a glimpse of Rong Chu's guard approaching, hastily stuffed the flyer into her bosom, and with a calm expression returned to the inn.

  Halfway through, he was informed that the inn had changed again. Tai Shi Lan did not comment and led Jing Tai Lan to a new, more secluded inn after many twists and turns, silently making up his mind.