Twilight Boundary

Chapter 61 Fair Competition

Flax not only contributed strength, but also exerted great strength.

 He knew the importance of the opportunity, and after receiving this promise, he took care of Zhuangzi's affairs seriously.

If you want to talk about it, this village is not big and it is leisure time, but the affairs are really complicated.

Not only do we need to take care of the needs of the inner courtyard, but we also have to take care of the livestock and cleaning in the outer courtyard, as well as the chopping of firewood and rice for the kitchen. We have to patrol every night, and occasionally people from the surrounding villages will come over and say something, and send people to investigate. .

The shopkeeper doesn't like to take care of things, so all the affairs fall on Hu Ma.

Huma, on the other hand, did not shirk the responsibility, but made serious arrangements every day.

He knows that he can't make mistakes now, so he does everything by himself, and deliberately distinguishes himself from Xu Ji's arrogant behavior before. Whether it is night patrol or other handymen, he distributes it evenly to everyone, regardless of distinction. High and low, taking turns doing various tasks.

At first, I was worried that Zhou Datong and his friends in Dayangzhai would be dissatisfied. After all, when Xu Ji was in charge, his two followers had to be respected by others in private, let alone doing chores.

Zhou Datong and others now have real power with Hu Ma, but no one respects them. Even the night patrol work is done according to the opportunity. Sometimes, they still have to do the work of fetching water and feeding the horses.

But when Hu Ma asked, Zhou Datong was unexpected: "What are you talking about, Brother Hu Ma?"

"Just what you are doing now, don't I do it every day in the village?"

"The benefits are divided privately, but how can it be made public? Isn't that so arrogant that the villagers are unconvinced?"

　　　…”

Hu Ma looked at Zhou Datong with admiration.

This grandson of a politician has really different eyesight than others...

Although he was born in a village, Zhou Datong's rules of conduct were stronger than those of Xu Ji, a child of the family.

After being so busy for a while, everything in Zhuangzi was in good order, and the guys practiced their skills and didn't complain. It was better than the time when Xu Ji was there.

The guys gradually regarded Hu Ma as the real manager. If anything happened, they would report to him first. No matter how Hu Ma dealt with it, he would report it to shopkeeper Wu one by one after patrol every night.

Shopkeeper Wu was very happy and angry, but he could tell that he was very satisfied with Hu Ma's actions.

He handed over everything big and small to him, and occasionally mentioned a few things that needed attention. By the tenth of the month, it was time to distribute blood food to these new guys. He even handed over the key to the outer warehouse. He gave Hu Ma and asked him to take it out and give it to the guys.

 “Take half a catty more for yourself.”

He calmly told the flax: "It's good to nourish it, and bring up the heat."

“If you become a Taoist earlier, by next spring, you will be able to truly stand on your own and help us.”

　　　…”

 “This seems to be a different kind of promise?”

Hu Ma naturally heard the implication of these words, but she did not dare to relax in her heart.

 Haha, didn’t you eat enough bread in your previous life?

 He just paid attention to all the movements, handled the affairs seriously, and silently counted his time.

His cultivation level is now close to the three pillars of incense, and the jar of blood food pills is about to reach the bottom. But the more critical this moment is, the more he cannot panic.

After seizing the de facto stewardship, the only thing he really did was to drive Xu Ji's two followers out of the small room, and he and Zhou Datong moved in, so they didn't have to squeeze in with other people. With.

Of course, even this is so that Xiao Hongtang can have a good sleep on the beam every night.

Progressing in this step-by-step manner, the guys began to become more and more proficient in the affairs of Zhuangzi.

It happened that at this moment, Xu Ji, the young master in Jinyi who had left Zhuangzi on leave, returned to Zhuangzi quietly, causing everyone to be shocked.

After the young master escaped from the battle, Hu Ma took care of the matter directly. Now that he is back, the two of them must not fight again?

Especially his two followers, they thought it was time to turn around and were gearing up.

Surprisingly, when Xu Ji came back this time, he was listless and showed no signs of competing with Hu Ma. He found that his bedding had been moved to the large side room next to him, and he didn't have any objections.

Even the next morning, when Hu Ma arranged for him to work in the kitchen just like he arranged for others, he just nodded silently and agreed without any sign of dissatisfaction.

All the clerks looked at it, and they were all dumbfounded: "What's going on? This arrogant young master just accepted it like this?"

 “I’m afraid it’s not that simple…”

Hu Ma looked calm on the surface, but he was also very alert in his heart, asking Xiao Hongtang to look at him without any problem.

 In short, you cannot relax at all until you learn the method.

Sure enough, on the surface, Xu Ji, the young master in Jinyi who was convinced by Qi Qi and had no intention of trying to deal with Hu Ma, took advantage of Hu Ma and others to go out to do some work on the afternoon of the third day after returning. As if after some calculations, he sneaked in quietly. The shopkeeper's inner courtyard.

Hu Ma was afraid that Xiao Hongtang would accidentally get into trouble and be injured, so she was not allowed to enter the inner courtyard casually, so she could only watch from the outside.

When Hu Ma came back, he told Hu Ma what had happened. He was slightly moved and asked, "How long have you been in there?"

Xiao Hongtang thought for a while and said, "It takes just as long as it takes to eat a bowl of meat."

 “…very vivid!”

Hu Ma nodded, indicating that she knew, and gave a piece of Qing Tai Sui to Xiao Hongtang and let her go out to play.

I knew that Xu Ji was in a worrying situation now. Logically speaking, there was nothing that could impress the old shopkeeper. However, his background was not small and his family was rich. He couldn't think too simply. He just pretended not to know and continued to arrange his own affairs. matter.

Sure enough, just after returning from night patrol that night, I heard the old shopkeeper's boy coming out: "Brother Hu, second brother Xu, please let us in." There is only one flax seedling, but Xu Ji is the second eldest son in the family, so He called it that.

 It sounds like Hu Ma is taking advantage of it.

Hu Ma glanced at Xu Ji and saw that he didn't look directly into her eyes. He just stood up and walked inside, clenching his fists nervously.

 “You go back and rest first.”

 He also gave instructions to Zhou Datong, and he and Xu Ji entered the inner courtyard one behind the other.

When I got inside, I saw that the old shopkeeper was already waiting here. There were several dishes of side dishes placed on the stone table. I think the old shopkeeper asked the servants to make them in the small kitchen. There were peanuts and broad beans, and an egg was spread out and cut into plates. Fatty beef like flower paste.

He actually placed three cups. When he saw them coming in, he said, "You all sit down and accompany them."

Hu Ma and Xu Ji both sat down, but no one was in a hurry to speak. Only Xu Ji rushed to pour wine for the old shopkeeper.

“Forget it, it’s been almost a month since you came to our village.”

The old shopkeeper drank a cup of wine and then slowly opened his mouth and said: "Speaking of it, this time is still short. If you haven't worshiped Tai Sui for several years, you can't be considered an old man in our Red Lantern Empress Association. .”

“But I won’t hide it from you either. Both of you are destined to be good.”

“I am short of manpower now, and we are also short of a serious manager in this village, so I have given you two an advantage..."

"Yes Yes…"

Hu Ma was still listening silently, but Xu Ji couldn't wait to get up, held the cup in both hands, and said, "Thank you sir!"

 “Sit down first.”

The old shopkeeper glanced at him and didn't agree, but his face was a little unhappy.

Xu Ji hurriedly sat down. His actions and words made Hu Ma feel a little moved in his heart.

 “I won’t hide it from you either.”

Shopkeeper Wu also pondered for a moment and said directly: "They all say that you can learn skills by joining our red lantern club. This is true. The moves I usually teach you are all real skills. It’s enough for you to earn and eat.”

 “However, these skills are still shallow.”

“I still have some more advanced skills here, and I plan to find someone who can take on the task and train them.”

As soon as these words came out, not only Xu Ji, but also Hu Ma also raised his head slightly.

 After coming here for so long, this is the first time that shopkeeper Wu has explained this matter in person.

Then he...

"And I have been observing for so long and found that among the ten or so people in this village, the only ones who can make a difference are the two of you."

Shopkeeper Wu looked at the two of them and said, "If you ask me, I would like to accept you two as apprentices, but I can't. At least I can't teach two people now."

"Even if you teach me, the blood food in our Zhuangzi can't support two people, so I plan to give you two a question to see which one of you can do it well. The one who does it well is the one in our Zhuangzi. The steward of the gang."

“Of course I’ll give him what I have.”

“Don’t worry if you can’t do it well. I’ll teach you again when you have a solid foundation in Zhuangzi.”

　　　…”

This is nonsense...

Hearing it in his heart, Hu Ma suddenly understood it clearly.

He had already heard about things like coming back next year when the Red Lantern Lady was selecting people.

 Between myself and Xu Ji, only one must be able to become a real steward, and only one must be able to learn that skill.

 It's just that he has already given away the treasure, and Xu Jijia has lost power.

So what did Xu Ji say that actually moved the old shopkeeper to compete fairly with him?

 “The question is quite simple...”

Without looking at their reactions, Shopkeeper Wu said directly: "Twelve miles to the west of our village, there is a yellow dog village. Logically speaking, it is not within the scope of our night patrol. But in the beginning of spring, it is also a dangerous place. place."

"As far as I know, there is a well there, and there is something in it that creates the climate. We can't let it cause trouble there. You two, go and solve it!"

"Whoever does a good job will come back to be a steward, how about that?"

　　　…”

Xu Ji was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately stood up and agreed.

 But Hu Ma's heart skipped a beat and she sneered secretly: "It turns out that I was overthinking..."

 “This is not an opportunity for fair competition!”

 (End of this chapter)