In the valley of the stream under the iron cable cold bridge, there are already several fishermen waiting on bamboo rafts.

When they saw the child falling into the water, they immediately scooped up the child who was struggling in the water, sent it to the shore, and returned it to his father.

His father and mother hurriedly changed the soaking wet winter clothes for the child, and the uncles of the family had already lit a fire next to the iron cable cold bridge to roast the fire for the child to ward off the cold, so as not to freeze out the problem.

One after another, more than a dozen children plucked up the courage to go up to the bridge. Unfortunately, more than half of the children either fell into the bridge and fell into the water, or were so frightened that they cried and did not dare to go on the bridge at all.

There are those who are unlucky enough to fall overboard, and of course there are those who are lucky. There were two twelve or thirteen-year-old children who were a little older, bold, and strong, gritted their teeth and endured the cold, and climbed over the chain bridge with enough strength to feed.

Especially Zhang Tieniu, the butcher's son, often eats pigs on weekdays, has thick arms and round waists, and has a lot of strength.

He roared and climbed onto the Via Cable, using both hands and feet, and actually climbed across the Via Via Bridge in one breath, attracting bursts of applause from the crowd of people on the shore.

Su Chen was stunned, Zhang Tieniu was too quick to climb, and he was born to be a piece of material for martial arts.

"Tie Niu, it's good! Dad will go back and cook one for you, no, cook two big pork legs to eat!"

Butcher Zhang's face flushed with excitement and yelled.

After crossing the chain bridge, he is the outer disciple of the Medicine King Gang, and from now on, his son of the butcher is no longer a lowly butcher boy, and finally becomes the outer disciple of the Medicine King Gang, and he will be developed in the future.

On the other side of the chain bridge, there were several white-clothed teenagers from the Medicine King Gang, picking up the children who had crossed the chain bridge and entering the Medicine King Villa.

Su Chen was excited and shocked.

If you want to climb over this iron cable bridge, it is difficult to say that it is difficult, and it is easy to say that it is easy to say.

As long as you are as strong as Zhang Tieniu and careful, you will have a chance to climb over and become an outer disciple of the Medicine King Gang.

Although Su Chen's body is thin, he is not as burly and strong as Zhang Tieniu. But he has been doing heavy work since he was a child, often digging birds' nests in trees, diving into rivers to fish, being vigorous and flexible, and having rich experience in climbing.

The only worry was that he didn't have the adults of the family with him, and if he fell into the river and got soaked, he had no clothes to change into, no fire to keep warm, and he would freeze half his life if he didn't die.

So there's only one chance, and this time it's a must. Once you fail, you will have a chance to try to join the Medicine King Gang again next year. It's hard to find a job in Gusu County, but I don't know if I can survive until this time next year.

Su Chen thought hard about countermeasures, and suddenly looked up at the sun in the sky.

In the cold of winter, the sun rises later, and at noon, the sun is at its warmest, and at that time you can avoid freezing your hands and feet. The iron rope will be warmer if it has been sunburned for a long time.

He had a plan in his heart, and he settled down.

Walking around a lot, it was easy to get hungry and tired, so he simply found a clean stone to sit down and rest under the big tree near the iron cable cold bridge, so as to minimize the consumption of energy.

Su Chen waited for a long morning.

In the morning two or three hours, nearly 50 or 60 children tried to cross the chain bridge, but only a dozen children managed to climb over.

Most of the children who are too weak are eliminated, and the elimination rate is very high. Even, many young and timid children dare not go up to the bridge at all, even if they are beaten and scolded by adults, they refuse to go up alive or dead.

At noon, when the sun was at its hottest, most of the ice on the iron cables melted silently.

At this time, the crowd of people gathered at the head of the chain bridge gradually became very scarce, and the children who dared to cross the bridge had already gone to the bridge to try, and the children who did not dare to cross the bridge had already been taken away by the disappointed adults.

Less than one-fifth of the teenagers were able to pass through this iron bridge, or even less.

Su Chen looked at the sun from time to time.

The chain had been exposed to the sun for an afternoon, so it shouldn't be too cold.

He didn't dare to wait any longer, so he took out three coarse grain steamed buns from his arms, ate them to his heart's content, and took a sip of stream water in the stream under the bridge, and drank it when it was warm in his mouth, rested for a while, and raised his strength.

Su Chen moved his hands and feet, and then began to try to cross the iron cable cold bridge.

If you can enter the Medicine King Gang to make a living and fight for a future, you can fight with all your strength in this!

Su Chen's small hand cautiously grasped one of the arm-thick iron chains, and in an instant, his palm felt a chill in the iron chains, freezing to the bone.

The iron rope has been exposed to the sun for most of the day, and it is still so cold!

Su Chen's palms trembled from the cold, he was taken aback, and quickly let go.

No wonder so many children can't climb over, this rope is too cold. If you grasp the chain with your bare hands like this, your palm will soon freeze and lose consciousness, and finally you can't grasp it, and you will fall into the valley.

Su Chen thought for a while, tore off two pieces of torn linen from the corners of his clothes, wrapped them around his two small hands, and tied them tightly to prevent freezing.

The linen cloth should not be wrapped too thickly, otherwise the fingers will not feel it, it will be easy to slip, and the grip will be unstable.

But it can't be too thin, otherwise it won't be able to resist the invasion of the cold.

Then, he grabbed the chain with both hands again, used his hands and feet together, and began to climb the cold chain.

Su Chen grabbed the cold and biting iron cable with both hands, shivering from the cold. But fortunately, most of the ice and frost on the iron cable have been melted by the sun and are not so slippery.

The longer you stay, the more likely you are to get frostbite and become numb from freezing. Once the hands and feet are numb from the cold, falling into the water is almost a certainty.

Su Chen gritted his teeth, did not dare to delay and stagnate at all, and climbed forward quickly with his hands and feet.

After climbing more than ten zhang away, halfway through, his arms were already trembling slightly, and he felt very struggling.

If he hadn't eaten three coarse grain steamed buns just now, fed his stomach, and raised enough strength, he would have been afraid that he would have been unable to hold on and fall into the river.

Su Chen was very worried, afraid that he would accidentally fall into the river and join the dream of the Medicine King Gang to break through the rivers and lakes, but he was cut off on this iron cable cold bridge, and if he fell into the river, he would definitely be frozen half to death.

Su Chen eagerly thought of an idea, and hurriedly wrapped his legs around the iron chain, and then untied himself with the hemp rope that trapped the waist of his trousers, tied one end to his waist, and made a trap on the iron chain at the other end, in case he missed, he could also use the hemp rope to hang on the iron chain without falling into the river.

The four Tsing Yi swordsmen guarding the entrance of the chain bridge stood for most of the day, and they were already tired, sitting on the edge of the chain bridge and chatting, and they didn't go to see Su Chen.

The iron chain bridge that was only twenty zhang away was left, and almost exhausted all of Su Chen's physical strength, and finally climbed to the opposite bank.

Su Chen was already exhausted, and barely stepped on the other side of the bridge, his hands and feet almost empty.

Su Chen hurriedly untied the hemp rope that he was tied to the iron chain, so as not to be discovered by the swordsmen who guarded the courtyard, and maybe disqualified him, or punished him to climb again.

His strength has been exhausted, and if he is punished for climbing again, he will definitely not have a chance to enter the Medicine King Villa.

Su Chen walked along the hundreds of steps in front of the mountain gate and entered the Yaowang Villa.

A young man in white standing on the stone steps, holding a sword in both hands, looked at him indifferently, didn't say anything, and led him to an earthen walled compound.

The white-clothed young senior brother instructed Su Chen, let Su Chen and the other teenagers stay in this courtyard and not run around, and wait here for tomorrow's Medicine King to help the new disciples divide the hall, and then leave by themselves.

...

At the gate of this compound, there are also two young swordsmen guarding the courtyard. The walls are high and the courtyard is deep, and people who are waiting for leisure cannot enter or exit.

"Another one!"

"It's not just a dirt bun from the township, look at the tattered linen clothes he wears, it's really shabby!"

There were many children and teenagers gathered in the compound, and when they saw Su Chen dressed as a little fisherman, they couldn't help but laugh.

Su Chen came back to his senses and looked towards the courtyard, only to find that there were nearly a hundred teenagers gathered in this courtyard, all of whom were rookie disciples who had passed the test of the Iron Cable Cold Bridge and entered the Medicine King Gang.

In the large courtyard, the children gathered in groups of three or five, looking extremely excited.

Su Chen ignored the ridicule, and didn't want to do much, he lowered his head and came to a quiet corner of the courtyard to stay, cautiously looking at the children in the courtyard.

All the teenagers were between the ages of nine and thirteen, and it was obvious from their clothes and demeanor that they were of different origins, and they were divided into several large groups.

Among them, there were ten young men and girls dressed in gorgeous silk clothes, mink coats, and soapy leather boots, with outstanding temperament and arrogant expressions, and they were disdainful of other civilians and children from the towns and villages in the courtyard.

They seem to be the wealthy in the county, or the children of the powerful.

Su Chen was very surprised to see that one of the delicate girls wearing a thick mink fur was the daughter of the wealthy Li businessman he met at the Ximen Wharf, who seemed to be named Li Jiao.

With Li Jiao's delicate body and bones, and without the strength of the chicken, she must not be able to climb the iron cable cold bridge. I'm afraid that her father thought of other ways and sent her to the Medicine King Villa.

Some other children in the surrounding county towns are also whispering in a low voice, talking about these young people in Chinese costumes who are either rich or expensive, have background backers, and have inextricable relationships with the high-level leaders of the Medicine King Gang.

"That is Wang Fugui, the young master of the Wang family! I heard that he is a relative of the old master of the county order, and he is a cousin of the prince of the county order, and he is the son of a powerful person second to none in our county! He will definitely become an inner disciple and a core disciple of the Medicine King Gang!"

"That's right, there is also Wei Han, a relative of the hall master of this gang, and it is said that he is also an inner disciple of Neiding!"

"That's Li Jiao, the eldest lady of Li's rice shop in the city! Although she is not from a powerful family, her family has several rice shops, and she is a very rich family! I don't know how much silver her father used to send her in. ”

"These people should be inner disciples, rich and powerful, much better than us outer disciples! Everyone knows each other, don't offend them, otherwise you won't be able to eat and walk around in the gang!"

Wang Fugui greeted the newcomer civilian teenagers around him with great generosity, and enjoyed the fawning of the teenagers very much.

Wei Han crossed his arms to his chest, his arrogant and cold face, and no one paid attention to it.

Around these ten young men and girls in Chinese costumes are the children of some civilian families in the county.

Most of these children are dressed in ordinary cloth clothes, and although they are not very old, they have already learned to tend to be inflammatory, and to observe words and feelings.

Zhang Tieniu, the big fat son of Butcher Zhang, was also mixed in, because he was five big and three thick, and he looked naïve, but he seemed to be quite mixed among the civilians.

Like Young Master Wang Fugui, Young Master Wei Han and others, they basically set up the inner disciples of the Medicine King Gang, and they are undoubtedly the most popular among other civilian children, and they want to take advantage of the time when they are just getting started, they are familiar with each other and have a good relationship.

The last ones are the poor children from Zhuangzi in dozens of towns and villages around the county, mostly tenants and short-term workers, fishermen and hunters, and children of peasant woodcutters.

They didn't even have the qualifications to tend to the flames, they were excluded from the outermost part of the big courtyard, and they swallowed their anger when they were bullied, and they didn't dare to cause more trouble.

Su Chen was naturally one of them, so he consciously hid in the corner of the compound to rest, regain his strength, and did not squeeze through the crowd to ask for his own interest.

He watched the young people in the courtyard learn to talk about the relationship like adults, and he didn't understand what the inner disciples and outer disciples were, so he felt bored, and he stayed alone in the courtyard, thinking about his thoughts.

He ran away from home and had no work to do in the county, so he thought about coming to the Medicine King Gang, just to find a good way out.

Naturally, I don't care about any inner disciples or outer disciples, as long as I can have a bite to eat in the Medicine King Gang, I don't want to please anyone.

In the afternoon, several more children were sent into the compound, and more than 100 children and teenagers in their teens gathered in the compound.

In the evening, the gate of the Medicine King Villa was closed, and the new disciples recruited in Layue this year were closed, and if they wanted to join the Medicine King Gang, they could only wait for next year.

At dinner, several chefs in the villa brought more than a dozen large buckets of rice porridge, steamed buns, and pickles.

"Come, eat!"

"The food is a little bit bad, so let's eat it. Ming'er waited for you to enter the door and worship the master, and then you could open a small stove. ”

These dozen buckets full of rice porridge were quickly rushed up by more than 100 teenagers who had been hungry for a long time, and they were divided cleanly.

It took Su Chen a lot of effort to squeeze to the front and desperately grab two coarse grain steamed buns.

Then he returned to his corner, chewed little by little, and ate all the coarse crumbs, finally filling his stomach and reducing his hunger.

He was stunned to find that the ten young masters and young ladies were standing far away in disgust, and they didn't want to touch those rice porridge heads at all.

Su Chen was surprised that the young master Wang Fugui actually took a sum of money to bribe the cook, and the cook actually smiled, and opened a small stove alone to cook a hearty meal for them, chicken, duck and fish, the aroma wafted all over the yard.

The other children were stunned when they saw it, and they were only envious. These inner disciples have rich and powerful families, and they will not suffer anywhere.

...

It was late at night, and it was very cold.

There are guest rooms and hot kang heads in the large courtyard, but the number is limited.

The young masters and young ladies of the ten quasi-inner disciples naturally slept on the warmest kang, and no one dared to fight with them.

Even so, the young masters and ladies kept complaining.

"The food here is so bad, it's about the same as pig food. ”

"Not even a decent bedroom, a bathtub, a silk futon. There are so many fleas, I knew that I should let the maids and old mothers bring a few clean bedding from home. ”

"When you officially worship the teacher, you must have a separate residence, otherwise you won't be able to stay!"

They finished occupying it, and the extra few kang heads were occupied by other relatively powerful county civilian teenagers.

Most of the remaining children could not sleep on the hot kang, so they could only spread straw mats on the ground to keep warm. There are more people squeezed, but it is still warm.

Su Chen shrunk down on the straw mat on the ground, accustomed to the freezing of the old fishing boat at home, but he didn't feel bitter.

It's just a little elated and excited, and I can't sleep.

There are many young people in this compound, and there is also a noisy atmosphere at night, which is full of joyful atmosphere.

After entering Yaowang Villa, these teenagers are no longer the children of the ordinary people in Gusu County, but have become disciples of the Yaowang Gang, and since then they have no worries about food and clothing, and have embarked on the road of the rivers and lakes of their dreams.

Su Chen's heart was also steady, and he was very satisfied.

At least I joined the gang, and in the future, I don't have to worry about filling my stomach for three meals a day, or I am not afraid of being bullied by those pimples and beggars in the county, which is much better than begging for work in the county before.