As soon as it was getting dark, the backyard of the Skyhawk Inn was getting busy. In the big courtyard, there was the sound of a butcher sharpening his knife, the sound of pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks bleating, and the boys who were doing chores were helping a few big chefs in the courtyard.

A couple of chefs were preparing the dishes and scolding the bumbling guys.

An old man with a fireman rubbing his frozen red hand pushed open the door of the firewood room, moved a few sleepy firewood and straw to the kitchen to cook on the fire, and saw that Su Chen was also sleeping in the firewood room, and couldn't help but be surprised, "Oh, why is Brother Chen'er here today." I came to play with the ugly, but I didn't go back to Zhouzhuang? It's freezing this day, and the firewood room can't sleep well!"

Su Chen was awakened by the sound of the old man pushing the door, and hurriedly got out of the warm straw pile, and greeted the old man with hazy eyes, "Uncle Li!

He often followed the fishermen of Zhouzhuang to the Sky Eagle Inn to sell fish, so most of the guys at the inn knew him.

Su Chen hurriedly woke up the ugly who was sleeping on the side.

"It's not early, and in a little while, the big treasurer will come. ”

The old man Li smiled politely, turned his head and saw that Ah Chou was still sleeping in the firewood room, and couldn't help but scold with a dark face: "Ah Chou, you are a lazy ghost, you don't get up to work yet!

Ah Chou also woke up, and when he heard the old man of the fire man scolding, he got out of the straw nest, and hummed unconvinced: "Old Li Tou, don't look down on me." From now on, I will not work in the inn, and I will not be angry with you. I want to go to the rivers and lakes and go to the Eagle Gate. In the future, I will learn martial arts and become a big high-roller in the rivers and lakes, not to mention you old Li Tou, even if the big shopkeeper sees me, he has to respectfully call 'ugly master'!

"Hey, I haven't killed a single chicken, and I still learn how many people to break into the rivers and lakes, how many heads do you have enough to be cut off? Butcher Zhang is killing a pig, you can try to help him kill a pig? If you dare to kill a pig, you don't have to wait later, I will call you an ugly man now!"

The old man shook his head and laughed, he didn't believe in Ugly's words at all, but Ugly listened to too many stories told by storytellers on the street, and he was lost. I went out with firewood and went to the stove in the backyard to cook on the fire.

"Humph!"

Thinking of the fierce and evil of the big shopkeeper, Ah Chou suddenly wilted a little, and didn't dare to boast anymore.

Su Chen was not hit by Lao Li Tou's words, and when he saw that the sky was bright, he thought about going to the Medicine King Gang as soon as possible, and hurriedly pushed the firewood door out of the firewood room.

The eaves outside the house, the floor in the backyard of the Sky Eagle Inn, were covered with a thin layer of snow.

Last night was cold and windy, I don't know when it snowed heavily, the world was completely new, the eaves were white, and the silver was very enchanting.

It's a pity that the snow in the backyard in front of me has long been trampled into messy mud by Butcher Zhang, cooks, handymen, and the pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks in the yard.

Su Chen's body was thin, wearing a thin short linen clothes, and a pair of broken straw shoes with exposed toes under his feet, which were blown by the cold wind in the early morning, and he suddenly shivered with pimples all over his body.

Ah Chou followed out, sneezed in the cold wind, and shrank his hands and feet in the cold.

In the big courtyard, Butcher Zhang, his fat son Zhang Tieniu, and several adult helpers were driving a fat pig running around, tied to a wooden frame and hanging upside down.

Three or four adult helpers took a lot of effort to tie the fat pig to death on a wooden frame.

The fat pig seemed to know its fate about to be slaughtered, and its four hooves struggled desperately, screaming bitterly.

Butcher Zhang didn't dare to slack off, his hand rose and fell, and the butcher's knife slashed accurately at the throat of the fat pig, and the fat pig snorted and struggled, "poof" The dazzling bright red pig blood splashed everywhere, and it was extremely dazzling on the snow.

Su Chen was startled by the tragic sound of killing pigs, he didn't dare to look at it, he panicked in his heart, and his brows jumped even more.

Lao Li Tou is right, he and Ah Chou have never killed a chicken, and their hands and feet are weak and trembling when they go to kill a pig with a knife, let alone go to the rivers and lakes.

Wandering the rivers and lakes, killing people is many times more difficult than killing this stupid pig.

Su Chen's lips were pale.

However, he was homeless and had no way out. He has a strange illness on his body and needs to take medicine to continue his life, so he can only go forward to join the Medicine King Gang, which is his best way out.

Either fight for a place on the rivers and lakes and a splendid and rich future.

Either die on the street and no one collects the body, and the death is silent, more desolate than this fat pig.

Su Chen glanced at Ah Chou, and asked him in his eyes if he regretted it, did he want to stay in the inn?

Ah Chou immediately patted his thin chest, and said with incomparably firm face: "Brother Chen, there is no need to say more! I have already made up my mind to go to the Eagle Gate and become a big hero in the rivers and lakes. ”

If it was put in the first two days, he would just be a little guy in the inn with peace of mind, and he never thought about going to the rivers and lakes, that world was too far away from his little guy.

But after chatting with Su Chen for a night last night, my heart was already stirred, and a raging flame that could not be extinguished ignited.

Longing to become a master one day and strive for a great fortune, this impulse cannot be suppressed, how can he continue to hide in this inn with no future.

Su Chen nodded vigorously and was about to leave the backyard with Ugly. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the figure of the shopkeeper Wang outside the backyard gate.

Su Chen was taken aback.

This king's shopkeeper is not an ordinary murderer, and he can't rub a little sand in his eyes. He was afraid that he would be involved with Ugly, so he hurriedly retreated to the firewood room and hid, so as not to be scolded by the big shopkeeper because of himself.

Ah Chou's face also changed drastically and he panicked.

Although he was determined to leave, the power of the big shopkeeper was still there, and he didn't dare to offend the big shopkeeper. Ah Chou hurriedly grabbed a clucking old hen in the yard, pretending to help the cook catch chickens and slaughter them, to show that he was not lazy.

On weekdays, the shopkeeper of the king is very harsh on the guys, and he scolds him, and no one in the Sky Eagle Inn dares to contradict him.

The shopkeeper Wang took a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy in brocade clothes, with a shy belly, and walked into the backyard in all directions.

The shopkeeper Wang didn't notice Ah Ugly, and uncharacteristically didn't scold any of the guys, and smiled at the cooks and guys in the courtyard and said: "Guys, today the Eagle Gate is going to recruit apprentices, and the big shopkeeper is going to take his son to participate in the recruitment of inner disciples, and you all work hard in the inn for me." If my son can pass the assessment and enter the inner door, I will give each of you half a catty of rice noodles and two taels of pork to celebrate when I come back!"

Butcher Zhang, who was busy in the backyard, several cooks, and many guys and helpers hurriedly stopped what they were doing, all showing excited expressions and congratulating loudly.

"Thank you for the reward!"

"The big shopkeeper is so generous and benevolent, the little shopkeeper will definitely be able to pass the inner door assessment of the Aquila Gate this time!"

Everyone in the inn knows that the shopkeeper Wang is himself an outer disciple of the Aquila Gate, and it took decades of hard work to climb to the position of the chief shopkeeper of the Aquila Inn and take charge of this rich inn for the Aquila Gate.

But the biggest regret of the shopkeeper Wang's life is that he failed to become an inner disciple of the Tianying Gate in his early years, otherwise he was afraid that the future would be better, and he would have been calling for wind and rain on the rivers and lakes a long time ago, instead of nesting in this inn as a big shopkeeper, serving those high-rollers in the rivers and lakes to eat and drink well.

Therefore, he has always placed high hopes on his precious son, cultivated carefully, and wanted his son to pass the assessment of the inner door of the Eagle Gate and become a top figure in the rivers and lakes.

In the past few years, although the little shopkeeper has repeatedly failed to pass the assessment of the inner disciples of the Heavenly Eagle Sect, he has not given up so far.

After the shopkeeper Wang gave instructions to the guys in the backyard, he took his precious son out of the backyard of the inn with his hands behind his back and went to the Aquila Gate in the city to report.

Zhang Tieniu, the big fat son of Butcher Zhang, looked up at Butcher Zhang expectantly, and popped out a sentence that was very scenic: "Dad, I also want to go to the Aquila Gate as an apprentice...!"

The shopkeeper of the king was sharp-eared, and when he heard this, his face suddenly sank, and his steps stagnated.

He just said that he was going to take his son to the Aquila Gate to participate in the assessment, but Butcher Zhang's son actually said that he wanted to go too. What does this mean, want to slap his face?

The atmosphere in the compound became extremely heavy in an instant.

All the chefs and miscellaneous guys were terrified and silent.

Butcher Zhang's face changed, and he hurriedly slapped his fat son Zhang Tieniu out, fell into a mess, and scolded angrily: "You idiot, you don't pee on yourself, can you go to the Heavenly Eagle Gate!

After speaking, he didn't care about the fat son who was beaten and cried, and hurriedly curry favor with the big shopkeeper, "The big shopkeeper, my stupid baby is not sensible, and she is talking nonsense." By the way, today the child and his mother want to go back to Zhouzhuang's mother's house to save relatives, I want to say goodbye to the big shopkeeper for a day off, and take the baby and his mother back to the countryside!"

"Okay, I'll give you a day off! Dragons give birth to dragons, and phoenixes give birth to phoenixes. Zhang Tuzi, your baby was born to kill a pig, don't think about it, make people laugh!"

The shopkeeper glanced at the butcher, snorted disdainfully, and then left with his son satisfied.

When the shopkeeper Wang walked away, the cooks and men in the entire backyard breathed a sigh of relief, and they didn't dare to talk about what happened just now, and they were busy again.

...

Su Chen and Ah Chou saw that the shopkeeper Wang was walking away, so they hurriedly slipped out of the backyard of the Sky Eagle Inn from the back door and arrived on the bustling streets of the county.

The Medicine King Gang that Su Chen wanted to go to was outside the city, and the Aquila Gate where Ah Chou was going was inside the city, and the two of them did not go the same way.

"Brother Chen, I'll send you to the Medicine King Villa outside the city first. ”

"Don't be so troublesome, you still have to go to the Aquila Gate, don't miss the time, miss the big thing. I'll go to Yaowang Villa by myself. By the way, where is the Medicine King Gang going?"

"Okay. The road to the Yaowang Gang is very recognizable, out of the south gate of the city, along the official road all the way to five miles, there is a very conspicuous Phoenix Mountain.

After this mountain was occupied by the Yaowang Gang, it was also called Yaowang Mountain. The Medicine King Gang has built a very magnificent villa on the mountain, which is the headquarters of the Medicine King Gang, which is very majestic and conspicuous, and you can see it after walking a few miles. By the way, Brother Chen, you don't have any money on you. I still have dozens of copper coins here for you to collect, maybe you can use them. ”

Ah Chou took out dozens of copper coins and wanted to stuff them for Su Chen.

"Keep it for yourself, the cost of the city is big!"

Su Chen hurriedly pushed it away and refused to accept it, and his heart was moved.

Ah Chou only earns three copper coins a day in the inn, and it takes at least a month to accumulate dozens of copper coins, and he can't ask for this money.

"We are good brothers for life, what are you polite to me! In the future, we will earn a lot of money as a high-roller in the rivers and lakes, and we will spend a tael of silver casually, what are these dozen copper plates? ”

Ugly was in a hurry.

"Just one piece, I'll buy a few steamed buns on the road to pad my stomach! Ugly, let's leave here! No matter what, we have to break a way to become a high-roller in the rivers and lakes, and see you in the rivers and lakes in the future!"

Su Chen couldn't refuse, but in the end, he couldn't help it, and accepted a copper coin from Aug.

"Okay! Let's see you in the future, drink wine together in a big bowl and eat meat in a big piece!"

Ugly waved his hand vigorously, tears welling up in his eyes.

The two teenagers said goodbye on the lively streets of Gusu County, with the dream of becoming a high-roller in the rivers and lakes, and hurried towards their respective futures in the cold and howling cold wind.