My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

Jiang Li said, "You said you saw it before. I don't know if it's true or not, but I don't even know if the chicken is dead or alive. How can I give you money? But I have another thing to do. If you can do it, I can give you a lot of money."

Li Si hurriedly asked, "Brother Jiang, if you have anything else to say, just tell me. If I, Li Si, can do it, I will never refuse."

Jiang Li said, "You have nothing to do all day long, wandering around everywhere. Have you ever heard of a peach tree that was struck by lightning and half burned but still alive? If you can get this information, I will give you ten dollars."

When Li Si heard the ten dollars, he asked, "Can it only be a peach tree?"

Jiang Li thought for a moment and said, "Peach and jujube trees are the best, and other trees should be less common."

Li Si quickly said, "Okay, but it's not easy to get the information, you see..." Li Si rubbed his fingers.

Jiang Li took out another dollar and said, "This is the activity fund. Whether you find it or not, I'll give it to you."

Seeing that he got a dollar so easily, Li Si wanted to go further, but Jiang Li left without looking back.

Before leaving, he said, "Don't treat me like a fool. I won't pay until I see the real thing."

As soon as Li Si saw Jiang Li leaving, he turned around and said, "You still say you are not a fool. Master Li, you have tricked me out of two dollars with just a few words. If you are not a fool, then what are you? But it would be great if I could really find that peach tree that was struck by lightning."

As he spoke, he went to a restaurant and ordered two pounds of pork head and half a pound of rice wine and started eating and drinking.

...

The family got together, packed their things and loaded them onto the donkey cart to go home.

After returning home, Jiang Li put away the various materials he had bought, and asked his father about Zhangjia Village and Old Man Zhang. According to Jiang Kaishan, Zhangjia Village was only a dozen miles away from Jiang's home.

But the mountain roads were difficult to walk on, and the old man Zhang had only heard of such a person, but didn't know the specific situation.

Jiang Li fell into deep thought after hearing this. His parents had their own things to do, such as raising chickens, hatching eggs, making porridge, and working in the fields. It was impossible for them to have time to accompany him to buy these things.

"It seems that I have to recruit more tenant farmers in the future to give them more free time. This will also help my family's power to rise to a higher level. This will also be helpful for my future practice." Jiang Li thought to himself.

After dinner, no conversation lasted that night.

Early the next morning, Jiang Li started studying the big rooster in the yard. Because the rooster was too lively, it had been kept in a cage.

This chicken is really strange. Not only does it have a loud voice, but it is also very ferocious. It crashed into the cage several times, causing it to roll over and almost escape.

But apart from these, there is nothing special about it, and I don’t know if this guy can become a so-called spiritual beast.

Seeing that he couldn't figure out anything, Jiang Li stopped studying and started practicing standing and Dingzhen boxing in the yard. During this time, his younger sister Jiang Xiaohua found it interesting and practiced with him for a while, but later she couldn't stand the intensity of the exercise and gave up halfway.

As for the eldest brother Jiang Daniu, he went to help his parents work early. They had already planned to let him go to the town to manage the porridge shop in two years, and then start some other businesses at that time, which would also expand the family business.

Jiang Li would practice for the entire morning. He would not dare to practice like this in the charity cemetery because Uncle Jiu was too poor to afford the consumption. Therefore, Jiang Li would practice for a while and then stop for a while in the charity cemetery, otherwise his body would have collapsed long ago.

After the family finished lunch at lunch time, Jiang Kaishan asked, "Son, are you going to the charity cemetery tomorrow?"

Jiang Li said, "Well, Dad, please take me there tomorrow morning. I see that we don't have many large livestock at home. If you have time, buy some mules and horses to help with the work, and get a few donkey carts. I'll take this one to the charity cemetery."

"Then go to the upper town and recruit some temporary workers and landless farmers to continue the reclamation. I think there is still a lot of room for development around that barren mountain. We might as well buy it and develop it. At least we can get a hundred acres of land."

Jiang Kaishan frowned and said, "Son, you also know the condition of the remaining land. Not only is it difficult to irrigate, the terrain is also not very good. If we ask the mayor to buy it, it will be a waste of money if it can't produce food."

Jiang Li said, "Don't worry, old man. I've seen that mountain. Even if it can't be used as farmland, it can be developed into an orchard or pasture. At worst, it can be used to grow medicinal herbs. It won't be wasted."

Jiang Kaishan listened to his son's words and thought for a while, "You are right, but this matter requires a lot of manpower, and it cannot be done in three to five days. I will go to the town to buy the land in two days, and I will start the reclamation slowly later."

Jiang Li didn't say much after hearing this. Instead, he took out a book of human tendon maps given to him by his uncle Jiu and read it carefully to prepare for practicing Qi in the future.

In the blink of an eye, it was early the next morning. After breakfast, my mother kept nagging me to take care of myself. Then she prepared some snacks and dried meat for him, and finally stuffed a few dollars into the package.

Afterwards, Jiang Kaishan drove a donkey cart and brought Jiang Li to the charity cemetery. He unloaded all kinds of food and supplies from the cart, and then Jiang Kaishan left.

At this time, Wencai came over and asked, "Junior brother, what's in the package you're carrying? Is it something delicious?"

Jiang Li smiled and joked, "Yes, cinnabar, realgar and saltpeter are all good things. They are very effective in making you hungry. If you take a bite, I guarantee you won't be able to eat for three days."

Wencai then smiled awkwardly and said, "So it's these things. You can keep them and eat them slowly."

Then he and Jiang Li moved things in together. When they got to the courtyard, Wencai shouted, "Master, Master, Junior Brother brought another big rooster. We are in for a treat."

Jiang Li saw Uncle Jiu and explained, "Master, don't listen to what Senior Brother said. I bought this chicken specifically to see if I could train it into a spiritual beast. It's not for eating."

When Wencai heard that there was no chicken to eat, he immediately became depressed. Then Jiang Li said to Wencai, "Although there is no chicken to eat, I also brought five kilograms of bacon, which can also satisfy your craving."

When Wencai heard that there was bacon, he immediately became happy again.

Uncle Jiu ignored Jiang Li's words about the bacon, and went straight to the chicken coop and asked, "Xiao Li, you said this is used to train spirit beasts, but it doesn't seem to be anything special to me."

Jiang Li smiled and said, "Master, don't underestimate it. I have heard about it. This guy has a loud voice and a nimble body. It took three people to catch it."

Uncle Jiu became alert when he heard the loud voice and the agile figure, and immediately took him to the morgue. Seeing that it had been flapping its wings since entering the morgue, he knew that this guy did have some skills.

Then he smiled and said to Jiang Li, "Xiao Li, your chicken is pretty good. Even if you can't train it into a spirit beast, just letting it give warning signals is enough."

Jiang Li hesitated and said, "It's better to train it into a spiritual beast. Otherwise, Master will give it a try. What if it works?"

This made Uncle Jiu feel a little embarrassed. After all, cultivating spiritual beasts is very expensive, and it cannot be completed overnight. It requires long-term use of medication.