Chapter 6 Entering the room
For a moment, in the back room.
Next to the brazier, Song's mother was making straw mats and coir raincoats, while Song's father was drinking. His face was red, his ears were hot, and his eyes were cloudy.
Song Changming didn't drink much, he just stayed with his old father quietly.
"Changming, do you still remember Songjia Village?" Song's father suddenly asked.
Song Changming nodded. At the beginning of the time travel, the Song family did not live in this county and Baiyi Street. They were farmers in Xiaoye Village outside the city, and they only moved to the county later.
"Songjia Village is gone. A few days ago, a group of desperadoes with unknown origins came and looted the place. Not many people in the village survived in the end." Father Song said with a bitter look.
As soon as these words came out, Song's mother, who had already known about it, quietly wiped her tears aside.
Even though Song Changming didn't stay in that village for long, he was silent for a while and deeply felt the cruelty there.
"Well, that's how the world is. My greatest achievement in my life is to find a way out, squeeze my way into the county town, and take root here." Song's father took another sip of wine and said in a low voice.
As a person who has experienced this, Song Changming also agrees.
It is true that they are impoverished today, but in the past, the Song family had not actually fallen into such a dilapidated state.
Song's father struggled alone in the county town in his early years, and learned the craft of forging iron and making tools from scratch.
Although he was not a famous blacksmith at that time, the quality of the tools he made was pretty good, and he was even invited by many large weapon forging workshops in the county, which shows that his craftsmanship was excellent.
If things go on like this, when Song's father becomes more proficient in his crafts and becomes more famous, the Song family may even achieve a class leap and live in other neighborhoods.
But unfortunately, an accident made the Song family unable to recover.
"My biggest regret in this life is to let your eldest and second brothers join the army." When Father Song said this, the corners of his mouth could not stop trembling and his eyes were red.
To this day, he has not come out of it.
Song Changming is the fourth eldest son in the family, with his third sister Song Yu, and his eldest and second brothers who passed away early.
The eldest brother Song Changping, the second brother Song Changan.
Both of them were passionate at the time, unwilling to learn Song's father's weapon forging skills, and wanted to make a name for themselves in the army.
Many years later, due to a tragic war, Song's father and Song's mother lost two children at once.
The huge blow was like a bolt from the blue, causing Song's father, who was already not in good health, to fall ill.
Since then, the Song family, which has lost its backbone and two children in the army, has continued to decline, reaching the current situation where it is difficult to raise the third sister Song Yu and the young Song Changming.
"Yu'er is already married. I can see that Huai Ming treats Yu'er sincerely. I'm not worried. You are the only one who hasn't gotten married yet, and I can't let go of you." Father Song shook his head.
Originally, he wanted Song Changming to inherit his forging skills when he grew up, make a living, find someone to be a matchmaker, and live a peaceful life after getting married.
But a sudden conscription order from the government disrupted his arrangements for Song Changming.
In that recruitment list, there was the name Song Changming from Baiyi Street.
Song's father, who had already lost two of his children on the battlefield, would rather die than let Song Changming follow in his footsteps.
That's why I begged the Zhao family, even if I had to kneel down, I would kneel down to get a job in the patrol department for Song Changming.
Only those who joined the patrol department in the county city and became the nominal governor of the county could be exempted from this forced conscription.
"Just being a night watchman is not enough. Only by becoming a night watchman can people look up to you and have good girls be willing to betroth you." Father Song was drunk and his words became slurred.
"You have recently started to practice swordsmanship hard. Dad is very happy. Dad will find a way to send you to a martial arts school to learn real skills."
When he came out of the back room, Song Changming didn't smell much of alcohol. He was just drinking with his old father.
Father Song talked to him a lot about the destruction of Songjia Village, the past, and future plans.
Song Changming is the only male in the Song family. Song's father wants him to become a patrolman, marry another wife and have children, and continue the Song family's legacy.
This was the last wish of Song's father in his later years.
"Becoming a patrol? It's still a little short of that." Song Changming checked the panel.
[Soul-Breaking Knife: Getting Started (410/500)]
After getting started, the progress of sword training slowed down a lot. Even under the conditions of God's reward, it could only increase by six or seven points a day. And he can't always be in a state of hard work like God rewards Qin. Occasionally, he needs to take a proper rest, so that after more than two months of hard training, he has not yet satisfied the 500 progress.
It is really easy to get started but difficult to master.
For ordinary people, if they want to master this sword skill, the time it takes to gain access to the palace is measured in years, which can range from half a year to many years.
In comparison, Song Changming still practices faster than ordinary people.
He is not in a hurry, he will be able to do it after the year at the latest.
To bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, boat parades, night parties on the stage, poetry readings, fireworks, and many other grand events were held one after another.
The bustle of the New Year has also spread throughout the major blocks of the county, and every house is decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, bright red and festive.
Only Baiyi Street lacks many tricks.
Song Changming has long been accustomed to the dull atmosphere of Baiyi Street. He is not greedy for the excitement that does not belong to him, and is still practicing swordsmanship at home.
At a certain moment, he suddenly gained some clarity in his mind, and felt that the long knife in his hand became lighter.
The sword skills are even more sharp and cunning, the movement and stillness are combined, and the changes in reality and reality are quite subtle.
Enter the house!
This is considered stepping onto a higher level.
Song Changming was overjoyed and opened the panel, and as expected.
[Soul-Severing Knife: Mastery (0/1000)]
He has mastered this Soul-Severing Knife in less than three months.
In this way, he finally has some self-defense capabilities.
With this knife in his hand, he felt that he would have no problem facing three or five ordinary thugs.
In terms of strength, he is qualified to be a patrolman in the Patrol Division.
It's just that strength is one thing. If he wants to be promoted to patrol, he still has one chance.
An opportunity to make meritorious deeds in front of others and gain recognition from superiors.
After breathing a long sigh of relief and calming down his mind, Song Changming put away his sword. Anyway, today's task of improving his sword skills has been accomplished. We will talk about the rest later.
After looking at the sky, it was almost time to patrol the streets.
Song Changming was fully dressed and asked his parents to lock the doors and windows before going out.
During the cold winter season, especially at the beginning of the new year, there will always be an influx of refugees from outside the county.
And there will be many bandits mingling among them, hoping to take advantage of the joyous moment to create some chaos in order to fish in troubled waters.
Therefore, the security problem in the city was quite serious during this period. Not only did the patrol officers in the Patrol Division not have any rest, but their errands became more arduous.
Even night watchmen like Song Changming, who carry fires, are arranged to have extra large numbers of people at night to scare Xiaoxiao.
"Changming, did you go to see the Changhe Lantern Festival with the fragrant and painted boats yesterday? It was so beautiful that the people inside were also coughing."
When Li Fu'an talked about it, he seemed to feel that he was a little wretched and couldn't help but stop.
"No, I'll check it out again when I have the chance." Song Changming said with a faint smile.
"One thing about opportunity is that you need money to get on the ship. If you can get in and enjoy it once in your life, you will really die without regrets." Li Fuan said, and it was obvious that he was quite envious of those who could board the ship.
Those are all the rich and noble people in the county.
Although he lived in Houli Street, he was only a small low-level night watchman. He could only watch the luxurious place from a distance, but could not be there in person.
The two were chatting, when suddenly a signal smoke rose into the sky from a street not far away.
(End of chapter)