Chapter 2136: Lovable Kid
After Zhao Hai and Chen Feng settled down in the inn, Chen Feng respectfully sent the serviceman off. After closing the door, Zhao Hai looked at Chen Feng and asked, “Shopkeeper Chen, what is the status of that person?”
Chen Feng smiled bitterly and said, “That was the Second Son of the Second Branch. The clan has a special tradition. Children of the clan have to go to the family’s businesses for trials. The clan wants them to think like ordinary people. This was to let the children of the clan understand the difficulties of doing business as well as learn how to run a business. This process also refines the heart.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “It’s truly a special rule. But it’s very interesting. So, what should we do now?”
Chen Feng smiled and said, “Nothing. There are still a few days before the Patriarch’s birthday. In these few days, I will meet other Shopkeepers who are my friends. Although these days are for the clan to celebrate, it is also the time to report our work. It’s also a good time to get in touch with other shopkeepers.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “Do you want me to go with you?”
Chen Feng shook his head, “There’s no need. If I take you with me, it might cause others to be suspicious. Go play around in the city. At this time of the year, disciples from all around come back. There should be all kinds of shops opening up. As long as you don’t go to the clan mansion, nobody would care where you go.”
“By the way, there’s also another place you can’t go to. That is the martial arts ground. Naturally, you can go see the children’s martial arts playground. You can even give food to the children. In any case, you’ll be fine as long as you don’t cause any troubles.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “Alright. I also want to see the city.”
Chen Feng added, “Remember, don’t offend people here. Otherwise, you will be killed like an ant.” Zhao Hai nodded.
After explaining a few more things to Zhao Hai, Chen Feng left. Zhao Hai also returned to his room. Once his room was settled, Zhao Hai walked out of the hotel. At this time, Chen Feng already went and visited his shopkeeper friends.
Zhao Hai strolled around the city. The people in the city didn’t dislike Zhao Hai at all, nor did they put on an arrogant appearance. There were just some children looking at Zhao Hai with curiosity. Some of the children were even running around behind Zhao Hai.
After walking for a while, Zhao Hai discovered that he was followed by a group of kids. Being someone who likes children, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but look at the children and made an ugly face.
Unexpectedly, the children weren’t afraid of him at all. When they saw Zhao Hai showing an ugly face, they became even happier. They continued to follow behind Zhao Hai.
After walking for half an hour, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but stop. By this point, dozens of children were following behind him. The grownups around the city couldn’t help but smile as they looked at Zhao Hai.
Seeing Zhao Hai stop, the children ran away and looked at Zhao Hai from a distance. Zhao Hai glanced around and found a small square not far away. There were plenty of such squares in the city. Children would use these squares to practice martial arts. Zhao Hai walked to the small square with a group of children following behind him.
When he reached the square, Zhao Hai waved his hand and took out a chair. Then he sat on the chair and waved to the children to come over.
Seeing Zhao Hai’s actions, the children stopped. They don’t understand what Zhao Hai wanted to do. All of them were looking at him with confusion. Some of the more courageous ones walked towards Zhao Hai and stopped ten steps away from him.
Looking at their reactions, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but smile. Then he said, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t eat children. Do you want to eat something delicious? I brought some.” After he said that, a table appeared beside him. On the table were several trays of fruit and dried meat.
Each of the fruits were juicy and beautiful. The color of the dried meat was also appetizing. Both the fruits and dried meats let out an irresistible fragrance.
Zhao Hai’s actions didn’t only attract the children. The grownups around the square couldn’t help but turn their heads. Zhao Hai didn’t care about the grownups, he looked at the children and said, “Do you want a taste?” After he said that, he took out a fruit and bit it, which caused the sweet fragrance to intensify.
Seeing Zhao Hai’s movements, the children couldn’t help but gulp. However, they didn’t move. The grownups didn’t mind Zhao Hai’s actions either. They believed that Zhao Hai wouldn’t do anything to the children. People who came to this city understood the rules of the clan. No matter who Zhao Hai was, he wouldn’t do anything to the children of the clan. Otherwise, he would face the clan’s wrath.
Finally, one of the children could no longer hold back. He ran towards Zhao Hai and received fruit. Now that someone went first, the other children also ran over. Some grabbed fruit while the others took dried meat. All of them were happily eating.
Everything that Zhao Hai took out were high-quality goods that the Space produced. Naturally, all of them tasted heavenly. Each and every child were very happy with the food.
Looking at the children, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but laugh. He took out more fruits for them to eat. This time, more and more children gathered in the small square. Zhao Hai counted more than 50 children in the square.
However, Zhao Hai didn’t mind how many children there were. He also didn’t let the children eat too much. When the children saw that there were no food, they all looked at Zhao Hai with eager eyes.
Zhao Hai found that although the children were wearing similar clothes, they couldn’t hide their temperament. The identities of these children differed. Some of the children had better family backgrounds while the others had lower backgrounds.
Naturally, this wasn’t what Zhao Hai noticed. What he found out was that these children weren’t hierarchical. Children with high status wouldn’t use their identity against those with lower status. The children with low status also didn’t idolize those with higher status.
Others might not know what this meant, and others might think that it was going against order, but Zhao Hai thought differently. Zhao Hai saw the clan’s successful education from the conduct of their younger generation. If a family wants to maintain its vitality for a long time, it can’t raise their children’s status too high. Otherwise, the child wouldn’t have any friends. When the time comes, the family’s division would become more and more rigid. In the end, nepotism would take root in the family which would lead to a small number of people getting most of the resources. Such a structure would sooner or later collapse.
The education of these children would maintain the clan’s vigor for a very long time. This kind of system would produce talented and loyal talents for several generations. From this, one could see how such a clan was able to reach its current scale.
Looking at the eager eyes directed at him, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but smile, “What? You still want to eat?”
The children simultaneously nodded. Zhao Hai couldn’t help but laugh, then he said, “Alright. But I have to test you. Looking at you, you should have learned martial arts. How about you show me your martial arts? If you do well, I’ll reward you with food. What do you think?”
Upon hearing Zhao Hai, the children couldn’t help but stare. Then they immediately complied with a bang. In any case, they were learning basic martial arts. They weren’t afraid of being seen. As soon as the adults heard Zhao Hai, they also gathered around, wanting to see how the children performed.
Seeing that the children agreed, Zhao Hai immediately waved his hand and said, “Alright, don’t push each other. Make some space. Let’s start with the youngest and then end with the oldest. Where’s the youngest?”
As soon as they heard Zhao Hai, the children immediately dispersed. Before long, an empty circle appeared in the small square. A three-year old appeared from the crowd. The child was so young that it still had mucus coming out from its nose from playing all day. However, this didn’t retract from the fact that they looked very lovable.
Actually, these children weren’t short of food, they just liked to eat good food. Additionally, Zhao Hai had a good affinity with children. At the same time, the children were no longer present for the food, they were treating Zhao Hai’s challenge as a fun game. Because of this, the children quickly listened to Zhao Hai’s words.
Zhao Hai looked at the small child and smiled. Then he said, “What’s your name? How old are you?”
The child wiped his mucus and looked at Zhao Hai with his big eyes before answering, “My name is Long San. I am three years old. My punches are the best, my father praises me a lot.”
Upon hearing the child, the surrounding adults couldn’t help but chuckle. Zhao Hai also smiled and said, “Alright, Little San, show me your punches. Let me see how strong they are.”
Long San nodded and then his small face turned serious. He steadied his body and got into a punching posture. Although the child was being serious, because of his young age, it looked cute instead. His martial aura was a bit insufficient.
Before long, Long San began to perform his punches. It was a good fist technique that followed a set pattern. Zhao Hai nodded at the child’s movements. When Long San was done, Zhao Hai saw that the child was already panting.
Although Zhao Hai knew that this little child had yet to begin practicing with spiritual qi, his physical strength was still too poor. Most importantly, Long San didn’t regulate his breathing while throwing his punches. And regulating one’s breathing was the most basic thing when learning boxing.
Naturally, this basic thing refers to Earth. In a world of cultivators, what people pay attention to was the practice of spiritual qi. Therefore, nobody would pay attention to breathing. In their opinion, as long as one practiced their spiritual qi and used it with their fist, there was no need for other miscellaneous things.
However, Zhao Hai knew very well that this wasn’t the case. Adjusting one’s breathing when practicing punches could make the mind completely calm. The whole person would be immersed in the fist technique and their breaths will change with the changes of the technique. In turn, one’s aura would be integrated with the punches. Eventually, this would allow the practitioner to vary their punches from the routine and dish out more powerful punches.
Long San looked eagerly at Zhao Hai and discovered that Zhao Hai was frowning. The adults around the small square were also confused at Zhao Hai’s reaction. They didn’t know what Zhao Hai was thinking about. In their opinion, Long San, a three-year old child, was already pretty good at executing his fist routine. Zhao Hai should be rewarding Long San. But instead, Zhao Hai was unresponsive. This caused a discussion around the square.
Zhao Hai was brought back by the discussions. He looked at the eager Long San and laughed, “Very good. Long San, come.” As he said that, Zhao Hai took out a paper back with several fruits as well as a bottle of juice.
Long San no longer cared about what Zhao Hai thought. Looking at the fruits and the juice, the little child was immediately happy. He received Zhao Hai’s gift and then turned around to leave.
However, before Long San could leave, Zhao Hai stopped him. Long San looked at Zhao Hai in confusion. Zhao Hai smiled at Long San and said, “Long San, let me ask you. Do you like practicing your punches?”
Long San couldn’t understand why Zhao Hai was asking this question. But he still shook his head and said, “I don’t like it. Punching is very tiring. But if I said that I don’t like it, my father would hit me.” Long San’s admittance caused the adults to start laughing.
Zhao Hai also smiled and then asked once more, “Then, Long San, do you like to play?”
Long San quickly nodded, “I like playing the most!”
Zhao Hai looked at Long San and said, “Long San, in fact, practicing punches is the most fun thing in the world. You’re tired when punching because you aren’t punching correctly. Meanwhile, you aren’t tired from playing because you are playing correctly. If you punch correctly, then you won’t be tired.”
Long San looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Impossible. Father told me that I punch very well. So, my punches are good.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “I’m not saying that your father is wrong. How about you let this uncle teach you a fun method to practice punching. Do you want to learn? If you learn this, your punches will hit stronger, and your father will be happier. What do you think?”
Hearing Zhao Hai, Long San stared at him with his big eyes, “Really? Uncle, are you telling the truth?”
Zhao Hai smiled, “I’m not lying to you. What do you think? Do you want to learn?”