Daxia Kingdom, Yongnan County.
It is located in a hilly area with many vast mountains.
Wutong Mountain once had no name until hundreds of years ago when a group of villagers came to the foot of the mountain and settled down here and planted a paulownia tree. Then the place gradually moved from being deserted to having more fields and more people.
At this moment, a chase was taking place at the entrance of Wutong Village.
"Wang Ergou, you bastard, where is my comic book? I borrowed it for a month and you still haven't returned it to me!"
A boy of about thirteen or fourteen was waving a wooden sword in his hand and attacking the boy in front of him.
"Brother Fu, Brother Fu...please listen to my explanation, please listen to my explanation..."
The wooden sword finally lay across the boy's neck.
"Okay, go ahead and argue. I'm listening." Wang Fu looked down at Wang Ergou with a frown on his face. He raised his head and stared at him. "If you can't satisfy me, I'll beat your ass."
"Brother Fu, you know my father. He has a stubborn temper and he just supervises me reading and writing all day long. The other day, I shared a picture book with my younger brother... accidentally, the picture book was discovered by him and confiscated..." Wang Tong said with a sad face.
"What did you say... Wang Ergou, give me back my comic book..."
Seeing Wang Fu raising the wooden sword in his hand, Wang Tong's speaking speed increased rapidly, and his voice also became louder. "I have been looking for it in my father's room for several days, but I can't find it. I don't know where he hid it... Brother Fu, calm down, calm down..."
"Wait, wait, Brother Fu, I have a treasure that can be used to exchange for your little man... a book..."
Bang!
"ah..."
The wooden sword hit Wang Tong's butt like a whip.
"The comic book is a birthday gift my father brought me when he was doing business in the town outside. Do you have anything to pay for it? Ah..." Wang Fu was angry and questioned Wang Tong, "If you hadn't begged me shamelessly, I wouldn't have lent it to you."
"You, you actually lost it..."
"Wuwu..." Wang Tong cried, feeling extremely aggrieved. "What can I do? My father took it away. If you have the guts, go and get it back. Why are you hitting me? Wuwu... It hurts so much..."
"Didn't I tell you to find something to use as compensation for your offense? But you still hit me. That's unreasonable... wuwu..."
Wang Fu's hand holding the wooden sword trembled. Only then did he realize that he had used too much force. He lowered his voice and asked, "What is it? If you can satisfy me, I will not pursue the matter of you losing the comic book. Don't cry..."
"You said it...don't lie." Wang Tong wiped his tears and continued sobbing.
"Well, I won't lie to you. If I lie to you, I'll be a puppy... okay." Wang Fu sat down next to Wang Tong and patted the weeds off his body.
"Here... this is the treasure I was talking about." Wang Tong then took out a pitch-black object from his arms. "I found it in the ditch behind my house. I don't know where it came from."
Wang Fu took it.
It was a small tripod that was pitch black and about half the size of a fist.
The tripod has three legs and two handles. It is the same color and has strange patterns carved on it. It feels uneven to the touch. I don't know what it is made of. It looks like stone or iron, but its weight is the same as wood. There is old soil inside the tripod, and it looks dirty. I don't know how long it has been buried underground.
"How is it? It's a treasure, right? I hit it with a stone, but it's fine." Wang Tong wiped his nose and pouted.
"Treasure? You treat such a junker as a treasure? It's useless..." Wang Fu curled his lips. He really couldn't see how such a thing that couldn't be eaten or used could be called a treasure.
"But I, but this is the only thing I have... You can't let me steal money from home and go to town to buy you a picture book... My father will beat me to death." Wang Tong shrank his neck, "I don't want to steal money from home either." He shook his head again.
"Okay, okay, look at how cowardly you are." Wang Fu put the small tripod in his arms.
"That comic book..."
"Forget it, I've already finished reading it. It's a pity that it was a present my father bought for my fourteenth birthday. Sigh..."
"Brother Fu, I..." Wang Tong felt a little guilty. He knew that feeling. His father also bought him a gift. Although it was just a windmill, he had always kept it as a treasure and would not let anyone touch it.
"Okay, stop nagging. Your butt is okay." Wang Fu stood up, patted the weeds off his butt, and extended his hand to Wang Tong.
Wang Tong was stunned for a moment, then he smiled happily, grasped Wang Fu's hand, and stood up: "It's okay, I have thick skin and flesh, my father is much more severe than you, brother Fu."
"Pfft...silly boy." Wang Fu couldn't help laughing, "Let's go home, it's time for lunch."
Wang Tong's family has very strict rules. If he goes home late, Wang Fu can't help but worry that this silly boy will get beaten by his father.
The two separated under the paulownia tree.
Wang Fu's home is located on the west side of Wutong Village. His ancestors passed down the stonemasonry skills, and his father Wang Hong perfectly inherited the ancestral craft. His stone carving skills are well-known in many surrounding villages. Even in large towns dozens of miles away, some wealthy families have invited him to work.
Because Wang Fu's father had superb craftsmanship, Wang Fu's family was well off and had no worries about food and clothing. He was highly respected in Wutong Village, and when people saw his father Wang Hong, they would call him Master Wang.
Father Wang Hong has traveled a lot and knows that Wutong Village is a small place and that this is the only place he will stay in for the rest of his life. However, he cannot let his two sons be bound here like him. So when other children went to work in the fields early, he sent Wang Fu to school to learn calligraphy. Even his youngest son, Wang Yao, was sent to school when he was just six years old.
Wang Fu has been studying in school for six years.
The more books he read, the more ideas he had, and he often had some strange ideas. In the school, he read all the books in the teacher's collection, and many of the stories in them opened his eyes, especially those stories about immortals who could fly into the sky and hide in the ground, and could do anything, killing demons and monsters.
He asked his father to make that wooden sword for him. He was extremely envious of the sword master in the story.
In his spare time, he would tell these stories to friends of the same age. The children in the village admired him very much and called him "Brother Fu" one by one. Even the fat boy from the village chief's family was no exception. Wang Fu enjoyed this very much.
When he got home, his father was standing in the yard, gesturing with a blueprint and occasionally writing and drawing with a charcoal pencil. Wang Fu was used to it. He thought his father must have received an order from somewhere and was studying and calculating the amount of stone needed.
"Are you back? Where have you been fooling around again? You don't read books properly all day and don't even set a good example for your brother." Father Wang Hong looked up at Wang Fu.
"Brother, brother..." A little pudding ran out and flew into Wang Fu's arms.
Wang Fu quickly picked up the chubby Wang Yao, and said with a smile as if he was holding an imperial sword: "Dad, I have finished reading all the books in school. There is nothing to read anymore. My brother is still young. Why are you in such a hurry..."
"Have you seen it? Everyone can brag." Father Wang Hong didn't quite believe it.
"I'm not bragging. Don't you know I'm very smart? If you don't believe me, go ask the teacher in the school." Wang Fu teased his younger brother in his arms, pinching his chubby little face, making little Wang laugh non-stop.
Father Wang Hong paused while holding the blueprint, raised his head and looked at his son seriously, then said: "Okay, in this case, I will send you to a big town to continue your studies next year. The teachers there are better and there are more books. When you are old enough, you can take the imperial examination and strive to become an official and leave our small place."
"In a big town?" Wang Fu's eyes lit up.