Hidden Dragon

Steward Wang's reminder weighed heavily on Gu Erniu and Gu Sheng.

Although war seemed distant from Canghe County and Gu Family Village, when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. If the entire situation were to collapse one day, no one would escape.

The only good news was that this day was unlikely to arrive so quickly.

Gu Sheng still had time to grow.

He felt a sense of urgency, and his desire to practice martial arts became even stronger.

In troubled times, only martial power could bring peace of mind.

Since they knew that grain prices were likely to rise, Gu Sheng and Gu Erniu put their heads together and decided to go home to exchange another twenty jin of meat each for rice.

Each of them had thirty jin of wild boar meat.

They exchanged it for sixty jin of millet and seventy jin of rice bran.

Gu Sheng wasn't so extravagant as to exchange it all for millet. Although hunting earned more money, he still had to spend wisely.

The more than a hundred jin of rice was divided and poured into the rice jar, and Gu Sheng immediately felt a sense of satisfaction.

With grain at home, his heart was at ease.

Adding the remaining rice from before, it would be enough to last two to three months. If something truly happened, they could even stretch it to four or five months by being frugal!

Besides the rice, there were still over ten jin of smoked meat and dried meat left at home, as well as over ten jin of fresh wild boar meat.

As for Gu Sheng now.

After more than a month of effort, his life had greatly improved.

Compared to the desperate situation when he first awakened his latent intelligence, when he could only eat rice bran and wild vegetables, his current situation could be described as comfortable.

"Tonight, we're having millet with stewed wild boar!"

Gu Sheng's eyes lit up. After eating rice bran for so long, he could finally change his taste.

He returned home and started a fire to cook.

He pre-cut the wild boar meat, pork bones, and trotters and put them into an earthenware pot to simmer slowly. Gu Sheng even extravagantly added a little salt and seasoning from Gu Erniu.

He waited patiently.

Soon.

A meaty aroma wafted out. The unique fresh scent of wild boar meat lingered under Gu Sheng's nose, making him involuntarily swallow.

At the same time.

The millet rice was also ready. The aroma of the rice mingled with the meat fragrance, creating an incredible combination!

Gu Sheng couldn't wait.

He first ladled himself a bowl of meat broth. Oil slicks floated on the surface of the soup, making one's appetite surge. After letting it cool slightly, he drank it all in one gulp. The warm sensation of the broth on his tongue and in his throat made Gu Sheng exclaim with delight!

He began to eat heartily.

A mouthful of wild boar meat, a mouthful of millet rice, it was so fragrant he wished he could eat his tongue.

In his previous life, this was just an extremely ordinary dinner. But in this life, Gu Sheng could barely remember ever having such a luxurious meal!

He ate each bite carefully, cherishing the fruits of his hard work.

By the end, he even sucked the marrow clean from the wild boar bones.

With a satisfied belch, Gu Sheng let out a comfortable sigh.

He habitually opened his status panel.

His Wood Chopping proficiency was 16%, the same as before he entered the mountains. However, his Archery proficiency had surprisingly increased from 30% to 31%!

Gu Sheng's eyes widened in surprise.

"I didn't practice archery today, only using it during the hunt in the mountains, and it still managed to increase my proficiency by 1%?"

He guessed that fighting with greater focus yielded better results.

"If I could fight regularly, my archery growth rate would probably be several times faster!"

"Unfortunately, it's too dangerous!"

Gu Sheng pondered for a moment and abandoned the idea. Becoming stronger was for self-preservation. If he constantly put himself in danger just to become stronger, he would eventually meet his end.

Although his own training was a bit slow, it was safe.

The next day.

Gu Sheng went to the main house to chop wood as usual.

He wouldn't give up the wood-chopping job for now.

Firstly, he didn't go hunting every day. Although the ten wen coins from chopping wood each day were small, they added up to a considerable amount.

Secondly, he still needed to gain proficiency to reach perfection in Wood Chopping.

If he left this job at the main house, where else would he find so much wood to chop? He couldn't possibly go from house to house chopping wood for free.

But today.

He brought half a jin of wild boar meat and some bone fragments.

To give to Gu He.

In the future, he might have to go into the mountains to hunt from time to time. Asking for a favor once or twice wouldn't be a problem, but if it happened too often, it would inevitably cause resentment.

Upon seeing Gu He, Gu Sheng thanked him with a smile.

"Thank you for taking care of me these past few days, Steward. I had some luck hunting in the mountains last night and brought some for you to try."

Seeing that it was wild boar meat, Gu He's expression immediately showed surprise.

Gu Sheng's first trip into the mountains yielded such a harvest?

He immediately recalled the comprehension and perseverance Gu Sheng had shown in wood chopping, and he guessed that Gu Sheng's archery must also be improving rapidly.

However, what impressed him more was Gu Sheng's social intelligence.

A fourteen-year-old boy being so thoughtful was truly rare.

"His comprehension and perseverance are top-notch, and he's also worldly. This is a hidden dragon. If he succeeds in martial arts in the future, he might even become another Gu Jingang!"

Gu He thought to himself.

He nodded with a kind smile on his face.

"Then I thank you for your kindness. From now on, just call me Uncle He. If you go hunting in the mountains in the future, just let me know. Since you chop wood quickly, doing it a day earlier or later makes no difference."

Gu Sheng was delighted and nodded respectfully.

"Alright, Uncle He!"

The relationship between the two immediately became closer.

This is what is called the exchange of favors.

You trouble me, I trouble you, and through this back and forth, you become familiar with each other.

After a few more pleasantries, Gu Sheng prepared to leave.

Gu He couldn't help but speak again.

"Ah Sheng, you can consider what I told you last time after you start practicing martial arts. My third brother's daughter is delicate and pretty, and she's definitely a good match for you..."

He still wanted to tie Gu Sheng to his family.

Gu Sheng bowed.

"Thank you for your kind intentions, Uncle He. How could your niece not be a good match for me? Speaking of which, I am the one who is fortunate to be considered. However, I swore before my father's grave that I would establish my career before starting a family."

"Currently, I can barely support myself, so how can I think about future matters? Please forgive me, Uncle He."

Seeing Gu Sheng's firm attitude, Gu He felt immense regret.

He could only ask Gu Sheng to consider it again in the future. Perhaps after practicing martial arts, Gu Sheng would change his mind.

In the following days.

Gu Sheng's life returned to its routine.

When he wasn't hunting in the mountains, he chopped wood in the morning and practiced archery in the afternoon.

In the evenings, he ensured his body had enough rest while also learning the knowledge of this world.

Before awakening his latent wisdom, Gu Sheng only knew a little bit of writing, but now, he knew much more.

The price for this was sending some dried meat to the old scholar in the village.

However, Gu Sheng felt it was worth it.

It was better to be prepared. Otherwise, if he started practicing martial arts later and couldn't even understand the basic meaning, it would be ridiculous.

What would it be like to get a martial arts manual only to discover you were illiterate?

Moreover, Gu Sheng would eventually leave Gu Family Village, so knowing more knowledge was always good, lest he be completely clueless when the time came.

At least he knew now.

The Great Liang Dynasty had thirteen provinces, and he was in Canghe County, under Chiyun Prefecture, in Qingzhou.

As for Yunzhou, it was adjacent to Qingzhou.

However, Canghe County was on the edge of Qingzhou, so it was still some distance from Yunzhou.