The Golden Age - Chapter 97: The Tiger Stone
The others working in the feed mill all thought that it wasn’t going to end well for Qin Xiao. But who knew that not only didn’t Qin Xiao get hurt at all, Hong himself got injured.
Hong sat on the ground and looked at the mark left on his wrist in shock.
Then, he looked around and found everyone looking at him. He suddenly felt embarrassed.
He wanted to teach Qin Xiao a lesson to make others more afraid of him, but he couldn’t believe what just happened. He quickly stood back up and wanted to get to Qin Xiao again. Someone on the side quickly grabbed onto him as he said, “Brother Hong, he’s just a young man who doesn’t know the rules, you mustn’t fight with such lowlife.”
Brother Hong glanced at the man as the man winked at him and then he immediately understood.
No one was an idiot here. After Brother Hong got hurt, everyone knew that although this teenager looked friendly and weak, he was definitely not a normal person. He was a person who dared to fight with Hong on the first day he arrived – not a person who could be bullied around easily.
If they continued to fight, Hong would probably just hurt himself even more.
This person stepped forward in time to hold Hong down to prevent him from continuing to embarrass himself.
“Kid, you’ll pay for this.” Although Hong didn’t insist on fighting anymore, his mouth continued to speak. “We have plenty of opportunities to see each other in the future, you’ll start learning the rules slowly.”
Qin Xiao just smiled and said nothing.
“What’s going on?” Sergeant He’s voice suddenly came, “Get back to work!”
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly returned to their positions.
“Hong, what’s the matter?” Sergeant He quickly walked over and threw a small wooden sign in front of Qin Xiao. Qin Xiao picked it up and saw that on the front, it wrote “Wang Xiao”, and on the back, it wrote “Feed Mill”. He knew that this should be his ID card.
Hong immediately shouted, “Sergeant, this kid just came and started beating people up.” He showed the sergeant his hand, “Look at what happened to my hand because of him!”
Sergeant He took a look and frowned. He turned to Qin Xiao and asked, “Did you do this?”
Guo Wang’s mouth moved but before he said anything, Hong had already glared at him coldly, making him immediately lower his head. Someone beside him spoke up, “Sergeant, yes he did, and he started the fight too. Brother Hong was just telling him to follow the rules and Wang Xiao started hitting him.”
Everyone else nodded in affirmativeness.
Qin Xiao just smiled in his head. He knew that no matter what he used to explain himself, it would be no use, “If I say I didn’t do it first, I don’t think you will believe me.”
“You’re new here, I’ll give you another chance,” said Sergeant He coldly, “But you won’t receive any food today and you’ll have to work until midnight. You will not be able to leave your position before midnight.”
Hong immediately showed an expression of joy as Qin Xiao just smiled and replied, “I shall obey Sergeant’s commands.”
“Very good,” said Sergeant He lightly, “I don’t care what you did before entering the camp, but now that you’re working in the feed mill, you must follow the rules here. Geng Hong is right about that part. In here, no one can help you. White Tiger Battalion has strict rules, if you break the rules, there will be consequences.”
Qin Xiao looked at him as he was talking. The way he talked made him sound like he was the Commander of the White Tiger Battalion and not just a Sergeant responsible for the feed mill.
But after he heard “Geng Hong”, he immediately remembered that the lieutenant who sent him to the horse mill was called Geng Shao. And when he just arrived at the feed mill, Sergeant He thought Geng Shao was here to look for “Hong”. It seemed like this Hong must be Geng Hong.
They both have the same surname. Although they looked a bit different from each other, and Geng Hong looked much weaker, Qin Xiao still felt like they must be related.
Without changing his face at all, Qin Xiao replied with a harmless-looking smile on his face, “I will follow the army rules and not cause any more trouble.”
Sergeant He seemed to be very satisfied with Qin Xiao’s attitude. Then he turned to Geng Hong, “Hong, your hand is hurt, go apply some medicine and rest for today.”
Geng Hong quickly replied, “Thank you, Sergeant.” He glanced at Qin Xiao coldly before leaving.
Everyone sat in silence.
Guo Wang let out a sigh of relief and immediately started teaching Qin Xiao how to cut the hay properly. It wasn’t too hard. After a while, Qin Xiao had already got a hold of it.
By noon, everyone else went out to get their ration. Qin Xiao was punished not to eat and could only sit in the feed mill.
But this was not a big deal for Qin Xiao; he could bear not eating anything for a day or two.
Geng Hong and Sergeant He never appeared again that day. When it got dark, everyone else returned to the rooms at the corner and went to sleep, leaving only Qin Xiao and Guo Wang.
Guo Wang didn’t have to stay, but he was afraid that Qin Xiao would be too lonely here, so he kindly stayed back.
“Don’t mess with Brother Hong in the future,” whispered Guo Wang after looking around, “He is the cousin of Lieutenant Geng and is also good friends with Sergeant He. If you anger him, it won’t end too well for you…”
I knew it. Geng Hong really does have a relationship with Geng Shao. How nice of Guo Wang to let me know. He smiled and said, “Brother Guo, when did you come into the battalion?”
“It’s been two years already,” Guo Wang said sadly, “My elder brother used to be a cavalry in the White Tiger Battalion. Two years ago, he was on a mission and was killed by an arrow. That’s why I got the right to work here.”
“Family members of dead soldiers can work at the battalion?” Qin Xiao asked in surprise.
Guo Wang shook his head and said, “No no, there’s a choice.” He looked around again and whispered, “If someone died, then the family can choose to receive a hundred taels of silver. But there’s also another option, if the family doesn’t need a lot of silver at the moment, they can send any men to work in the battalion and receive the proper military pay.” He scratched his head and continued, “My mother told me that if we chose a hundred taels of silver, it would be used up very quickly. But if I come to work here, not only do I get free food and living place, I still get two taels per month. That way, I will get more than twenty per year. If I only work for five years, I can earn a hundred taels of silver. This sounds like a much better option for us.”
There are benefits like that? Looks like the Yuwen Family really did value the White Tiger Battalion. Qin Xiao thought to himself.
Not only was there extremely high military pay, but if one died in the battle, a huge sum of money would be given too. Since the Yuwen Family valued this place so much, everyone here must be very carefully picked.
“You’ve been working here ever since?” Qin Xiao asked with a smile, “You look very strong and tall, why don’t you try to be a cavalry too?”
Guo Wang made a clown face and said, “It’s too hard. Too hard. The selection process is very strict, not only do you have to be strong, you have to be brave as well. You mustn’t be afraid to die on the battlefield!” He smiled awkwardly, “My mother only has me left now. If I die, then no one can take care of her. I’ll just work here and earn a few taels every year to raise my family. Cutting hay isn’t very hard either, I can keep working when I get old. When I get to fifty or sixty years old, I can still use this job to feed my family.”
Qin Xiao sighed in his head.
Guo Wang’s plans sounded very great, but it was too naive.
Not to mention how long this White Tiger Battalion would last, even if it did last for a few decades or so, by the time Guo Wang gets even a little bit old, the feed mill will not continue letting an old man working here.
“Oh by the way, how long has that Brother Hong been working here?” Qin Xiao asked in a low voice, “His cousin is a lieutenant, so why is he working here instead of being a cavalry?”
Guo Wang cautiously looked around once more before whispering back, “In order to become a cavalry, the commander himself must agree.”
“Of course,” said Qin Xiao, “The commander doesn’t think Geng Hong is good enough?”
Guo Wang shook his head. “Although the commander is very mean, he does like capable people.”
“Looks like the commander is also a person who values talents,” said Qin Xiao with a smile, “What does it take to be ‘capable’ in the commander’s eyes?”
“If you are good at riding and have excellent archery skills, and even able to use weapons like swords and spears, then you’ll qualify,” Guo Wang smiled. “But if you never trained in the battalion before, how can you be good at archery and riding?”
Qin Xiao nodded slightly. He knew Guo Wang was right.
For normal peasants, it was hard just to earn enough money for food and shelter, where would they have the opportunity to learn shooting and even get a horse?
Xiling had a law saying normal peasants were not allowed to have weapons in their household either. Where would they get the chance to practice swords and spears?
If a poor family had a member who knew how to fight, then they wouldn’t send him to the battalion either.
After all, for them, it would be a much better option to send that person as a bodyguard or guards for rich people. They would have much more opportunities than being a soldier.
“In that case, I guess Geng Hong’s not good at shooting and riding?” Qin Xiao asked quietly.
Guo Wang leaned close and whispered, “He doesn’t know how to ride horses or shoot arrows. Although he has some strength, he still can’t lift the Tiger Stone. So even though he’s the cousin of Lieutenant Geng, he still has no rights to be a cavalry. But after a few years, he might be promoted to the Sergeant for the feed mill, so let’s not mess with him.”
“The Tiger Stone?” Qin Xiao asked in confusion, “What is that?”
Guo Wang stood up and looked towards the middle of the campground. He raised a finger and pointed to the distance, “Do you see that battalion flag?”
Although it was already very dark, there were torches lit everywhere. Qin Xiao looked towards the direction Guo Wang was pointing and indeed saw a huge flag. It was the same one he saw at the gates: with a white tiger and sharp teeth and claws as if it was alive.
When he walked past it this morning, he just thought it was a tall flag, now he realized that it was the battalion flag.
“Under that big flag, there is a giant stone, the Tiger Stone,” explained Guo Wang, “I heard they say, as long as a person could lift that stone continuously from the ground several times, then that person could immediately become a cavalry. Even the commander can’t say no.”
Edited by: EyljeeÂ