Li Shoumin introduced his two younger brothers, namely Li Xiangji and Li Shouji.

Everyone exchanged a few greetings before they each took their seats to start having dinner.

This family is very disciplined. Mrs. Zhou is an elder sitting in the main seat, Zhou Hexuan is a guest sitting in the right head, eldest brother Li Shoumin sitting in the left head, and two younger brothers sit down in the head head facing the door.

The table was filled with home-cooked side dishes, with only one of the refried meats being meaty and deliberately placed close to the guests. The rice was a bit rough and yellow in color, and it looked like it was a chrysanthemum of more than three years.

Zhou Hexuan only glanced at the dining table and had a basic understanding of the family's situation - the family style and tutoring were very strict, but the economy was not rich.

Li Shoumin asked Zhou Hexuan’s situation on his own initiative: “I heard that Brother Hexuan has a very positive accent, is he from Zhili?”

"I am from Hebei," Zhou Hexuan began to fabricate his resume. "I grew up in Nanyang when I was young, but later my family fell into the same place with my parents. After the death of the two elders, I wandered around in various Western countries and only returned to China by boat a while ago."

Li Shoumin only attended a private school and envied: "Brother Hexuan is a top student from a prestigious Western school?"

"I'm ashamed to say that although I traveled to various countries, I don't have a formal diploma," Zhou Hexuan said with a wry smile. "The main thing is that I don't have money in my pocket, so it's very rare to be able to fill my stomach. This time I return to China, I plan to find a job in Tianjin to make a living."

Mrs. Zhou suddenly interrupted, "Shanji, you can help Mr. Zhou pay attention."

Zhou Hexuan asked quickly: "Where is Brother Shoumin?

"It's not a question of high school, I only have an errand in the "New Tianjin Evening News"." Li Shoumin briefly talked about his situation.

He used to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Peking and was considered a small civil servant. Later, the Second Zhi-Feng War broke out, and the warlord Hu Jingyi joined forces with Feng and Sun Zhi, and Li Shoumin defected to Hu Jingyi to become a military record room, traveling to various parts of the north to fight, and then entered Tianjin with the troops. In April last year, Hu Jingyi passed away, and Li Shoumin lost his backer, so he took off his military uniform and went to the newspaper to be a proofreader.

Li Shoumin's second brother Xiangji, who just turned 20 last year, worked as a junior employee at Tianjin Lili Bookstore, and his third brother Shouji is still studying at school.

Zhou Hexuan asked: "How is the salary of the newspaper?"

Li Shoumin smiled and said, "What newspaper should I look at? The bigger the sales volume, the better the treatment of newspapers. Why? Brother Hexuan is interested in joining the newspaper?"

"My writing style is OK." Zhou Hexuan said ambiguously.

Li Shoumin said enthusiastically: "Then I'll ask you tomorrow, see if our newspaper still lacks people."

...

After dinner, Mrs. Zhou went to clean the dining table and wash the dishes, leaving Zhou Hexuan and others to continue chatting.

Li Shoumin talked about a lot of domestic situations, while Zhou Hexuan introduced the customs of Western countries in a mess. He dared not say it was too detailed, but could only talk about the folk customs of Britain, the United States and France. Thanks to his travel experience before traveling, Zhou Hexuan still has some understanding of this.

"If you want to talk about this Italian country, the most interesting thing is Venice. The entire city is built on the water. The people are not carriages and horses on the streets, but boating. The bridges and water streets in the city are interspersed and connected from all sides." Zhou Hexuan said.

Li Xiangji said in surprise: "That's so strange. The city is full of water, and the moisture must be very heavy."

Li Shoumin smiled and said, "It tastes like a water town in the south of the Yangtze River."

Zhou Hexuan also said: "The Carnival in Venice is particularly famous. On that day, every citizen will wear a mask to play others. At this time, people no longer have classes or rich or poor. Earls can dress up as beggars, farmers can dress up as princes. Commoners and nobles can enjoy themselves and perform their own life drama."

"Interesting, interesting, there are such festivals in the world." Li Shoumin said repeatedly, and he asked again, "Are there beautiful mountains, rivers and dangerous peaks abroad?"

Zhou Hexuan said: "The world's highest peak is China's Himalayas."

"The world's highest peak is actually in China?" Li Shoumin was surprised. Many people don't know about this kind of popular science knowledge.

"On the border of Tibet, it is covered with ice and snow all year round, and there is no one who has successfully climbed until now." Zhou Hexuan said.

Li Shoumin’s favorite thing is mountain climbing and swimming. When he was young, he went to Emei three times and climbed Qingcheng four times. Later, he climbed famous mountains such as Mount Tai, Mount Hua, Mount Qilian, and Diancang Mountain. He longed for him: “I must go to the Himalayas when I am alive.”

Zhou Hexuan continued: "The second highest peak in the world is the main peak of Kunlun Mountain. It is called 'Jogori' in Tajik language, which means tall and majestic..."

Li Shoumin clapped his hands and exclaimed: "The mountains and rivers of China are indeed extraordinary, and the second highest peak in the world is also China!"

His third brother Li Shouji suddenly asked: "Is it the Kunlun Mountain that Queen Mother of the West in the legend?"

"I don't know if there is Queen Mother of the West on the mountain." Zhou Hexuan smiled.

Everyone talked until after 10 o'clock in the evening, when Zhou Hexuan got up and said goodbye. Before leaving, he asked Li Shoumin for a stack of used newspapers.

Back in his bedroom, Zhou Hexuan found that most of these newspapers were published by the newspapers of "New Tianjin News", "New Tianjin Evening News" and "New Tianjin Xiaobao", namely newspapers and magazines published by the newspapers where Li Shoumin works.

He roughly browsed the social news in the past six months and quickly turned his attention to the "New Tianjin Evening News". This newspaper serializes storytelling and novels. Let's not talk about storytelling for the time being, novels are very primitive martial arts novels, which have not yet left the category of the Three Heroes and Five Righteousness.

Maybe you can contribute to the "New Tianjin Evening News" and copy a few martial arts novels to earn some royalties. Zhou Hexuan also wants to redeem his watch as soon as possible.

Sleep overnight.

The next morning, Zhou Hexuan got up at the time and put on his clothes, and went to the landlord to ask for some water to rinse his mouth.

There was a tap water company in Tianjin in the late Qing Dynasty, but tap water pipes have not been popular yet. If you have a well, you can drink well water, and most citizens have to buy drinking water. There is a special profession called a water delivery worker.

Zhou Hexuan asked the landlord for a bowl of clear water. When he returned to the yard, he found Li Shoumin standing in the yard.

This man squats slightly with his legs spread apart, puts his hands and palms on his chest and abdomen, closes his eyes slightly, and breathes for a long and silent moment. He seems to be practicing some exercises.

Zhou Hexuan saw it strangely and waited until the other party finished the merit and asked, "Brother Shoumin, are you practicing qigong?"

Li Shoumin explained: "I have practiced the breathing technique that an old Taoist priest in Mount Emei taught me since I was a child."

"So you are still a martial arts master, you are disrespectful." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

Li Shoumin waved his hands repeatedly: "I am not a martial arts master. I haven't even learned a single move and half a stance. I'm just breathing and breathing techniques."

Zhou Hexuan asked a few more questions before he realized that Li Shoumin was telling the truth. This breathing technique is only used to strengthen the body and is not very helpful in fighting.

The three brothers of the Li family quickly went out to work and school, and Zhou Hexuan also carried the ocean to go out to buy pots and pans, and they also needed to buy pens, ink and manuscript paper for writing.

As he walked on the street, Zhou Hexuan suddenly remembered Li Shoumin's identity. Isn't that the author of "The Legend of Swordsman in Shushan" Huanzhu Lou?

The tribulation of the later immortals and fantasy novels was first invented by Li Shoumin. Many settings in the novels of Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng and Wen Ruian also borrowed from the works of Li Shoumin. This gentleman can be said to be the master of the school of immortals and novels!
Chapter completed!