Zhang's Painting and Calligraphy Store, Zhang San closed the doors and windows early today, so the hall of the painting and calligraphy store looked somewhat dark.
After lighting a candle, Zhang San carefully looked over the boy in black clothes, then glanced at the old man in yellow clothes.
Zhang San really regretted not killing this old man in yellow clothes, even if he was his master's friend, and his own "noble" intermediary.
However, regret is regret, now how to get rid of them is the key issue.
Zhang San looked at the little boy in black and asked, "Kid, how old are you? What's your name?"
The boy in black raised his head and looked at Zhang San, somewhat puzzled as to why this person who looked so delicate and weak would be the killer expert with "high skills" that "Grandpa Yellow" said, but the kid still answered, "I'm eight years old, my mother named me Wang Xiaoer."
Wang Xiaoer?
Damn, the randomness of this name is simply a match for me!
Mother, couldn't you be more careful when naming him?
"Hmm," coughing, not wanting to think about irrelevant things, Zhang San looked coldly at the child and said, "Wang Xiaoer? You said you want to apprentice me, do you know what I do?"
In Wang Xiao'er's innocent pupils, there was an admiring look, he said, "I know, Grandpa Yellow said you are a killer."
Looking at the admiring eyes of the child, Zhang San somewhat doubted his life.
Is this the normal reaction of a child when they see a killer?
Zhang San looked at Wang Xiao'er suspiciously and said, "I really am a killer."
Wang Xiao'er looked at Zhang San admiringly and said, "That's perfect!"
"I'm not joking!"
"Then take me as your apprentice quickly, I want to be an assassin too!"
Zhang San really started to doubt his life!
What's wrong with this world!
A perfectly normal child, instead of going to school, actually admires the underworld!
Seeing the serious look of the child, Zhang San asked in frustration, "Why do you want to be a killer?"
Wang Xiao'er answered seriously, "My dad is a killer! He told me that killers are all great heroes!"
Killers are all great heroes?
Damn, what kind of magical values are these?
Dad, couldn't you be more careful when educating your child?
Although it was very strange, Zhang San couldn't help asking, "Why are killers great heroes? How did your dad brainwa-, oh no, how did he educate you?"
On the contrary, Wang Xiao'er looked at Zhang San in confusion, as if he found it strange that Zhang San would ask such a question.
Wang Xiao'er said, "Of course killers are heroes. My dad has killed many bullies and corrupt officials before, he is a great hero."
Zhang San said, "Then why be a killer, wouldn't being a chivalrous hero upholding justice be better?"
Wang Xiao'er looked at Zhang San as if he was looking at an idiot, and this little boy had even begun to wonder if the person in front of him was really a killer after all, how could he not understand such simple reasoning.
"Big brother, are you really a killer?"
"Uh..." Zhang San subconsciously glanced at the old man in yellow clothes next to him, thinking that besides his master, the one he could probably trust should only be this old man in yellow clothes.
So Zhang San replied, "Sort of."
Wang Xiao'er said, "Then how come you don't understand? In this world nowadays, just being an upright chivalrous hero has no future. Big brother, think about it, my dad married my mother, and gave birth to me, he wants to kill bad guys, but he also has to make money to support the family, right? Being a hero can't satisfy living expenses, but killers are different."
Wang Xiao'er held up his fingers and said, "First, being a killer can still kill bad guys. Second, killers can keep a low profile, not attracting attention like heroes do. Third, killers can also make money to support their families and raise their wives and children."
Zhang San still didn't understand what this had to do with being a hero, so he asked, "So what?"
Wang Xiao'er replied, "Big brother, think about it, people who kill bad guys are of course good people, people who do good deeds without leaving their names are naturally chivalrous, people who can support their families are of course real men. Someone who kills bad guys without leaving a name as a chivalrous hero, while also supporting his family as a real man, isn't that a hero?"
"But killers don't just kill bad guys."
"Then we can be killers who only kill bad guys."
This logic is flawless.
Zhang San was speechless.
Zhang San was defeated.
Zhang San even began to wonder, was he actually doing such a high-end, magnificent, top-notch job?
No! Zhang San shook his head fiercely, looking at Wang Xiao'er with his "innocent" smile, Zhang San cursed in his heart:
Damn it, I was almost brainwashed by a kid. This little brat's rhetorical skills are actually stronger than mine back then.
...
Zhang San took out some food for Wang Xiao'er to eat first in the painting and calligraphy store, then pulled the old man in yellow clothes to the backyard.
In the backyard of the painting and calligraphy store, the uneasy Zhang San pulled the old man in yellow clothes to the corner and angrily said, "Grandpa Yellow, aren't you causing me trouble? For those of us in this profession, the more secretive the better when doing things, you want me to bring a kid, how can I do anything in the future?"
The old man in yellow clothes knew he was in the wrong, and weakly said, "Weren't you only eight years old back then? At that time, didn't you travel north and south with your master to take on tasks?"
Zhang San resisted the urge to burst out yelling, annoyed and said, "Can I compare with this little brat back then?"
"Why can't you compare, you saw Xiao'er too, how should I put it, uh... anyway he's a smart kid." The words of the old man in yellow clothes became less and less confident as he spoke.
Zhang San only felt dizzy, and said, "Smart? I don't know if he's smart or not, but his understanding of killers is pure nonsense. Just this one point, I really can't accept this apprentice. Besides, I'm still young, I don't need to take on an apprentice to support my old age like my master did."
The old man in yellow clothes said, "I had no choice, his dad was actually the 15th ranked killer on the Earth List, 'Grey Lion', one of my juniors."
Zhang San was interested to hear this, "Then why doesn't his dad teach him directly?"
The old man in yellow clothes said, "His dad... is dead."
Zhang San was stunned.
Killers make a living dancing on the knife edge, facing countless threats of death throughout their lives. For those like Zhang San's master who choked to death on a chicken leg, it can be said to be the most "fortunate" ending.
So although Zhang San felt pity for a moment that the eight-year-old child lost his father, he soon let it go.
Just as the old man in yellow clothes said before, wasn't he, Zhang San, living the life of a killer since the age of eight, traveling north and south with his master to take on tasks?
Seeing Zhang San silent, the old man in yellow clothes continued, "On the jianghu, Grey Lion was somewhat similar to you, he had two don't kills - don't kill the poor, don't kill the good, only killing nobles and evildoers. To be honest, with his way of taking jobs, even as an upper-rank expert on the Earth List, mishaps are unavoidable."
Zhang San asked, "Who could kill an upper-rank expert on the Earth List?"
The old man in yellow clothes glanced at Zhang San and said in a low voice, "The number one expert on the Heaven List, Song Tianxing!"