We were all amused to see such a young child, standing with his hands on his hips, talking so confidently. Xiang Yu chuckled and said, "Your father is absolutely right."
Cao Chong turned his little face to Liu Bang and said, "As for Uncle Liu Bang..."
Liu Bang laughed heartily: "Oh, so you're criticizing me?"
"My father said that Uncle Liu Bang was good at recognizing people and could use any means necessary when things were going against him. He was a model ruler."
Liu Bang was exasperated and muttered to himself, "Is this a compliment or an insult?"
Cao Chong concluded, “My father said that if Uncle Xiang had only been the leader of an army, his act of burning the boats and breaking the cauldrons would have been worthy of the word ‘brave.’ But since you have the world in your heart, then doing this is just reckless. Therefore, a general should learn from Xiang Yu, and a ruler should learn from Liu Bang.”
Xiang Yu and Liu Bang exchanged a glance and nodded to each other. Qin Shi Huang, already confused by Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's explanation, pulled Liu Bang aside and asked, "What happened back then? Who were you fighting against?"
We quickly changed the subject. Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were now very interested in Cao Cao, and they asked together, "What else did your father say?"
Cao Chong sat down on the chair and said, "He said a lot, but I disagree with most of it."
We were all dizzy for a moment, and asked in unison, "What did he say to you?"
He said, “There are many talented people in the world. Those who serve me will be rewarded with high salaries, and those who do not serve me will be killed.”
I asked, "What do you mean?"
Li Shishi said, "What I mean is that anyone who is willing to help you is a friend, and anyone who is unwilling to help you is someone you would rather kill than let them help others."
At this moment, Baozi said as she walked upstairs, "How does Old Cao educate his children?" She had obviously only heard bits and pieces of the story.
Cao Chong smiled and said, "That's why I disagree with him. Those who are willing to help us are certainly our friends, but we should also find out why those who are unwilling to help us. If what they say is right, it can serve as a warning to us."
Xiang Yu sighed softly, "This child is kind and wise; this is the demeanor of a true king." Then he, Liu Bang, and Ying Pangzi felt ashamed for a long time.
I whispered to Li Shishi, "Why did Cao Cao, with such a good son, still sigh, 'A son should be like Sun Quan'?"
Li Shishi smiled and said, "Now it seems that this is probably not a nice thing to say."
I nodded in deep agreement. I'd always been puzzled as to why Cao Cao would suddenly utter such a nonsensical remark. Now that I think about it, he fought Sun Quan for ages without gaining any advantage, and in his anger, he cursed Sun Quan: "You're my son!"
I asked Li Shishi to take Xiao Cao to see all the rooms and familiarize him with the facilities. Perhaps it's just his nature, but the little guy immediately became obsessed with the video game console. I told him sternly, "From now on, you can only play for a maximum of half an hour each day, understand?"
Although it's been over a thousand years, I'll consider it as Old Cao entrusting his son to me. I must be dutiful and not let the child go to waste. I've decided to start showing Little Elephant books like "Business Management" and "Modern Thick-Skinned and Black-Hearted Theory" once he can recognize simplified Chinese characters. These days, even Sun Tzu's Art of War can be rewritten as corporate culture, right? With Old Cao's theories as a foundation, plus Little Elephant's intelligence, getting into the Forbes list before age 22 will be a piece of cake.
During dinner, I officially brought up the matter of finding a school for Xiaoxiang. Baozi asked, "How do we solve Xiaoxiang's household registration problem?"
One question left me speechless: "Not having a household registration means you can't go to school, what will you do in the future?" Clearly, making a fake one won't work; he has a long road ahead.
Xiang Yu said, "Why go to school? The skills on horseback and the grandeur of surveying the world, what can be learned from school—especially schools these days?"
Li Shishi smiled and said, "Then Brother Xiang, why don't you take Little Elephant as your disciple?"
Xiang Yu said, "Alright."
I hurriedly said, "Cousin, you still need to focus on your academic studies. Just following Xiang Yu's example and killing people in your teens is unbearable. When Cao Chong reaches his rebellious phase, won't he wipe out all the boys who are competing with him for girls?"
Liu Bang said, "When you have free time, come with me and Tianfeng to do some small business and see the hardships of ordinary people. It will be good for you in the future."
Jing Ke, shoveling rice into his bowl with his chopsticks, said, "My kung fu isn't good enough. I'll find someone to teach you swordsmanship." I knew he was referring to Zhao Bailian. I'd witnessed Zhao Bailian's skills firsthand; teaching him would definitely be useful for the child. After all, our little elephant is aiming to be the world's richest man, and who knows, he might get kidnapped or something. These days, aren't the sons of nouveau riche learning self-defense from a young age?
This means that four of the five masters have already agreed to impart all their skills. We all look to Qin Shi Huang for his response. Qin Shi Huang patted Cao Chong's head with his chubby hand and said with a smile, "Later I'll teach you how to mobilize 30 people."
Xiao Cao Chong happily replied, "Great! Great!"
us:"……"
After dinner, I received a phone call on the landline. The person sounded to be in their forties. He claimed to be a friend of Li He and wanted to meet me. He said he was downstairs from my house.
I knew it was actually the National Security Bureau that needed to talk to me. I walked downstairs with a half-smoked cigarette between my fingers and saw an old-fashioned Hongqi car parked across the street. I went over, opened the door, and peeked inside. I saw a middle-aged man with a slightly balding head sitting in the driver's seat. He had a kind face and looked like the director of the tax bureau in some county town.
The middle-aged man said with a smile, "Qiangzi, do you still recognize me?"
"Huh?" He sounded like we were old acquaintances, but it was actually the first time I'd ever met him.
The middle-aged man gestured for me to come in and sit down. He said, "Let me remind you, a while ago, you were carrying a sign that said 'Heroes of Liangshan' when you went to the train station to pick someone up. I was standing right next to you, and we even chatted for a bit..." Now I remembered.
I tried to hold back, but I finally blurted it out: "Damn, are all you National Security Bureau agents this elusive? Have you been watching me since then?"
The middle-aged man hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no, I really did run into you by chance when I went to pick up my wife that time. Later, during the martial arts tournament, I was given a task to prepare to take over the expansion of a school. When I looked at the file, hey, old acquaintances! Not only you, but also many people from your 'Liangshan Club' were there. What surprised me the most was that they not only looked alike, but their kung fu was also similar. Take that double-gun general Dong Ping for example, after our visual assessment, his left and right fists were even more balanced than the average competitor."
It's not surprising that he could call out Dong Ping's name. We were both present when the heroes introduced themselves after we met them, but he thought it was just a game. However, the qualities he developed during his training at the National Security Bureau still came in handy. Everyone he had met and everything he had heard was firmly imprinted in his mind. I estimate that his brain has at least 100GB of memory.
Just as I was wondering what to say, the middle-aged man extended his hand to me and said very formally, "My surname is Fei. I used to work in international relations. Because I always say 'thank you,' I got the nickname 'Fei the Three-Mouth.' You can just call me Lao Fei from now on. Also, your club really gave us a pleasant surprise."
I shook his hand blankly and asked, "What do you want?"
"That's right, I'll contact you about the specific details of expanding the talent training center later."
Still confused, I asked, "What exactly is your identity?"
Fei Sankou chuckled and said, "My current public identity is an accountant at a certain unit, and I'm also responsible for some branch tasks assigned by higher authorities. You know, 'national security' actually includes two aspects: 'security' and 'interests.' I mainly deal with the latter, so you don't need to feel any pressure dealing with me. To put it bluntly, I'm just putting money in your hands, haha."
I said with a bit of a sudden realization, "Little C and his group are mainly responsible for suppressing the enemies of the people, while you are responsible for handling internal contradictions among the people?"
Old Fei laughed again: "I can't help it if you understand it that way."
Chapter 52 The New Generation 300
Fei Sankou told me that he would be in charge of the school's funding and future construction, but his official position would remain with the National Security Bureau. My understanding is that Li He and his team would deal with spies and agents—that's external work—while Fei Sankou would handle sensitive domestic issues involving weighing pros and cons. After all, who's ever seen a school need to go through the National Security Bureau? It shows the country doesn't trust us. Firstly, these experts are more valuable than national treasures; we can't let them be poached and used by hostile elements. Secondly, we need to prevent malicious individuals from infiltrating and causing sabotage; Fei Sankou will be extra careful with student recruitment.