Durin's Diary

Chapter 962 The Expedition

Not long after, people arrived from the General's Mansion. The old general of Zhennan Pass came in person. He had heard that Du Lin had encountered assassins and felt that he, an old man, could at least show his face.

Dulin didn't care about this at all. He had seen far more dangerous things in his life, and his concern for Dulin was nothing to him.

But how can you put it? You can't ignore someone's feelings, and you certainly can't refuse to accept them. It's like the saying, "Many hands make light work," which is pretty much what Du Lin meant by "sharing the joy."

The old general also noticed the old man and his grandson from the Liu family. He was somewhat surprised: "Old Liu, is this your..." Obviously, he had seen the Liu family's grandchildren before, but not often. He probably wouldn't recognize this special one.

“My great-grandson, General.” The old man from the Liu family had clearly fought alongside the old general in his youth, and he stood up to answer.

“Your grandson, I don’t think so.” The old general looked the brat up and down a few times, and finally pulled open his forehead: “No, this scar on his forehead is from when he fell as a child, it really is.”

The puppy grinned foolishly.

"It's all thanks to Mr. Du Lin. He said he would give my grandson a bright future." Old Liu pointed to Du Lin, his face full of relief.

The old general nodded, then glanced at the little candle dragons again, and when he looked at Dulin, his eyes held a hint of expectation.

Dulin sighed, "Alright, old general, I'll take care of your grandson. But let me make this clear first: those with exceptional talent shouldn't bother. I prefer helping those in need, not those who are already successful."

"Alright, my second child has been frail and sickly since childhood, so it's all up to you, Mr. Du Lin. I'll have someone bring the child over tomorrow." After saying this, the old general said he wanted to have a few drinks with Old Liu, and then simply left with Old Liu.

That's fine, Dulin doesn't mind. One more mouth to feed, one less pair of chopsticks, it's all fate in his eyes.

As for the old general's grandson, Du Lin felt that teaching one or two was the same as teaching two, and he already had about twenty apprentices under his name, so he really didn't care about having one more.

As for being weak and sickly, that's not a problem in Dulin's eyes now. If things really get bad, just feed him fresh World Tree fruit, and he'll be cured.

………………

The next morning, as soon as Dulin crawled out of the tent, he saw the little brat kneeling outside.

Upon inquiry, it was revealed that he was the old general's grandson, who had come to become his apprentice.

Daju sighed after scanning the area.

• He's of mixed race. He looks like his mother, but because he's mixed-race, his genes have mutated, and he's not in good health. If you don't let him get up, he might really die of hypoglycemia right in front of you.

This is what Du Lin finds unbearable about the Tang people: weak children are really worse than dogs. Is it a death sentence for them to eat an extra bite of food? If weak children are raised well, they can be put to good use in factories or warehouses.

Fueled by anger, Dulin used his mage's hand to pull the yawning brat up.

"Ah, is that Mr. Dulin?" The child woke up with a start and found himself floating on the ground with a Candle Dragon in front of him. Somewhat frightened, he asked cautiously.

"Who else could it be but me?" Dulin said, while having the Mage Hand drag the little brat to his side, reaching out to open the snack box and stuffing a piece into his mouth: "Is it good?"

The little brat chewed for a moment, then quickly started chewing, but only after he swallowed it did he look at Dulin with a wronged expression: "I've never had such delicious snacks at home."

You've never eaten this before; your family definitely doesn't have anything like it.

Dulin sighed again as he thought of this—it wasn't that he hadn't given the general's family pastry boxes before, but what was the result?

Damn it, that's why in this world, only helping someone in need is remembered for a lifetime, while adding flowers to brocade is remembered for a moment.

Thinking of this, Dulin had the mage hold the snack box, and then let the little brat take it himself.

"But we're going to eat breakfast, aren't we?" the little guy said, looking aggrieved. "Eat this first, then have breakfast," Dulin said.

“There’s too much to eat.” He looked at Dulin.

"Then eat as much as you want, and you don't need to eat breakfast." Dulin felt a surge of irritation in his heart—he had seen many children like this in the Tower in his previous life. Many of these children grew up in orphanages before being discovered by the Tower, or simply wandered the city like Dulin.

The idea of ​​going hungry for three days and then going hungry for nine meals sounds ridiculous, right? But for these children, it's the norm.

Fortunately, the trash can is occasionally replenished with bread that has expired but is still in its original packaging. Although the quantity is not large, it is enough to feed the children from time to time.

Dulin wanted to punch someone, but everyone in the city had to salute him and no one dared to slap him. In the end, Dulin could only take the little brat to sit in the corner of the canteen to eat.

Du Lin was showing off his meat, while the child stuffed snacks into his mouth one after another.

He looks so pitiful. It is said that he is already thirteen years old, but his bone age is only ten years old. This kid is malnourished in the general's mansion and looks like this.

“Isn’t this the General’s son, Xiao Li?” At this moment, Madam Qi sat down. She looked at the child next to Du Lin and then looked at Du Lin: “What? He gave this child to you? That shouldn’t be the case.”

“Madam, I told him that I prefer to help those in need rather than those who add to their existing success.” Du Lin clicked his tongue as he said this, “But I never expected that he would actually send this poor child over.”

“You child, you’re a descendant of this old man, and you have the same temper as him. I’ve already told them that if you two anger them, don’t come to me for mercy when you’re about to kill them,” Madam Qi said with a smile.

"Of course, Madam, even if I, an old man, came to plead for you, it would be useless. I feel uncomfortable just looking at the whole old general's mansion now."

"Sir, please don't hit my grandpa. Grandpa is good to me." The little guy became anxious at this moment.

Dulin shook his head: "Okay, I won't hit your grandpa."

After the meal, Du Lin told the child to go and play with Jie Nan and the others, and then asked Madam Qi about the child's situation.

"To be honest, the old general also had his own unspeakable suffering. His son had been married three times. His first wife gave birth to his eldest son and died on the battlefield. His second wife gave birth to Xiao Li and took a knife for her husband when he was assassinated. And now his third wife has three children."

Lady Qi didn't say anything more, but Du Lin understood—the eldest son's position was the foundation of the country, and since the eldest son was already an adult, the third wife certainly couldn't shake it, but the second wife's child was weak and sickly, which seemed like the way she could starve him.

The old general couldn't possibly interfere in his son's family affairs, so when the opportunity arose yesterday, he simply sent his second son over.

This made Dulin feel much better.

“I understand, madam. I’ll take this child with me and have him as my apprentice.”

"You're going to take on apprentices?" Lady Qi raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, he’s the only legitimate apprentice right now. The other kids have homes to go home to, but as for him, I think he should stay with me. His name is Xiao Li, right? I’ll give him a chance to cross the Dragon Gate.” After saying that, Du Lin looked at the children.

He could see that the little brat was standing there alone, watching the Zhulongzi having fun.

He wanted to join in, but where did he get the strength and energy?

"Then I must thank you on behalf of the old general, Du Lin," Madam Qi said with a smile.

"Didn't you also say that I, like this old man, prefer to offer help when people are in need, rather than to add to their existing success?"

(End of this chapter)