Chapter 179

ecause I've tried it.Facing Hong Jie and Chen Jiansheng, I plucked up my courage, picked up the hat and tried it on.The hat smelled a bit musty, and after I put it on, I asked, "Sister Hong, Chen Tuch...The next morning, we checked out of the hotel early. Our group of four set off for Zhao Wang Hotel.

More than a decade ago, Zhao Wang Hotel was considered the most upscale hotel in Handan. The hotel still exists today, but business is far less brisk than it used to be.

I took the city bus from the train station. It wasn't a long ride, about an hour or so. When I got there, I went to the front desk and asked if there was a man named Liu living here. Please tell him someone is looking for him.

The front desk female service attendant said sorry, we are not convenient to actively disclose guest information. You can let the guest call the front desk.

He shook his head and said he had tried, but couldn't get in touch with Beggar Liu.

Changchun Hui.

"With a hesitant attitude, I held back and carefully uttered those three words to the female server."

The female clerk's face changed. She immediately changed her tune and said, "Please wait a moment, I'll check for you."

Back then, front desk registration wasn't widespread with computers. They used a very thick black notebook handwritten entries, including ID numbers, names, and so on. You could write anything freely, there was no internet monitoring or anything like that at all.

The female service attendant flipped through the registration book for a few minutes and said, "Mr. Liu has an annual card here, room 406, but Mr. Liu should not be here right now. He goes to Namingh River Park for exercise every morning at half past five. It's possible he'll come back at noon, or he might not return all day."

“

Thanked the front desk staff, we went back to Nanming River Park to find beggar Liu.

This time I really found him, but he wasn't working out in the park...

To the north of Nanming River Park is the ticket booth. Next to the ticket booth is a small fitness square, where Beggar Liu sat on a chair, wearing tattered and worn clothes. Underneath his feet was an equally dilapidated enamel teapot, and he was dozing off with both hands tucked into his sleeves..... His enamel teapot was filled with coins worth five cents and one cent, rarely seeing any larger denominations.

In a forest as large as this, all kinds of birds exist. Liu, the beggar, must definitely have money, and it's not just ordinary wealth. He can afford to get a yearly card at the most luxurious hotel in town. I really can't figure out why he would do such a thing.

Later I asked Bǎtóu, and Bǎtóu told me one of the reasons.

In 1992, a film titled "The Kung Fu Master Su Qi'er" was released. This is a nonsensical and humorous comedy film, and very few people know the prototype character behind it.

The beggar, Liu Benming, whose real name was Liu Changsheng, had a great-great-grandfather who had won the top prize in the martial arts examination during the reign of Emperor Qianlong's nineteenth year. This is commonly known as being a martial arts champion.

At that time, the difficulty of passing the civil service exam for martial arts masters was very high, definitely much harder than today's civil service exams.

At that time, the exam consisted of three parts: the first was a test of equestrian archery skills, the second was a test of martial prowess, and the third was a written exam.

"Skill and Courage" includes three items: archery, sword dancing, and weightlifting.

The swords and stones are divided into three grades, as well as the bows, which are divided into eighty, one hundred, and one hundred twenty (kilograms).

The assessment process has requirements, namely "the bow must be fully drawn three times, the sword must be held close to the chest both front and back, and the stone must be picked up from a foot off the ground, level with the shoulder".

Liu, the beggar's great-grandfather, came first in all three of his imperial examinations. In the stone lifting event, he set a record of 320 kilograms.

After passing these three rounds, one was practically guaranteed to be selected as a scholar. The written exam was just a formality, symbolic in nature with only two questions asked. But this beggar Liu's ancestor not only couldn't read or write but also had a violent temper. He believed the examiners were intentionally making things difficult for him, and in anger, he kicked one examiner in the head, causing severe concussion. Afterward, his ancestor was arrested and spent two years in prison.

Therefore, if you now check Qing dynasty archives online, the martial arts champion is not the beggar Liu Gaozu, but rather it turns out that in the 19th year of Qianlong (1754), the top scorer in the Wujia first place was a man named Gu Lin.

His great-grandfather was originally first place because he knocked someone unconscious with one kick, and the second-place competitor from his time, Gu Lin, became first.

The family of the man who had been brain-damaged by him was powerful. In order to get revenge, they spent money and connections to have his great-grandfather's legs broken in prison. After he came out, he also became a cripple.

Back then, martial artists valued noodles. His ancestor, after coming out of prison, still possessed his martial prowess. However, due to his disability, he had a hard time making ends meet and eventually fell into poverty, becoming a beggar.

A turning point came in the twenty-fourth year of the Qianlong era, when Qianlong was 49 years old. His favorite pastime was to travel south of the Yangtze River and enjoy the company of beautiful women.

During the last month of the year, Emperor Qianlong disguised himself and went to Yuanshan (an area north of Shaoxing) when he suddenly encountered bandits robbing him. Just as the emperor was about to be killed by the bandits, a ragged middle-aged beggar suddenly emerged from the grass nearby. Though he had one lame leg, the beggar was incredibly skilled in martial arts and quickly defeated the bandits, saving Qianlong's life.

After the incident, Qianlong was very grateful to this person. Qianlong said: "You have saved my life and made great achievements. Tell me what kind of reward you want."e!""Run Kid, hey, where are you running to, burrow into the ground" Beggar Liu pulled out his soft sword, a sneer curling on his lips.Yao Yumen also took out her small pistol with a sullen face, press...