Cao Niangzi's face was red, his eyes were dazed. The arrogant and bossy appearance he'd displayed to Ge Pang Xiao before had long since disappeared, and he hugged his arms around his chest like a young girl: "My big brother Chang Geng, even his walking posture is more beautiful than others."

Ge Pang Xiao: "..."

He swore to never bring this stock of embarrassment outside again.

The "Teacher Shen" and "Uncle Shiliu" Ge Pang Xiao mentioned were a pair of brothers, and had a long history with Chang Geng.

Two years ago, when Chang Geng was still young, he slipped out of the city gate alone to play, accidentally lost his way, and was almost taken away by the wolves.

Fortunately, the Shen brothers had been passing by.

Teacher Shen drove away the hungry wolves with powder and saved his puny life. The two brothers later decided to live in the town of Yanhui. Xu Baihu portioned off an empty yard from his home for them to stay on. Grateful that they had saved his son, he did not accept rent money.

The name of the elder brother was Shen Yi. He was a student who tried repeatedly but wasn't able to pass his examinations. Although he was not very old, his determination had dulled. Instead, he was content with living as a hermit in a place where even birds didn’t bother to shit. The neighbors politely called him Teacher Shen.

In addition to being a hermit, Teacher Shen also served as a doctor, a poem writer, a teacher, and a mechanic.

He was very versatile; he could heal injuries, help a horse give birth, and even ran a private school at home during the day, teaching a group of children how to read. After sending the students away, at night, he would roll up his sleeves to repair steam machines, steel armor, and various types of iron puppets, earning some daily expenses for the household. Who knew that hiding away could be this busy?

Teacher Shen knew how to make money and take care of his family, even his skills in the kitchen could be comparable to an expert - he was very handy. Thus, his younger brother had nothing else to do but be responsible for being a deadbeat.

Teacher Shen’s brother was called Shen Shiliu. It seemed that he was in poor health from a young age; the family was afraid that they wouldn't be able to raise him, so they did not give him a real name. He was born on the 16th of January, thus they called him Shiliu.

All day, Shen Shiliu did not study or work, did not pick up a fallen oil bottle, and no one had ever seen him carry a water bucket, either. If it wasn't loitering around on the street, then it was getting drunk. He was an example of the phrase ‘no skills and no intellect*’ - he had absolutely no good points.