Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 52: Stick Training
The place called Bureau 724 is actually an arsenal. The locals call it Factory 724, while outsiders like Yan Hui call it Bureau 724. There is no difference.

This place has been manufacturing weapons for a long time. It was an arsenal before the founding of the People's Republic of China, and afterward, it was renamed Factory 724. It has a huge workforce. The bustling market and playground here are primarily due to the large number of workers. With more workers comes spending power, so naturally, the market has everything. It's over ten times busier than the market near the lumber factory, and it's bustling all year round.

Yan Hui returned to the market, borrowed a bicycle from a familiar store, and headed straight to Bureau 724.

After arriving here, Yan Hui rode his bicycle into the playground. Next door was the Grand Theater. Yan Hui looked over there and found that there were no performances today. Of course, Yan Hui couldn't afford to go even if there were, but he liked to go and join in the fun.

As he was walking, Yan Hui unexpectedly ran into Lao Guo.

"Old Yan!" Old Guo also rode a bicycle. "I went to Uncle Li's shop and your house this morning to look for you, but I couldn't find you."

"Oh, oh, a friend of mine came over, so I walked her around."

"Yeah, yeah. You're just in time. Old Wu isn't here today, so Old Song and I were just hanging out here. I figured it's almost time to go home for the Lunar New Year, so I'd buy some things to bring back!" Old Guo said, showing Yan Hui the back seat of his bicycle. On the back seat was a thick cardboard box tied with rattan.

"Where's Lao Song?" Yan Hui said, setting up his bicycle and walking to the back of Lao Guo's bicycle to look at the box.

Lao Guo bought two bottles of Xiangyang brand deer penis wine and a bag of Bulaolin candy, in addition to some cakes.

"Can you take this pastry back home? The temperature in Fengtian is fine, but I'm afraid it will go bad when I get home."

"This pastry is not, I have been eating it these days."

"Oh, oh, then I'll buy something too. Where did you buy this candy and wine?"

"Come on, come on, follow me."

Soon, Yan Hui also bought a bag of candy and two bottles of wine, but he didn't buy deer penis wine, he bought Lao Longkou wine, which is very famous here.

After buying things, Yan Hui sent the letter and then found Lao Song.

"What is this?" Yan Hui saw Lao Song holding a plastic bag, which seemed to contain tools.

"I bought some nails and wire, and I plan to build a super weapon." Old Song vowed.

"Weapons?" Yan Hui thought for a long time, "Can weapons be made from this little stuff?"

"No, I made it with wood after I got back, and then fused it together with wire and nails. Have you seen the cartoon? It's the Transformers! I want to make a weapon like that!" Old Song looked excited.

"You were watching cartoons secretly without calling me!" Yan Hui immediately grasped the crux of the matter.

"I went with my brother to someone else's place to watch the disc, so I didn't have the chance to call you." Old Song also felt embarrassed, and then he vividly recounted his experience of watching the disc.

"Once I have built the super weapon, I will definitely bring it with me if I go to the mountains again! If I meet wolves again, I will not let them go!" Old Song said this with full confidence.

"Okay, I'd like to see what you can come up with." Yan Hui was quite excited. However, he also understood why Old Song wanted to build a weapon. After all, it was all because of the last time he was scared by the wolf.

The three of them chatted and laughed, played here for two or three hours, and sang some songs before reluctantly preparing to go back.

The large playground at the 724th Bureau was Yan Hui's favorite place to hang out. Lao Guo asked Yan Hui to come back tomorrow, and Yan Hui immediately agreed, but only after the afternoon, as he still had to move wood in the morning. After returning home, Yan Hui returned his bicycle and then went to Lao Song to help him design weapons.

Lao Song's brothers all love him very much, and he has more freedom at home. Everything is good except that he has no money.

Their family is also in the timber business, but they only do timber processing and have a cooperative relationship with Lao Guo's family.

The Song family doesn't have any large machinery, which means they can't break logs, but they can further process the boards, such as breaking them into strips.

Yan Hui had been here several times, and the machines had always been very noisy, but this time, most of the machines had stopped, leaving only one machine breaking boards, reportedly to provide materials for the furniture factory.

Lao Song has all kinds of tools at home, and the workers here also love them. Lao Song asked the workers to help cut the wood, and the workers put the wood on the machine, which only took a few seconds.

Soon, everyone got some scraps of wood and started designing their own weapons.

There is no boy of this age who doesn't like weapons, but Yan Hui knows which one is more practical. After thinking about it, he found a suitable wooden stick and prepared to polish a golden cudgel.

Lao Song and Lao Guo are different. Lao Guo is better. He wants to make a bow and arrow, but Lao Song actually wants to make a cannon.

Anyone who has spent time in the countryside knows that bows and arrows are easy to make: a thick, elastic rattan stick and a piece of wire are all you need. But making a cannon is pure joke. Old Song has been tinkering with it for a long time, but it's still a mess.

In the end, Lao Song gave up his previous choice and made a long sword out of wood. The sword was very long and heavy, weighing at least 6 or 7 kilograms and more than 1.5 meters long. It could be said that it had no fighting power, but Lao Song was very happy and felt that he had influenced this "casting competition".

Everyone was very excited and threatened to kill everyone if they met the wolf again. People who didn't know would think that these three were drunk.

After leaving Old Song's place, Yan Hui took his own stick with him. This stick was very effective in combat, and to be honest, Yan Hui really felt that with such a stick, he would no longer be afraid of lone wolves.

Therefore, after Yan Hui returned to the yard with his things and the wooden stick, he started playing in the backyard alone because he had nothing to do.

Yan Hui had practiced martial arts before, but it was mostly fists and kicks, not clubs. A wooden stick was difficult to master but easy to pick up; anyone could pick it up and strike someone. Yan Hui threw a few random punches, which looked pretty impressive.

"Xiao Yan, you can do this too?" Brother Shan happened to be in the house. Seeing Yan Hui playing with a stick outside, he stood at the door with interest.

"Brother Shan," Yan Hui said, feeling a little embarrassed, "I don't know how to do it. I just got a stick and wanted to play with it."

"I just saw your moves, you've practiced before," Shan Ge said. He might not know much about other things, but he's pretty good at fighting, "right?"

"Brother Shan, I really haven't practiced with a stick. I've only learned some boxing and kicking." Yan Hui was telling the truth.

"That's interesting," Shan Ge smiled, "When will you go home for the New Year?"

"It'll probably take another ten days or half a month. I'll wait and ask my uncle tonight."

"Okay, remember to take good care of your parents for me." Brother Shan said politely and went back to the house.

Yan Hui didn't feel embarrassed and continued playing with the stick in the yard for a while.

(End of this chapter)