Chen Qingjiang carried his elderly father home on his back. Having received word from Li Libo, Ah Di was already waiting anxiously at the door. Catching sight of her husband, she hurried over to help support him.
Seeing Liang Qu beside him, Ah Di choked up even more. She nearly dropped to her knees right in front of him, but fortunately Liang Qu was quick on his feet and caught her before she could kneel.
"Ah Shui, I really don't know how to thank you. When my man went out to deliver the grain tax today, my heart was pounding the whole time—I had this awful feeling something was going to happen. I never dreamed such a disaster would strike. If he really got hauled off to dig canals, our sky truly would have caved in."
A few days earlier, when Chen Qingjiang learned that Liang Qu had begun to show promise studying martial arts, Ah Di had naturally found out as well. At the time, she had still been bitter about it, thinking, *What was the point of lending him grain? It only raised an ungrateful wolf who'd rather throw his money away studying martial arts and eat at inns every day than think about paying back those few jin of grain.*
Meanwhile, she had to take Dabao and Erbao out before dawn every day to wash clothes for other people, scraping together money for the autumn tax.
Only out of respect for her husband's pride had she kept from making a fuss, but she never imagined that her husband's act of kindness back then would yield such an enormous return today.
"All right, it's already over. What's the point of weeping and wailing? Go back inside and cook up a good meal to treat these two brothers."
Chen Qingjiang clearly didn't know how to comfort a woman. He simply shooed Ah Di off to cook, while he carried his old father into the house to lie down.
Liang Qu had intended to decline, but then he remembered he didn't have a single copper on him and wouldn't have anything to eat outside anyway, so he agreed.
On the dinner table sat only three dishes of wild greens, one fish, and a small plate of pickles.
The fish was even fresh.
Spices were expensive; unless it was a treasure fish, cooked fresh fish smelled heavily of fishiness.
Ordinary fishermen usually ate cured and smoked fish, which kept well and tasted better. Only households that were truly destitute and couldn't even bear to use much salt ate fresh fish like this.
Of course, those who could afford spices were another matter entirely.
Chen Qingjiang looked rather embarrassed. "There's no helping it—this is all the house has left. Once I have some money in the future, I'll definitely treat you both to a proper meat dish."
Li Libo waved his hand repeatedly. "It's fine, it's fine! We don't care about that."
"Yeah, having anything at all is great," Liang Qu said. "Saves me from having to cook when I get back."
The family couldn't even pay their tax and had nearly seen their head hauled off to dig canals; both Liang Qu and Li Libo understood their plight, so how could they possibly complain?
Though the meal was simple and frugal, they ate their fill.
The food hadn't been good to begin with, and if they hadn't at least provided plenty of it, the couple would have felt even more guilty.
The day after he finished the meal and went home, Liang Qu still did not go to the martial hall. It wasn't that he wanted to keep fading from people's attention, but rather that if he didn't fish soon, he was going to starve to death!
As of right now, Liang Qu truly did not have a single copper coin to his name.
After having Ah Fei catch fish for a whole day, Liang Qu returned to the fishing yard to sell his catch.
The moment Lin Songbao saw him, he clicked his tongue in admiration. "I heard about what happened yesterday! I really never would have guessed our Yixing was hiding a real hero. You're this!"
Lin Songbao gave Liang Qu a big thumbs-up.
"Does being a hero earn a couple extra coppers when selling fish?"
"It sure does! Why wouldn't it? By rights, this batch should be one hundred and two wen, but I'll make it one hundred and ten wen for you. How about that?"
Liang Qu gave him a sideways look. "You're serious?"
"Hey, why not? Don't let how shady our fishing yard is fool you—that's someone else's business! I, Lin Songbao, admire people like you the most. What's wrong with rounding up? We make a profit either way, just a little more or less. In the future, whenever you come, I'll round up big for you. Won't let you get shortchanged!"
Liang Qu held back for a long moment before muttering, "Damn impressive."
He really hadn't expected the fishing yard boss's son to be this kind of person. What an eye-opener.
Having earned some money, Liang Qu hurried to the martial hall on the third day to study martial arts. Staying away any longer would just be rude.
Upon arriving, however, he was informed that Hu Qi, who usually instructed them, had taken leave starting yesterday. Their instructor had been replaced by a martial practitioner named Lu Shaohui. While somewhat weaker than Hu Qi, he was still a martial practitioner who had broken through two gates.
While resting after running through a routine of Ape Fist, Li Libo whispered, "Senior Brother Xiang told me Martial Master Hu is about to make a breakthrough. Next time we see him in a few days, he might be a genuine martial master."
Liang Qu considered it and figured the timing was about right. Processing the fish horn into medicine pills might take some time, but it had already been about ten days since Martial Master Hu bought the ox-horn pomfret.
Having eaten treasure fish twice, Liang Qu didn't believe the horn of a single treasure fish could be potent enough on its own to help a martial practitioner break through the blood gate; it likely served as an auxiliary medicine or a catalyst.
Li Libo glanced around, and seeing that Martial Practitioner Lu wasn't nearby, lowered his voice even further. "Also, have you noticed that Martial Practitioner Lu doesn't seem willing to get close to us? He's kind of cold and aloof."
Liang Qu had noticed it too. "Maybe he's put off by the fishy smell on us?"
Earlier, when they practiced Ape Fist, Hu Qi had taken the initiative to point out and demonstrate any mistakes, but this Senior Brother Lu didn't. He only pointed something out if they actively asked, and rarely demonstrated anything.
If they hadn't already had a foundation in Ape Fist and made few errors, Senior Brother Lu probably would have grown impatient.
What was even more noticeable was that whenever this Senior Brother Lu approached the two of them, his nose would wrinkle visibly, his disdain plain as day.
Yet Liang Qu couldn't help it. Fishing constantly meant that even washing thoroughly couldn't completely rid him of the fishy smell.
"Sigh, sure enough. The way Senior Brother Xiang and Senior Brother Hu treated us had me thinking martial masters were all so easy to get along with."
"Haha, don't worry about it so much," Liang Qu chuckled. "I was already surprised that Senior Brother Hu and Senior Brother Xiang didn't look down on us. As long as we can learn real skills, that's all that matters."
Perhaps having read too many web novels in his past life, Liang Qu had actually felt a bit unaccustomed to being treated so warmly when he first arrived. This was the rhythm he was familiar with.
"Oh, right, do you see that young master over there?"
"Which one?"
"That one over there in the white robe trimmed with gold thread. I heard he's Third Young Master Zhao Xueyuan of the Zhao family. I really didn't expect him to come here to study martial arts too. Sure enough, even Squire Zhao's sons choose the Yang Family Martial Hall—proves we made the right choice!"
The Third Young Master of the Zhao residence?
Looking in the direction Li Libo pointed, Liang Qu saw the so-called young master. Sure enough, he had fair, clean skin; even if his facial features were ordinary, that pampered air about him was unmistakable, looking far cleaner at a glance than mud-legged commoners like them.
His father was Squire Zhao?
Liang Qu shivered. Looking at Third Young Master Zhao, he couldn't fathom how his father could be such a monster. It would be best to keep his distance in the future.
As if sensing their gazes, Zhao Xueyuan turned his head and glanced at the two of them, paying them no further mind. He had noticed these two fishermen who had come to learn martial arts long ago, but no one paid them any attention, nor did anyone associate with them.
Once the three months were up, they would head back wherever they came from.
"Speaking of which, in a few more days at the end of the month, Master Yang will be coming to lecture. I wonder if things will be different—maybe my mind will open up too."
"It's always good to have dreams."
With Martial Practitioner Lu away, Liang Qu and Li Libo chatted idly. Suddenly, Xiang Changsong's voice carried from the corridor.
"The martial master on duty today is Senior Brother Lu, so he will be your instructor. Though Senior Brother Lu isn't a personal disciple of Master Yang, he is still very experienced. Oh, speaking of which, two junior brothers in the martial hall also hail from Yixing. Perhaps you might even know them."
Hearing the voice, Liang Qu and Li Libo looked up. Li Libo was the first to speak.
"Chen Jiechang? What are you doing here?"
Chapter 22