Stepping out of the corridor, the light brightened.
Liang Qu looked around and found the surroundings quite pleasant.
It was peaceful and secluded, with potted plants lining the path. Built in the layout of a traditional quadrangle courtyard, it featured a central area paved with small bluestone tiles, flanked to the north, south, east, and west by rows of small cottages. Some of the cottage doors were left ajar, revealing bunk beds inside reminiscent of dormitories.
Xiang Changsong and Hu Qi did not lead the three of them into these quarters, however. Instead, they passed through a corridor between the cottages on the southeast side and arrived at another, larger courtyard.
This courtyard was even better than the last, with a spacious main building on each of its four sides.
Xiang Changsong took out a key to unlock the door. Stepping inside, there was no musty smell; the room was clean and the quilts were folded neatly, clearly cared for by dedicated staff.
Inside, there were neither bunks nor a communal sleeping platform, but an arrangement resembling twin beds in a hotel from his previous life, except here there were four separate beds, each partitioned by a simple folding screen.
*An ancient version of a hotel? Not bad at all,* Liang Qu thought.
Looking all around, Li Libo had never seen anything like it. "Good grief, this can't possibly be what ten taels covers for room and board, can it?"
Hu Qi explained, "The courtyard out front is the lodging for ten taels of silver. A single yard packs in nearly thirty people. This courtyard requires an extra fee—lodging alone is eight taels a month."
"Eight taels?!"
The three bumpkins from Yixing were all astounded. Lodging alone cost more than their entire tuition!
Hu Qi turned to Xiang Changsong. "Junior Brother Xiang, I'll go fetch our things first. Show our three junior brothers around and help them get settled."
"All right."
Once Hu Qi stepped outside, Xiang Changsong said, "No one is staying in this room right now. You three can decide among yourselves which bed you want. Someone cleans every day, so they're all fresh."
"I'll take the innermost one!" Liang Qu pointed to the bed nestled against the far wall. He liked sleeping against a wall; it gave him a greater sense of security.
Chen Jiechang pointed to the one beside Liang Qu. "Then I'll take this one."
Li Libo scratched his head. "I snore in my sleep, so I'll take the first bed near the door to stay further away from you two."
"Basic toiletries aren't provided in the room, such as toothbrushes, tooth powder, and towels, so you'll need to bring your own. As for laundry, maidservants come by every day, so you can just hand your clothes over to them."
Li Libo waved a hand nonchalantly. "No need, Senior Brother Xiang. It's just for one night anyway. We're all rough men, so skipping a wash won't kill us."
Xiang Changsong asked with a smile, "You're not going to stay here in the future?"
"How could we afford it? Eight taels a month would be the death of me!"
Liang Qu and Chen Jiechang nodded in agreement.
"Never mind the other two, but Junior Brother Liang, why are you nodding along?" Xiang Changsong chuckled. "None of you need to worry. For the next two months and change, not only Junior Brother Liang, but both of you, Junior Brother Li and Junior Brother Chen, can stay here free of charge."
"Not charge us?"
Li Libo and Chen Jiechang chorused in utter disbelief.
"Of course. Didn't you hear? Master Yang just expelled Lu Tingcai and his gang."
"What does that have to do with us?"
"It has everything to do with you. They were expelled, but the silver they paid won't ever be refunded. Of course, Master Yang refuses unearned gains and disdains pocketing the money himself.
"So for ordinary infractions, that money is used to buy grain and vegetables to distribute vegetable porridge to the needy. But for wrongdoing like today's, their money is given as compensation to the victims. That's been the rule here for a long time.
"Although most of the seven paid at the ten-tael tier, Xue Dingyi was at the fifty-tael tier. Junior Brother Liang is now a personal disciple and has no need for this silver, so it naturally gets split between the two of you. Deducting the month they've already spent, you'll each receive around thirty-six taels.
"You two can't afford the fifty-tael tier, but the twenty-tael tier is well within reach. If you set aside the room and board portion of the twenty-tael tier, plus the remaining sixteen taels, it'll cover your stay right until you leave, with some to spare.
"Oh, and if you don't wish to upgrade your tier, it can also be converted into silver and given directly to you as compensation."
Thirty-six taels of compensation!
Li Libo and Chen Jiechang exchanged glances, swallowing hard.
If they took thirty-six taels home, their families' standard of living would jump several notches!
But...
The two thought back to Xiang Changsong's words about methods and medicine.
Without the right fortune, they stood almost no chance of breaking through the barrier within three months...
Xiang Changsong and Liang Qu did not interrupt them as they weighed their choice.
After what seemed like a fierce internal struggle, Li Libo and Chen Jiechang decided to stay.
"This thirty-six taels was a windfall to begin with. We want to give it our all. If we succeed, we can naturally earn far more money later. And if we fail, we won't have any regrets—we'll just treat it as money we never had."
"Good! A martial artist needs the resolve to forge ahead without looking back!"
Hu Qi's voice boomed from the doorway. He was carrying three large wooden tubs stacked together, each about four chi across, all on his own!
Behind him, several people followed carrying large basins filled with hot water, steam billowing into the chilly air.
When Hu Qi set the tubs down, everyone saw that inside were three sets of clothes and three small pails filled with steaming medicinal decoctions.
The helpers who had followed Hu Qi in began mixing the medicinal decoctions with the hot water, pouring the blend into the three large bathing tubs he had brought.
The three looked on curiously. "Is this a medicinal bath?"
Hu Qi nodded. "Yes, though it's not the kind that boosts qi and blood. It's meant to treat your wounds by invigorating the blood and dissolving bruises. Take two of these, and today's injuries will heal in two or three days.
"There are also changes of clothes. They might not fit perfectly, but make do with them. Consider it my personal compensation—after all, you only suffered this ordeal because of me. If I had been here, they never would have dared to act so brazenly."
"You don't need to say that, Senior Brother Hu. We've always kept your kindness in our hearts."
Liang Qu and the other two were deeply touched.
But Li Libo caught on to something strange. "Senior Brother Xiang, did you say earlier that Xue Dingyi was enrolled in the fifty-tael tier?"
"Yes. His family are wealthy merchants, so naturally they can afford it. Why do you ask?"
"Lu Tingcai and the others are at the ten-tael tier, so their families likely aren't that well-off; it makes sense that they'd try to extort us. But why did Xue Dingyi join in? If his family can afford fifty taels, they can't possibly care about two taels, right?"
For a moment, none of them could figure it out.
"Maybe... some people are just rotten to the core?"
After puzzling over it for a while, that was the only conclusion they could reach.
"All right, it's getting late. It's cold out, and sitting in chilly water won't do you any good—you could easily catch a chill. I'll have someone bring a bit more hot water. Once you're done soaking in the medicinal bath, go right to sleep. Just towel yourselves dry; there's no need to rinse off."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Hu, Senior Brother Xiang!"
The two senior brothers left, and the room quickly fell quiet.
The three looked at one another, exchanging glances.
Suddenly, hearty laughter erupted through the entire room, loud enough to nearly shake the roof tiles loose.
They laughed until they were out of breath, until their wounds throbbed with pain, before finally stopping. In unison, they stripped off their clothes and climbed into the wooden tubs.
Water sloshed and splashed.
The hot water stung their wounds with sharp pangs of pain, but the ache was soon washed away by the soothing warmth of the soak.
Resting their heads against the rim of their tubs as they soaked, a wave of pure relief traveled from their tailbones straight to their throats, trembling into an audible sigh:
"Whew..."
Chapter 36