If that old bastard dared show up, he would get a couple of solid whacks.
The sense of crisis that had weighed on his heart for so long had finally dispersed, leaving Liang Qu in high spirits.
With his purse bulging and broken silver clinking inside, he felt even better. Looking at the bustling streets of Pingyang Town, he couldn't resist the urge to buy a few things.
Passing by a fabric shop, Liang Qu asked his two senior brothers to wait a moment and went inside to buy two ready-made padded cotton outfits.
Nowadays, cotton alone cost three hundred wen a jin on the market, and a long coat for someone tall required three jin of cotton. Two sets of outer robes plus an undershirt cost Liang Qu just over three taels.
The clothes gifted by his senior brothers were too fine, so much so that he was reluctant to wear them. Daily martial training meant sweating heavily, so it was better to pick two cheap sets that were easy to change out of.
Liang Qu took out his money pouch to pay the bill. After collecting his change, he pulled out a small silver ingot from the pouch.
"Shopkeeper, could you help me change this ingot into two taels of broken silver?"
The shopkeeper picked up the silver ingot, weighed it, blew on it to listen to the ring, and gave it a bite. Once satisfied there was no issue, he fetched two bits of broken silver and weighed them out right in front of Liang Qu.
"Young master, your silver is of fine purity, so I'll add fifty wen of copper coins for you." The shopkeeper pulled fifty copper coins from the drawer and handed them to Liang Qu.
"Thank you."
Liang Qu accepted the broken silver and copper coins, then took out a small silver ingot and, together with one tael of broken silver, returned it to Senior Brother Xiang.
Xiang Changsong accepted it in surprise. "Junior Brother, wasn't it just three taels? If you hadn't brought it up, I would've forgotten all about it."
Liang Qu shook his head. "Borrowing money is borrowing money. Once borrowed, it must be repaid."
The robe Xiang Changsong had gifted was clearly worth a pretty penny, but a gift was a gift, and a loan was a loan. No matter how lavish the gifts, that didn't mean a debt could simply be waived.
"Ah, well."
Xiang Changsong took the silver with a helpless smile. He truly didn't care about three taels of silver, but Liang Qu's conduct made him feel inexplicably pleased inside.
A short distance past the fabric shop stood Wufangzhai, the finest pastry shop in Pingyang Town.
Liang Qu had bought the apprenticeship gifts here before. He took out one tael of silver and bought two more boxes of pastries, intending one for Li and Chen, and another for Uncle Chen's family.
Hu Qi smiled. "Junior Brother Liang truly is in good spirits. I just wonder if there's any share for us in those two boxes."
Liang Qu scratched his head in embarrassment. He had actually forgotten to get any for his senior brothers. Though he wasn't as wealthy as them, he ought to have shown some token of courtesy. Just as he reached for his money to buy a few more boxes, Hu Qi stopped him with a hand.
"Hey, I was only joking. Master gave you ten taels of silver in all, and you've already spent nearly seven taels. If you buy more for us, wouldn't Master's money have been given in vain? If you truly mean it, just treat us to a meal once you earn money in the future."
Liang Qu nodded in agreement and quietly kept the matter in mind.
With his status as Master Yang's personal disciple, no one would doubt him even if he caught two hundred wen worth of fish a day now; the fishermen would only think that, as expected of Master Yang's personal disciple, even his fishing showed such effortless grace.
Taking it a step further, it wouldn't even be out of the question to reveal one treasure fish a month. That way, his monthly income could reach nearly ten taels of silver, easily totaling a hundred taels a year—matching the earnings of ten farmers.
Of course, that was the crudest and most direct approach. Liang Qu now had more ways to earn money than just fishing. For instance, Xiang Changsong and Hu Qi at the martial hall—one managing hospitality and affairs, the other handling instruction—weren't working for nothing. Master Yang paid them generous stipends, amounting to dozens of taels of silver each month.
If Liang Qu ever ran short of money, he could also come work here for a while. Even if his realm wasn't high enough to teach, he could follow Xiang Changsong in handling chores, and once he learned to read and write, he could assist with keeping records.
As they chatted, the three of them arrived at the martial hall.
On the training ground, the bloodstains left from the previous night had already been covered with a layer of yellow loam. By some method, not even a trace of blood could be smelled anymore.
Today, it was still those fifty or so "familiar faces."
Oh, wait—no. Liang Qu swept his gaze across the yard and realized that, minus Lu Tingcai and his six companions, only forty-odd remained.
The martial hall had many apprentices. Master Yang would visit during the last five days of each month, and today was only the second day.
The so-called guidance was not merely correcting movements; it also included key points for fighting methods, guiding qi and blood, pacing one's cultivation progress, pairing and consuming medicinal herbs, and a wide array of cautions. For this reason, everyone cherished it and would not miss it lightly.
However, Lu Shaohui was not among the crowd. Come to think of it, Liang Qu hadn't seen him since yesterday, and he still hadn't appeared today.
Didn't dare return?
Liang Qu thought that unlikely. A bona fide martial practitioner like Lu Shaohui came to the martial hall no longer to learn the basics, but rather for the atmosphere and environment. Closed-door cultivation alone at home could never compare to sparring and discussing with others.
Moreover, Lu Shaohui was nominally just "filling in"; even if he neglected his duty, no one could severely reprimand him, at most berating him with a word or two.
The winter wind swept up fallen leaves, swirling them over the yellow earth.
Liang Qu was looking at the crowd, and the crowd was looking at him.
He wore a black beast-hide cloak draped over a gold-trimmed robe with narrow sleeves and a tapered waist. Around his middle was a broad leather belt, flanked by his waist tablet and jade pendant, while the swaying cuffs of his sleeves faintly revealed metallic bracers.
Due to his age, he was not particularly tall, and his skin was slightly dark, but his exceptionally upright posture gave him an undeniable poise and martial gallantry.
Was this really that lucky bastard from last night?!
Involuntarily, everyone remembered the Liang Qu from the previous evening: clad in yellowish-brown hemp clothes that didn't even fit him properly, exuding poverty from head to toe.
A completely different person!
They found it hard to believe, yet had no choice but to believe.
Xiang Changsong was always kind and patient with everyone.
Martial Master Hu Qi was a man of few words, but he treated everyone equally, fulfilled his duties conscientiously, and possessed profound martial attainment.
Yet never before had they shown such warmth and camaraderie when speaking to anyone!
Between the apprentices and Master Yang's personal disciples, there seemed to lie a lamentably thick barrier.
In the crowd, Zhao Xueyuan suddenly moved. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he stepped forward to bow and greet them.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Hu. Greetings, Senior Brother Xiang. Greetings, Senior Brother Liang."
With someone taking the lead, the rest stepped forward in twos and threes.
"Senior Brother."
"Greetings, Senior Brother."
One after another, people came forward to bow and offer greetings. No matter how early they had entered the martial hall, as non-personal disciples, they all had to call him Senior Brother.
So this was what it felt like when the tables turned?
Liang Qu suddenly had a moment of realization.
Last night, every single one of them had looked on with mockery, standing by to watch the show. Today, they had no choice but to bend their waists and bow to him.
"Ah Shui looks so impressive!"
"A true man should be just like this!"
In the corner by the flowerbed, Li Libo and Chen Jiechang watched Liang Qu's commanding presence, so thrilled they could hardly contain themselves.
Suppressing their excitement, the two waited until the very end before stepping forward to greet him.
Yet after greeting him, gazing at Liang Qu's fine clothes and waist tablet, the two—who had a bellyful of words to say—suddenly froze, their throats feeling as though something were clogging them.
Xiang Changsong's eyes shifted, and he said, "You three chat first. Senior Brother Hu and I will go check on the apprentices. Come over later, and Senior Brother Hu will teach you how to break the skin gate."
Once the two left, Liang Qu brought out a wooden box and shook it lightly. "Want some?"
Li Libo caught sight of the writing on the box. He couldn't read, yet he recognized the three characters for Wufangzhai.
The finest pastry shop in Pingyang Town. Every time he passed by, he would always hear people nearby talking about it; over time, Li Libo had learned to recognize those three characters, though he had never once gone in to buy anything.
The threshold there was high. Clearly even an old woman could step over it, yet to him, it was like an insurmountable high wall. He hesitated, "Wufangzhai?"
"Yeah, brought specially for you guys. Consider it a celebration of me becoming Master Yang's disciple."
"It wasn't cheap, was it?" Chen Jiechang clearly knew what the box signified, feeling too embarrassed to reach out.
"Take it."
"This..."
"Take it!"
The exact same exchange from the previous night played out once more. A wave of daze swept over the two, as if they were once again seeing that unyielding figure drenched in blood under the moonlight—
that ferocious figure with gritted teeth, beating down every single person who tried to get back up!
Snapping back to their senses, their hands had already opened the packaging without realizing it.
Liang Qu laughed mockingly. "Hahaha, what's there to be embarrassed about? Look at the pathetic state of you two! Li Libo, I didn't see you feeling embarrassed when you were wolfing down meat last time."
The faint rift melted away like ice and snow amid the laughter, and Li Libo and Chen Jiechang began laughing along with him.
With reddened rims around his eyes, Li Libo stuffed an entire sweet flaky pastry into his mouth. "Mmm, so good! I always wanted to taste what pastries from Wufangzhai were like, but I never had the chance. Mmm, so delicious!"
Chen Jiechang took out a piece and nibbled slowly. "From now on, whenever folks speak of our Yixing, you'll be number one, Liang Qu—a truly prominent big shot."
"From now on, Ah Shui is Brother Shui, Master Liang! Who knows, maybe later on you can even buy a grand manor and keep little maidservants?"
"Look at your lack of ambition! He'll definitely become an official and pass the martial examinations!"
"You're just disagreeing with me on purpose, aren't you?"
"If you ask me, Ah Shui earned all this fair and square with his own ability. He deserves every bit of it!"
Chapter 41