"Learning boxing is good! If Ah Wen manages to learn the ropes, won't our family finally be able to hold our heads high in the Walled City?" Aunt said with a smile.
"With over a million people in the Walled City, how many actually amount to anything?" Uncle shook his head. He took a sip of soup and continued, "They say the bottom rungs of the Walled City have the four untouchables: whoring, gambling, boxing, and drugs... With gambling, you might get lucky and win some cash, but learning boxing is a bottomless pit. Poor folks like us shouldn't even dare touch it."
"How will we know if we don't try? If he doesn't learn boxing, he'll be at the bottom for the rest of his life."
"Ah Wen is clever. Conditions back in Sheng didn't allow for it, but as his elder, I'd rather he get some schooling and find an honest job."
"What's not honest about learning boxing? Pick up a bit of skill, become a stuntman, get scouted by a big director, and who knows—he might become the next Mr. Long."
"Survivorship bias... How many martial artists end up covered in scars without achieving a thing, stuck doing hard labor at the bottom anyway?"
"You're educated, you know best, all right?"
"Isn't Ah Wen able to earn money on his own now?"
"If the boy relies only on what he makes, it'll be another six months before he can even start training. And even once he starts, there will be tuition after that. Where is he going to get the money?"
"So are we supposed to support him forever? You know how the saying goes: letters for the poor, martial arts for the rich. That twenty-thousand ransom already drained all our savings from all these years."
"Write an IOU! It's not like we're just giving it to him. Ah Wen is sharp. I believe that even if he doesn't make it in boxing, he'll find a way to pay us back."
"Yingmei, don't blame me for speaking my mind... Truth be told, if it weren't for Ah Wen, we would've moved out of the Walled City by now."
"Brother Yi, what are you trying to say?"
"If he had stayed in Sheng and behaved himself back then, none of this would've happened."
"He's just a kid. Youngsters always want to venture out and make a name for themselves, and they're bound to stumble... Besides, Ah Wen said he would definitely pay you back that twenty thousand."
"How's he going to pay it back? Do you know how many people in Xianghai can't save twenty thousand in an entire lifetime?"
As an uncle by marriage whose life had been completely disrupted out of nowhere by Li Xiuwen's intrusion, Chen Ziyi had accumulated quite a bit of resentment over this period, so his tone was inevitably harsh.
Aunt didn't get angry. Chen Ziyi had already done enough.
Ah Wen's arrival had indeed made things worse for a family that was hardly well-off to begin with.
The silence was broken by the sound of the door opening. Li Xiuwen walked in and said with a smile, "Aunt, Uncle... I'm back."
Chen Ziyi asked in a low voice, "Ah Wen, you want to learn boxing?"
"Yes. I've almost saved enough for tuition."
"That's only for the apprenticeship gift and the first month's fee, isn't it? What about after that?"
"I'll try one month first. If it turns out I'm not cut out for martial arts, I won't waste any more time and will find an honest job."
"I've heard training in martial arts is measured in years. It's hard to see any results in the beginning."
"There's no helping that. A person has to accept reality."
Hearing this, Chen Ziyi's heart softened. After a moment's thought, he asked, "How much are you short?"
Li Xiuwen realized Aunt had spoken to Uncle after all. He hurriedly said, "Uncle, don't worry about this. I've got it figured out."
Chen Ziyi took out a stack of warm banknotes from his wallet. This was the payment for goods he had just collected, the factory's earnings from the past few months—three thousand in total. He counted out two thousand three hundred, kept seven hundred, and handed the rest to Li Xiuwen.
"If I don't look out for you, who will? Try it for a month first. If you really show some promise and I can afford your tuition later, I'll pay for it."
"This..." Li Xiuwen glanced at Aunt.
Aunt smiled. "Take it. Working odd jobs on your own is just wasting time. Martial arts training has to start young."
Li Xiuwen didn't put on airs. He accepted the money, gave his uncle a hug, and said, "I'll work hard."
"I'm not finished. If you don't show any promise, I'll pay for six months of gym fees at most... Your uncle isn't a capable man, and I don't want your aunt to suffer with me."
"Uncle, my parents died early, and I have no relatives left in Sheng. You and Aunt are my only family. When I make something of myself, I'll take good care of you both."
"I don't expect you to strike it rich. Just get into less trouble once you've trained..." Uncle said, then went off to take a shower.
Back in his bedroom, Li Xiuwen beamed with joy. "A single copper coin can stump a hero. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to apprentice myself to a master!"
...
On the other side of the window ledge, Uncle and Aunt spoke in hushed voices.
"I thought you weren't going to give it to him?" Aunt pinched Uncle.
"Your elder brother was good to our family. I haven't forgotten... Besides, Ah Wen getting beaten by Brother Ji last month was partly our fault for paying the tuodi money late."
Tuodi money was the local term for protection money.
"Heh-heh, Brother Yi has always been a righteous man!"
"Don't get your hopes up. Learning boxing isn't hard, but making something of it is harder than scaling the heavens. If he doesn't amount to anything, skilled in neither letters nor martial arts, it's just a waste of time."
"Words can't teach a person, but experience will teach them the first time... I bet Ah Wen won't even last a month before giving up. Training in boxing is grueling."
"I actually think he might stick it out a bit longer. But without talent in martial arts, relying only on hard work probably won't cut it."
...
Early the next morning, yesterday's torrential rain had left the streets thick with mud.
Li Xiuwen trudged along the road, stepping unevenly through the muck while humming a tune from memory: "I stagger and sway, just like the rolling waves..."
He lashed out with a sudden kick. "Wataaa!" With a strange cry like Bruce Lee, a huge southern black rat crossing the street went flying.
"Kid, where are you off to?" An old man suddenly crept out from a dark alleyway. His eyes were deeply sunken, his skin sallow and emaciated, his mouth filled with blackened teeth.
Li Xiuwen quickened his pace and ignored him. Whenever he ran into dragon-chasers, he gave them a wide berth, terrified of breathing in the foul stench clinging to their bodies.
"Don't run! I've got a peerless martial arts manual from Sheng right here. Give me fifty, and I'll pass it on to you." Grinning, the old man chased after him.
"The old bastard moves pretty fast." Li Xiuwen sped up and vanished around a corner.
Having lost his target, the old man retreated dazed into the dark alley, peering out like a rat.
"Marvelous beyond words... marvelous beyond words..."
...
"What kind of martial art costs only fifty? The Buddhist Palm, or Crazy Thursday?"
Weaving through several alleys, Li Xiuwen couldn't help mocking the encounter in his mind.
Before he could catch his breath, someone sprang out from the roadside, planted his feet, and looked at Li Xiuwen with a cold, superficial smile.
He wore short-sleeved work clothes and cloth shoes, with his thick arms crossed over his chest. His skin had a bluish cast, veins coiling around it like old snakes.
"Ah Wen. Haven't seen you in a month. You finally woke up, eh?"
"Brother Ji..." Li Xiuwen glanced back and saw another youth standing at the other end of the street, sneering at him.
The Tong Gang was not a single specific triad society, but a collective label, essentially similar to high school delinquents from his past life. Only here, their numbers were far greater, and their viciousness ran much deeper. Like cockroaches, they crawled across Xianghai, causing enormous public-order problems. They were a mass of troubled teenagers gathered together by a few older martial artists, constantly stirring up trouble in the neighborhood.
Brother Ji strode forward with heavy steps, his broad back completely blocking the view. Standing at one hundred ninety centimeters, he looked down at Li Xiuwen, who was only one hundred seventy-eight. Picking at his teeth with a toothpick, he smiled.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Chapter 3