A Martial Saint Among Men: From Joining a Martial Arts School

The transaction was successfully completed, and both Chu Xuan and Li Tiezui were very satisfied!

Five taels of silver was an unexpected surprise for Chu Xuan.

Just as he was about to leave, he looked up and saw several young men walking out of the Yundingxuan restaurant not far away, arm in arm, laughing and talking with reeking of alcohol.

The words "Martial Arts School" were embroidered on the chests of their clothes, indicating that they were all disciples of the martial arts school.

Chu Xuan's gaze fell on a boy at the very edge. He was about fifteen or sixteen years old, and his figure was noticeably thinner than the others. He was also wearing the martial arts school uniform.

This young man was none other than Chu Ming, his second uncle's cousin! I heard that he entered the martial arts school to learn martial arts last year.

These people clearly looked down on the teahouse across the street, a place only peasants frequented, and didn't even bother to glance at it. They walked towards the inner city, chatting and laughing.

Chu Xuan watched Chu Ming's departing figure and couldn't help but grin.

Although Yun Ding Xuan is located in the outer city, its prices are in no way lower than those of the big restaurants in the inner city.

His second uncle was skilled in carpentry. Besides farming, he earned extra money by doing odd jobs and repairing furniture. His life was much better than Chu Xuan's family. However, he had already gone hungry to raise money for Chu Ming's martial arts school registration fee. Where would he find the money to support Chu Ming's extravagant lifestyle?

However, this has nothing to do with him!

Although the two families were not completely estranged, their relationship was quite strained. Despite living in the same outer district, they rarely interacted.

As evening fell, Chu Xuan emerged from the inner city, covered in dust and dirt. Not only his clothes, but also his hair and exposed skin were stained with a layer of dust. On his back, he carried a tattered bamboo basket.

Anyone with a discerning eye can tell that they've gone to carry heavy loads.

The poor, struggling to make ends meet, could only earn meager wages by selling their labor. This was all too common in the outer city.

As Chu Xuan approached his home, he unsurprisingly ran into Xie Hui and his group again. The group was sitting at the entrance of the alley, chatting idly, occasionally glancing at passersby as if searching for prey.

Just as Chu Xuan was about to pretend he hadn't seen it, the group walked over with smiles on their faces.

Chu Xuan's heart tightened immediately.

He not only had the dozen or so taels of silver he took from the teahouse, but also his share of the month from Manager Wu!

Trying to leave now will only arouse more suspicion!

Xie Hui said with a forced smile, "Xuan-ge, weren't you going to become Manager Wu's godfather? Why are you carrying heavy loads now?"

Chu Xuan scratched his head sheepishly: "I'm sorry to have made Brother Hui laugh. When you're asked to become a godfather, you should at least offer a token of your respect. If I really can't afford it, I'll have to think of other ways."

As he spoke, he deftly reached into his pockets, rummaged through several pockets, and took out a dozen or so copper coins. He gave half of them to Xie Hui, saying, "This is a gift for Brother Hui. Please have some tea with the other brothers."

"Haha, Xuan-ge'er is so clever! Otherwise, why would Manager Wu in the inner city have taken you in as his godson?!"

Xie Hui laughed heartily as he accepted the coin, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"

"Wait!" Before Chu Xuan could leave, Xie Hui's gaze had already fallen on the basket Chu Xuan was carrying, his eyes narrowing. "This basket is a bit heavy! Brother Xuan, you don't mind letting the brothers take a look, do you?!"

Without giving Chu Xuan a chance to refuse, he reached out to lift the tattered cloth covering the bamboo basket, while also leaning his head closer.

As soon as the rag was lifted, a pungent, foul odor assaulted Xie Hui's nose and rushed straight to his brain.

The bamboo basket contained a large lump of unprocessed pig intestines, with bits of feces and bluish-purple juice still attached.

"Damn it..."

Xie Hui muttered curses and kept backing away, shaking his hands.

As soon as the other henchmen got close, they were so overwhelmed by the pungent, foul odor that they pinched their noses and backed away.

They knew what it was without even looking.

There's no way around it, the smell is just too strong!

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Chu Xuan quickly covered himself with the tattered cloth, looking embarrassed, and said, "We haven't had meat at home in so long, so we could only buy some cheap pork offal. Brother Hui, how about I share some with you?"

These days, there's hardly any braising liquid, and spices are ridiculously expensive; ordinary people simply can't afford them.

Pig offal is very troublesome to process and has a very strong, unpleasant odor, so wealthy families simply don't eat it. It's also much cheaper than pork, and is usually sold or given away by butchers at a discount.

For ordinary people, however, it is a good source of meat.

"Hurry! Hurry..."

Xie Hui waved his hand dismissively, showing no interest in taking the thing.

"Okay!"

Chu Xuan then put the bamboo basket back on his back and returned home.

"Brother, you're back. I've come to help you!"

As soon as he entered the house, Chu He ran out to greet him and take the bamboo basket that Chu Xuan was carrying.

"Don't come near. This stuff stinks. Don't get your clothes dirty." Chu Xuan stopped Chu He from getting close and carried it into the woodshed by himself.

Chu Xuan's mother, Zeng Ke, also came out. Seeing Chu Xuan covered in dirt and dust, she felt another pang of heartache: "Xuan'er, now that you're eating lunch at the dye shop, we can save a lot of food at home. The fabric you brought can also make a few clothes. In a couple of days, I'll take them to the market to sell. Your sister and I won't go hungry, so please don't overwork yourself!"

"Mom, don't worry. I didn't go to carry any heavy loads," Chu Xuan explained with a smile. "This dusty look is for those scoundrels outside to see!"

Zeng Ke hesitated, clearly not believing it.

Chu Xuan then reached out and began to rummage through the pig intestines. Not caring about the dirt, he picked them up and shook them a few times, from which a tightly wrapped oil paper package fell out.

"Hey glutton, here, have some."

Chu Xuan smiled and unfolded the outermost layer of soiled oil paper, handing it to his younger sister.

Inside, there were two more layers of oil paper that were wrapped tightly.

Chu He opened them one by one and saw four sesame cakes neatly stacked together, baked to a golden brown color, with a crispy outer crust, sprinkled with sesame seeds and salt and pepper, emitting an enticing aroma.

"Oh, it's sesame seed cakes! Mom, my brother bought some!"

Chu He exclaimed in surprise, jumping and skipping around Zeng Ke's arm, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons.

"You crazy girl! Keep your voice down!" Zeng Ke poked Chu He's forehead impatiently. "Eat up!"

Chu He swallowed hard, picked up the first sesame seed cake, and handed it to Zeng Ke: "Mother, eat first."

"Give it to your brother," Zeng Ke said with a smile.

"Brother, you eat."

Chu Xuan shook his head: "I've already eaten. This is for you and Mother."

He had indeed already eaten; otherwise, he would have been too conspicuous and easily discovered.

Chu He held the sesame seed cake, glanced at Zeng Ke, then at Chu Xuan, swallowing hard. She wanted to eat it immediately, but felt it wasn't quite appropriate.

"Mom, I've really eaten. You and Xiaohe can eat inside, and come out when you're done."

As Chu Xuan spoke, he took the bamboo basket containing the pig intestines outside to clean it up.

"Mother, you eat."

Chu He handed the sesame seed cake to Zeng Ke again.

"Okay!" Zeng Ke didn't refuse any further, took the sesame seed cake and took a bite.

Seeing this, the little girl happily picked up the sesame seed cake and took a big bite. Her big eyes immediately narrowed into crescent moons, and her face was full of satisfaction.

Chu Xuan continued cleaning the pig's intestines, and soon he had picked out the broken silver pieces and copper coins stained with feces from the intestines.

I counted it several times, and it was all there was. It totaled twenty-five taels of silver and more than three hundred copper coins.

"Twenty-five taels? That's still not enough!"

Chu Xuan frowned and began to think.

He had figured out the fees for almost all the martial arts schools in the inner city. The cheapest was thirty taels a year, and that was for a minimum of one year!

In addition to this, a large amount of meat and medicinal soups are needed during martial arts training. Otherwise, if the nutrition is insufficient, forget about becoming a martial artist; you'll just become a useless person.

The cost of the herbal medicine is included in the registration fee, but you'll have to find a way to prepare the meat supplements yourself.

Moreover, practicing martial arts requires taking time off from work.

In other words, he also needs to prepare enough money for a year's worth of meat.

But right now, we're still far from even paying the registration fee!

"What a damn world!"

Chu Xuan cursed in annoyance.

For the past six months, he has tried his best and exhausted every possible way to make money, but it still isn't enough!

If he had another six months, he was absolutely certain he could save enough money!

But he couldn't wait any longer!

If Xie Hui sees that Manager Wu has not accepted him as his godson in a few days, then his younger sister Chu He will be in danger!

night.

Under the dim light of an oil lamp, Zeng Ke, the mother, was busy making clothes, while Chu He assisted her and diligently learned from her.

Chu Xuan hesitated several times before finally managing to say with difficulty, "Mother, I want to learn martial arts!"

Zeng Ke was distracted for a moment and pricked her finger with the needle.

Ignoring her bleeding finger, she seemed frozen in place, only regaining her senses after a long while, and hesitantly asked, "Learning martial arts...it must cost a lot of money, right?"

Chu Xuan nodded, his voice somewhat low: "At the very least, it's thirty taels a year. I've saved twenty-five taels in the last six months, and I'm still five taels short..."

"Five taels... five taels short..."

Zeng Ke kept muttering to herself, her eyes somewhat vacant. She didn't even notice what Chu Xuan had just said about saving twenty-five taels of silver in just six months.

Five taels of silver is no small sum!

An average family in the outer city earns only about ten taels of silver a year. Five taels of silver is half a year's income for a family!

Their family couldn't even come up with five taels of silver!

The illness that Chu Xuansheng suffered six months ago had already drained his already meager savings!

Chu Xuan was naturally aware of this situation.

He said with difficulty, "I want to use the money my father left behind!"