Promotion, Part Two

2024-07-31

Promotion, Part Two

"Money."

Song Changming shook his head. Perhaps he needed to find other ways to make money. Staying this poor forever was no solution.

Previously, his strength had been insufficient, and there was little he could do. Now that he possessed a certain degree of self-preservation, it was time to broaden his horizons.

No rush. Take it slowly. Opportunities will always come, Song Changming thought to himself.

He had a long lifespan, enough to wait for all manner of opportunities to arise and profit from them.

[Today's Evaluation: A somewhat meaningful day. Lifespan +3. Obtained limited-time status: 'Single-Minded Focus']

Once midnight passed, Song Changming stopped practicing his saber. Looking at today's evaluation prompt, the limited-time status had indeed dropped.

He had barely worked today, and his saber practice had not been particularly fulfilling either. The change in status was within expectations.

He also checked his saber mastery progress.

[Soul Severing Saber: Minor Accomplishment (72/2000)]

To continue improving after reaching the Minor Accomplishment stage, the difficulty had multiplied yet again. With a progress bar of two thousand points, the goal looked impossibly distant.

But after estimating it, Song Changming figured that as long as he did not slack off and lie flat for extended periods, and kept practicing diligently, he could probably accumulate this progress in a little over a year.

That pace of saber practice was already astonishingly fast, and he was quite satisfied with it.

Constant diligent practice did not mean practicing diligently every single day.

He now had his own routine. Roughly speaking, out of every ten days, he would spend three in Single-Minded Focus and five under Heaven Rewards Diligence, ensuring steady progress in saber practice and martial training.

The remaining two days would be spent slacking off and lying flat. While resting and relaxing, he could also ensure the continued growth of his lifespan. No matter how he looked at it, he would not lose out.

Sometimes, when he was tired, he would appropriately add more days for slacking off and lying flat. But overall, he remained quite self-disciplined.

The next day, Song Changming put on a patrol guard's uniform, wore his new saber at his waist, and headed straight out to begin his first day on duty.

The neighbors who were up early were all astonished at the sight.

"Old Song's kid became a patrol guard?!"

"Hey, when did that happen? How come I never heard that couple mention it?"

"Probably just happened these past couple of days. This morning, I saw that Song boy leave wearing a patrol guard's uniform."

"Tut, tut. The Song boy isn't even twenty yet, is he? Becoming a patrol guard at such a young age—his future is boundless. If I'd known, I should've proposed a match with our daughter earlier."

"It's not too late now. Such a fine young man—there'll probably be no shortage of people coming to his door to arrange a match in the future."

"That's true. Come on, let's prepare some farm eggs and cured meat, then go congratulate the Song Family."

The neighbors whispered among themselves, and news of Song Changming becoming a patrol guard quickly spread.

For a time, even the modest doorstep of the Song Family grew lively.

Song Changming, who had already left, naturally knew nothing of this. He had arrived at the Patrol Guard Headquarters on Houli Street.

Though he had come to this place of work countless times over the past two years.

This time, however, his identity was different.

As other patrol guards passed by him along the way, they seemed to find Song Changming young and unfamiliar. They all cast sidelong glances at him, no longer overlooking him as they had before.

"Hm?" Inside the Patrol Guard Headquarters, Zhao Huaiming, who was about to head out on his routine street patrol, suddenly caught sight of Song Changming and could not help revealing a surprised expression.

"Changming?"

"Brother-in-law." Song Changming stopped when called out, seeing that it was Zhao Huaiming.

"How did you...?" Zhao Huaiming also worked at the Patrol Guard Headquarters on Houli Street, but the events of yesterday had clearly not yet spread through the headquarters. He had no idea how Song Changming had suddenly become a patrol guard. Song Changming merely said that Liang Chuanshan had promoted him and did not elaborate.

In truth, he did not have a bad impression of this brother-in-law who had married his third sister.

Zhao Huaiming and his third sister, Song Yu, had feelings for one another to begin with. Calling them mutually devoted lovers would not be an exaggeration.

Back then, Zhao Huaiming had even borne immense pressure from his family in order to marry Song Yu.

What he had done over the past two years also proved that this brother-in-law sincerely cared for his third sister and had shown the Song Family considerable support. It was difficult to dislike him.

"Wonderful. If Yu'er learns about this, she'll surely be delighted. She'll probably even scold you for not sharing the good news with her sooner." Zhao Huaiming smiled after hearing this.

"Then I'll have to trouble Brother-in-law to pass the word along. I only began work today, so I haven't yet had the chance to inform my sister," Song Changming said.

"It's no trouble at all. We'll have drinks together another day." Zhao Huaiming patted Song Changming on the shoulder. His smile was warm as he offered a few more words of encouragement before leaving.

Elsewhere, Zhao Dezhi went to see Liang Chuanshan.

"Brother Zhao, what brings you here so early in the morning?" Liang Chuanshan rose and smiled faintly.

He did not get along with Sun Wenyen, but his relationship with Zhao Dezhi had always been fairly good.

"I heard you promoted a Night Watchman?" Zhao Dezhi asked bluntly.

Liang Chuanshan froze, then waved a hand. "I was wondering what it was. What, Brother Zhao? Are you trying to steal my man?"

"Steal your man?" Zhao Dezhi frowned slightly. After hesitating, he still said, "Brother Liang, you and I are no strangers. There is no need to promote that Song brat because of my connection."

Liang Chuanshan was somewhat bewildered. "What do you mean by that, Brother Zhao?"

"Wasn't your decision made because of that little marital connection between that brat and my Zhao Family?" Seeing Liang Chuanshan's blank look, Zhao Dezhi explained.

"I have never heard him mention that, nor have I heard it from you, Brother Zhao." Liang Chuanshan shook his head.

"This promotion was mainly because Song Changming rendered great service himself. He killed the bandit army leader Chen Beihu in the street. His saber mastery is quite impressive and he deserves promotion. It has little to do with Brother Zhao. I simply think highly of him."

"He killed Chen Beihu? That Song Family brat?" Zhao Dezhi saw that Liang Chuanshan did not seem to be joking, yet he still found it hard to believe.

And his saber mastery was impressive?

How could a brat from a ruined household like the Song Family possibly have cultivated such saber skills?

"Don't blame me for not warning you, Brother Liang. Could it be that you misjudged him, or that the brat deceived you?" Zhao Dezhi could not help voicing his doubts.

That immediately displeased Liang Chuanshan, and he said, "Brother Zhao, I don't like hearing that. No matter how poor my eyesight may be, the facts are right before us. So many people witnessed it with their own eyes on the street—how could it be false?

"Besides, afterward I had Lu Gang exchange a few moves with Changming. His saber mastery has already entered the Minor Accomplishment stage. If not for the fact that he has yet to temper his body and lacks actual combat experience, I'm afraid even Lu Gang would not be his match!

"Brother Zhao, you should understand what this means. At such a young age, he has already achieved something in saber mastery. That level of talent is not something ordinary people can compare to!"

"..."

After leaving Liang Chuanshan's place, Zhao Dezhi's expression was exceedingly complicated.

In the past, he had essentially regarded Song Changming, who worked at the Patrol Guard Headquarters, as invisible. He had never once considered looking after him.

He had even flown into a rage when Zhao Huaiming had privately supported the Song Family and brought Song Changming into the Patrol Guard Headquarters as a Night Watchman.

In his eyes, all of that damaged the Zhao Family's reputation and his own standing, while offering neither value nor return. How could it not anger him?

But now, events had developed beyond his expectations.

The Song Family's last child seemed to have embarked on an extraordinary path.

Minor Accomplishment in saber mastery!

That accomplishment alone was enough to draw his attention.

"Hmph. Who would have thought that even a garbage heap could be turned over to uncover something valuable?" Zhao Dezhi snorted. As usual, he kept a stern face and led the patrol guards under his command straight away.