The Predicament at the Start

"A life of toiling like an ox or horse!"

The faint sigh that reached his ears came from his parents in this life.

Zhou You had just transmigrated into this body when he encountered a massive crisis in his life.

His predecessor had offended a minor leader of a local gang, who had made threats and vowed to kill him.

The gang members were all troublemakers, fond of fighting and causing chaos.

Gongliang City had 300,000 households, most of which were law-abiding families. Like Zhou You's family, they were utterly powerless to oppose the gang.

Zhou You's father was a shop clerk. After toiling for most of his life, he could barely earn enough to feed his family. He had no power, no influence, and didn't know any important people.

As for his mother, she was just an ordinary housewife with little worldly experience.

"Cough, cough, cough. You're awake, so eat breakfast and go apologize to them."

Old Man Zhou puffed on his pipe, filling the room with smoke.

He had painstakingly sought connections, offering gifts and pleading for leniency, finally getting the gang's minor leader to back down.

The other party demanded 50 taels of silver as compensation and for Zhou You to kowtow and apologize in person.

This was outrageous!

The 50 taels of silver was all his father could scrape together by borrowing from every contact he had.

The heavy silver was wrapped in a cloth, forming a bulging pouch.

After eating a few bites of coarse grain biscuits, Zhou You stuffed the silver into his chest. "Dad, Mom, wait for my good news."

He pushed the door open and walked out. His two neighbors heard the commotion.

"Zhou You, going out?"

The neighbor on the left was Widow Li. She raised her five-year-old son alone and ran a small wine stall to make a living.

She was capable and feisty, and fearing that she and her son would be bullied, she had attached herself to a local constable.

It was said that Old Man Zhou had approached her for help, and the constable had relayed a message to the gang member, which was why the other party had relented.

"Aunt Li, good morning."

Widow Li, holding her young son, greeted him enthusiastically. "Zhou You, don't let your parents worry."

The gold bracelet on her right wrist was also familiar. It looked like it had been acquired recently.

Zhou You recognized it as the dowry his mother had worn for most of her life.

His parents had emptied their savings for his sake.

Zhou You quickened his pace as he left. He was determined to resolve this matter today.

Stepping out of the alley and looking at the bustling street, he felt a surge of ambition.

Gongliang City was the largest city within a hundred-mile radius, with convenient water and land transportation, supporting a population of a million.

This was a prosperous place, and also a target for various forces.

The gang he had offended was called the Wild Fox Gang. They controlled 300 able-bodied men and occupied over a dozen streets, collecting protection fees.

With the Wild Fox Gang's influence, even a minor leader could bring ruin to Zhou You's family with a mere flick of his finger.

"Zhou You, Zhou You, wait up."

Turning left at the intersection led to the path towards the Wild Fox Gang's minor leader.

A voice called out from behind Zhou You. He turned and saw a young man of the same age, dressed in an indigo martial arts uniform.

Gao Qiang was a childhood friend of Zhou You.

Six months ago, the two had agreed to apply to a martial arts school together, and they had gone together, only to be rejected together.

Children from poor families, unless they possessed extraordinary talent, had a significant gap in their innate potential to meet the threshold for martial arts training.

After failing to get into the martial arts school, Zhou You returned home to inherit his father's business, preparing to join the shop as a clerk.

As for Gao Qiang, he had heard that he still wanted to practice martial arts and had joined another gang.

For the poor in the city, there were only two paths to learn martial arts: martial arts schools and gangs.

Martial arts schools were like schools, where one paid to learn boxing, and the focus was on whether the master was willing to provide opportunities.

Gangs, on the other hand, were much more dangerous. They taught you martial arts to cultivate fighters, people who would risk their lives in a knife fight at critical moments.

Gao Qiang, having lost both his parents, had no elders to guide him and naturally took this path.

Zhou You's parents, fearing he would go astray, had severed Zhou You's contact with Gao Qiang.

It had been over half a year since they last saw each other.

"Zhou You, I heard you've run into trouble."

Gao Qiang carried a fierce aura, looking at people askance and barging through them, causing pedestrians to avoid him.

His hands and arms were crisscrossed with several knife scars, which looked quite terrifying.

"The Wild Fox Gang is nothing. I have the Mad Horse Gang behind me; we have over a thousand brothers."

"Brother, I've got your back, it's nothing."

Gao Qiang thumped his chest, putting on a show of loyalty.

Zhou You found his friend utterly unfamiliar, completely adopting the style of a gang member.

"Tu Laosan of the Wild Fox Gang, his martial arts are mediocre. He's gotten so arrogant thanks to his brother, the Vice Gang Leader!"

"Zhou You, I became sworn brothers with our gang's Second Elder last month."

"I'll take you to see my godfather, you don't need to fear Tu Laosan."

Tu Laosan was the low-level leader of the Wild Fox Gang that Zhou You had offended.

Just as Gao Qiang said, Tu Laosan, relying on his brother the Vice Gang Leader, committed many wicked deeds, and few dared to cross him.

The Mad Horse Gang and the Wild Fox Gang were two rival gangs in the city.

But was using the Mad Horse Gang's influence to deal with Tu Laosan really a good idea?

Zhou You didn't think so. For ordinary people, to live a stable life, they absolutely couldn't get involved with gangs.

In the neighboring district, a family's daughter was taken a fancy to by the Wild Fox Gang's leader, who forcibly wanted to take her as a concubine.

The daughter's father was a distant relative of the Mad Horse Gang's boss. He asked for his help to intercede, but unexpectedly stepped into an abyss.

Gang thugs were inhumane. Even relatives would bleed them dry, extorting them relentlessly, yet they delayed taking action.

The Wild Fox Gang harassed them daily, and the Mad Horse Gang demanded money every day, pushing the family to a dead end with no way out.

The story's end saw the family drained of all their wealth, the daughter abducted, the couple driven mad, and their family utterly destroyed.

Gao Qiang spoke for a long time before revealing his true intention.

"My godfather is highly respected. We can't visit him empty-handed when asking for a favor."

"I heard Uncle pawned a lot of things. You must have quite a bit of money at home, hand it over!"

"If you have forty or fifty taels, it might be enough to get my godfather to say a word, so Tu Laosan won't dare to trouble you."

Is it really like this?

Zhou You couldn't help but sneer inwardly. The other party must have found out that Tu Laosan's price was fifty taels and deliberately blocked his path to extort money.

How could a low-level gang member who had only joined the gang not long ago have the standing to ask the higher-ups to act?

Gao Qiang's visit was simply to trick him out of money with honeyed words!

Once a person joined a gang, their heart turned bad. Even childhood friends became strangers, their mouths full of lies!

"Gao Qiang, I think this plan is feasible, but the money isn't on me. I'll go back and persuade my parents."

"You help me gauge the Second Elder's reaction first."

Gao Qiang blinked his eyes and flicked his fingers, implying that if he wanted him to do something, he should give him some "drink money"!

But Zhou You didn't give him a single copper.

In the end, the childhood friends parted on bad terms.

"Pfft!"

Gao Qiang watched Zhou You's retreating back, spat on the ground, and cursed, "Serves you right to be killed by Tu Laosan."

He had originally planned to trick fifty taels of silver from Zhou You, relying on their childhood friendship.

After offering this money to the hall master, he could get a lucrative assignment and gain prestige in the future.

Unfortunately, Zhou You had changed from his usual straightforward and dull self and hadn't fallen for it.

This isn't like the friend I knew before!

And...

Gao Qiang shivered. He suddenly remembered that the road Zhou You was taking wasn't in the direction of Tu Laosan's house, but the opposite direction.

The other road led towards the martial arts school they had visited before.