Jiuzhou Martial Arts Hall

Jing City was roughly divided into four regions—east, south, west, and north—whose levels of prosperity varied due to historical reasons.

Chengbei was the wealthiest part of Jing City, with excellent living conditions. Like many hot-blooded youths from Chengnan, Shen Qian had once railed at the people of Chengbei for being rich but heartless. But after learning that Ding Yi actually lived in a detached villa in Chengbei, Shen Qian's mindset became much more peaceful.

What hers and mine? How distant. That was clearly our home.

Wang Yangming, meanwhile, was a native-born Jing City local. His home was in an old residential complex in the city center. The location was superb, yet surrounded by towering buildings, it seemed utterly out of place.

The old building had poor soundproofing. Wang Yangming had only just reached the stairs when, before even opening the door, he vaguely heard his parents arguing.

"...Old Wang, explain this to me today. What kind of bath costs a thousand yuan?!" A shrill voice rang out first.

"How many times have I told you? It was necessary socializing! Do you think business deals are so easy to make these days?!" A man's impatient voice followed.

"I don't care! We still haven't figured out your son's Special Effect Potion, yet you're out there living it up! Have you ever considered this family?!"

"Wasn't I socializing to make money?! Do you know how much a Special Effect Potion costs?! Two hundred thousand... They want two hundred thousand from me! And even at that price, you have to line up—it's not like you can buy it whenever you want! With the little savings we have, if we buy the medicine, we might as well stop living! Let me ask you, what about the money for our son's university later? Huh?!"

The man's voice suddenly rose. The woman fell silent, and before long, sobbing could be heard from inside.

"Why not just let him study medicine..."

"What a woman's shallow view!" the man rebuked. "As long as he gets into a Martial Arts University and graduates successfully, even at the worst, he'll be middle class. Do you want him to end up like me, bowing and scraping for a little performance bonus? I've drunk myself into fatty liver..."

The man said a few more things, and the room gradually fell quiet.

Wang Yangming waited for a while, waiting for his parents to calm down—and for himself to calm down as well.

A moment later, he took out his key and opened the door. "Dad, Mom, I'm back."

Wang Yangming's father sat upright on the sofa watching TV, while his mother busied herself in the kitchen. Both smiled and greeted him, and nothing seemed unusual on the surface.

Wang Yangming hesitated several times, but finally voiced his thoughts during dinner. "I don't want to study martial arts anymore. I want to study medicine."

Sure enough, he received a thorough scolding from his parents.

After failing to put up any resistance, Wang Yangming finished dinner, locked himself in his bedroom, and lay on his bed in a daze.

He hated that his talent was not outstanding enough. He hated that he had added to the burden on this family. He hated even more the time and energy he had wasted at the VR Hall...

Why couldn't I have woken up sooner? If I'd spent all that time tempering my body, why would my parents be in such a difficult position now?

Tears of regret streamed from Wang Yangming's eyes. After thinking for a while, he sent his good brother Shen Qian a five-hundred-word message, declaring his resolve.

After doing all that, Wang Yangming rolled over and was suddenly jabbed by something.

He felt around in his pocket and pulled out a small bottle. It was the "AD Calcium Milk" Shen Qian had given him after school.

Wang Yangming twisted open the cap, and a faint fragrance drifted out.

"Huh, it smells pretty nice. What kind of drink is this... Even if Shen Qian's pulling my leg, he wouldn't poison me, right..."

After some thought, Wang Yangming tipped back his head and drained the calcium milk in one gulp.

Five minutes later...

"Dad, Mom! Save me, it hurts so much... Ah... It hurts like hell..."

Wang Yangming's heart-rending screams came from the bedroom.

Beep beep!

His wristband vibrated. Shen Qian took it out and gave it a glance.

Is Old Wang trying to confess to me?

The instant Shen Qian saw that lengthy message, his scalp went numb. He hurriedly shut off the wristband.

"Jiuzhou Martial Arts Hall, South City Store!"

Shen Qian turned his attention back to the building before him.

It was a five-story building covering several hundred square meters, with a garden built around its perimeter. Even though land prices in Chengnan were not particularly expensive, it still looked exceptionally stylish.

After snapping three clothes-drying poles in a row, Shen Qian had finally realized that the rooftop was not an ideal place to practice martial arts.

Besides, his rate of improvement over the past few days had been extremely slight. Even the system's help had stopped working. Apart from the Stamina Potion's medicinal effects having run out, there was another very important reason...

He lacked professional equipment.

Having tasted the thrill of rapid improvement, Shen Qian could no longer stop.

For someone in his situation, a martial arts hall was the best choice.

Of course, the school's Physical Testing Hall was the truly awesome option. But the school was not his family's property, so he could only settle for the next best thing.

According to the information Shen Qian had looked up, aside from those top-tier private martial arts halls that ordinary people could not gain entry to, large nationwide chain martial arts halls like Jiuzhou could already meet all his needs for the time being.

Following the stone steps that stretched out to the roadside, Shen Qian entered the martial arts hall's main entrance.

There were two young women at the front desk, dressed in simple, elegant training uniforms. Their looks were above average, but their figures were even better, and their smiles were sweet.

"Welcome, honored guest. Please present your membership card." The delicate girl on the left, petite and sporting dimples, came forward to greet him.

"I don't have a card. I came to get one." Shen Qian shook his head. "But I'd like to take a look around first."

"Certainly, honored guest." The girl smiled sweetly. "This way, please. There are a few more guests than usual today, so I'll take you to the reception area to sit for a while first."

The girl led Shen Qian to a reception room nearby, but the moment he entered, Shen Qian frowned.

The spacious reception room was already packed with quite a few people, most of them parents accompanied by their children.

"Are all these people here to get memberships?" Shen Qian hesitated for a moment.

He hated lining up more than anything. His classmates often made plans to visit trendy internet-famous restaurants, but Shen Qian never went. Waiting for hours on end made even the best food lose its appeal.

"Yes, you're also a senior-year student, right?" Seeing Shen Qian's hesitation, the girl hurriedly smiled. "You know the college entrance exams are approaching, so this is our busy season. We really are short-handed at reception... But don't worry, you won't have to wait long."

"Even if you went to another martial arts hall, the situation would be pretty much the same."

The girl's final words convinced Shen Qian. He nodded and found a place to sit.

"My name is Xiao Xuan. If you need anything, just come find me at the front desk." The girl brought Shen Qian a cup of water as well, gave him another sweet smile, then turned and left.

Sipping hot tea, Shen Qian waited quietly while pondering how he could get through the cultural-subject score requirement.

He already had a vague idea, though it still needed to be tested to see whether it would work.

Time passed. People came and went in the reception room, but there were not many people left ahead of Shen Qian in line.

Suddenly, two figures entering the reception room caught Shen Qian's attention.

They were a mother and son. The boy, with a crew cut and dressed head to toe in designer brands, looked very familiar. Shen Qian quickly remembered who he was.

Zhao Xin!

The son of Zhao Guangzhi, Shen Liang's former colleague. Half a month ago, the father and son had come to Shen Qian's home and taken the twenty thousand yuan Shen Qian's parents had scraped together, supposedly to grease the connections needed to get Shen Qian into the military.

He had not expected to run into them here. Shen Qian slapped his forehead, nearly forgetting about this matter.

"I need to get Dad to ask for that money back as soon as possible."

By now, Shen Qian naturally had no need to go through any backdoor connections.