Money Is Hard to Earn, Martial Arts Are Hard to Learn

Riverbend Town.

At dawn, when the sky was still dim, Chen's Fish Shop.

"This ribbonfish is too small. Two wen."

"Aunt Qin, this ribbonfish is so small—how could I charge you for it? Take it as a gift. Have a look at these black carp. They were just caught, and I specially kept them for you."

"They're a good size. How much?"

"Twenty wen each."

"Twenty wen? Isn't that a little expensive?"

"It isn't cheap, but you aren't short of money. These few black carp were originally meant for the county town. Last week, you said your daughter-in-law was pregnant, so I asked the shopkeeper to save them for you. Black carp are a treasure from head to tail. As the old saying goes, 'Eat black carp, and hold a darling grandson.'"

"Fine, pack them up for me. And give me these ribbonfish too."

"No problem. I'll pack them up for you right away."

A thin, lanky youth swiftly packed the black carp into the vegetable basket the woman handed over. At the end, he also added two lake mussels. Seeing this, the woman smiled even more brightly.

"Oh, Sister Zhang, coming early really paid off. These two carp are incredibly fresh..."

"Uncle Li, you're here to buy fish yourself today? You really dote on Auntie. What kind of fish do you want? Just say the word..."

"Son, the usual. I'll scale them for you."

The youth grabbed the fish with one hand and used scissors to scrape off the scales with the other. His movements were astonishingly nimble, and he did not even look at what his hands were doing.

"Little Chen, have you considered finding a wife?"

"It's still too early."

"Too early? At your age, you should already be thinking about it. When your uncle was your age, Little Treasure had already been born."

"Uncle, the scales are done. I put them in your vegetable basket."

"That fast? Little Chen, you really are quick." The middle-aged man wanted to chat a little longer, but seeing the youth take another customer's fish, he left with his vegetable basket, still reluctant to go.

Half an hour later, the three baskets of fish before the youth were all sold out.

The fish shop's shopkeeper came over, puffing on his dry tobacco pipe. "Little Chen, what do you think? Want to come work here as a shop assistant? I'll talk to the owner. I'll give you ten wen more per month than a newly hired assistant."

"Shopkeeper Yang, I'm still learning martial arts at the Martial Hall." The youth politely refused.

"Learning martial arts isn't that easy. Without money at home, you won't get anywhere. Work here as an assistant for now. If you do well, I'll recommend you to the owner. You could even become a shopkeeper someday."

"Thank you for your kind offer. If the Martial Hall eliminates me, I'll come to you."

The youth wiped the fish slime from his hands. His skin had peeled from scraping scales, but he still accepted the fifteen copper coins the shopkeeper handed him, rejecting him in the same gentle tone.

"You've got a good head for business. Why bother learning martial arts? Is that something an ordinary commoner can learn?"

Shopkeeper Yang watched the youth leave and sighed.

Without money, don't learn martial arts. Otherwise, you'll end up with nothing.

"Shopkeeper, Lin Chen really doesn't know how to appreciate kindness. He only came up with a way to scrape scales, yet you admire him so much that you even offered him a job, and he still refused."

The shop assistant was quite dissatisfied with Shopkeeper Yang's appreciation of Lin Chen. He could do this work too, and he could scrape scales even faster than Lin Chen.

"What do you know?" Shopkeeper Yang turned around and glared at the assistant irritably. "Do you think it's merely scraping scales? The other fish shops copied the method, but they still can't sell as well as ours. That is his ability."

Shopkeeper Yang saw it clearly. What made Lin Chen impressive was that he turned the fish buyers into returning customers.

But the assistant had been right about one thing. Shopkeeper Yang did admire Lin Chen and had hoped Lin Chen would work as an assistant at the fish shop. Yet although Lin Chen's answer today had been tactful, he clearly had no intention of becoming an assistant. So this odd job could no longer be given to him.

Ten wen was not much, but it was an extra expense. If the work were given to an assistant at the shop, those ten wen would not need to be spent.

He was only a shopkeeper and still had to give the owner an explanation. Besides, this was also for Lin Chen's protection.

After leaving the fish shop, Lin Chen sighed. He could no longer continue doing the odd job of gutting fish.

Once was acceptable, twice was possible, but three times was too much.

He had refused Shopkeeper Yang three times in a row. Shopkeeper Yang probably would not let him continue doing odd jobs selling fish.

Although Lin Chen could sell more fish than the other assistants when he worked, Shopkeeper Yang was only a shopkeeper—in plain terms, a senior wage earner. The work could clearly be given to an assistant, yet he still had to give Lin Chen ten wen. As time went on, it would be difficult for him to explain it to the owner.

Today's inquiry had been giving Lin Chen one final chance.

Even if Shopkeeper Yang had not asked today, Lin Chen would have stopped after a few more visits at most.

The shopkeepers of the other fish shops nearby were already looking at him with some hostility.

If he were a fish-shop assistant, there would be nothing strange about being good at selling fish. He would be one of their own, relying on his ability.

But he was merely someone doing odd jobs, stealing their business. Naturally, he would arouse their resentment.

Lin Chen shook his head. Over the past few months, he had done quite a few odd jobs in town, leaving after working each one for about a month. This was precisely why.

Lin Chen returned to the Martial Hall in town.

On the Martial Hall's Training Ground, many youths were practicing their fists, their shouts rising one after another without pause.

"Chenzi, you're back."

A youth on the Training Ground saw Lin Chen return, leaned over, and lowered his voice. "This is already the final month. If your strength doesn't reach two hundred pounds soon, you'll be eliminated. I still have some money here if you need it. Take it for now. Stop taking outside work and letting it interfere with your martial training."

Warmth spread through Lin Chen's heart. "Don't worry. If I really run short, I won't stand on ceremony with you."

The youth beside him had come from the same village. The two had played together since childhood and were the kind of close brothers who had shared everything.

"Your grandfather really is something. He gave your eldest cousin money to learn martial arts, but not you." Gu Fei muttered.

"The family has already spent a lot of money on my eldest cousin's martial training."

Lin Chen felt somewhat helpless as well. He had crossed over too late.

He had only arrived in this world half a year ago, while his eldest cousin had already been learning martial arts for two years. All the family's savings had gone toward his cousin's training. The only reason Lin Chen had been able to come to the Martial Hall was because he had fought for it with his life.

He had to learn martial arts.

That was because this world had no path of studying and taking the imperial examinations. It was a martial world where strength reigned supreme.

Every high official and noble person was a martial artist.

"Everything else is inferior; only learning martial arts is supreme."

Yet the cost of learning martial arts was extremely high. The Martial Hall's tuition alone was ten taels of silver. Fortunately, Lin Chen's Lakeside Village had produced an extraordinary Martial Scholar ten years ago, earning the village the privilege of free martial training.

The free period lasted ten years. This was the final year.

Lin Chen knew very well that if he missed this year, learning martial arts would become even harder. Earning ten taels of silver was no easy matter, and the Martial Hall only accepted students under sixteen. By next year, he would no longer qualify.

After absorbing the original body's memories and learning the situation, he had threatened his grandfather with his life until he was allowed to learn martial arts. In the end, his grandfather made an agreement with him.

If he could pass the assessment after six months at the Martial Hall, the family would support him in continuing his martial training. If he failed, he would give up learning martial arts.

During those six months, however, his grandfather would give him no money. At the beginning of the term, he had only sent several sacks of grain to the Martial Hall in exchange for meal tickets.

Lin Chen knew what his grandfather was thinking. Without money, he could not eat meat to replenish his qi and blood. If he failed to meet the Martial Hall's six-month assessment requirements and was eliminated and sent home, he would no longer be able to make a fuss about continuing his martial training.

He knew the agreement was unfair to him, but he still accepted it.

If he had not agreed, his grandfather absolutely would not have let him attend the Martial Hall.

He had no choice!

Lin Hui from his Second Uncle's family had also made a fuss about learning martial arts in the past. His grandfather had directly scolded him and refused to even give him the chance to enroll in the Martial Hall.

Children from Lakeside Village could enter the Martial Hall for free, but they had to obtain the family head's approval. The Lin Family had not yet divided its household, so the authority of family head lay in his grandfather's hands.

Without his grandfather's consent, he could not enter the Martial Hall.

Only after entering the Martial Hall did Lin Chen realize that practicing martial arts was even more difficult than he had imagined.

Without money, it really was hard to move forward.

The fist technique taught by the Martial Hall was Warm Sun Fist. It had no practical combat value and was more like a kind of calisthenic fist technique. Its purpose was to make their qi and blood flow more smoothly and accelerate the rate at which their qi and blood grew.

But there was a prerequisite: nutrition had to keep up. It was not enough to eat one's fill; one had to eat well too.

Beef at the cafeteria cost fifteen wen per pound. Some students ate it at every meal, but Lin Chen had not bought it even once.

Even so, he still had not given up.

One reason was that, having lived two lives, he knew clearly that learning martial arts was his only chance to rise above the ordinary in this world. He absolutely could not give up.

The other reason was the System Panel that had appeared when he crossed over.

Name: Lin Chen

Occupation: Martial Artist

Qi and Blood: 802/3000

Destiny: [When the Water Flows, the Channel is Formed]: Martial Arts First Realm, perseverance, gradual progress, Break Through Like Bamboo, free from the bottleneck's obstruction.

Having read many webnovels in his previous life, he understood that this was the cheat ability crossing over had brought him.

This System Panel was the motivation that kept him going.

Whenever he saw other students eating great mouthfuls of meat while he himself ate free vegetables, he would bring up the panel and look at the changing qi-and-blood value. Then he would be filled with motivation once more.

Though my meals contain no meat, I make hope my dish.

Though my qi and blood increase little, they have not stopped advancing.

What was more, his destiny was When the Water Flows, the Channel is Formed. From the explanation of the destiny, he understood how powerful it was.

In the countless martial-arts novels he had read in his previous life, how many prodigies had been trapped at the barriers between realms, unable to break through? He had no bottleneck, so he could overtake others later.

The future was bright, though the road was winding. Once he crossed this winding stretch, a bright future would await him.

Noon.

The students on the Training Ground left in twos and threes, while Lin Chen continued practicing Warm Sun Fist.

Gu Fei stayed beside him.

Only after another quarter of an hour did Lin Chen finally withdraw his fists.

If he had no money to buy meat, he could only practice more.

Lin Chen was very grateful for his System Panel, which allowed him to see his qi-and-blood growth clearly.

When he had first entered the Martial Hall, his qi and blood had been 500 points. As long as he ate his fill, his qi and blood increased by one point each day.

Lin Chen knew exactly where that one point of qi and blood came from.

At his age, as long as he ate his fill, his qi and blood would naturally increase.

After testing Warm Sun Fist for several days, Lin Chen had discovered a pattern. Following the academy's requirements of practicing fists for four shichen each day, his qi and blood increased by five points every three days. After subtracting the three points from natural growth, Warm Sun Fist contributed two additional points.

But if he practiced for five shichen each day, his qi and blood increased by two points daily, totaling six points in three days.

The students from well-off families did not care about that extra point of qi and blood. But to him, one more point meant one more step forward, bringing him a little closer to reaching the assessment goal.

By the time Lin Chen and Gu Fei reached the cafeteria, some students had already finished eating and were leaving. There were only a few people left at the serving windows.

The students gave their grain to the Martial Hall and received the corresponding number of pounds of rice in return.

Vegetables were free.

Meat dishes cost money.

As usual, after getting rice and vegetables, Lin Chen walked over to the bucket holding the beef broth.

The cafeteria's beef broth was quite distinctive. The slices of beef practically melted in the mouth. But because it was free, no student would complain.

Seeing that the broth in the bucket was nearly gone, Lin Chen filled a bowl for himself. He came to the cafeteria later than usual not only so he could practice a little longer, but also to mooch a bowl of free beef broth.

The cafeteria's beef broth was placed beside the meat-dish window. Although it was free, it was actually provided as an accompaniment for students who bought meat. The amount was brewed by the kitchen according to the number of pounds of beef.

If someone rushed over as soon as mealtime began and took a free bowl of beef broth, the students who came later to buy meat would have none left and would inevitably cause a commotion.

Only after most of the students had finished eating, when there was leftover beef broth, could one mooch a bowl without the cafeteria staff objecting.

"You mooch the cafeteria's free beef broth every day. Are you really here to learn martial arts? Anyone who didn't know better would think your family had no food and that you came to the Martial Hall to freeload."

Lin Chen carried his meal back to the table. A student at the neighboring table spoke sarcastically.

Lin Chen ignored the taunt.

"Zhang Tao, what are you saying?" Gu Fei slammed his hand on the table.

"Am I wrong? You can't even afford beef. What are you learning martial arts for?" The other student glared back without the slightest fear.

"There's no need to argue with him."

Lin Chen held Gu Fei back. The Martial Hall forbade students from fighting or verbally abusing one another in private, and the punishment was severe.

He swept the other student a cold glance. If his cheat ability had been a genius-type system, then today he would have made Zhang Tao understand what it meant to have already earned a death sentence.

Unfortunately, it was not.

Quite a few students in the cafeteria heard the quarrel and turned their gazes over. When they saw Lin Chen, several of them wore mocking expressions.

Lin Chen was fairly well-known in the Martial Hall.

Not because his results were good, but because he was stingy!

Every day, he mooched free beef broth and vegetables.

In the words of the people who worked in the cafeteria, in all these years, Lin Chen was the only student who had not made them any money and had instead cost them quite a bit.

"Chenzi, I'm full. You can eat this beef for me. Otherwise, it'll only go to waste."

Gu Fei pushed the half plate of remaining beef toward Lin Chen. Lin Chen knew Gu Fei had deliberately taken extra so he could give it to him, but he had always refused in the past.

"Fine. Then I won't stand on ceremony."

"I really am full..." Gu Fei froze mid-sentence. In the past, whenever he used the excuse of splitting the beef with Lin Chen, Lin Chen always refused. He had instinctively assumed Lin Chen would refuse again and was preparing to persuade him further, but he never expected Lin Chen to accept this time.

So Zhang Tao's mockery had actually worked?