How Could This Be?!

Everyone turned toward the voice, only to see Fang Chen carrying several jin of meat in one hand and two jars of wine in the other.

Old Fang was somewhat surprised by Fang Chen's arrival.

He smiled and asked, "A Chen, what brings you here today? And are you planning to take those things home to eat?"

Fang Chen smiled as well. "Yes. I bought these things to celebrate when I get home. I also wanted to come see what your workplace is like."

A middle-aged man beside them could not help asking, "Young man from the Fang Family, what are you celebrating?"

"I remember there haven't been any festivals lately. I heard Old Fang say that you've gone to study martial arts. That kind of training costs a lot of silver, so you should be saving instead."

The men standing beside Old Fang all nodded, finding the reasoning quite convincing.

After all, meat and wine were not cheap.

How could they afford to eat such things on ordinary days? They only got to enjoy a little meat during festivals.

Now that Fang Chen had bought so many things at once, everyone felt that he was being wasteful!

If he were one of their own children, they would have given him a thorough beating.

Young people who spent money so lavishly would never manage to live well!

Old Fang, however, did not have much of a reaction.

He knew that ever since the matter with Zhao San, Fang Chen had come into possession of a great deal of silver.

It was silver Fang Chen had earned himself, so Old Fang naturally would not ask too many questions.

Still, Old Fang was somewhat curious and expectant about what Fang Chen wanted to celebrate.

"A Chen, what exactly are you celebrating? Could it be that you've achieved something in martial arts?"

The men beside him also turned to look at Fang Chen.

Fang Chen smiled and then said, "Father, I've already broken through to the Skin and Muscle Realm."

Upon hearing this, Old Fang's friends all instinctively refused to believe him.

After all, Old Fang had told them that it had been less than a month since Fang Chen entered the martial arts academy!

He had broken through in less than a month?!

Although the men knew little about the martial path, they understood that practicing martial arts was extremely difficult!

Even the children of wealthy families could not possibly break through so quickly!

They all did manual labor and knew exactly what conditions their own families were in.

They could not even afford meat at every meal, much less precious medicinal herbs to nourish their bodies!

Under such harsh conditions, how could Fang Chen possibly break through in less than a month?!

One of the more outspoken men immediately said, "Young man from the Fang Family, your father works hard to earn money. Even if you just wanted wine and meat, you didn't have to lie to him like this!"

Seeing that someone had spoken first, another man frowned and said, "You child, Old Fang told us earlier that you'd become different from before. Who would've thought you'd still be spouting nonsense? Can't you spare a thought for how hard your father works?"

Another man said angrily, "Hmph, if you were my child, I'd hang you up and beat you!"

At that moment, an angry shout cut off everyone's words.

"Enough! I believe in A Chen's abilities!"

Old Fang frowned as he looked at the others.

"A Chen really is different from before. He's my own child, and I can tell. You don't need to say anything more."

The men exchanged glances and sighed.

Since Old Fang was so certain, they could not say anything more.

Fang Chen felt somewhat annoyed, but he also knew that the men meant well.

He did not argue. Instead, he turned to Old Fang and said with a smile:

"Father, there'll be plenty of wine and meat today!"

Old Fang smiled as well.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled across the ground, stretching the shadows of the two men. Father and son walked home together, grinning from ear to ear.

At that moment,

a steward came running over and asked the few men who remained, "Where's Old Fang? Has he already gone home?"

The men were somewhat puzzled by the steward's arrival. One of them answered:

"My lord, Old Fang's son just came to see him. The two of them left a moment ago."

The steward sighed.

"Forget it. I'll tell him tomorrow."

One of the men asked worriedly, "My lord, what did you want with Old Fang? He didn't do anything wrong, did he?"

Everyone turned their eyes toward the steward.

The steward smiled and said, "Old Fang hasn't done anything wrong. It's his son..."

One of the impatient men interrupted, "What happened to his boy? Did he cause some huge disaster? I knew that kid wouldn't let Old Fang have any peace. All he does is cause trouble for him!"

The steward shouted angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about? Young Master Fang is friends with our Young Gang Leader. If you don't want to work anymore, just say so!"

The impatient man shuddered in fright when he heard this.

"What?! Th-this... how could this be?! Isn't that kid just a..."

He was just about to say it when someone beside him immediately clapped a hand over his mouth.

"You fool, are you still planning to spout nonsense?!"

Only then did the impatient man realize what he had done. Cold sweat poured down his back. He had nearly said the wrong thing again.

The man beside him turned to the steward and said ingratiatingly, "My lord, why were you looking for Old Fang? Is it urgent? I can pass the message on to him tomorrow."

Seeing that the man had a decent attitude, the steward explained:

"Starting tomorrow, Old Fang will be your supervisor. His job will be to oversee whether you're working diligently!"

"He won't have to carry heavy cargo like the rest of you anymore!"

"So be more polite when you see him from now on. If you've had any past grievances with him, you'd better resolve them as soon as possible. Otherwise... heh heh, perhaps one day Old Fang will take a dislike to you and punish you directly!"

The few men present were instantly shaken.

They normally had no grievances with Old Fang.

But they had just berated Fang Chen. Who could say whether Fang Chen would remember this grudge and have Old Fang punish them?

The men immediately regretted their actions. They wished they could slap themselves across the face several times.

Why had they stuck their noses into another family's business?

Now they were in trouble. Old Fang might really make things difficult for them.

The men grew anxious, wondering how they could make amends.

Most importantly, they could not afford to anger Fang Chen.

Going by what he had said, Fang Chen had probably really broken through to the Skin and Muscle Realm.

If he threw a punch at them, they might be beaten to death on the spot.

Not to mention that Fang Chen was actually friends with the Young Gang Leader of the Three Rivers Gang!

If Fang Chen truly held a grudge, how were they supposed to go on living?!

Watching the men tremble with fear, the steward asked suspiciously, "What is it? Did you do something wrong?"