Heaven Rewards Diligence

After Zhou Yan had taken care of everything, he glanced around and asked, "Where are Third Brother and Little Sister?"

"Third Brother went out to play, and Little Sister is asleep in her room," Mother Zhou replied casually.

Zhou Yan felt a faint pang in his heart.

His little sister was sleeping not because she was lazy, but to conserve her energy.

In this era, when food was scarce and there was little oil or fat, everyone needed to eat a great deal just to meet their bodies' needs.

If he ate his fill, Zhou Yan alone could put away more than two jin of grain in one meal, let alone the amount a whole family needed.

For ordinary people, eating their fill was already a luxury.

"Mother, don't hold back on the meat. Cook all of it."

As Zhou Yan left the kitchen, he reminded her.

If he hadn't said anything, he feared Mother Zhou would trim off only a little meat to cook with the vegetables and turn most of it into cured meat to store away.

"I know, I know."

Mother Zhou replied, a little annoyed.

Clearly, without Zhou Yan's reminder, she really had been planning to do just that.

Zhou Yan shook his head helplessly.

He considered himself frugal, but compared with Mother Zhou, he was nothing.

Still, Zhou Yan's reasoning was sound. Children needed nutrition to grow up healthy and fight off illness.

Otherwise, their bodies could never match an adult's, and they would be all too likely to die young.

That was why the child mortality rate in this era was close to forty percent!

Zhou Yan had barely rested when his third younger brother, Zhou Chuan, heard that Second Brother was back and came running home, brimming with excitement.

"Second Brother."

Looking at Zhou Chuan, Zhou Yan smiled and nodded. "You're back. Go wake Little Sister, then wash your hands and get ready to eat. Second Brother brought you something delicious today."

Hearing that, Zhou Chuan cheered.

He knew his second brother always kept his word and often brought home tasty treats.

That was why Second Brother's return was always the happiest time for him.

Watching Zhou Chuan dash into the inner room, Zhou Yan smiled.

To be honest, if he hadn't regularly fed the two little ones, his stored grain would have grown by at least half again.

But what was the point of storing food if not to provide for his family?

In his previous life, he had been an only child and could never have understood this feeling.

In this life, though, he could truly feel the bond of shared blood.

Before long, Zhou Chuan and Zhou Jing came out.

"Second Brother."

The moment Zhou Jing saw Zhou Yan, she called out sweetly.

Zhou Jing was the youngest in the family. She was only nine, yet well-behaved and sensible, and the family's little ray of sunshine.

"Mm, good girl. Get ready to eat." Zhou Yan smiled and patted Zhou Jing's head.

Zhou Jing nodded obediently, a look of affection on her face.

An elder brother was like a father, and to Zhou Jing, Zhou Yan had almost taken their father's place.

"Wow, we're having meat! And it's a big, fatty piece!"

At the sight of the meat, Zhou Chuan's eyes practically lit up.

Zhou Jing's eyes sparkled with delight too.

Neither child reached for the food, though. They only gazed at it longingly, leaving Zhou Yan both comforted and heartbroken.

"Come on, dig in."

Zhou Yan picked up his chopsticks and served Mother Zhou a large piece of meat first.

He knew that if he didn't serve her, she wouldn't eat a single bite of meat even after the meal was over.

Then he served Zhou Chuan and Zhou Jing a large piece each, before adding a piece to his own bowl.

"Let's eat."

The whole family ate happily, their meal filled with laughter and cheerful chatter.

They lived in a shabby little house and had a hard life, but their spirits were rich and content.

After the meal, Zhou Chuan and Zhou Jing helped Mother Zhou wash the dishes and take care of the housework.

Zhou Yan, meanwhile, left home and walked for a while until he reached a more secluded patch of wasteland.

He came to a stop, then abruptly raised both hands and leaned forward, his spine stretching back and forth like a great dragon.

This was the first form of the Five Animal Frolics: the Tiger Pounce!

At the same time, a screen visible only to Zhou Yan appeared before his eyes.

[Familiarity with the Five Animal Frolics +1]

Three years earlier, when Zhou Yan had awakened the memories of his previous life, his system had come with them.

It was called the "Heaven Rewards Diligence" system. Its functions were simple: it could increase proficiency and make any proof permanent.

It was thanks to the system's help that Zhou Yan had managed to keep going after he started pulling carts at the age of thirteen.

[Name: Zhou Yan]

[Age: 16]

[Skills: Cart Pulling (Great Accomplishment 175/1600), Five Animal Frolics (Proficient 89/400), Spring Leg (Minor Accomplishment 267/800)]

Zhou Yan had learned the Five Animal Frolics in his previous life to maintain his health.

As for Spring Leg, nearly every cart puller could learn it. It was called a martial art, but was more like a set of exercises to strengthen the legs and improve one's ability to pull a cart.

True mastery took not only time and effort, but also a great deal of grain and meat to build up one's strength.

Without the "Heaven Rewards Diligence" system, even Zhou Yan would never have achieved real proficiency.

It was thanks to his minor accomplishment in Spring Leg and his great skill at pulling carts that his cart-pulling ability had soared in just three years, making him one of the highest-paid workers at the cart company.

In fact, he was the highest-paid of them all.

He was a discreet man, though. Apart from Mother Zhou, no one knew how much he earned, and he always kept a low profile.

After practicing the Five Animal Frolics once, Zhou Yan loosened the flow of energy and blood throughout his body. Much of his fatigue and many of his old injuries had eased.

Then he began practicing Spring Leg.

Spring Leg was an external martial art. Unlike the health-preserving Five Animal Frolics, the stronger it became, the more damage it did to the legs.

That was all well and good when you were young and full of vitality; you could keep the damage under control.

But once you grew old, the damage became impossible to contain.

External martial arts had another drawback: they depleted your vitality particularly quickly.

Once your vitality declined, not only would you lose nearly all your skill, you would also be left with an overworked, injured body and aches all over.

That was why many people who knew martial arts chose not to practice them.

But Zhou Yan had the Five Animal Frolics to keep his body healthy, and he ate well, too. So he had steadily honed his Spring Leg day by day.

If he went out to make a name for himself in the underworld, he could probably become a minor leader.

But Zhou Yan had no interest in that. He practiced Spring Leg only to protect himself and rarely used it.

[Spring Leg proficiency +3]

[Spring Leg proficiency +1]

[...]

After practicing Spring Leg several times, Zhou Yan felt his blood and energy surging, and his stomach suddenly felt much emptier.

After three years of experience, he knew he couldn't keep training.

Otherwise, he would only harm his body.

So he stopped practicing Spring Leg and did the Five Animal Frolics once before packing up and heading home.

Once home, he quickly washed himself and lay down on the bed.

Within seconds, Zhou Yan had fallen fast asleep.