Who Doesn't Have a Rich Relative

Learn martial arts!

As these words left Lin Yan's lips, the atmosphere in the courtyard shifted instantly.

His aunt, Liu, wiped her wet hands on her apron, looking at a loss; she never could have imagined that her nephew would express a desire to learn martial arts.

"Mother, I got beaten up."

Just as Liu was struggling to find a response, a small, unruly figure pushed the door open and walked in.

Lin Mo's eyes were red and puffy, and several black streaks of grime smeared his face—clearly the remnants of tears wiped away by hands no cleaner than coal.

Though the little guy was shouting at his mother, his gaze remained fixed on Lin Yan.

The brothers were very close; whenever he was bullied in the past, his older brother would be the first to help him exact revenge.

But today, Lin Yan did not move.

Seeing his mother ignore him and his brother remain indifferent, Lin Mo felt a surge of grievance and burst into loud, wailing sobs.

Liu glared at him. "Wash your hands, then go eat. If you cry again, you're going without dinner."

The crying stopped abruptly.

Lin Mo's eyes darted around, sensing the shift in the atmosphere. He sniffled, walked to the well, obediently washed his hands, and headed toward the main room.

"Yan'er, why the sudden desire to learn martial arts?"

Liu looked at her nephew, needing to be certain that no one outside had been trying to swindle him.

"Aunt, while I was at the shop, I heard a customer mention that a county in Qingzhou Prefecture suffered a disaster. Grain prices skyrocketed several times over, and many families that were once well-off found it difficult even to survive. Guangping County has been blessed with good weather these past years, but there's no telling when a flood or drought might strike."

"Even if disaster hits, if the family stores enough grain in advance, we should be able to scrape by. Isn't that how everyone has always managed?"

Liu didn't quite understand why her nephew was bringing this up, or what it had to do with martial arts.

"Aunt, even if we store enough grain to survive, life will only be harder than before. If it continues for several years, it will become impossible to even stay alive."

Lin Yan's words turned Liu's face pale. "That... that is the heavens devouring men. Surely... surely the heavens are merciful and wouldn't let it reach that point. Besides, our county has had good weather for years."

"Aunt, our county hasn't had any disasters, so logically, even if grain prices didn't drop, they shouldn't be rising. Yet, the prices at the rice shop keep climbing. It's because there are more people. One family has two sons, those two sons have four grandsons... but the land remains the same, and the grain doesn't increase. With more people and less food, prices are bound to rise."

Lin Yan watched the lingering confusion on his aunt's face and sighed inwardly.

It wasn't that his aunt was dim-witted; it was simply that her education was different. She didn't understand the impact of productivity failing to keep pace with population growth.

Liu certainly didn't understand what "productivity" meant, but she understood what her nephew was saying.

Taking her own maiden family as an example, her generation had four siblings, but the nieces and nephews combined now numbered over a dozen. The amount of grain needed had indeed increased.

"Aunt, the money we earn in a month can buy three bags of rice now, but in the future, it might only be two. If a natural disaster truly strikes, I fear we won't even be able to afford one."

Lin Yan's expression was earnest. "In all the years of major disasters in this county, the only ones unaffected are the families of martial artists. If our Lin family wants our ancestral line to continue, we have no choice but to learn martial arts and become martial artists."

The continuation of the ancestral line was a matter of utmost importance to the common folk of this world.

As Lin Yan expected, the moment he mentioned the line being severed, his aunt's expression turned frantic.

"Right, Big Brother should learn martial arts! Once he learns, no one will dare bully me anymore."

Lin Mo appeared at the doorway, rice bowl in hand, his eyes shining. "The only reason Wang Dachui dares to hit me is because his sister married a martial artist."

"Go back and eat your food! All you do is cause trouble and get into fights outside. Have you not been beaten enough to stop your skin from itching?"

Hearing her son's words, Liu felt a surge of anger. Over the years, to honor her late brother-in-law and sister-in-law, she had been strict with Yan'er, but she had been somewhat negligent in disciplining Mo'er.

"I... I didn't start it. Wang Dachui and the others said you were a widow, and... and they said Big Brother sleeps in the same bed as you at night."

Liu's face went white, and Lin Yan's expression darkened. "Little Brother, shut up."

Idle gossip was unavoidable everywhere.

The lower the social standing, the more prevalent it became; people relied on spreading such rumors and painting others as wretched just to gain a fleeting sense of superiority.

"Yan'er, come with me."

After a long silence, Liu made her decision and walked toward the side room on the left.

Aside from the main room, the Lin house had two side rooms. Lin Mo currently lived in the main room with his aunt, while Lin Yan lived in the right side room. The left side room was used to enshrine the spirit tablets of the Lin ancestors.

Following his aunt into the left side room, he saw the tablets of the Lin ancestors and his own parents.

Liu first picked up the incense sticks from the altar, lit three, and placed them in the burner. She carefully straightened the slightly crooked burner before speaking. "Yan'er, your grandparents had three sons and one daughter, but your second uncle and third aunt died in childhood, leaving only your father and your uncle."

"Your grandmother passed away early, and your grandfather followed in the second year after your father and mother married. Your father was only eighteen then, and your uncle was just nine. On his deathbed, your grandfather charged your father with the task of raising your uncle."

"An elder brother is like a father. Your father was very responsible, and your mother was a wonderful sister-in-law. To raise your uncle, they didn't rush to have children of their own. Only after your uncle was grown and married me did your mother finally conceive and give birth to you."

Liu's face softened with nostalgia. "When I first married your uncle, I didn't conceive for the first two years. I endured plenty of gossip from the neighbors, who called me a hen that couldn't lay eggs. It was your mother who stood up for me, scolding those gossiping women and constantly comforting me. Later, when I finally became pregnant, your uncle was clumsy and didn't know how to care for anyone. It was your mother who took care of me through the ten months of pregnancy, the labor, and the confinement."

"Your uncle once told me that in his heart, your mother was not just a sister-in-law, but a mother."

"It wasn't just your uncle who felt that way; in my heart, she was the same."

Listening to his aunt's story, Lin Yan finally understood why she had been so kind and attentive to him all these years.

His aunt and uncle had repaid the kindness they owed his parents by pouring all their love onto him.

"I had originally planned for you to use your literacy to find a steady job, something that wouldn't require backbreaking manual labor. In another year, I would have arranged a marriage for you. Once you had a wife and children, I could finally face your parents. But Yan, you want to study martial arts. It's not that I don't want you to, but I'm afraid... afraid that if you fail, you'll have wasted your time, and I'll have failed your parents and the promise I made to your uncle before he was conscripted."

Liu watched Lin Yan intently; the path she described was the one ordinary people like them walked, a life where the future could be clearly seen.

Practicing martial arts, however, held too many variables.

"But the logic you spoke with today shows that you have truly grown up and become sensible."

Liu felt a sense of relief, yet it was tinged with helplessness. "Studying martial arts costs a great deal of money. The enrollment fees for those martial arts schools are dozens of taels at a time. We don't have enough money, and the house your parents left you cannot be sold."

The house left by his eldest brother and sister-in-law absolutely could not be sold; this was Liu's bottom line.

"Aunt, your nephew won't be going to a martial arts school."

Liu was stunned. If he wasn't going to a school, where would he learn?

"Aunt, the Fourth Aunt at the Cai Mansion must have martial artists in her household. Could we ask her for help?"

From the moment he first spoke to his aunt, Lin Yan had already mapped out how he would step onto the path of martial arts.

Although the Lin family was ordinary, what family didn't have a wealthy relative?

In the original owner's memories, the Third Mistress of the Cai family was that wealthy relative.

The mother of the Third Mistress of the Cai Mansion was his grandmother's sister, making this Third Mistress his cousin-aunt.

It was a pity that both sisters had passed away early, and the relationship between the two families had grown distant. Lin Yan had never met this cousin-aunt in his memories, but his aunt would visit the Cai Mansion every holiday to pay her respects and offer gifts.

Lin Yan could guess his aunt's intention in doing so; maintaining this kinship wasn't about gaining anything from the Cai family, but merely a precaution against future misfortune.

A widow raising two children might one day need this connection if she ever encountered a problem she couldn't solve on her own.

Liu looked at the nephew before her, feeling a sudden, strange sense of unfamiliarity.

From the moment Yan spoke of learning martial arts to his analysis of rising grain prices and the growing population—where grain was expensive and human life was cheap—his words had been clear and logical. How could an eighteen-year-old boy speak like this?

What surprised her even more was that Yan had actually thought of seeking help from the Cai Mansion.

She had visited the Cai Mansion during holidays to maintain that thin thread of kinship, hoping it would serve as a lifeline if the family ever faced a catastrophe.

Yet, she had never spoken of this to Yan. How did he know?

Or had this child been observing in secret and keeping it all in his heart?

Liu's lips trembled slightly, her heart a whirlwind of complex emotions.

She felt relieved that Yan had grown up and developed his own ideas, yet shocked that this change had come so suddenly.

Had he become a different person overnight?

His speech and actions even carried a hint of his late father's shadow.

Could it truly be the spirits of his parents protecting him from above?

"Aunt?" Lin Yan called out, noticing her daze.

"Ah... right." Liu snapped back to reality and took a deep breath. "Since you've made up your mind, I will take you to the Cai Mansion tomorrow. But the Cai Mansion is a prominent household with many rules. Once we are there, you are not to speak out of turn or act improperly."

"Your nephew understands."

Liu nodded and turned to look at the spirit tablets on the altar, whispering silently in her heart: Eldest Brother, Sister-in-law, do you see this? Yan has grown up, even more sensible than you could have imagined. If your spirits are watching, you must protect him...

"Yan, offer incense to the Lin ancestors and your parents. We will head to the Cai Mansion first thing tomorrow morning." Liu steadied herself, her tone far firmer than before.

Lying on the bed, Lin Yan couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't because the bed was too hard, but because he was far too excited.

His previous life had been too ordinary, bordering on mediocre.

In this life, he possessed a golden finger and the chance to touch the world of martial arts; it would be a miracle if he could sleep.

Even in his past life, he had harbored dreams of martial arts as a youth, wielding wooden sticks and striking at roadside weeds.

Since he couldn't sleep, he might as well ponder his golden finger.

"System?"

"Master System, are you asleep?"

"Brother Tree, are you also awake?"

"Father Tree."

The next day.

Lin Yan followed his aunt to the South District.

Compared to the dilapidation of the North District, the South District was lined with bustling streets; whether it was the pedestrians or the vendors, their vitality was simply incomparable to the residents of the North District.

The two arrived at the entrance of a three-courtyard residence in an alleyway. Though it was called an alley, it was actually wider than the street where the Lin family lived.

Cai Mansion.

Liu stated their purpose to the gatekeeper, who led them into the mansion, brought them to a side hall in the front courtyard, and served them tea.

"Please sit for a moment, the Third Mistress will be here shortly."

Liu did not sit, and naturally, Lin Yan did not sit either.

Before long, footsteps echoed from behind a side screen, and two figures emerged.

The woman walking in front had a graceful figure and fair skin. With her attire, if she were in the modern era, she would undoubtedly have a "young stepmother" aesthetic, inevitably triggering a barrage of comments like "Mom, kill me" on the screen.

Lin Yan only glanced at her once before lowering his head.

According to what his aunt had said earlier, this cousin was the same age as her, yet judging solely by their appearances, anyone would think his aunt was nearly a full cycle older than this cousin.

Wealth nourishes the person; that saying was indeed true.

"Mistress, this is my nephew, the eldest grandson of the Lin family, Lin Yan."

Liu took the initiative to speak, then looked at Lin Yan: "Yan, hurry and greet your Fourth Aunt."

"Nephew greets Fourth Aunt." Lin Yan performed a junior's salute.

Li Min sat in the main seat and raised a hand: "Good child. Cui'er, go to the kitchen and get some refreshments."

After instructing the maid, Li Min looked at Liu with a tone of mock reproach: "Liu, I told you long ago to bring your aunt's grandson to see me, yet you dragged it out until now."

"Mistress, Yan was young and didn't understand etiquette before. Since prominent figures of the city frequent your mansion, I didn't dare to cause you any embarrassment."

Hearing Liu's words, Li Min smiled. Although Liu's words were meant to flatter, she loved hearing them nonetheless.

Unlike other relatives of the family, Liu did not have crude or unbearable manners that would truly shame her.

The two chatted about household affairs for a while, but once the servants brought the pastries, Li Min changed the subject: "Is there something you need, bringing Yan to visit this time?"

Li Min knew clearly that since Liu had brought her nephew over, she must be asking for something, and it surely concerned this nephew.

Judging by his age, he was likely at the age to take a wife; was it that they didn't have enough for the bride price and wanted to borrow money?

Considering that Liu was sensible and knew how to make people feel comfortable, she didn't mind lending some silver.

"Mistress, my husband went off to perform corvée labor and there has been no news since. Now that things are getting increasingly chaotic in the North District, I wanted to ask if Yan could learn some martial arts from the mansion's guards, so that in the future, our family won't be bullied by others."

Liu's voice was miserable, and Li Min sighed inwardly as she thought of the Lin family's situation.

No news from corvée labor meant he had lost his life.

The Lin family now consisted only of Liu, a widow, raising two children; life in the North District was indeed difficult.

Very well, for the sake of the gifts Liu had sent in the past, she would help her out.

"A family does indeed need a man who can shoulder the burden so they won't be bullied. However, the mansion's guards were all personally hired by the Master; it is not something a woman like me can command. I will ask the Master about this when he returns. You two shall stay for lunch at the mansion today."

"Many thanks, Mistress. Yan, hurry and thank your Fourth Aunt."

"Nephew thanks Fourth Aunt."