Thirty-Three Bamboo Tallies

He took out a washed-faded coarse hemp outfit from his bundle and put it on. After leaving his room to wash up, his uncle-in-law was already nowhere to be seen.

Selling flatbreads was no easy task. Before dawn, one had to get up to knead dough and prepare fillings, then head out carrying a load to catch the morning market before the Rabbit Hour.

His aunt worked at a dyehouse and was preparing to leave as well. Pointing at the pot on the stove, she lowered her voice.

"A-Yuan, there are flatbreads left in the pot. The big one is yours."

Chen Yuan nodded and softly agreed.

At the moment, only Xiaoyu was still asleep at home. But working odd jobs at the Gu Mansion, she likely would not get to sleep in either.

Every day began with hard labor.

Lifting the lid from the pot, Chen Yuan found the fragrant flatbread still warm. He took a bite. It was soft and delicious—and filled with pork.

His gaze flickered, his feelings complicated.

At his biological father's home, meat was never his to eat. Yet his uncle-in-law and aunt had deliberately saved him a pork-filled flatbread...

After finishing it in a few bites, Chen Yuan headed out beneath the yolk-yellow morning sun, walking toward Hengjiang Wharf.

Training in martial arts cost money. He would earn what he could, one day at a time.

As the sun rose and set, and the rippling light upon the river gradually dimmed, it was time to finish work again.

Chen Yuan gathered up his shirt and wrung out streams of sweat. They pattered onto the wooden planks, after which he lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

As usual, he stood near the front of the line. This time, he handed over thirty-three bamboo tallies and received twenty-seven copper coins.

"Good work." The foreman gave Chen Yuan another look, his impression of the young man deepening.

The wharf teemed with people, but there were not many young laborers as capable as him.

Chen Yuan lowered his head in acknowledgment while swiftly putting away the copper coins.

Having decided to leave last night, he had simply eaten his fill. Several chunks of meat had greatly restored his vigor, and coupled with the pork flatbread that morning, he had been full of energy today.

Today, he did not wait for Zhang Tieniu and Liu Dachun. After greeting them and saying he had something to do, he left directly.

Watching Chen Yuan's shadow stretch longer and longer in the setting sun, Liu Dachun spoke with faint melancholy.

"Niunzi, did you hear? A-Yuan fell out with his family yesterday. They say he's already cut ties with them. That wicked mother of his was cursing up a storm at the morning market at daybreak."

Zhang Tieniu stood with his hands on his hips, exhaustion written across his face, and shook his head.

"I asked A-Yuan about it at noon. His parents really aren't human. They took all the money he'd painstakingly saved, and they even wanted to squeeze every last coin from his wages at the wharf—all so that bastard Chen Kai could train in martial arts. If it were me, I'd have fought them on the spot."

"So that's what happened." Liu Dachun clicked his tongue twice. "I said long ago that his biased old man would never support him learning martial arts. I never expected it to be even worse than that. Now A-Yuan ought to have given up on them..."

Working at the wharf, it was considered good to save two qian of silver a month. Even the cheapest Martial Academy cost four or five taels of silver.

Even if everything went smoothly, it would take two years. By then, A-Yuan would already be nineteen, long past the golden age for learning martial arts.

Then Liu Dachun lowered his voice in warning. "Niunzi, if A-Yuan brings up borrowing money during this time, you'd better keep your wits about you."

If he borrowed money to train in martial arts, then it would most likely be a loan never repaid.

Zhang Tieniu nodded, his expression complicated. "I understand."

It was not that he did not consider A-Yuan a friend. But lending him money to learn martial arts was no different from harming him.

Even he wanted to enter a Martial Hall alongside A-Yuan, but in this world, the slightest ripple could crush a person's dreams.

"The Gu Family's selection is set for tomorrow?" Upon returning to his aunt's home, Chen Yuan learned the news from Cheng Xiaoyu.

Cheng Xiaoyu bobbed her head, speaking with a little excitement. "Yes, Brother Yuan. Miss said it herself. If they really find someone talented, then with the Gu Family's full support, they might even marry one of their own young ladies to him!"

Chen Yuan did not dare hope for too much. "It would already be enough if I caught the Gu Family's eye and received their support in training martial arts."

Cheng Xiaoyu clenched her fists and encouraged him.

"Brother Yuan, do your best! You can definitely do it!"

In the blink of an eye, it was another morning. Chen Yuan rose early. Though he had suffered a little insomnia the night before, he was still full of spirit.

He checked the panel:

[Comprehension: 10]

[Bone Structure: 28]

[Cultivation: None]

[Technique: None]

[Dao of Survival Points: 10]

[Evaluation: Concealing your strength and keeping a low profile, bearing no ill will toward others, and understanding the principle of hiding one's brilliance while biding one's time—you have already glimpsed the doorway to the Dao of Survival. Dao of Survival Points +2 daily]

Nothing had happened yesterday, so his Dao of Survival Points had increased by 2 as usual.

Having gathered ten points again, Chen Yuan added them to his bone structure once more. The number 28 flickered and became 29.

At the same instant, his body underwent a subtle change. It felt tingly and numb, with a faintly exhilarating ache.

After washing up, his aunt Huang Juan brought over a new set of clothes and said with a smile.

"A-Yuan, put this on. We ought to look a little more presentable when we go out."

Chen Yuan nodded, committing every scrap of kindness to his heart.

After returning to his room and changing, he indeed looked much more respectable. Though it was still coarse hemp cloth, it was clean and tidy, far better than his patched and mended clothes.

"Aunt, I'm setting off." Chen Yuan smiled.

As he watched his aunt carefully smooth out his collar, he thought, How was she any different from my own mother?

"Go on. Don't be nervous."

Chen Yuan nodded and stepped firmly over the threshold, heading toward the Gu Family in the outer city.

Unlike Hundred Flower Lane on the outskirts, the farther inward he went, the more he saw shops standing row upon row on both sides of the long streets, their upturned eaves linked together.

The morning market was even more bustling, and merely passing through it, he could smell the tempting aromas.

He hurried along with his head down. Following his memories and the directions of passersby, he soon arrived at the entrance to the Gu Mansion.

A man in a short jacket stood at the entrance. Seeing Chen Yuan approach, he narrowed his eyes and questioned him. "Here for the selection? How old are you?"

"Seventeen." Chen Yuan cupped his fist and answered.

"A little old... Go in." The man waved him through.

"Thank you." Chen Yuan let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, he had not been stopped by the age requirement.

He thought sixteen was probably the best age.

Entering the Gu Mansion, he followed the directions to the Martial Arts Arena in the front courtyard. Three or four dozen people were already waiting in the broad grounds, all of them young men.

After asking around, Chen Yuan learned that the Gu Family only accepted those aged fifteen to eighteen. The selection would begin at around nine in the morning.

He looked up at the sky and estimated there were still two quarters of an hour before it began, so he found a place to sit and wait.

At the same time, he observed the people present and found that most wore plain clothes and had thin frames.

That was only natural. Those who could afford tuition would not humble themselves before the Gu Family.

After all, there was no free lunch under heaven. If the Gu Family sponsored you, they naturally wanted something in return.

Most who came here were poor children hoping to gamble on a chance.

"Brother Chen, I heard that only one or two out of every ten or twenty people have D-Grade Bone Structure, while Lower D-Grade Bone Structure appears in one out of every three. I wonder what standards the Gu Family uses to select talent. Sigh."

The voice came from beside him. The speaker was rather familiar and easygoing, but his brows were furrowed in worry.

Clearly, he was deeply anxious about the coming selection.

Chen Yuan noticed that he was the man he had spoken to earlier, Sun Chengjie.

Chen Yuan nodded slightly. "We're just here to try our luck. There's nothing to lose, and we even get our bone structure examined for free. There's no need to worry."

Sun Chengjie gave a bitter smile. "Brother Chen, you really can take things in stride. My father said that if they can't find anything special in me, then I should go home and honestly farm the land... Sigh."

Bone structure could not determine everything. It only meant that those with better bone structure had a higher chance of becoming successful.

But for children from poor families, bone structure was their only stepping stone through the door.

Chen Yuan sat quietly. Still, it would be a lie to say he was not nervous. He did not know what standards the Gu Family had.

If one's bone structure had to reach 30 points, he might have a seventy or eighty percent chance.