"Sheng'er, you've become a disciple of the martial arts academy? Where did you get the money for the tuition fee? You mustn't have stolen anything from the manor! You absolutely mustn't!"
Wang Sheng's mother, Madam Han, had been cooking when she heard his words. She suddenly became extremely nervous, her face filled with panic. She hurried over, grabbed Wang Sheng's hand, tears welling in her eyes as she kept asking.
Stealing from Li Manor could truly get someone beaten to death.
"You little bastard! I'll beat you to death! You dared to steal!"
Father Wang was thoroughly drunk, rambling about beating him, yet he could barely remain standing.
"It was a reward from Fourth Madam! I saved up the reward money and enrolled as a disciple of the martial arts academy."
Wang Sheng said.
This tuition fee came from two sources. First, Fourth Madam had given him ten taels of silver to compensate and placate him. Second, over the past half month, he had satisfied Fourth Madam well enough to receive some additional rewards.
"As long as it wasn't stolen, as long as it wasn't stolen, that's good, that's good!"
Madam Han believed him, and the tension immediately drained from her face as she murmured to herself.
She had been so frightened that she was drenched in sweat.
Suddenly, she quietly pulled a black piece of broken silver from her waist and stuffed it into Wang Sheng's hand.
"Don't let your father see it. Sheng'er, buy yourself something good to eat outside. Practicing martial arts must be hard. If it doesn't work out, then come home."
Madam Han secretly glanced at Father Wang, who had passed out drunk on the bed. Afraid he would hear, she lowered her voice and spoke softly.
Wang Sheng clenched the broken silver in his hand, his expression complicated.
He truly was a transmigrator, but after half a month together, he had also seen Madam Han's wholehearted love and care.
All the household money had been spent by Father Wang on drinking and socializing. Madam Han had always lacked her own opinions and obeyed Father Wang in everything. Every month, Father Wang collected the copper coins issued by Li Manor.
Madam Han had likely saved this half-tael piece of silver one copper coin at a time by taking on odd jobs. She must have been saving this silver for Wang Sheng in the first place.
"Mother, I will definitely take you out of Li Manor and let you live a good life."
Wang Sheng said.
Since he had taken possession of this body, there was no harm in doing what he could.
Madam Han had already hurried back to her cooking. Hearing Wang Sheng's words, she did not take them seriously and merely answered casually.
Several chicken bones were simmering in the pot, mixed with rice bran and a little sorghum flour.
"I mean it!"
Wang Sheng said helplessly.
He watched Madam Han ladle out two bowls of rice-bran porridge with chicken bones still clinging with shreds of meat, giving them to him and Father Wang, while she continued to eat the thinnest, smallest bowl of porridge herself.
What a foolish woman, what a foolish mother!
"Yes, yes, you mean it! Mother believes you. Hurry and hide the silver."
Madam Han smiled, delighted that Sheng'er had truly become sensible. She spoke softly as she carried the food toward Father Wang.
Madam Han helped Father Wang sit up and was about to feed him some hot porridge.
Father Wang was still muttering, "Martial arts, my ass. You, Wang Sheng, are destined to be a servant for life. Even the young masters of the Li family couldn't keep at it. They spent over a hundred taels of silver and still couldn't become Martial Artists. What the hell are you? You'll never amount to anything! You're wasting your efforts! Accept your fate!"
Wang Sheng's expression darkened, and he clenched his fists. He did not argue further with the drunkard. Instead, his determination to practice martial arts grew even firmer.
No one thought well of him. Everyone believed he ought to be a servant.
But he had Heaven Rewards Diligence.
Wasn't it just hard work?
Wang Sheng felt as though he had returned to the Gaokao of his previous life, setting himself a strict training regimen.
Ershui City.
Zhao Family Martial Arts Academy.
The sky had only just begun to brighten. When the academy opened its gates, Wang Sheng, who had been waiting outside for some time, entered.
"Junior Brother Wang, you're here so early!"
The one opening the gate was a young man, the son of the academy's owner, Master Zhao. He was Zhao Feipeng, the second senior brother of Wang Sheng and the others.
"Greetings, Senior Brother!"
Wang Sheng clasped his hands in salute.
"Mm, go in."
Zhao Feipeng yawned, nodded casually, then turned and returned to the house without paying him any further attention.
Zhao Feipeng had some impression of Wang Sheng. He was a lowborn but hardworking youth.
However, Master Zhao had determined that Wang Sheng possessed a Low-grade Physique for martial arts. That had already sealed his fate. Once two months passed, if Wang Sheng still could not meet the standard for entering the martial path, he would be expelled from the academy.
New disciples had a two-month trial period. If they could not enter the path within two months, it meant they had no talent whatsoever. Even if they offered the academy money, the academy would no longer accept them, lest it damage its reputation.
Thus, Zhao Feipeng could not be bothered to waste words or time trying to build a relationship with Wang Sheng.
He was merely a country bumpkin dreaming in broad daylight. In two months, they would be people from two different worlds.
The broad courtyard paved with bluestone held only several dozen Wooden Dummies, Iron Mannequins, and a few weapon racks.
The morning wind was still somewhat cold. Breathing in the chill made his mind feel much clearer.
After warming up with a set of basic punches, Wang Sheng stood before a wooden dummy. As he maintained the Mountain Standing Stake Technique, he exchanged blows with the dummy and practiced the Great Tablet Shattering Hand.
The Great Tablet Shattering Hand was the renowned martial art of Zhao Family Martial Arts Academy. Legend had it that Master Zhao had once uprooted a great tree with his bare hands, then swept through dozens of bandits with a single move without suffering so much as a scratch.
Whenever Wang Sheng practiced martial arts, a thought from him would cause three lines of data invisible to others to appear before his eyes.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence: Learn, and you will achieve mastery.] [Stone Stance Technique: Not Initiated (11/100)] [Great Tablet Shattering Hand: Not Initiated (12/100)]
It had already been six days since Wang Sheng joined the martial arts academy.
Even though he trained diligently, his food lacked sufficient nutrition. After practicing for a while, he had to rest briefly, so his progress was not very fast. The Great Tablet Shattering Hand increased by two progress points each day.
Without Heaven Rewards Diligence, how could an ordinary person possibly make steady progress every single day?
At this pace, Wang Sheng would likely qualify for entry into the martial path before the two-month deadline, allowing him to remain at the academy and become an official disciple.
But if something went wrong along the way and he could not even guarantee two progress points per day, he might fail to qualify and be driven out of the academy.
Therefore, Wang Sheng did not dare slack off and trained diligently every day.
If he qualified ahead of time and satisfied Master Zhao, he might even receive medicinal ointment to nourish his body and ease the internal injuries caused by martial training.
After a while,
A girl named Wei Yu entered the academy. She was slender and tall, her posture straight and upright. She exuded a valiant, dashing air, possessing both feminine softness and a sense of strength where hardness and gentleness balanced each other.
Wei Yu wore the gray fitted uniform of an academy disciple, outlining her long legs and narrow waist. Her breasts were full and rounded, nearly no less developed than those of a mature woman.
"Junior Brother Wang, you're really early!"
Wei Yu said in surprise. She had always been the first to train. She had not expected someone to arrive even earlier than her.
"Greetings, Senior Sister!"
Wang Sheng withdrew his palm technique and spoke respectfully.
One had to know that this Senior Sister Wei Yu was beautiful, long-legged, and hot-tempered. She had long since achieved minor mastery in martial arts. A single palm strike from her could leave a deep indentation in a wall; if it struck a person, it could nearly take their life in one blow.
"Mm!"
Wei Yu slightly raised her chin, unconsciously giving off an air of pride. She answered perfunctorily through her nose, waved her small hand to make Wang Sheng move farther away, then found an iron mannequin for herself and began training.
At this moment,
A youth named Sun Ping, who had joined the academy in the same batch as Wang Sheng, also entered. Seeing that two people were already practicing in the courtyard, he was startled.
"Why are they here so early!"
I'm already early enough. Senior Sister Wei Yu is a genius, yet she's still so hardworking. I must learn from her. But this Wang Sheng really is a useless person making trouble. With his Low-grade Physique, what is the use of getting up so early to train? Could he be deliberately ruining my plans?
I have Mid-Lower Aptitude. If I'm the first to arrive every morning and train diligently, Master will surely notice me. And I can spend a short while practicing with Senior Sister every day. Maybe as we practice together, day after day, affection will grow!
Sun Ping secretly swept his gaze over Wei Yu's figure before finally fixing his eyes on Wang Sheng. Fury, resentment, and jealousy rose within him as he felt that Wang Sheng had ruined his plan to arrive first each day, spend time alone with Senior Sister, and make Master remember him.
Wang Sheng still did not know that even trying a little harder could be considered wrong, and could earn him the enmity of a petty man!
If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author instead—perhaps it was simply renamed!
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