Living Under Another's Roof

After the technique advanced,

the world truly became a different place.

Previously, when he cultivated the Nourishing Life Technique, aside from nourishing his blood and qi, cultivating his character, calming his nature, and regulating his emotions, it had almost no combat ability.

Suppose it was the simplified twenty-four forms of Tai Chi Fist he had learned in college in his previous life.

In this world, its actual combat power was zero.

Then the Tai Chi Nourishing Life Technique's combat power was perhaps one or two. With robust blood and qi, a flurry of wild punches might knock down two or three grown men, but against an armed mob—or a martial artist—it would fall short.

But the advanced Taiji Vajra Art was both offensive and defensive, granting an ability similar to the Golden Bell Shield from martial arts novels in his previous life.

It also possessed considerable attacking power, immediately raising its combat strength to around ten.

Of course.

This was all Jiang Jingnian's own guesswork.

As for its precise effects, he possessed martial arts but lacked actual combat experience, so he could not make an accurate judgment.

Whether he could truly fight, and how well he could fight, would have to be settled beneath his hands.

"I'm about to advance my Archetype."

"In this chaotic age, I finally have a sliver of power to protect myself."

"My loans and spending tomorrow's money today weren't in vain. They were all to speed up my advancement."

Jiang Jingnian let out a long breath, feeling somewhat relaxed.

Since coming to this world,

the scene of the original owner's death remained vivid before his eyes.

To say he felt no sense of urgency

would be a lie.

He did not want to vanish once again like some stray dog by the roadside, without even seeing his enemy's face.

Jiang Jingnian had been an extreme sports enthusiast in his previous life. He had not feared death then, and naturally did not fear it now.

But he

did not want to die carelessly. Death had to have value and meaning; only then would he feel that coming into this world had not been in vain.

And with urgency came motivation.

Over the past two months, he had borrowed money everywhere—borrowing to shop, borrowing to buy meat and food, borrowing to go to work.

He had lived an exceedingly comfortable life.

It was more than ten times better than the life of an ordinary laborer. His daily meat intake alone was likely more than ten times that of the average person at the bottom.

Even his Fifth Uncle's family did not know this, because he usually packed up his meals and squatted in some alley to finish them.

And so he tore down the eastern wall to patch the western one.

Interest rolled upon interest.

In merely two months, he had accumulated debts of several hundred silver dollars.

That was right.

Even after repaying a small portion, he still owed several hundred silver dollars.

If this were back in the rural village of his hometown,

it would have been an astronomical sum.

The money a wealthy local family saved over several years might only amount to that much.

In a metropolis like Peace City, where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, one silver dollar could buy thirty catties of rice or eight catties of pork. In remote regions, that purchasing power could double once or twice over.

In some backward villages, the basic monthly living expenses for an entire family only came to three to five silver dollars.

But when debts piled up, there was no point worrying.

When lice multiplied, they no longer itched.

This world had no saying that a debtor was the master. If one truly could not repay the money, one would be dragged away and sold to pay off the debt.

And Jiang Jingnian, who had studied finance in his previous life,

had given some shops in the concession districts a thorough lesson.

"If I owe several hundred silver dollars, I'm merchandise or a slave to be used as payment."

"If I owe a hundred thousand or several hundred thousand silver dollars, I'm a respected Peace City tycoon. Of course, that depends on whether I can borrow that much."

With his Archetype about to advance, Jiang Jingnian was in high spirits and hummed a few little tunes.

He glanced at the sky outside. He could still earn a little more money by pulling the rickshaw, but he was eager to return and break through the final step of his Archetype, so making money was not urgent for the moment.

He grasped the rickshaw handles again.

Jiang Jingnian's originally upright body instantly hunched over considerably, and the indifferent, crafty look on his face vanished as well.

Like a face-changing act from Sichuan opera.

His brows drooped, revealing a touch of misery, while the corners of his mouth piled into the honest, simple-minded smile of a meek fellow.

By the time he returned to the uncle's house where he was staying,

half an hour had passed.

129 West River Road.

It was a small courtyard residence facing south, its main building a two-story Western-style house. A ring of little flowerbeds surrounded it, making it resemble a garden.

The scale of this residence

would have been considered very small for a wealthy household in a county town.

Yet in a place like Peace City, where land was worth its weight in gold, even though this was not a bustling district, anyone who could afford a house with a small courtyard definitely counted as a household with means.

In the courtyard, a dark-skinned, sturdy servant woman was tending to the little garden.

When she saw Jiang Jingnian pull the rickshaw inside, she neither came forward to greet him nor stopped him. She merely glanced at him, disgust flashing through her eyes, before lowering her head and continuing her work.

Jiang Jingnian did not mind. He parked the rickshaw in a corner by the gate.

Then he headed straight for the side rooms, intending to wash up and change clothes.

"Ah, it stinks!"

Qu Lanlan, who had just eaten her fill and was moving about downstairs, saw this destitute relative return and could not help covering her nose with a handkerchief. She snapped delicately, "Second Dog, you're covered head to toe in mud and sweat stains. Which sewer did you roll around in? Can you not come into my house?"

As she scolded him, she stretched out a hand to block Jiang Jingnian outside.

The name Jiang Jingnian belonged to his previous life.

The original owner in this life naturally had no proper name. Poor country parents usually gave their children cheap names, hoping they would be easier to raise and less likely to die young.

For instance, his current name was Jiang Second Dog.

Ever since the original Jiang Jingnian had come to seek refuge with Fifth Uncle and live under another's roof, Qu Lanlan had never addressed him by his surname. She simply called him "Second Dog" over and over.

Jiang Jingnian did not get angry at this somewhat rude girl. He merely wore an honest smile and said, "Miss Qu! Sorry, I'm only going to rinse off in the side room. I won't enter the main hall."

They were clearly cousins by blood.

Yet one used a self-deprecating form of address, while the other used an honorific.

Jiang Jingnian neither openly fell out with Qu Lanlan nor argued further.

There were two reasons for that.

First, he was living under another's roof. He had come from a rural village elsewhere, and when he later changed professions to find work, he would still need Fifth Uncle's support. Without a work permit and registered identity, even if he became a low-ranking martial artist, moving through the concession districts would still be extremely inconvenient.

In this world,

forget that he was not yet a martial artist—even after becoming one, he would only be a beginner at the starting line. It was impossible for him to roam the world at will.

The outside world was ravaged by war and chaos, and there were even rumored Demon Wraiths. Conditions were worse than in Peace City.

Therefore, Jiang Jingnian still needed this foothold for the time being. Only after becoming a martial artist, earning some money, and handling the necessary paperwork could he move out.

Second, Jiang Jingnian had received kindness from others. Fifth Uncle, who had married into another household, was not in a particularly good situation himself, yet he was still willing to do everything he could to help him and the original owner. Even if he did not look at the monk's face, he had to look at the Buddha's face. Qu Lanlan was Fifth Uncle's only daughter, so he did not wish to make too much of her behavior.

But Jiang Jingnian's restraint

looked like cowardice and incompetence in Qu Lanlan's eyes. She looked down on this impoverished country boy even more. Just as she was about to continue scolding him, a middle-aged man's voice sounded behind her.

"Lanlan!"

Fifth Uncle emerged from the main house, dressed in a blue long gown and jacket and wearing a black felt hat. He gave a dissatisfied reprimand.

Fifth Uncle had originally been named Jiang Yuzhi. He had been gifted at studying in his youth, and with the joint support of his five brothers, he attended school. In the seventeenth year of Emperor Xuanli's reign under the previous dynasty, he passed the prefectural examination and earned the title of xiucai.

Later, when he was preparing to take the provincial examination for the title of juren, the last emperor of Chen State abdicated, ending the imperial system and bringing immense changes to the world's order.

Before the turmoil arrived, he came to Peace City and found work as a teacher. Later, he met the daughter of a wealthy local household and married into the Qu Household.

He had now taken his wife's surname.

His name was Qu Yuzhi.

Qu Yuzhi walked over, looked at his daughter, then looked at Jiang Jingnian beside her. "You've worked hard today as well. Hurry and wash up."

Although Qu Lanlan had received a Western education and was somewhat rebellious, and though she did not think much of her father who had married into the family, she still did not dare openly defy her parents.

No matter what,

Qu Yuzhi was still her father.

In this era,

even within the concession districts,

being unfilial was an exceedingly ugly accusation.

If word reached her classmates and teachers, even if Qu Lanlan was not expelled, others would inevitably look at her with strange eyes.

"He's only a mud-legged peasant. I really don't know what there is to protect. Besides, he's already so old. He can't possibly stay in our house forever, can he? What kind of sight is that?"

Qu Lanlan flung her braided hair and stormed away, heading into the main house.

"Sorry. Lanlan was spoiled too much when she was young, and I can't quite control her either."

Qu Yuzhi looked at his daughter's departing back, then gazed at Jiang Jingnian helplessly.

He was a somewhat refined middle-aged man. In his younger days, he had been a famous handsome lad throughout the villages of their hometown. Otherwise, after coming to Peace City to teach, he would not have caught the eye of a wealthy household's daughter and married into her family.

"It's fine, Fifth Uncle. Little Sister Lanlan is only sharp-tongued but soft-hearted."

Jiang Jingnian still wore that honest smile, as if he had no temper at all. He even spoke up for Qu Lanlan. "And the weather was indeed changeable today. I got caught in some rain and stepped in plenty of muddy water, so my clothes and trousers got dirty."

"You've truly had it hard. Go wash up quickly, and don't catch a chill!"

Qu Yuzhi beckoned Jiang Jingnian toward the side rooms.

"Yes, Fifth Uncle."

Jiang Jingnian nodded, respectfully cupped his hands in salute, then headed for the bathroom in the side rooms.

Naturally, he would not use the bathroom of Fifth Uncle and his wife in the main house. He simply rinsed himself off in the toilet of the side building.