New Year

Deng Qing had been quietly keeping count himself.

Steward Liu smiled. "That extra tael is a New Year's gift from the apothecary. Few people are willing to stay until the end, and fewer still have your skill. You've earned it."

Deng Qing put away the silver and cupped his hands in thanks.

Steward Liu waved him off. "Go wash up first. Then come out and eat."

An attendant led Deng Qing to the bathhouse. He washed, threw away his filthy clothes, which had long since lost their shape, and changed into a white robe from Celebration Hall.

When he came out, food was already on the table.

There were two great bowls of rice and a pork hock stewed until tender, glistening with oil. The scent of meat and sauce rushed up to meet him.

Deng Qing was slightly surprised.

Steward Liu said, "It's New Year's Eve. The apothecary can't let the man who guarded our furnace for days leave on an empty stomach."

Deng Qing stood on no ceremony. He sat down and ate.

The hock was so tender that a touch of his chopsticks made the fatty meat quiver and fall apart.

After finishing the whole hock, warmth spread through his body.

By the time Deng Qing left Tianshun Apothecary, the streets were steeped in the spirit of the New Year.

People had set up roadside stalls selling couplets, while hawkers shouted themselves hoarse advertising pastries, candied melon, and other New Year's goods.

The weather was bitterly cold, but it did nothing to stop the crowds coming and going.

Even in troubled times, the living still had to celebrate the New Year.

Deng Qing bought a pair of couplets from a roadside stall, then picked out a few boxes of pastries.

When he reached the mouth of his alley, he happened upon Aunt Zhang sweeping snow from her doorway.

Deng Qing handed her the pastries and asked her to share them with the neighbors on either side, as a small token from him.

Aunt Zhang grinned from ear to ear.

After chatting with her for a moment, Deng Qing returned to his little courtyard. He put up the spring couplets, set off a string of firecrackers, then shut the door and poured all his silver onto the table.

He had earned twelve taels for guarding the furnace. Added to the bits of silver and copper coins he had left, the odds and ends came to sixteen taels and three mace.

Deng Qing first calculated the New Year's gifts he needed to give, one by one.

His master, Li Dashan: one tael of silver.

Fan Sheng, Zhang Yan, and Tu Wei: five mace per household.

Wu Yun and Chef Zhao: two mace per household.

He also set aside some loose change for salt, firewood, and emergencies.

After deducting each expense, he had only ten taels left to push for the next realm.

That was clearly not enough to buy meat and make up his Qi-Blood deficit.

But if he bought only offal, that was another matter.

Deng Qing put away the silver and mocked himself inwardly. An Offal Martial Saint it is, then.

After tidying the run-down house a little, Deng Qing went straight to the Five Blessings Butcher Shop.

On New Year's Eve, the butcher shop was far busier than usual.

Wu Yun stood behind the counter serving customers. When he saw Deng Qing come in, he smiled. "Junior Brother Deng, you've come at the right time. Any later and all the good meat would be gone."

Deng Qing approached, wished him a happy New Year, then asked quietly, "Senior Brother Wu, do you have any offal left?"

Wu Yun nodded. "I saved some for you."

With that, he had someone bring out a set of offal.

Deng Qing shook his head. "Not enough."

Wu Yun's face reddened. "Junior Brother, I really don't have any more here.

"It might not be worth much, and hardly anyone's fighting over it now, but times are hard. We only slaughtered three pigs.

"Two sets went to wealthy households to feed their dogs. I saved the third for you."

Deng Qing waved a hand. "You misunderstand, Senior Brother. I want to buy ten taels' worth."

Wu Yun was startled, then understood. "You're planning to rely on offal to push your Qi-Blood higher? I really can't get that much here.

"But Miao's Butcher Shop seems to have plenty in stock.

"They hoarded a huge pile earlier. It's all frozen into lumps. They were waiting for the price to rise so they could make a fat profit, but that deal's fallen through, and now they're worrying over it.

"I'll go ask. Mind you, it's all frozen rock-hard. I doubt it's very fresh."

Deng Qing cupped his hands. "As long as I can buy it, I'm not picky."

Wu Yun left the shop at once and returned before long with good news.

For just nine taels of silver, Miao's Butcher Shop was willing to sell all the offal it had accumulated. Even after the waste was removed, there would still be a considerable amount.

Deng Qing thanked Wu Yun again and again.

Sure enough, as dusk fell, the offal delivered by Miao's Butcher Shop rose in a tall heap in the Five Blessings Butcher Shop's courtyard.

Deng Qing was about to haul it away, but Wu Yun stopped him. "It's New Year's. If you take it home and clean it yourself, the neighbors will curse you."

Wu Yun pointed to a few workers. "Let them clean it and pack it up here. It'll save you the trouble when you get home."

"I'll pay their wages," Deng Qing said.

Wu Yun waved him off. "Save your money."

Even so, Deng Qing gave each of the three workers thirty copper coins.

The workers had been busy all day and looked tired, but the tips put fresh speed into their hands.

Deng Qing joined them. The four worked into the night before the vast quantity of cleaned offal was finally loaded onto pushcarts.

As the cold wind swept through the mouth of the alley, Deng Qing pushed the last cart of offal, frozen into solid lumps, into his courtyard.

The next day was New Year's Day.

Deng Qing went out early to pay Li Dashan a New Year's visit at Celebration Hall.

Li Dashan was away, but Deng Qing still delivered his New Year's gift.

As he had decided, he left no household out.

Deng Qing knew that his place at Celebration Hall rested not only on his fists, but also on the relationships he maintained.

Just as he was about to leave, Deng Qing ran into Li Cheng, Wang Wei, and Zhou Tie.

The four exchanged New Year's greetings. Li Cheng offered to treat them to a meal, but Deng Qing declined with a smile, saying he still had things to do. They agreed to meet after the holiday.

After returning from Celebration Hall, Deng Qing shut himself in his house.

He had already asked: Celebration Hall's Earthfire would not be relit until the seventh day of the first lunar month.

Deng Qing did not dare give himself too much time.

The list of Attendants would be announced on the sixteenth. If he wanted to use a Medicinal Bath to reach Skin Refining Second Layer, he could not leave it until the last day.

He calculated that, to be safe, he had to eat and refine as much of the offal as possible before the twelfth, no matter what.

From New Year's Day onward, only three things happened in Deng Qing's little courtyard.

He ate offal, circulated the Violet Palace Method, and practiced the Tiger-Subduing Fist.

Pig intestines and lungs were not as rich as good cuts of meat.

But there was plenty of offal, and it nourished his Qi-Blood too.

Deng Qing thawed the frozen offal batch by batch, cooked it, then forced it down despite the rank smell.

As soon as he finished eating, he circulated the Violet Palace Method.

Since reaching Minor Mastery in the Violet Palace Method, the invisible millstone in his chest and abdomen seemed to have grown larger.

From then on, he ate seven meals a day, each one a great quantity of offal.

In the past, his body could never have broken down so much coarse flesh at once.

Now, as the Violet Palace Method circulated, the invisible millstone turned within his chest and abdomen, grinding all that coarse flesh into Qi-Blood.

The Tiger-Subduing Fist then drew the Qi-Blood into his Skin Membrane.

Deng Qing repeated those few tasks day after day.

Before he knew it, time had slipped away. Beyond the courtyard, the festive air gradually faded, but Deng Qing's gate stayed shut.

On the night of the eleventh, he ate the last pot of offal.

Deng Qing sat inside, his chest and abdomen heavy with heat, the Skin Membrane of his limbs faintly swollen.

He slowly exhaled. At a thought, Clear Radiance appeared.

[Heaven Helps Those Who Help Themselves, No Effort Is Wasted]

[Realm: Skin Tempering First Layer]

[Tiger-Subduing Fist: 73% (Grand Mastery)]

[Violet Palace Method: 31% (Minor Mastery)]