Raising the Money

The name might not have sounded like much, but the effect of this Fate Destiny was extraordinary: as long as he practiced, he made progress; once his progress was full, he was certain to break through.

For a cultivator, the most frightening thing was not difficulty. It was not knowing whether he was on the right path.

Many people spent years in seclusion, only to emerge and discover they had trained their qi the wrong way. All their efforts went down the drain.

Chu Bai was different. The panel gave him absolute feedback and certainty.

Looking at the progress bar stuck at 100/100, Chu Bai felt little discouragement. If anything, his conviction grew stronger.

The bar's full, but I haven't broken through. That means the path ends here. The teacher didn't lie to me. Without the formula, this is the limit.

That also proved the reverse: if he could get the formula, or another complete cultivation method, he could use this Fate Destiny to grind his proficiency higher through sheer effort!

Since the proper route of paying for lessons was closed to him...

Chu Bai blew out the candle and lay in the dark, his eyes bright as stars.

Then I'll have to find another way. Surely a living man won't let himself die because he needs to piss?

The next day, dawn had barely broken.

The eastern sky turned pale as a fish's belly, and the air carried the damp scent of earth peculiar to early morning.

The village roosters had crowed only a few times when Chu Bai dressed and got out of bed.

He had slept soundly, but just before drifting off the night before, he thought he had heard hushed voices from his parents' room next door.

Since he began practicing the Minor Qi Gathering Technique, he had gained no true qi, but his five senses had grown much sharper than an ordinary person's.

Even through a rammed-earth wall, he could faintly hear their subdued conversation.

He had not tried to listen, but they could only have been worrying over the ten taels of silver.

Chu Bai shook the tangled thoughts from his head and went to the corner of the yard to pick up the chipped fodder chopper.

The blade rose and fell, cutting tender green pig fodder into short pieces. Chu Bai mixed the feed with practiced hands, then headed for the livestock shed behind the house.

This was his morning routine, one he never skipped.

Just like the Relentless Effort Fate Destiny on his panel, he felt uneasy if he went a day without work.

After feeding the two scrawny black pigs, Chu Bai turned toward the chicken coop to collect the morning's eggs.

But when his gaze swept over the coop, he frowned.

It looked emptier than usual. One chicken was missing.

It was the family's most prized speckled hen. She laid eggs more often than the others and was the biggest of the flock.

"I reinforced this coop just a few days ago. Not even a weasel could squeeze in. How could a chicken be missing?"

Chu Bai checked carefully. The fence was intact, and there was no blood from an animal dragging prey away, nor any scattered feathers.

If no beast had taken her, then...

Chu Bai's heart sank.

Could it be... Mother and Father sold her?

Once the thought surfaced, he could not push it away.

Aside from their few acres of poor farmland, the chickens, ducks, and two pigs were the only possessions of any value the family had.

If they had sold that egg-laying treasure to raise the ten taels, how would they get by afterward?

His younger brother and sister were still growing, and eggs were the family's only source of animal protein. Besides, Xiao Man would be seven next year. If they wanted to send her to the academy to learn to read, that would be another considerable expense.

If the family can't make ends meet because of this, what's the point of cultivating?

Anxiety gripped Chu Bai. He set down the winnowing basket and turned to go find his parents.

Just then, someone pushed open the courtyard gate from outside.

Chu Bai stopped short.

His mother, Li Qing, came in carrying an empty bamboo basket.

Though it was early spring and the morning air was bitterly cold, fine beads of sweat covered her forehead. Her trouser legs were spattered with wet dew and mud, and her already badly worn cloth shoes were soaked through.

Clearly, she had walked a long way.

"Mother?" Chu Bai went to meet her, his eyes falling on the empty basket. "You went out this early... Was that our speckled hen?"

Seeing her son up so early, Li Qing's eyes darted away, but she soon regained her composure. She wiped the sweat from her forehead without answering his question about the hen. Instead, she solemnly took a patched dark-blue cloth pouch from inside her clothes.

"Here, Big Brother. Take this."

Li Qing pressed the pouch into Chu Bai's hand.

It was heavy, and still warm from where she had kept it against her body.

Chu Bai's fingers trembled slightly. He did not need to open it to know what was inside.

Pieces of silver.

"Mother, this..." Chu Bai's throat tightened.

"Four taels altogether." Li Qing walked toward the stove as she spoke softly. "Before dawn this morning, I caught that speckled hen and went into town."

"I went to your Second Uncle's house."

Chu Bai's grip on the pouch tightened sharply.

Second Uncle?

His Second Uncle ran a cloth business in town and lived comfortably, but his success had also made him haughty.

He looked down on poor relatives more than anyone. Even during New Year visits, Chu Bai's mother was often met with cold looks.

His mother was proud. Unless she had no other choice, she would never have gone to his Second Uncle's door.

"You gave the speckled hen... to Second Uncle?" Chu Bai asked quietly.

"She was an old hen. Her meat was tough, so she wasn't worth much anyway." Li Qing had her back to Chu Bai as she scooped water to wash the pot. Her voice sounded calm. "I took her over so your Second Uncle's family could have a change of fare, and while I was there... I borrowed some silver."

"Together with the six taels we had tucked away at home, that makes the ten you need."

Chu Bai stood in the yard, looking at his mother's slightly stooped back.

She made it sound like nothing, but he could picture it.

Before daylight, his mother had caught the family's most valuable hen and trudged more than ten miles into town along the uneven road.

She had stood at his Second Uncle's door, smiling and pleading, before she finally got those four taels of silver.

"Mother..." Chu Bai opened his mouth, only to find he could not say a word.

Li Qing seemed to sense how he felt. She turned around, wiped her hands on her apron, and gave him a tired but gentle smile.

"What are you standing there for? We've scraped the money together, so go and learn. Your Second Uncle lent us this money. He may say unpleasant things most days, but he helped us this time. That's a kindness as vast as the heavens."

"We must remember it. If you make something of yourself one day, you must not only pay him back, but also bring him a generous gift and thank him properly. Do you understand?"

Chu Bai drew a deep breath. The pouch in his hand felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, its warmth leaving him unsettled.

Only last night, he had planned to take things slowly and look for a way that cost nothing.

But now his parents had closed off any retreat.

"I understand."

Chu Bai lowered his head and carefully tucked the pouch into the innermost fold of his clothes, close against his chest.

When he looked up again, every trace of hesitation had vanished from his eyes. In its place was a determination he had never felt before.

"Don't worry, Mother. These ten taels of silver... won't go to waste."