An unexpected turn

"What family? He isn't your biological son! Don't forget how he drove you out before. You have a son of your own. If you're going to raise a martial artist, raise your own son!"

Xu Qing's voice was shrill, her fury beyond restraint.

She cared more about Xu Lao'er as a father than Xu Yang did, and she was the angriest of all. Xu Yang, the one directly concerned, had not said a word; she had beaten him to everything.

Xu Lao'er choked, his face flushing crimson. When he had first gotten together with Zhang Cuiting, Yang Jun had beaten him with a stick every time he came here. That was also why he had not moved in right away.

"Him? He thinks he can practice martial arts? Jun's father was a martial artist. That's why he has a chance of becoming one. Your brother is a mud-legged peasant scratching food out of the dirt, a lowborn nobody. The idea of him practicing martial arts is laughable!"

Zhang Cuiting burst out laughing as though she had heard a joke, her words dripping with mockery and scorn.

Xu Qing trembled with anger and was about to speak again when Xu Lao'er snapped at her to stop.

"Shut your mouth and let your brother speak! The adults are talking. What's a child like you butting in for?"

After his daughter repeatedly lashed out and exposed his humiliations, his expression darkened. He looked at Xu Yang and said, "Speak for yourself. Are you willing to give us this money? Think carefully. It's not as though Jun can only become a martial artist with your help. It would just take him a little longer.

"If you don't help Jun now, once he becomes a martial artist, it'll be too late even if you want to curry favor with him."

As for Xu Qing saying that Xu Yang wanted to practice martial arts, he had not taken it to heart at all. He had treated it as a joke too.

With all the advantages and disadvantages laid out, he believed that, unless Xu Yang was a fool, all the hardship he had suffered out in the world would lead him to make the right choice.

"You think carefully too. What makes you think you can accomplish something even Dorgon couldn't?"

Leaving Xu Lao'er with those baffling words, Xu Yang took Xu Qing away without wasting another breath.

He would sooner feed his earnings to dogs than use them to support Yang Jun.

"Unfilial son!" Xu Lao'er roared behind them.

The sky had begun to darken. Crimson clouds filled the horizon, draping the earth in a suit of red armor.

As the siblings stepped out of Zhang Cuiting's home, the young Xu Qing could no longer hold back her sobs, tears spilling down her face.

At home, she had claimed she was coming for a free meal, but she had really wanted to see their father. What had happened was more than she could bear.

"Don't cry. Just pretend he's dead," Xu Yang comforted her.

He had expected something like this before coming and felt no sorrow.

"I'm not crying for him. I'm worried you'll miss your chance to learn martial arts, Brother." The little girl refused to admit that she was shedding tears over Xu Lao'er.

"Don't worry about the money. If he won't help, I'll find a way myself. Don't worry. I'll make sure you get to feast on fine food and drink."

Xu Yang gazed toward the horizon. He would learn martial arts, no matter what. He did not particularly worry about being unable to train after eighteen. The main issue was that the Three Harmonies Gang seemed to have set its sights on his little sister. He had to become a martial artist quickly to escape their predicament.

In a world like this, beauty was no blessing for a girl at the bottom of society.

The Three Harmonies Gang was vicious. Once it marked someone as a target, it would use every cruel trick at its disposal.

Such things had happened in the ward before. Those who yielded fared well enough; those who refused invariably ended up with their families ruined and their loved ones dead.

Although Li Hu might only have mentioned it in passing, Xu Yang could not gamble on that.

Yet as he silently pondered how to get the money to learn martial arts, he could not come up with a plan.

"Brother, why don't we borrow from someone? We can go see our eldest uncle in a bit and borrow a little from each of our relatives. I know you care about saving face and don't want to ask, but at least it gives us some hope. If you miss this chance, you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

"What's so bad about being turned down? Living like this, we lost all face long ago."

The little girl suddenly added, "And there's our maternal uncle. I heard he's become an accountant for the wealthy Huang Family. He earns two taels a month. He should be able to lend us some."

Even beggars had a few poor relatives. Naturally, Xu Yang's family had relatives too.

"All right!" Xu Yang said.

Now that they were in danger, he could only thicken his skin and beg for help. In his memory, this uncle had been fairly kind. If he had the means, he would probably help a little. As for whether it would work out, they would only know after trying.

Although they had barely kept in touch since his mother's death, the bonds of blood would not disappear.

"Where did you hear about this?" Xu Yang asked curiously.

The main reason he had not thought of their uncle was that, in his memory, Zhou Shunchang had also been down on his luck, struggling to keep himself fed and clothed.

"From our cousin at Eldest Uncle's house. She saw Uncle at one of the Huang Family's shops..."

Xu Yang had not expected that, before he could even go into the city to ask his uncle for a loan, he would soon find Zhou Shunchang, whom he had not seen in ages, standing outside his door.

Bathed in the evening glow, Zhou Shunchang stood at the entrance in fine silk, carrying a slab of pork belly.

Beside him stood a young woman with a somewhat scholarly air. She was his uncle's daughter, Zhou Xia.

"Uncle! Cousin!"

Their mother's brother deserved the highest respect. The two hurried forward and bowed deeply to him, then respectfully invited their uncle and cousin inside.

"You two have suffered all these years. That beast Xu Lao'er! If I'd known he was that sort of man, I would never have agreed to let your mother marry him."

Looking at their shabby home, Zhou Shunchang could not help cursing Xu Lao'er as an inhuman wretch.

"I haven't come just to visit you today. There's something I need to discuss with you, A Yang." After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Zhou Shunchang turned to the matter at hand.

Xu Yang froze. Someone else had something to discuss with him? Surely his uncle had not set his sights on his money too.

But on second thought, his uncle's son was already past eighteen. He probably was not here to ask Xu Yang to fund martial arts training.

"You might not know this, but the Huang Family I work for has begun to rise in recent years. Its business keeps growing..." Zhou Shunchang slowly explained the true purpose of his visit.

In this world, whatever trade one pursued, any profitable business needed martial artists to protect it. They were like the nuclear bombs of his previous life: one might never use them, but one could not afford to go without.

The Huang Family had only begun to rise in recent years. It lacked enough martial artist Attendants to match its steadily expanding business.

Established martial artists generally already served other powers. Poaching them would not only offend those powers, but also cost a great deal.

The best solution, therefore, was to train their own. However, not everyone in the Huang Family had the potential to become a martial artist. The family had thus devised a plan to seek outsiders who had the potential but lacked the money to train.

The Huang Family would pay for their training on the condition that, once they became martial artists, they would serve as its Attendants. That was why Zhou Shunchang had thought of Xu Yang, his nephew who was just the right age.

"Go to the Yellow Family Estate first thing tomorrow morning. An experienced master will examine your bones there. As long as your Bone Root is suitable, the Huang Family will send you

"to a martial arts school."

"Thank you, Uncle!"

Xu Yang bowed deeply to Zhou Shunchang without pressing him about whether this meant selling himself or pledging lifelong loyalty to the Huang Family.

For him right now, so long as he had a chance to learn martial arts, what did it matter if he had to sell himself?

"Wear something presentable tomorrow!"

Seeing Xu Yang's heavily patched clothes, Zhou Shunchang left him half a mace of silver.

Xu Yang had intended to refuse, since he still had one reasonably decent outfit. But when Zhou Shunchang glared at him, he had no choice but to accept the silver.

"All right, it's getting late, and the roads aren't safe. Your cousin and I need to head back."

He offered Xu Yang no words of encouragement, because Bone Root was something one was born with. He had only come to try their luck and see whether his nephew had a chance to change his fate.

"Take care, Uncle! Cousin!"

The siblings escorted Zhou Shunchang and his daughter all the way out of White Stone Ward before returning home.

"Brother, you can learn martial arts now!"

After that unexpected turn of events, once they were home again, the little girl could no longer contain herself and jumped with excitement. She had completely overlooked the fact that he still had to undergo a bone examination to test his Bone Root before he could qualify for the Huang Family's funding.

"Yes, I can learn martial arts now," Xu Yang said softly.

He wondered whether his Bone Root, which he had raised to twenty-two, would meet the Huang Family's requirements tomorrow.