Chapter 6 : Chapter 6
Chapter 6. The Two Brothers
Li Shan came back at that moment, and his expression was not looking too good.
He had only meant to give a bit of guidance and leave, but who could have guessed that more and more people would gather afterward? In the end, he had been forced to spend another half an hour there.
“Tomorrow is our regular day off. Brother Xu, are you going home?”
He stretched lazily, then spoke again without waiting for a reply.
“I’m planning to head back this time and get some money from home. I want to try that Vein-Nourishing Soup too.”
After saying that, he licked his lips, his imagination clearly running wild.
Xu Yuan nodded. “I should go back and have a look too.”
The two of them chatted for a while, then split up and went back to their work.
By the time night fell, the servants finally got to rest.
Xu Yuan washed up outside, then headed back into the room.
Who would have thought that the moment he stepped through the door, someone would lean toward him and say, “My name is Liu Hong. What should I call you, brother?”
Xu Yuan had always kept a low profile in the dormitory. He was only familiar with a few people around him, while the others had formed their own little circles. It was not unusual for people living together to remain strangers.
“Xu Yuan.”
“I wonder, Brother Xu, how did your training go today? Have you found the knack of Qi and blood yet?”
Xu Yuan glanced at him oddly when he heard that. Do I even know you? Why are you acting so familiar all of a sudden?
Still, it was only a matter of saying a few words, and he had no intention of offending someone for no reason, so he only answered vaguely, “Not even close. I still don’t have any clue.”
After hearing that, Liu Hong seemed to let out a sigh of relief. He gave a long sigh of his own and said, “Exactly. How hard is it to master this in just two months?”
With that, he put on an expression of shared misery, sighed again, and walked away.
Xu Yuan was thoroughly puzzled by the whole thing, but once he went farther inside and saw the man grabbing someone else to question them as well, he finally understood.
The man had probably seen him go up yesterday and receive guidance from Instructor Feng, so he had come to see how the “favored one” was progressing compared with everyone else.
It really was a bit like his previous life. After every exam, the insecure students would go running to the top scorers to compare answers.
Xu Yuan could not help finding it both ridiculous and amusing.
Liu Hong continued going around the room asking questions one by one. Every single person wore a gloomy expression and had gained no real insight, until he reached one particular servant.
Xu Yuan still remembered him. It was the servant who had been scolded that morning for failing to wipe the beam properly—Tian Yang.
Tian Yang no longer had the timid look he had worn earlier that morning. Instead, he said with a trace of pride, “I’ve actually started to feel something. Give me a little more time, and I should be able to find the knack of Qi and blood.”
The moment those words came out, the other servants naturally looked at him with envy and jealousy. Some even started flattering him at once and hurried forward to ask about the details.
Tian Yang clearly enjoyed being the center of attention. He beamed brightly, saying a little and holding a little back, always keeping them hanging.
Just then, the door opened.
Xiao Sheng came in looking travel-worn, with quite a few beads of sweat still clinging to his face.
“Well, if it isn’t Xiao Sheng. You’ve really been training hard lately. I wonder how far you’ve gotten?”
Liu Hong curled his lips into a strange smile as he asked the question.
But Xiao Sheng acted as though he had heard nothing. He casually picked up the water flask beside his bed, kept his mouth shut, and strode away.
Seeing himself ignored, Liu Hong’s face turned extremely ugly. He immediately said in a mocking tone, “What a gloomy mute... Training like that with your head down all day—no wonder you’ll never amount to anything your whole life!”
The others chimed in as well. Clearly, none of them had a good impression of Xiao Sheng, who always kept to himself.
Tian Yang, however, did not think much of it. He knew very well that when it came to martial training, talent was the deciding factor.
Fortunately, after comparing himself with the others, he knew that his own aptitude was actually rather good.
Xu Yuan watched the scene before him coldly and shook his head inwardly. He did not go over, and in fact, he could barely be bothered to remember some of their names.
After all, two months from now, most of these servants would be eliminated and sent off to different places. In the end, the only thing they would have in common was that they had once slept on the same communal bunk.
When all was said and done, real strength was always better than all that sycophancy.
With that thought, Xu Yuan soon left the room again, found a corner, and continued practicing his Tai Chi Exercise.
...
The next day.
Xu Yuan got up early. When he saw that only a handful of beds around him were still occupied, he assumed most people had already gone home to visit their families.
But once he stepped outside, he discovered that some people were still in the courtyard practicing their stance training, every one of them drenched in sweat and working with great diligence.
Xu Yuan, however, had something to do. He made his way to the duties office, where he filled in the length and destination of his leave.
“Be sure to come back before sunset. Otherwise, it’ll count as two days of leave.”
The sharp-looking middle-aged steward said it without even lifting his head.
Xu Yuan nodded in acknowledgment. After weaving left and right through a series of turns, he left the Shangyang Family, then emerged from a long side alley and immediately felt the world open up before him.
Cries of hawking and noisy chatter rose and fell around him. Ahead, a street paved with long blue bricks stretched outward, separating the restaurants, eateries, and inns on both sides.
At a glance, he could see orderly rows of houses all around him, while pedestrians and travelers in all manner of clothes moved back and forth in a dense stream that seemed to go on without end.
This place was near the center of the prefectural city, and public order here was already considered excellent. Every so often, constables could be seen patrolling past.
If the Shangyang Family and the Bai Family had not fallen into conflict recently, it would probably be even livelier.
That was what Li Shan had told him.
The two great families of this prefectural city had developed a serious conflict over the division of benefits, and their relationship had only grown worse and worse. No one could say when they might actually start fighting.
The fact that they were now letting servants learn martial arts in large numbers was most likely because of that as well.
When immortals fight, it is the common people who suffer.
Shaking his head, Xu Yuan stopped at a meat stall. After a round of bargaining, he left carrying a pound of fresh meat wrapped in paper.
Then he pushed his way through the crowded streets. By the time the sun stood high overhead, he had reached the outermost area of the prefectural city, after which he quickly entered a small alley.
The buildings here were far less well kept than those in the places he had just passed.
A dozen or so households stood before him. Most of their walls were chipped and run-down, while dense patches of withered grass grew all around them, giving the area an unmistakably desolate air.
Xu Yuan stopped outside one of the houses and drew in a deep breath. This was his home—or rather, his elder brother’s home.
He walked to the door and shouted, “Big Brother!”
After a short while, a somewhat weathered-looking man opened the door. The moment he saw him, his face lit up with delight. “A-Yuan?”
As soon as he spoke, he hurried over and circled around him once. Only after seeing that nothing was wrong with him did he say with feeling, “You’ve grown taller again. You’re just a little too thin.”
Xu Yuan smiled. “I’m right in the middle of a growth spurt. It’s normal to be a bit skinny.”
“Come inside first.”
His elder brother excitedly took him by the hand and led him in.
Feeling the roughness of that hand, Xu Yuan let out a sigh.
Memories from the original owner of this body surged up.
The Xu family had once had a bit of savings to their name, and with all four members of the household working hard, they had actually lived fairly well.
But at some point, Father Xu suddenly developed a gambling addiction. In less than three months, he had gambled away the family fortune. After driving their mother to death with grief and anger, he himself fell ill and died in bed.
That left only the two brothers, relying on each other for survival.
Not long after that, the original owner of this body had planned to go out and learn a trade, so he would at least be able to make a living later on.
After all, his elder brother was already married. On the one hand, it was no longer convenient for them to continue living together. On the other, he had wanted to lighten the burden on the household.
As it happened, the Shangyang Family was recruiting new servants at the time. When the original owner heard that servants there could eat their fill, receive monthly wages, and might even have a chance to learn martial arts, he had resolutely signed the contract and remained there until today.
His predecessor really had been a little rash.
Whenever Xu Yuan thought of it, he felt rather helpless.
Fortunately, the Shangyang Family had not lied. Otherwise, he would have had to remain a servant there until ten years had passed.
The furnishings in the house were simple, consisting only of a few stacked coarse porcelain and clay jars, along with old wooden beds, tables, and chairs.
Dim light filtered in through the narrow gaps in the window lattice, barely outlining the poverty of the room.
Xu Zheng motioned for him to sit, then asked, “So it’s your regular day off again today?”
Xu Yuan nodded. “I came back this time to tell you some good news.”
“What good news?” Xu Zheng asked curiously.
“The Shangyang Family gave every servant a chance to learn martial arts. I already started training over the last two days.”
“Really? Even servants can learn martial arts?”
Xu Zheng found it hard to believe. In his view, it was already good enough for servants to have enough to eat and some money to take.
After all, if ordinary people wanted to learn martial arts these days, their only option was a martial arts school, and martial arts schools were notorious for charging exorbitant fees.
Poor people could not even reach the threshold.
The Shangyang Family had only started recruiting martial trainees from outside fairly recently as well.
And even if someone did become a martial artist, they would still have to sign a contract with the Shangyang Family and work for them for several years. They could not be considered truly free.
“Of course it’s true. They’re mainly using this to screen for people with talent. But there’s a condition. If you can’t make a breakthrough within two months, the instruction ends.”
Only after Xu Yuan confirmed it for him again and again did Xu Zheng finally believe it completely. His face filled with joy. “This is a good thing!”
But immediately afterward, a trace of worry flashed through his eyes. “Then learning martial arts must cost a fair bit, right? Do you still have enough money?”
“There are some expenses, but my talent is pretty good, so I can still manage.”
Xu Yuan was not simply boasting.
At his current rate, he only needed another month or so for his aptitude to improve. When that time came, the road ahead would naturally open wide.
Besides, that was not why Xu Yuan had come home in the first place. Whenever his regular day off came each month, he would come back to see him.
Although after transmigrating here, the two of them had not met many times, so it was not as if their bond had already become especially deep.
But people always sought benefit and avoided harm.
In this strange and dangerous environment, being somewhere that family was present always felt safer than anywhere else.
So before long, he had grown used to it as well.
“That’s good... You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Your sister-in-law is out working. Rest for a while first. I’ll go make something for you.”
Xu Zheng gave his shoulder a firm slap, said nothing more, and walked out of the room toward the kitchen.
...