Chapter 38

Qiu Yongqiang was all smiles, urging Xu Yang to sit down quickly, then got up to go out and order the dishes before returning to sit down.

"Uncle Qiu, I heard from Wenjie that..."

"Let's not talk about that for now. You and Wenjie must be hungry. After we eat, Uncle Qiu will explain it to you in detail."

Xu Yang had wanted to ask about the matter of sponsoring his martial arts training, but hearing this, he had to suppress the words in his heart.

Soon the dishes began to be served: ginseng stewed black chicken, braised pork, steamed sea bass...

Ten or so dishes were served in a row, all meat dishes, which made Xu Yang's appetite stir, but he still refrained from being the first to pick up his chopsticks.

Qiu Wenjie couldn't care less, grabbing his chopsticks and picking up a large meatball first.

Qiu Yongqiang scolded him with a smile for being impolite, then signaled for Xu Yang to start eating.

In fact, it was basically Xu Yang and Qiu Wenjie eating, while Qiu Yongqiang mainly drank wine, occasionally picking up his chopsticks.

After another while, Xu Yang and Qiu Wenjie were somewhat full, and their eating manners became normal; Qiu Yongqiang also took this opportunity to ask Xu Yang about his family situation.

Upon learning that Xu Yang had been living alone with his younger sister since he was eleven or twelve, his smile grew even wider.

The meal finally ended, and all the dishes were wiped clean; Qiu Wenjie was so full he leaned back in his chair, and Xu Yang was also somewhat full.

However, since it was someone else treating him to a meal, he worried about appearing unsightly and didn't eat until he couldn't move like he did at Weiyuan Hall.

"A-Yang, I suppose you've heard from Wenjie that I wish to sponsor your martial arts training. I wonder what you think about it?" Qiu Yongqiang got straight to the point.

What did he think?

Having someone pay for his martial arts training was naturally a good thing.

It was just that he was someone selected and cultivated by the Huang family; if he accepted sponsorship from others, wouldn't that be equivalent to betrayal?

In the future, when he became a martial artist, would he serve the Huang family or the Qiu family?

Xu Yang frowned and stated these concerns.

Unexpectedly, Qiu Yongqiang laughed and said: "A-Yang, you're overthinking it. It's true that you are being cultivated by the Huang family, but I can guarantee that even if you successfully break through to Qi Gathering in the future, the Huang family won't need you to be their retainer."

The Huang family only needed Lu Ren!

Xu Yang was thoughtful.

"But what if they still want me to be a retainer?" Xu Yang asked.

The Huang family had given up on him because they felt Lu Ren was enough, but who could say for sure about the future? After all, the Huang family hadn't publicly stated that even if he became a martial artist in the future, he wouldn't need to fulfill the original agreement.

"Then you just become a retainer for the Huang family."

Qiu Yongqiang laughed: "My Qiu family is just a small household and might not be able to afford a real martial artist. Even if you really become a martial artist in the future, we might not have the ability to hire you as a retainer martial artist."

"Uncle Qiu will tell you the truth: we are actually just trying to pick up a bargain, to gain your friendship while you are in difficulty, so that we can ask for your help when we have difficulties in the future."

"And one more thing, you can rest assured that we won't speak of this matter to outsiders, nor will it affect the Huang family's cultivation of you."

He spoke very bluntly, which dispelled Xu Yang's doubts.

The Qiu family needed a martial artist but didn't have the money to support one, so they were now taking a risk by investing in him to gain his friendship.

Even if he became a martial artist in the future, the Qiu family might not be able to afford him.

In this way, even if the Huang family still needed him in the future, there wouldn't be a conflict with the Qiu family, and the Qiu family didn't need him to become a retainer martial artist in name.

"Then many thanks, Uncle Qiu!" Xu Yang cupped his hands.

Qiu Yongqiang waved his hand: "Don't be in such a hurry to thank me. We can't give you much; it's only three taels a month. If you think it's too little, then let's just drop the matter."

Not to mention three taels, even one tael, Xu Yang wouldn't think it was too little.

"This is a kindness, how could I think it's too little!" Xu Yang said seriously.

In a situation where no one was optimistic about him, Qiu Yongqiang was able to take out three taels of silver every month to invest in him; even if Qiu Yongqiang had the intention of picking up a bargain and gambling, he would remember this friendship.

"This is for the first month." Qiu Yongqiang took out some broken silver and handed it to Xu Yang.

Seeing that the sky had turned dark, Xu Yang worried about Xu Qing, so he got up to take his leave.

"Dad, aren't you afraid that Brother Xu Yang won't be able to gather Qi in the future, and your money will go down the drain?"

A while after Xu Yang left, Qiu Wenjie asked the doubt in his heart.

Xu Yang's situation was widely spread in Weiyuan Hall; even though his performance in all aspects wasn't much worse than Lu Ren's, no one was optimistic that he would successfully gather Qi in the future.

The Qiu family was a small household, and three taels of silver was not a small sum.

"You might not be able to gather Qi in the future either, but I'm still spending over ten taels a month on you. If he could succeed 100%, would it be our turn to use these three taels of silver to make friends?"

"A Turtle-Snake Great Stance, and it took ten days to reach entry-level. If you were just a bit more competitive, would I need to worry so much?"

Qiu Yongqiang stood up: "Let's go home."

When Xu Yang returned home, Xu Qing had just finished eating.

"Second Uncle Xu came again today." Xu Qing said while cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks.

Xu Yang frowned: "What did he come for again?"

"He came to borrow a chicken, saying he would return it after Yang Jun became a martial artist, but I didn't lend it to him."

Xu Yang was almost amused; borrowing a chicken was something only Second Uncle Xu could do.

Xu Qing hesitated for a while and whispered: "Brother, why don't you tell him about your martial arts training? If he knows you're training and can become a martial artist in the future, he won't be so biased."

"Remember, we have already severed ties with him."

The little girl didn't dare to mention Second Uncle Xu again and started talking about other things.

The person newly sent by the Three Harmonies Gang came to White Stone Workshop today to notify everyone to pay the residence fee in full within three days; because of Xu Yang's instructions, Xu Qing didn't show her face, so Xu Yang still had to pay the money.

"By the way, I heard from Auntie and the others that the Three Harmonies Gang is asking about you in the village." Xu Qing added at the end.

Xu Yang frowned; having slaughtered Li Hu, was the matter not over yet?

It seemed that buying Xu Qing wasn't Li Hu's idea, but the Three Harmonies Gang's.

There had always been rumors that the Three Harmonies Gang was involved in human trafficking, and it seemed it wasn't an empty rumor.

However, even if the Three Harmonies Gang hadn't given up, they shouldn't make a move for the time being, and he could still stall for a few days.

Now with Qiu Yongqiang's sponsorship, he shouldn't have any major problems becoming a martial artist this month; once he became a martial artist, the Three Harmonies Gang wouldn't dare to provoke him casually.

"I will go pay the money tomorrow. From tomorrow on, remember to go to the market to buy a jin of pork every day for me to eat when I wake up in the morning." Xu Yang instructed Xu Qing.

He originally had three taels of silver, obtained one tael from killing Li Hu and the others, plus the three taels sponsored by Qiu Yongqiang tonight, so he now had seven taels.

Since he might break through within this month, he couldn't be stingy with money anymore.

A jin of pork was thirty wen, and one tael of silver was just enough for a month.

He had six taels left; he would keep one tael for emergencies, and of the remaining five taels, he would use one more to add to the body-strengthening soup, and the final four taels would be used to take health-preserving soup and medicinal baths to cleanse his body before breaking through, laying the foundation for the breakthrough.

Counting it up, he would have eleven taels for martial arts training this month, not much less than Lu Ren.

Moreover, his confidence was the panel; when this month ended, his innate talent should be able to improve to Grade B-Lower, and even if it wasn't as good as Lu Ren's Grade B-Upper, he would ultimately enter the Grade B realm, and becoming a martial artist wouldn't have too much pressure.