Chapter 11: Life Is Hard, Old Brother Goes Down to the Sea

"Mr. Qin, your consumption is the 688 premium package; this shop supports cash and card payment."

Qin Shi changed back into his original clothes and stepped out of the room feeling refreshed in body and mind.

As a result, hearing the front desk young lady's words, his pleasant mood vanished completely.

He wore a long face, turning his head to look at Teacher Liang, who had already finished two pots of chrysanthemum tea and was getting free refill after free refill.

"What are you looking at me for? Pay the bill. You enjoyed yourself, now you don't want to pay? Dining and dashing will get you beaten!"

Old Liang stayed out of it with an air of leisure, looking like he was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

"Forget it, expensive has its reasons; just treat it as body cultivation!"

Qin Shi bore the pain and gritted his teeth to pay.

Nearly seven hundred yuan could let him and the youngest eat nutrition meals in the school cafeteria for a long time!

Coming here, it's only enough for a back scrub, and there wasn't even any extra service!

The front desk young lady smiled:

"Sir, since you are a new customer, this shop will gift a consumption voucher worth 188; welcome to visit again next time."

Only this once!

If I come again, I'm a dog!

Qin Shi accepted the consumption voucher with tears in his eyes and stuffed it into his trouser pocket.

Thinking whether he could sell it cheap to his dead party Zhou Ning, so he could recover some blood.

"Look at your stingy effort. From ancient times to now, there is no path of life force development that doesn't cost money. The Old Era often said 'poor scholars, rich martial artists,' and it's not without reason.

I told you before, the Martial Artist path is divided into practice method and combat method.

The most important step of the former lies in body cultivation."

Old Liang walked down the second floor slowly with a limp, tone flat:

"Opening meridians and straightening the back, Amateur Eighth Rank Nine Joints, Qi Sense Circulation... these paths are all methods to squeeze your body's potential. If a car isn't solid and firm, stomping the gas will only make it scrap ahead of time!

No matter how durable your physique, you ultimately can't avoid the problem of joint injury from boxing practice and tendon and bone damage from training.

Thrift is a good habit, but you must understand what money should be spent and what money shouldn't be spent; put good steel on the blade's edge!"

Teacher Liang's intention, Qin Shi knew clearly; the 【Deep Sleep】 effect was indeed outstanding, able to relieve physical fatigue.

But the tendon and bone wear brought by daily high-intensity training absolutely cannot be repaired just by sleeping!

Accumulating day by month, waiting until years grow long and physical ability declines, it will erupt sooner or later!

The gym's Gold Medal Coach also often says, the human body is like a precise and complex machine; if not carefully maintained, it easily stiffens and rusts, reduced to a cluster of scrap iron.

"Teacher Liang, the principle is this principle. But the 688 package indeed exceeds my ability; I can't afford to consume it."

Qin Shi shook his head; recently he was still thinking of working hard to accumulate enough registration fee.

Through diligent study, desperate training, to raise life force.

Looking now, it's truly naive to an excessive degree!

Not yet entered the door, just eating nutrient paste and massage therapy, these two expenses alone are enough to empty the family assets!

The huge sum Big Sister gave, seemingly not little.

Actually, under the condition of spending freely, it can't even last half a month.

"Teacher Liang, I'm now so poor walking on the road, seeing a finished soda bottle I want to pick it up and stuff it in my pocket, take it to sell as scrap!"

Qin Shi mocked himself.

"Your difficulties, I naturally know. But with zero investment, hoping to see returns is no different from daydreaming."

Old Liang spoke very directly:

"In this era, as long as the life force level is high enough, the ways to obtain wealth are countless.

Do you know, those proud sons of heaven who at a young age set their section rank as full-time professionals and seized the Martial Artist Title.

What are they called by the big conglomerates? Walking mineral veins!

Meaning discover one, and you can exchange for inexhaustible money and status!"

I also don't have the conditions of those young masters from Imperial Capital and Haizhou!

Qin Shi slandered in his belly.

Immediately after, he glanced again at the limping Old Liang.

This Physical Education Teacher had gray-white hair, a weathered face, skin dark as a laborer's.

His lips moved slightly, as if wanting to ask something, but no sound came out.

Swallowing back down that bit of untimely curiosity silently.

"I know what you want to ask."

Old Liang seemed to sense it, turned his head to look at Qin Shi, lowered his head to clamp the cigarette in his mouth, and let out a long breath:

"I'm old, I'm lame, so I'm not worth money, can only nest in No. 9 Middle School as a poor teacher.

Kid, before I became a dead cripple, I was actually pretty formidable.

At my most glorious moment, the distance to Stone Buddha He Lanchan, Raging Vajra Kao Yun Chao those people, was just this little bit..."

Old Liang raised his hand to gesture, his eyes flashing with a bright radiance completely different from usual.

The dim narrow street alley entrance, the gaudy red and green advertising billboard lights, behind them intersecting dense residential buildings, and the occasional sounds of quarrels, shouting, and dog barking.

Under such a scene, a down-and-out middle-aged man with nothing to show talks about the past.

Inexplicably there's a kind of legendary feel.

Old Liang couldn't be one of those great hermits hiding in the city from Old Era wuxia novels, right?

Qin Shi gave rise to suspicion.

Stone Buddha He Lanchan, Raging Vajra Kao Yun Chao...

Each of these individuals is a first-generation Sun of undeniable substance!

They are even the supreme honor of the Dongxia Martial Association, the ultimate honorary title that countless Martial Artists pursue — the origin of the "Guan Shi Ten Jie"!

Let alone standing shoulder to shoulder with them.

Even brushing against their edge is quite extraordinary.

It's like in a competitive game in my past life, getting matched with a high-ranked pro player, a random teammate who's a top-tier specialist.

Easily looking down on over ninety percent of players!

"A Martial Artist is inherently a path that lets a mortal body break through shackles again and again, break limits and be reborn!

It transforms a person, letting you turn from humble, tiny grains of sand and dust into the most dazzling stars in the universe!

But the premise is, you must accept countless challenges, just like coal buried underground being burned, compressed, crystallizing and growing over vast years, condensing into diamond."

Lao Liang spoke words from the bottom of his heart; his figure, slightly hunched from years of limping, stretched long under the streetlamp.

"The Star Sea is vast, magnificent and splendid cosmic wonders, mighty war legions driving Divine Machines, Divine Spirit Favored Clans wandering through the universe...

Kid, if you can walk out of Old Factory Street, I hope you don't stop lightly, and even more so, don't take the Taian Metropolitan Area, Hengzhou Central City as your endpoint."

Qin Shi nodded silently, not making any of the passionate vows typical of young people.

Aspire high, tread solid ground — this is what he demands of himself.

As Lao Liang said, the Star Sea is vast; even Dongxia's most top-tier Martial Artists may not be able to measure it fully with their footsteps.

Step by step, solidifying the foundation is enough.

Every naive youth who dreams of wandering the world with a sword ends up canceling plans because of an empty purse.

Those who leave on a whim are mostly rich kids born in Rome, not the oxen and horses who toil bitterly for a living.

"Drank too much, talked a bit much. Come over earlier tomorrow, morning for meridian opening and back stretching, grasping Qi sensation, familiarizing with the practice method. Afternoon practice fists and feet; Old Martial Arts may not beat New Martial Arts in other aspects, but in fighting they've never lost."

Lao Liang waved his hand; he had also discovered a good seedling today, and after years of silence his heart suddenly surged with a few degrees of heat, which was why he lost his composure just now.

"Alright, Liang Laoshi."

Qin Shi felt quite regretful; since he would follow Lao Liang to train physical ability and study Old Martial Arts.

He definitely wouldn't be able to juggle the Yinma Gym job anymore.

Painfully losing one thousand two!

The Youth Palace side, however, could continue.

Going once a week, being an Assistant Teacher, cleaning hygiene.

Not only earning two daily wages, but also mooching the canteen's synthetic fast food.

"This life can finally be considered on the right track."

Bidding farewell to Lao Liang, Qin Shi walked home cheerfully.

Don't know if it was because Jin Se Yin Xiang's Yan Shuang's massage technique was too amazing.

Or some other reason.

He felt light all over, as if he'd shed a heavy burden.

The whole person felt very relaxed!

"Perhaps this is the meaning of life, striving and sprinting toward a certain goal, no longer drifting aimlessly in confusion."

Qin Shi hands in pockets, walked home along the alley.

Lights were on inside the house; hearing footsteps, the youngest Qin Lan called out:

"Second Brother, is that you?"

"Mhm, had dinner? Brought you a portion of roasted chicken frame."

Qin Shi lifted the bag in his hand.

"Eating a night snack feels too guilty, Brother!"

Qin Lan smelled the tempting aroma, mouth wanting to refuse but body very honest.

"Then I'll eliminate it for you, so you don't have to be the sinner."

Qin Shi deliberately said it like that.

"No way, you already brought it, I can't let your kind intentions go to waste!"

Qin Lan, a big glutton since childhood, ultimately couldn't hold back, snatched the chicken frame and started gnawing.

While enjoying it, she didn't forget to paint a rosy picture for Qin Shi:

"Brother, these few days' bowls and clothes, all handled by your sister! Absolutely won't let you do a bit of work!"

Qin Shi didn't take it seriously, walked into his own room, took off the sweat-soaked short sleeves and long pants.

Threw them into the wooden basin outside the room, preparing to fetch water and scrub wash.

"Forget it, keep those hands of yours for typing on the computer; dirty work and tiring work, let your big brother do it."

He was just turning his pockets when something suddenly fell out.

Qin Lan, squatting nearby gnawing the chicken frame, picked it up casually, then froze:

"Brother... you, when did you go into the sex trade?"

As the youngest, Qin Lan pinched that Jin Se Yin Xiang 188 Yuan Coupon.

In the blink of an eye, she had already brain-supplemented Second Brother Qin Shi's complex mental journey of helplessly falling into a den of iniquity, reduced to a money-making tool, in order to share pressure for Big Sister and subsidize the household!

"Can't I have gone there to spend money?!"

Qin Shi said angrily.

"Brother, don't worry, I'll keep it confidential!"

Qin Lan gnawed the chicken frame, as if she could appreciate how hard-earned this food was.

Qin Lan gnawed the chicken frame, as if she could appreciate how hard-earned this food was.

She absolutely didn't believe Second Brother's stingy personality would be willing to spend money on a massage.

"If you really want to walk this path, little sister can introduce you to 'clients'!

Brother, there are several rich, beautiful, and fair-skinned girls in our class who love the beautiful-tragic-strong type... ah, stop pinching my face!"

The siblings tussled and laughed, this beauty drifting away on the summer night's cool breeze.

Like a pebble dropped into the vast ocean, stirring only a few faint ripples.

After washing the clothes, Qin Shi returned to his room.

Text messages flickered and refreshed, appearing on his retina.

【Body has obtained sufficient nutrition...】

【Training intensity acceptable...】

【Growth Degree +100】

The Blood Flesh Embryo inside the Black Frame seemed to wriggle slightly, gaining minute growth.

Qin Shi glanced over the 【Muscle Memory】 Junior Achievement, his gaze stopping on Twenty Sets of Exhaustion Training.

"Today Lao Liang dragged me to eat and get a massage, didn't meet the standard, tomorrow I absolutely cannot slack off."

(Chapter End)