Chapter 5

Looking at the two figures wandering at the door, Liang Qu frowned.

Who are these two? Not sleeping in the middle of the night, wandering at my door.

At the door, a middle-aged man and a thin servant stood one behind the other. The one who had just spoken was the pale-skinned middle-aged man. This person's clothes were clean and tidy; no matter how you looked at him, he didn't look like an ordinary person.

Looking at the middle-aged man who clearly had some background, Liang Qu searched quickly in his mind.

On the other side, Zheng Xiang saw that Liang Qu didn't speak and thought the other party was still struggling. He waved his hand, and the servant beside him immediately lifted a sack and opened the bag mouth.

Zheng Xiang rolled up his sleeves and reached into it. By the moonlight, Liang Qu saw that the man had actually grabbed a large handful of white, shiny refined rice!

Liang Qu swallowed his saliva. The stomach pain when he first arrived had truly left him with some psychological trauma.

Zheng Xiang slowly poured the rice in his hand into the cloth bag: "How about it? As long as you acknowledge our Master Zhao as your foster father, this dou of refined rice will be yours, and from now on, you will eat such good rice!"

Foster father!?

Hearing this word, Liang Qu's brain seemed to open a certain switch, but it wasn't the switch of "If the Duke does not abandon me, Bu is willing to worship you as a foster father," but the cause and effect of the whole thing.

The middle-aged man in front of him was one of the stewards of Master Zhao's mansion in the neighboring town, the one with the cold pool!

The other party's purpose for coming here was very simple: buy a slave!

Now that they were at the door, it was self-evident who the slave being bought was.

As for why buying a slave had to be called acknowledging a foster father, it was because the founding emperor of the Great Shun dynasty stipulated that ordinary people were forbidden to keep private slaves. Therefore, many old wealthy people adopted slaves in the form of accepting goddaughters and godsons. As long as there was a notary to prove it, it had the same effect as the later generations.

Logically speaking, the original body's life was so difficult that selling himself wouldn't be a bad way out. This was both a steward and refined grain; it really gave enough face.

But the key to the problem is here: which family is so attentive to recruiting slaves?

That Master Zhao, it is rumored, likes men!

When Liang Qu first arrived, he discovered that the teenager he had transmigrated into not only had the same name but also looked similar, worthy of being himself in a parallel space. Even though he had been following his father out to fish for years, his skin was a bit dark and rough, but his facial features were excellent and his appearance was upright. If he took care of himself, he would definitely not be bad.

Combining the two, the so-called "rumor" was mostly true.

Thinking of this, Liang Qu shivered, full of disgust.

"Have you considered it?" Zheng Xiang asked again.

Last time he visited, he was put off by the need to consider, but now, he was fully confident that if the other party didn't accept his conditions, he would probably starve to death at home in the next few days!

Zheng Xiang even called people from the dental firm over, also to act as a guarantee, so that Liang Qu wouldn't sell himself and then turn around and regret it, going to the government to sue the Zhao family for forcing a good person into slavery.

It's not that the Zhao family is afraid of being sued; who likes to cause trouble? Wiping one's butt still takes a few sheets of paper.

The servant from the dental firm beside him also chimed in: "Yes, yes, Little Young Master, being able to go to the Zhao mansion is a blessing that ordinary people like us can't cultivate in several lifetimes. Why do you need to be like this, coming in the wind and rain, and not even eating a few mouthfuls of grain a year?"

'Damn you, whoever wants to enjoy this blessing can enjoy it, and don't be afraid of not wiping your butt clean.'

Liang Qu cursed inwardly, but on the surface, he politely declined. The Zhao family was big and powerful; it was really not something he could offend now: "I'm really sorry, Steward Zheng. I have a thin life and cannot enjoy such overwhelming blessings. I feel bad for making you come here for nothing. Why don't you take this yellow fish back as my apology?"

The servant from the dental firm was dumbfounded.

Zheng Xiang's face changed. He hadn't expected Liang Qu to refuse. He leaned in fiercely, forcing Liang Qu to take two steps back, but the distance was still shortened quite a bit, which immediately made him notice something unusual.

Why is Liang Qu's complexion so good? He doesn't look like someone who has been starving for a few days at all! And where did this yellow fish come from? Did he catch it?

Zheng Xiang's mind raced. He didn't understand why a teenager with no one to rely on...

... would have his luck turn around in just these few days?

Liang Qu was startled. Just as he wanted to say something to save his life, Zheng Xiang calmed down instead: "It's nothing. It was a voluntary deal in the first place. An apology is not necessary. It's not easy to catch a yellow fish, so Little Young Master should keep it. It's getting late, so I won't stay any longer. Goodbye!"

While speaking, Zheng Xiang had already left with the servant from the dental firm, leaving only Liang Qu holding the yellow fish at the door.

Did I offend him or not?

Liang Qu's face was uncertain. Logically, whether to agree or not is his own freedom, but for the weak to refuse the strong is in itself a mistake.

The most critical thing is that the whole thing is full of awkwardness and doubts.

The Zhao family is a big family in the neighboring Pingyang Town. Why did they know so quickly that there was an orphan in Yixing City who was about to fail to survive?

Zhang the Scabby, is the Zhao family...

"It seems I must become a martial artist as soon as possible. Once I become a martial artist, the Zhao family won't be able to do anything to me."

With his mind full of thoughts, Liang Qu fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, under the surprised eyes of passing fishermen, Liang Qu took the yellow fish and sold it to the most luxurious restaurant in Yixing City, receiving eighty wen of copper coins.

It was still far from the time to pay fishing taxes and other miscellaneous taxes, and neither he nor his ancestors had rented anything from the fishing barrier, so he didn't need to be exploited to pay off debts. Plus, Yixing City was close to the big city, public security was good, and there were no fishing tyrants, so the money he got basically all went into his own hands.

If it were in some poor mountain ditch, it would be miserable. Fishing tyrants and fishing barriers would all come out, stripping you clean, always on the verge of a civil uprising, just missing someone to shout slogans.

After getting the money, Liang Qu found a cheap foot shop, ordered two jin of meat, a bowl of rice, and a plate of seasonal vegetables, and ate to his heart's content.

However, Yixing City was really small. In a short while, the news that he had caught a yellow fish and sold it for eighty wen spread everywhere. People came to ask where he caught the fish, thinking they would go try their luck too, which was very annoying.

"You kid, where did you catch the yellow fish? Hurry up and leak some wind." A young man two or three years older than Liang Qu put his arm around Liang Qu's shoulder. While speaking, his hand was not honest, wanting to grab the fatty meat on the plate, but was slapped back by a chopstick.

"Hiss, you kid, your hand is too ruthless." The young man bared his teeth and shook his hand.

Liang Qu remained unmoved. There were only so many peers in town, and they basically all knew each other. Li Libo was such a person, but they weren't that close. At least when he borrowed grain, his family didn't lend any.

It wasn't to the point of resentment. The productivity of agricultural society was only so much, and everyone was working hard to eat. It was normal for no one to lend. On the contrary, those relatives of his, not lending was one thing, but they also spoke rudely, which was indeed infuriating.

"I already said, it's in the reed marsh three miles to the right of Shangrao Port."

"I don't believe it. You kid must not be telling the truth. If it were me, I wouldn't tell others if I really had a place to catch yellow fish. I'd keep it to myself and make a fortune."

Seeing that there was no meat to eat, Li Libo could only pour himself a pot of tea and drink it alone. He was a loafer in the first place. Hearing that Liang Qu had caught a yellow fish, he came over to take advantage.

But it was precisely Li Libo's personality that made him very well-informed about some gossip. Thinking about recent events, Liang Qu had a flash of inspiration: "Ask you something, if you answer well, there will be meat to eat."

Li Libo's eyes lit up: "There's still such a good thing? Hurry up and ask."

"How much do you know about the martial arts school in Pingyang Town?"

Li Libo looked Liang Qu up and down and chuckled: "That's true, who doesn't have a dream of being a martial artist? But you asked the right person."

"Tell me in detail."

"There are three martial arts schools in Pingyang Town. The most powerful one is Master Yang, because the masters of the other two are from wild backgrounds, and Master Yang is retired from the army! And I, Li Libo, am about to apprentice to Master Yang!"

Li Libo's answer was more like bragging.

"You?" Liang Qu questioned deliberately.

Li Libo really got anxious all of a sudden and blurted everything out, which made Liang Qu suddenly realize and have some understanding of the extraordinary system of this world.

It's very simple: polish the foundation, then medicinal bath, then polish, then medicinal bath, and finally break through the barrier.

Skin, flesh, bone, blood—the four small barriers. Once you pass them all, you can be called a martial artist. Before that, you can only be a martial practitioner. It is said that there are realms further on, but that's not something ordinary people can know.

Enrollment in martial arts schools is not difficult. You don't need to look at any root bones, just look at whether you have money!

Master Yang's martial arts school is seven taels of silver without food and lodging, ten taels with food and lodging, and twenty taels with food, lodging, and medicinal baths. It's slightly more expensive than the other two, but it also fits the positioning of being more powerful.

Only seven taels of silver, it's not difficult. Liang Qu was thoughtful: "Then aren't you..."

"Shh, don't tell anyone. In two months, my family will send me to the martial arts school." Li Libo was smug, "Once I go, I'll definitely be stronger than that Zhang the Scabby. He even practiced some tricks, didn't he still get beaten up by others?"