Chapter 22: I'll Show You a Couple of Tricks

At first hearing, it was a bit unbelievable.

Upon closer thought, it turned out to be the truth.

The area under the Wild Wolf Gang's jurisdiction is just this big; saying these thugs don't know each other is probably unlikely.

I injured two waves of people in succession—once taking on two opponents alone, another time three opponents alone, and in the three‑against‑one bout I directly left one of them seriously wounded.

When the other thugs hear the news, they'll definitely think he's a Staff Method master, a ruthless striker.

Therefore, besides the Wild Wolf Gang and the people from the street martial arts hall, I have also become someone the local thugs can't afford to provoke.

Thinking it all through, Jiang Cheng felt a bit conflicted.

Having just crossed over, he was already worried that on the way back he might encounter thugs robbing him.

But now there's basically no need to worry; even if he returns after dark, there aren't many thugs bold enough to block his path.

That's good news.

But it's also a bit disappointing.

Because he lost a quick way to make money.

These thugs don't carry much cash; they have a few dozen to a hundred small coins, but a single robbery can net two or three hundred, which, when converted to pork, is almost ten jin.

"Forget it, my Roasted Sweet Potato skill is decent now; I can earn two or three hundred a day without any risk. Robbing these thugs, black‑on‑black, sounds fine, but you never walk along a riverbank without getting your shoes wet—what if something goes wrong one day?"

Jiang Cheng quickly steadied his mindset.

He does have a knack with the Short Staff now; you could say he's at a Proficient level, roughly comparable to a year of training with others, and being too flamboyant wouldn't be good.

First, rely on selling Roasted Sweet Potatoes to scrape together the three thousand yuan due next month.

At the same time, practice the Short Staff, aiming to raise its Proficient rating to the highest tier as soon as possible.

That way, even when facing the Wild Wolf Gang's elite forces, he won't be scared.

Also, those beasts from the Dragon Martial Arts Hall a couple of days ago.

He's a petty person—revenge for a grudge, gratitude for a favor—so he'll definitely find a chance to beat those guys up! After arriving home safely, Old Man let out a sigh of relief and, as usual, asked Jiang Cheng whether any danger had occurred on the way back.

Jiang Cheng smiled and shook his head, pushed the cart into the house, and asked, "Grandma, guess how much I earned today?"

Old Man was startled.

"I sold over four hundred today!"

"!"

Old Man opened his mouth wide and said, "A lot—how much?"

"Over four hundred!"

Jiang Cheng repeated it, pulled out a little over a hundred in change from his pocket, and placed it on the table.

Then he opened the oil barrel and lifted out the Roasted Sweet Potatoes inside.

Old Man held his breath.

The Roasted Sweet Potatoes on the cart looked to be a little over a hundred jin; at three yuan per jin, that's over three hundred.

Add the a little over a hundred cash on the table.

Over four hundred.

Old Man couldn't believe his eyes.

He had sold Roasted Sweet Potatoes for decades; even on his best day he only sold a little over sixty potatoes, three hundred‑plus, barely approaching four hundred yuan.

Jiang Cheng sold over four hundred all at once today? "Xiao Cheng, how did you sell so much today?"

His lips trembled.

"Of course it's because my Roasted Sweet Potato skill is good."

Jiang Cheng said proudly, "I set up a stall at noon and already had two people waiting; they waited almost an hour just to eat my Roasted Sweet Potatoes. More people kept coming behind them, each saying my Roasted Sweet Potatoes were the best they've ever eaten."

"Really? Is it true?"

Old Man still found it a bit hard to believe.

"It's definitely true. Listen, Grandma, let this Roasted Sweet Potato master show you a couple of tricks."

Jiang Cheng said as he was about to start roasting.

"No need, no need." Old Man quickly stopped him, "Grandma believes you; how could Grandma not believe what you say?"

Jiang Cheng heard that and realized Old Man was actually reluctant—not just unwilling to give up the Roasted Sweet Potatoes, but also the little charcoal.

But this time, he wasn't going to listen.

Today, whatever he says, he'll show off a couple of tricks.

On one hand, it's to make Old Man believe that his skill truly is better than before, and the higher sales are because of that.

That way, the money he brings back later will be more, and he won't have to worry about Old Man overthinking; he can safely use it to improve his life.

Unlike the money taken from thugs before, which could buy things, bringing back too many items now would require a reasonable explanation.

On the other hand, since he earned a little over a hundred extra today, with a net profit of fifty or sixty, could he still be unwilling to give Old Man a Roasted Sweet Potato?

"Xiao Cheng, Xiao Cheng." Old Man, seeing this, kept calling out to stop him.

But Jiang Cheng wouldn't listen to anything, lit the charcoal, and began roasting.

"Ah, you kid."

Old Man's tone was reproachful, but his eyes flickered with tears.

He knew Jiang Cheng was unwilling to part with him, and to get him to eat Roasted Sweet Potatoes he even fabricated a reason that his skill had improved.

Jiang Cheng's Roasted Sweet Potato skill was taught hand‑by‑hand by him; could he not know whether his skill had improved?

But Jiang Cheng insisted, and he also couldn't do anything about it.

"Xiao Cheng, Xiao Cheng." He sighed and said, "After you leave, I have that jin of meat and eggs, and I want Chen Sao to take them, but she says she wants nothing, and also says that if this keeps happening, she won't come over to us anymore."

He sighed and said, "After you leave, I have that jin of meat and eggs, I want Chen Sao to accept them, but she says she wants nothing, and also says that if this continues, she won't visit us anymore."

Understood.

Even if the Old Man didn't speak, Jiang Cheng had that intention.

He placed four sweet potatoes on it, thought about it, felt it didn't sound right, and added another.

Three went to Grandma, and the others to Chen Sao and Lin Yue next door.

The remaining two he kept for himself.

Since practicing Short Staff, he felt his appetite had grown a lot; after finishing a midday meal, by a little after three in the afternoon, almost four, he was already hungry.

Of course, there were also his Roasted Sweet Potatoes, which were truly the reason they tasted good.

As time passed, the aroma of the Roasted Sweet Potato gradually filled the whole house.

The Old Man, gazing at the golden, sparkling flesh, couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

Xiao Cheng's Roasted Sweet Potato, huh, actually pretty good?

After more than forty minutes, the sweet potato was finally roasted, Jiang Cheng took a bowl, placed a roasted sweet potato inside, then grabbed a pair of chopsticks and handed them to the Old Man.

"Grandma, try it; how's my cooking?"

The Old Man took the chopsticks, pinched a bit of flesh, blew on the heat, and put it into his mouth.

He chewed twice, and his eyes narrowed.

"Really sweet."

A smile blossomed on her face like a flower.

"Sweet, right?"

Jiang Cheng smiled, a little pained.

Looking at the Old Man's forehead wrinkles, he couldn't help but recall a poem: "Yesterday entered the city, returned with tears soaking the scarf, those clothed in brocade are not silkworm farmers."

Grandma hadn't had Roasted Sweet Potato for several months.

"Grandma, take your time; I'll take these two and send them to Chen Sao and the others."

"Ah, go ahead."

The Old Man quickly agreed, couldn't help but pick another chopstickful of flesh and put it in his mouth.

"So sweet!"

(End of chapter)