Chapter 39: Choices and Trade‑offs

Next door, Chen Sao and her daughter Lin Yue were eating inside the house.

The meal was simple: plain rice with salted vegetables.

"Chen Sao, are you home?"

Just then, Jiang Cheng's voice came from outside the house.

"I'm home; the door's unlocked, come in."

Chen Sao hurriedly replied, set down her chopsticks, and rose toward the doorway.

She opened the door and saw Jiang Cheng standing outside with a smiling face, holding two plastic bags.

Lin Yue's pupils widened slightly at the sight.

She hadn't expected Jiang Cheng to bring good things again.

But recalling that a similar visit a few days earlier had ended…, she didn't hold much hope.

"Xiao Cheng, what's this?"

When Chen Sao saw the contents—a piece of pork and a jin of eggs—her face immediately showed a look of difficulty.

"Chen Sao, you didn't accept what I gave last time; this time you should take it, right?" Jiang Cheng blinked.

Chen Sao understood, but instinctively refused, "Xiao Cheng, take these yourself to eat; I have some here as well."

"That's a different matter."

Jiang Cheng, without further discussion, shoved the items into her hand, "Alright, Chen Sao, I'm going back to eat; after that I'll rest. Anything else can wait until tomorrow."

Having said that, he turned and ran away.

"That kid."

Chen Sao watched Jiang Cheng dash into the house and couldn't help laughing.

She felt deeply moved inside.

Since Jiang Cheng could now make money, and a lot of it, she decided to accept the few dozen yuan worth of goods.

"Mom, you?"

Lin Yue looked at the scene in surprise.

The last time her mother had firmly refused.

This time, why accept so quickly? Chen Sao smiled and explained, "Your brother Jiang Cheng's business has been good lately, and this is his goodwill. Tomorrow I'll cook the pork and invite him over for a meal."

"I see."

Lin Yue seemed to understand.

She recalled the roasted sweet potato Jiang Cheng had brought last time.

It did taste quite good! If his business is doing well, it's only natural.

"Alright, then we'll invite him for dinner tomorrow."

Lin Yue laughed, and her heart began to look forward to it.

Counting it, it's been over a week since the last time they ate meat, right?

On the other side, seeing Jiang Cheng return empty‑handed, the Old Man was pleased and asked, "Did they agree to take it?"

"Yes."

Jiang Cheng smiled, "Chen Sao was reluctant at first; I just shoved the items into her hand—she can't refuse."

"That's good."

The Old Man sighed, "These years they've taken good care of us; just recently when you had a cold and fever, they were busy attending to you. Sending them something back is only proper."

"Indeed."

Jiang Cheng agreed.

"Aren't you staying there a bit longer?"

The Old Man suddenly realized something.

"Grandma, Xiao Yue has already rested; staying longer wouldn't help," Jiang Cheng said offhand.

"That's true."

The Old Man felt it was a pity.

He wanted Jiang Cheng to return sooner but worried it would affect his business.

"Then tomorrow during the day when you're home, go over there more often."

"Got it," Jiang Cheng replied, quickly changing the subject, "Grandma, guess how much money I made today?"

"How much?"

Sure enough, the Old Man perked up his ears and lowered his voice, as if fearing someone was eavesdropping from the corner.

"Twenty more than yesterday, four hundred and eighty."

Jiang Cheng pulled out a large stack of cash and placed it on the table.

"Grandma, want me to count it?"

"No need to count, no need—just put your hand away quickly."

The Old Man laughed broadly, "If from now on we could earn this much every day, that would be great."

"Definitely."

Jiang Cheng gathered the money, found the savings box, and placed it together with the ones from a few days ago.

Now his savings are close to 1,800 yuan, and he still has 200 yuan on hand, meaning he can now purchase an Ordinary Member of the Feiying Martial Arts Hall.

Playing it safe, he should go tomorrow morning to buy the Ordinary Member directly.

With this status, on his way back he won't have to worry about running into those backgrounded thugs.

But most of the local thugs, when they see him, can't even dodge in time; spending two thousand yuan to guard against those few backgrounded thugs is a bit wasteful.

From the standpoint of maximizing profit, one could wait a few more days, save up five thousand, and directly obtain senior member status—that would be best.

That way, at month‑end there would be no need to pay the Wild Wolf Gang's stall‑fee management charge, and perhaps there would also be a chance to come into contact with secret martial arts.

But this period is a bit long; calculating from my current daily net profit of over four hundred, gathering three thousand would also take about a week.

A week—then there would be many more variables.

"Better to play it safe."

Jiang Cheng thought it over and still decided to first get hold of a member status—just in case.

Moreover, if all goes well, after becoming an ordinary member one should also be able to pay an additional three thousand to upgrade to senior member.

If that's the case, then paying first to become an ordinary member would also be worthwhile.

"Tomorrow I'll go check the situation, and by the way I'll also tell grandma and the others about this." Jiang Cheng thought to himself.

If possible, he would actually prefer to keep it hidden.

But it would be hard to explain why he suddenly had a full set of martial‑arts‑hall uniforms; besides, becoming a member is not just about having a backer—he also wants to learn the real skills.

With the proficiency panel, even a clumsy boxing style he could practice to look proper; but if he went to the martial hall, received systematic training, and had partners to spar and advise him, he would only improve faster.

That way, even if he had no weapon in hand he would still have some fighting capability, unlike now, where if his short staff slips from his hand he is left helpless.

After dinner, as usual, he washed the sweet potatoes and practiced the double staff.

Having a foundation with the short staff, the double staff's experience value grew very quickly.

After more than an hour, a feeling of fatigue welled up.

Jiang Cheng put away the two short staffs, glanced at the proficiency panel, and estimated that if he practiced a little more tomorrow morning he would reach proficiency.

Fortunately he had decided; tomorrow he would go straight to the martial arts hall, and whether or not the double staff was proficient wasn't so urgent.

……

The next day.

Jiang Cheng woke up early, and while he was eating breakfast, Chen Sao came over with the breakfast.

"Chen Sao, morning."

Jiang Cheng immediately returned the greeting, thinking it was perfect that he had something to say, and Chen Sao had just come over.

"Chen Sao, sit, sit." The old man also broke into a smile and pulled out a stool for Chen Sao.

"Grandma Jiang, eat your own—I'm not helpless." Chen Sao deliberately put on a stern face.

The old man knew she was pretending and didn't mind; he looked outside and asked, "Xiao Yue, haven't you gotten up yet?"

"She's up, having breakfast at home—this child is shy, she could stay indoors all day." Chen Sao shook her head, looking helpless.

"Xiao Cheng……"

"Chen Sao……"

The next moment, the two facing each other spoke at the same time.

(End of chapter)