Chapter 1: The Initial Predicament

"What a life of slaving away like an ox or a horse!"

The faint sigh coming to his ears originated from the parents of this current life.

Zhou You had just transmigrated into this body when he encountered a massive crisis in his life.

His predecessor had offended a minor leader of a local gang, and the other party had made a fierce threat that he must be killed.

People in gangs are, without exception, troublemakers and thugs who love to fight and act tough.

Gongliang City has three hundred thousand households, most of whom are law-abiding folk; like Zhou You's family, they are fundamentally powerless to resist them.

Zhou You's father is a clerk at a trading firm who has spent most of his life struggling to barely earn enough rations for the family; he has no power, no influence, and certainly knows no big shots.

As for his mother, she is just an ordinary housewife with little worldly experience.

"Cough, cough, cough. If you're awake, eat breakfast and go over to apologize to them."

Fang Laodie puffed on his pipe, and the room was filled with swirling smoke.

He had gone to great lengths to pull strings, giving gifts and pleading for mercy, to get the gang's minor leader to relent.

The other party had declared they wanted 50 taels of silver as an apology, and that Zhou You must go to their door and kowtow to apologize.

Too bullying!

50 taels of silver was what Fang Laodie had scraped together by exhausting every connection he had.

The heavy silver was wrapped in floral cloth, tied into a bulging pouch.

Zhou You ate a few mouthfuls of coarse grain cake and stuffed the silver into his chest, "Dad, Mom, wait for my good news."

He pushed the door open and walked out; the neighbors on both sides heard the movement.

"Zhou You, heading out?"

The neighbor to the left was Li Guafu, who raised her five-year-old child alone and made a living running a small wine stall.

She was capable and sharp-tongued, and for fear of being bullied as a widow with a child, she had attached herself to a local Constable.

It was said that this time, when Fang Laodie begged for her help, she had the Constable pass a word to the gang thugs, which was why the other party had relented.

"Aunt Li, morning."

Li Guafu held the little boy and greeted him warmly, "Zhou You, don't let your parents worry."

The gold bracelet on her right wrist was very familiar; it looked like a recent acquisition.

Zhou You recognized it as his mother's dowry, which she had worn for most of her life.

For his sake, his parents had emptied out their family savings.

Zhou You's pace as he left the house quickened; he was determined to resolve this matter today.

Walking out of this neighborhood and gazing at the bustling streets, he felt full of ambition.

Gongliang City is the largest city for a hundred miles around, with convenient water and land transportation, supporting a population of a million.

This is a prosperous place, and also a target for various factions to contend over.

The gang he offended is called the Wild Fox Gang, which controls 300 able-bodied men and occupies over a dozen streets to collect protection money.

With the power of the Wild Fox Gang, even a minor leader could destroy Zhou You's family with a flick of a finger.

"Zhou You, Zhou You, wait up."

Turning left at the intersection leads to the road toward the Wild Fox Gang's minor leader.

A shout came from behind Zhou You, and when he turned to look, it was a peer dressed in indigo-colored tight-fitting clothes.

Gao Qiang is a companion Zhou You grew up playing with.

Half a year ago, the two agreed to apply to a martial arts school, went together, and were both eliminated.

For children of poor families, unless they are born with extraordinary talent, their bone structure falls far short of the threshold for practicing martial arts.

After failing the martial arts school entrance, Zhou You returned home to inherit his father's trade, preparing to join the trading firm as a clerk.

As for Gao Qiang, it was said he still wanted to practice martial arts and joined another gang.

For the poor in the city who want to practice martial arts, there are only two paths: martial arts schools and gangs.

A martial arts school is equivalent to a school; you pay money to learn boxing, and it depends on whether the master is willing to provide for you.

As for gangs, it is much more dangerous; they teach you martial arts to train you as a thug, to fight with knives and risk your life at critical moments.

Gao Qiang's parents were both dead, and without elders to supervise him, he naturally walked down this path.

Zhou You's parents, fearing he would learn bad habits, had cut off the friendship between Zhou You and Gao Qiang.

It had been over half a year since he last saw Gao Qiang.

"Zhou You, I heard you ran into trouble."

Gao Qiang now carried a fierce aura; he looked at people sideways and walked with a swagger, causing pedestrians to dodge him.

On the back of his hands and arms, there were several crisscrossing knife scars, which looked quite terrifying.

"The Wild Fox Gang is nothing! I have the Crazy Horse Gang behind me; we have thousands of brothers."

"Brother will cover you, it'll be fine."

Gao Qiang patted his chest with a thumping sound, looking very loyal.

Zhou You only felt that this good friend was incredibly strange; he had completely adopted the style of a gang member.

"Tu Laosan of the Wild Fox Gang has mediocre martial arts; he just relies on having an older brother who is a Vice Gang Leader, and his tail is wagging in the sky!"

"Zhou You, I just took the Second Elder of our gang as my godfather last month."

"I'll take you to see my godfather; we don't need to fear that Tu Laosan."

Tu Laosan is the minor leader of the Wild Fox Gang whom Zhou You offended.

Just as Gao Qiang said, Tu Laosan relied on his brother, the Vice Gang Leader, to commit all sorts of evil, and few dared to provoke him.

The Crazy Horse Gang and the Wild Fox Gang are two gangs in the city that are like fire and water.

But, is using the power of the Crazy Horse Gang to oppose Tu Laosan really a good idea?

Zhou You did not think so; for an ordinary family, to live a stable life, one must never get involved with gangs.

There was a family in the next block whose daughter caught the eye of the Wild Wolf Gang leader, who forcibly demanded to take her as a concubine.

The man of that house was a distant relative of the Mad Horse Gang leader and asked him to intercede, never expecting to step into an abyss.

Gang thugs have no humanity; even with relatives, they pick the bones and suck the marrow, extorting them in every way while delaying the task.

The Wild Fox Gang harassed them daily, and the Mad Horse Gang demanded money every day, forcing the whole family into a dead end with nowhere to turn.

The end of the story was that the family was drained of all their wealth, the daughter was abducted, the husband and wife went mad, and they ended up with their family destroyed and dead.

Gao Qiang spoke for a long time before explaining his purpose.

"My godfather is of high virtue and prestige; one cannot visit him empty-handed to ask for a favor."

"I heard your uncle pawned many things, so your family should have quite a bit of silver; bring it out!"

"If you have 40 or 50 taels, it might barely be enough to ask my godfather to say a word so that Tu Laosan won't dare to make things difficult for your family."

Is it really like this?

Zhou You could not help but sneer in his heart; the other party must have found out that Tu Laosan asked for fifty taels and deliberately intercepted him on the road to demand money.

A low-level gang member who had only joined recently, what qualifications did he have to ask a high-level figure to take action?

Gao Qiang's trip was just to use sweet talk to swindle money!

Once a person joins a gang, their heart turns rotten; even a childhood friend becomes a stranger, full of lies!

"Gao Qiang, I think this matter is feasible, but the money is not on me; I will go back and persuade my parents."

"You help me sound out the Second Elder's side first."

Gao Qiang blinked his eyes and flicked his fingers, meaning: if you want me to do things, give me some wine money!

Zhou You, however, did not give him a single copper.

In the end, the pair of childhood friends parted on bad terms.

"Pah!"

Watching Zhou You's back, Gao Qiang spat a glob of thick phlegm on the ground and cursed, "You deserve to be killed by Tu Laosan."

He had originally calculated that, relying on their childhood friendship, he could swindle fifty taels of silver from Zhou You.

After offering this money to the Hall Master, he could trade it for a lucrative job and be impressive in the future.

Unfortunately, Zhou You had changed from his past upright and dull self and had not fallen for it.

This did not look like the friend he used to know!

And...

Gao Qiang shuddered; he suddenly recalled that the path Zhou You took was not in the direction of Tu Laosan's house, but the opposite way.

The other road was the direction of the martial arts school they used to go to.