Chapter 87: Attending the Wedding Feast

Inside the workshop...

The other Apprentices finished their tasks and, finding a rare moment of leisure, gathered in a ventilated corner to drink tea and chat.

The martial arts hall workshop was not a black-hearted factory; it had not reached the point of squeezing the marrow from bones.

It did not matter if the Apprentices were a bit slow with their work, as long as they delivered their tasks on time; they were free to allocate their remaining time as they pleased and do whatever they wished.

In the entire workshop, only Zhou You was still working.

He was hunched over his workstation, smoking a basket of medicinal tablets, turning them constantly to ensure the moisture evaporated evenly.

No one knew he was doing private work; the raw materials for the Tiger Bone Paste had long since been finished, and now he was busy processing the raw materials for Heart-Protecting Pills.

With the workshop's good conditions and complete set of tools, doing private work could not have been easier.

"Experience Points +70, Pharmacy lv7 → lv8."

After Zhou You finished smoking this basket of medicinal tablets, he stretched his back and took the opportunity to hand in his daily quota of tasks.

Lu Qiang inspected the raw materials Zhou You had delivered; the quality was solid, and he could not find a single flaw, so he nodded in satisfaction.

"Big Senior Brother, I would like to request two days off."

"Is there something going on at home?"

Zhou You nodded and said, "Song Fugui is getting married, and he invited my whole family to go over for the wedding feast."

Who was Song Fugui? Lu Qiang pondered for a moment before realizing it was a new Apprentice who had shared a room with Zhou You and had been eliminated early on.

Such a person had already reached the end of his path in martial arts and was destined to become one of the common masses.

This man's family made a living selling oil and could not be considered a wealthy household.

That Zhou You still kept in touch with him to this day clearly showed he was a sentimental person.

"Go ahead!"

When Zhou You went home a few days ago to ask his father to purchase the remaining medicinal herbs, he learned the news of Song Fugui's marriage.

The bride was from a family that had moved from Su Cheng; their family circumstances were substantial, and they were not among those refugee families.

"The bride's dowry is generous, and she promised to help him open an oil shop, which can be considered fulfilling a dream held by the Song family for three generations."

Zhou You had heard Song Fugui mention earlier that starting from his grandfather's generation, they had been buying oil on credit from the village mill to peddle, and their dream, through working from dawn till dusk, was to open an oil shop in the city.

But how difficult was it to open a shop in the city? From his grandfather to his father and then to Song Fugui, the money saved by three generations of selling oil was still a long way from being enough to lease a storefront.

Zhou Laodie sighed, "Regardless of how it happened, it can be considered a fulfillment."

Song Fugui sent oil to their house every few days and was very respectful to Zhou You's parents, so the old couple had a very good impression of him.

When he came to their door to invite them that day, the Zhou Family readily agreed.

Zhou Laodie specifically exchanged some of this month's dividends for a bolt of expensive silk to make new clothes for the whole family.

Zhou You was taking leave today to go back so he could take his parents to the wedding feast.

After returning home, there were several large boxes piled up in the room, all of which were medicinal herbs his father had bought from the merchant firm.

"You'er, these medicinal herbs are all at cost price, and I picked the best grades for you."

Zhou Laodie was wearing a new outfit made of silk, holding a gold cigarette holder in his hand, his face full of joy.

Beside him, his mother was holding the folded new clothes, calling for Zhou You to try them on for size.

His mother's craftsmanship was good; the clothes fit well, and they were both impressive and comfortable to wear.

"Mother, put on your gold jewelry as well."

Zhou You saw that his mother's hands and head were bare, without a single piece of jewelry, and he could not help but frown as he reminded her.

His mother hurriedly explained, "It hasn't been safe on the streets lately, so I don't even dare to wear my silver hairpin."

Refugees were appearing everywhere in the city, their eyes red with hunger, and they would cut off a woman's hand just for a copper bracelet.

"What are you afraid of? With me protecting you today, who would have a death wish and dare to make a move?"

Zhou You patted his chest, his face filled with a murderous aura.

The family got themselves tidied up and locked the door as they went out. Zhou You carried the gift Zhou Laodie had specifically prepared, and in his pocket was a red envelope he had readied.

One could not go to a wedding feast empty-handed; that was the etiquette.

"Uncle, Auntie, going out?"

As they stepped out, they ran into Li Guafu, who was wrapped in a headscarf, her face looking dark as she walked to the door to pour out water.

"That's right, we're going to a wedding feast at a friend of You'er's."

Zhou Laodie's face was glowing, and his voice was resonant.

Zhou You was curious about Li Guafu's appearance; she usually dressed so brilliantly, so why today...

On the road, it was Zhou You Niang who told him the truth.

"It's all because of that flower-plucking thief, who has ruined so many daughters of good families."

"That can't be right, I heard the flower-plucking thief is quite picky and only targets wealthy families?"

The flower-plucking thief had emerged in the last month or two, and it was rumored that his true identity was a martial arts expert who had come from Su Cheng.

He moved high and low, appearing and disappearing like a ghost, and his targets were the female relatives of wealthy families in the city.

In these days, one after another, young ladies from prominent families who were still unmarried had been defiled and lost their lives.

The third daughter of the wealthy Zhang family from the grain store in the south of the city, the niece of Head Constable Qu—who was Constable Liu's direct superior—and the granddaughter of the second elder of the Crazy Horse Gang... all had met with disaster one after another.

He had never heard of this guy targeting ordinary commoners.

"Sigh, you don't know, the flower-plucking thief is becoming increasingly insane; he is no longer satisfied with wealthy families and has set his sights on anyone on the street who has a bit of beauty."

"Do you remember Cui Erjie from the pastry shop on the next street?"

Zhou You Niang reminded Zhou You, "The one you and Gao Qiang used to peek at when you were little?"

"Mother, let's not bring up the past."

Cui Erjie was the dream lover of the young men in the surrounding streets, and people had given her the nickname... Pastry Xi Shi.

In Zhou You's memory, Cui Erjie's slender fingers were as white and tender as scallions, nimbly picking out pastries to pack, enticing the young boys to compete in stealing glances.

Every piece of pastry touched by her palms was sweeter and more fragrant than honey!

When Zhou You was little, he dreamed of marrying her and bringing her home as his wife; of course, he doesn't want that anymore now.

"Cui Erjie was also ruined a few days ago; she hung herself before dawn. What a tragedy!"

Zhou You Niang said bitterly, "All the neighbors in the street who have female family members are smearing soot on their faces, terrified of being harmed."

Usually, the young maidens and wives in the neighborhood would apply rouge to their faces, but now they wish to make themselves look as ugly as possible.

Only then did Zhou You notice that along the way, the pedestrians were almost all men; he could hardly see any women.

"You'er, our family has the protection of the martial arts school, so there is nothing to worry about for now."

Zhou You Niang looked hesitant as she mentioned a matter, "Widow Li is raising her child alone and is afraid at night, so she is thinking of moving into our home..."

"No, absolutely not. Doesn't she have Constable Liu?"

Zhou You refused decisively; once this precedent is set, anyone will dare to cling to them in the future.

"The niece of Constable Liu's superior was also ruined; that official uniform can no longer protect anyone!"

Zhou Laodie sighed, "Your mother is soft-hearted, but I don't really agree. Widow Li carries on with Constable Liu, and her reputation isn't very good. It wouldn't look right for her to move into our house; your father is a man who cares about his reputation."

In other words, what if some scandalous gossip came out? Seeing that both men in the house disagreed, Zhou You Niang had no choice but to drop the matter.

The family of three walked down the street, wearing new clothes, and his mother was even wearing gold jewelry, attracting many covetous gazes.

In the corners of the street, dark alleys, and other places hidden from the light, many refugees were Zang, their eyes glowing faintly.

However, when these gazes landed on Zhou You, they were like being burned by a branding iron or hot coals, and they shrank back in terror.

The status of an Apprentice at a martial arts school can still scare off petty villains; these refugees have managed to survive until now by being good at bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and they would never dare to provoke someone who practices martial arts, or they would have been beaten to death long ago.

(End of this chapter)