Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 1: Money is hard to earn, martial arts is hard to learn

Close to the river town.

Early in the morning, when it was just light, at Chen’s Fish Shop.

"This knife fish is too small, two cents."

"Auntie Qin, this knife fish is so small, how can I ask you for money? I'll give it to you. Look at these black fish, they were just caught and I kept them for you."

"It's a nice size. How much is it?"

"Twenty cents a piece."

"Twenty cents, isn't that too expensive?"

"It's not cheap, but you have money. Originally, these black fish were to be sent to the county. Last week, you said your daughter-in-law was pregnant, so I asked the shopkeeper to keep them for you. These black fish are precious. As the old saying goes, if you eat black fish, you will have a good grandchild."

"Okay, pack it up for me, and give me these knife fish too."

"No problem, I'll put it up for you right away."

A thin young man deftly put the black fish into the basket handed to him by the woman, and finally put two lake clams into the basket. The woman smiled even more happily when she saw this scene.

"Hey, Mrs. Zhang, it's better to come at the right time than to come early. These two carps are very fresh..."

"Uncle Li, you came in person to buy fish today. You really love our aunt. What kind of fish do you want?"

"Uncle, as usual, I will scrape the scales off for you."

The boy grabbed the fish with one hand and used a pair of scissors to scrape off the scales with the other. His movements were extremely quick and he didn't even look at his hands.

"Xiao Chen, have you ever considered finding a wife?"

"It's still early."

"Why earlier? You should have considered it at your age. When I was your age, Xiaobao was already born."

"Uncle, the scales have been scraped off. I've put the vegetable basket in for you."

"That's good. Xiaochen, you're really fast." The middle-aged man wanted to say a few more words, but when he saw the young man taking over the fish buyer again, he left with the basket feeling unsatisfied.

……

……

Half an hour later, the three baskets of fish in front of the boy were empty.

The owner of the fish shop came over smoking a pipe and said, "Xiao Chen, how about you consider becoming my clerk? I'll talk to the boss and I'll pay you ten cents more per month than a clerk who just started working."

"Manager Yang, I'm still learning martial arts in the martial arts hall." The young man declined.

"It's not easy to learn martial arts. You can't learn it without money at home. You are a clerk in the store now. If you do a good job, I will recommend you to the boss. You can become a shopkeeper in the future."

"Thank you for your kindness. When I am eliminated from the martial arts hall, I will come to you for help."

The young man wiped the fish slime off his hands, and took the fifteen copper coins handed to him by the shopkeeper with his hands that were chapped from scraping scales, but he still refused verbally.

"You have a good brain for business, why learn martial arts? Is that something that ordinary people can learn?"

The shopkeeper looked at the young man's leaving back and sighed.

Don’t learn martial arts if you don’t have money, otherwise it will all be in vain.

"Boss, this Lin Chen is so ungrateful. He just wanted to scrape the scales, and you admire him so much, but you refused."

The shop assistants were very dissatisfied with Manager Yang's admiration for Lin Chen. He could also do the job, and he was more skillful at scraping the scales than Lin Chen.

"You know shit!" Shopkeeper Yang turned around and glared at the waiter. "You think it's as simple as scraping the scales? Those fish shops have tried to do the same, but they still can't sell as well as us. That's their ability."

Shopkeeper Yang saw clearly that Lin Chen’s strength was that he made those who bought fish become repeat customers.

But the waiter was right about one thing. He admired Lin Chen and thought that Lin Chen could work as a waiter in the fish shop. But although Lin Chen answered very tactfully today, he had no intention of being a waiter at all, so he could not do this odd job.

Ten cents is not a lot, but it is an extra expense. If you give it to the shop assistant, you won't have to spend these ten cents.

He is just a shopkeeper and he still has to give an explanation to his boss. Besides, this is also a protection for Lin Chen.

……

……

After leaving the fish shop, Lin Chen sighed. He could no longer do this odd job of killing fish.

You can have one but not two; you can have two but not three.

I have rejected Manager Yang three times in a row, and I am afraid that Manager Yang will not let me continue to do the odd jobs of selling fish.

Although he could sell more fish than other employees by doing this job, Manager Yang was just a manager, or in other words a high-level worker. It was obvious that this job could be done by an employee, but he still wanted to pay himself ten cents. It would be difficult to explain to his employer after a long time.

Today's inquiry is my last chance.

And even if Manager Yang didn't ask today, he would quit after a few more times.

The owners of several other fish shops nearby looked at him with unfriendly eyes.

If he is a clerk in a fish shop, it is nothing for him to be good at selling fish. He is a person in the industry and relies on his skills.

But if I, a casual worker, steal their business, I will definitely be resented.

Lin Chen shook his head. Over the past few months, he had done a lot of odd jobs in the town, but he always left after working for a month or so. This was the reason.

……

……

Lin Chen returned to the town's martial arts hall.

In the martial arts hall's training ground, many young men were practicing boxing, and the sound of shouting was endless.

"Chenzi, I'm back."

A young man in the martial arts arena saw Lin Chen coming back, leaned over and whispered: "This is the last month soon. If you don't reach 200 kilograms of strength, you will be eliminated. If you don't have enough money, I still have some. You can use it first, and don't go out to take jobs and delay your martial arts training."

Lin Chen felt warm in his heart: "Don't worry, it's really not enough, I won't be polite to you."

The boy next to him was from the same village as him. The two had been playing together since they were young and were good brothers who had even grabbed each other's crotches.

"Your grandfather is really something. He gave money to your eldest cousin when he learned martial arts, but he doesn't give money to you when you learn martial arts." Gu Fei muttered.

"My family has already spent a lot of money on my eldest cousin's martial arts training."

Lin Chen felt somewhat helpless as he travelled through time too late.

I just traveled to this world half a year ago. My eldest cousin has been learning martial arts for two years. All the family savings have been used for his martial arts training. He was able to enter the martial arts hall only because he threatened to die.

He must learn martial arts.

Because there is no such thing as studying to gain fame and fortune in this world; this is a world of martial arts, and martial artists are respected.

All the dignitaries are warriors.

All things are inferior, only learning martial arts is superior.

However, the cost of learning martial arts is extremely high. The tuition for the martial arts school alone is ten taels. Linhu Village, where Lin Chen lives, has secured the benefit of free martial arts training because an outstanding martial arts scholar emerged ten years ago.

It’s been free for ten years, and this is the last year.

Lin Chen knew very well that if he missed this year, it would be even more difficult for him to learn martial arts. Earning ten taels of silver was not an easy task, and the martial arts hall only recruited students under the age of sixteen. He would not meet the requirements next year.

After absorbing the original body's memories and understanding these situations, he threatened to die so that his grandfather would learn martial arts. Finally, his grandfather made an agreement with him.

If he can pass the assessment in the six months at the martial arts hall, his family will support him to continue learning martial arts. If he cannot pass the assessment, he will give up learning martial arts.

During this half year, his grandfather did not give him any money. He only sent a few bags of food to the martial arts hall at the beginning of the school year in exchange for food coupons for the canteen. Lin Chen knew what his grandfather was thinking. If he did not give him money, he would not be able to eat meat to replenish his blood and qi. If he did not meet the martial arts hall's half-year assessment requirements, he would be eliminated and sent home, and he would not be able to continue learning martial arts.

Although he knew that this agreement was unfair to him, he still agreed.

If he didn't agree, his grandfather would never let him go to the martial arts hall.

He has no choice!
Lin Hui from my second uncle's family also wanted to learn martial arts, but my grandfather scolded him and didn't even give him the chance to sign up for the martial arts hall.

Children from Linhu Village can enter the martial arts hall for free, but they must obtain the consent of the head of the family. Before the Lin family split up, the power of the head of the family was in the hands of my grandfather.

If his grandfather didn't agree, he couldn't enter the martial arts hall.

After entering the martial arts hall, Lin Chen realized that practicing martial arts was more difficult than he had imagined.

Without money, it is really difficult to move forward.

The Nuan Yang Fist, a boxing technique taught at the martial arts hall, is not practical and is more like some kind of gymnastics boxing. Its function is to make their qi and blood flow more smoothly and accelerate the growth rate of qi and blood.

But there is a prerequisite, the nutrition must be adequate, and in addition to eating enough, you must also eat well.

The price of beef in the cafeteria is 15 cents per pound. Some students eat it for every meal, but he has never bought it once.

But even so, he still didn't give up.

One of the reasons is that he has lived two lives, and he knows clearly that learning martial arts is his only chance to succeed in this world, and he must not give up.

Another reason was the panel that appeared when he traveled through time.

[Name: Lin Chen]

[Occupation: Warrior]

[Qi and blood: 802/3000]

[Fate: [Successful outcome]: In the realm of martial arts, perseverance, gradual progress, unstoppable momentum, no bottlenecks.]

Having read a lot of online novels in his previous life, he understood that this was the golden finger brought by his time travel.

This panel is his motivation to persevere.

Whenever he saw other students eating meat with big mouthfuls while he was eating free vegetarian dishes, he would call up the panel to check out the changes in his Qi and Blood values, and he would become motivated again.

Although I have no meat in my meal, I use hope as my dish.

Although the increase in Qi and blood is small, it does not mean that the growth is stagnant.

What's more, his fate is [natural]. From the annotation of his fate, he understood its power.

I have read so many martial arts articles in my previous life, and how many geniuses were stuck at certain levels and unable to break through. If I don’t have a bottleneck, I will be able to catch up.

The future is bright, but the road is tortuous. As long as he walks through this tortuous road, a bright future will be waiting for him.

……

……

Noon.

The students in the martial arts arena left in twos and threes, but Lin Chen was still practicing the Warm Sun Fist.

Gu Fei was accompanying him.

It was not until a quarter of an hour later that Lin Chen retracted his fist.

If you don’t have money to buy meat, you can only practice more.

Lin Chen was very grateful for his panel, which allowed him to clearly see the growth of his qi and blood.

When he first entered the martial arts hall, his qi and blood were 500 points. If he was well fed, his qi and blood would increase by 1 point every day.

Lin Chen knew exactly what was going on when he added 1 point of Qi and blood.

At his age, as long as he eats enough, his energy and blood will increase.

After several days of testing the Nuan Yang Fist, Lin Chen figured out a pattern. According to the school's requirements, he practiced the fist for four hours every day, which increased his Qi and blood by 5 points in three days. In addition to the 3 points of his own increase, the Nuan Yang Fist brought a 2-point bonus to his Qi and blood.

But if you practice boxing for five hours every day, your qi and blood will increase by 2 points every day, which will be 6 points in three days.

Those students from well-off families may not look down upon this slight increase in qi and blood, but for him, every little bit more means a little more progress, and he is one step closer to achieving the assessment goal.

When Lin Chen and Gu Fei rushed to the cafeteria, some students had already finished their meals and were leaving, and there were few people at the food window.

Students bring food to the martial arts hall and receive the corresponding amount of rice in exchange.

Vegetarian dishes are free.

Meat dishes cost money.

As usual, Lin Chen prepared the rice and vegetables and walked to the bucket of beef soup.

The beef soup in the cafeteria is very special, and the beef slices melt in your mouth. But since it is free, no students will have any objections.

Seeing that the bucket of beef soup was almost empty, Lin Chen filled himself a bowl. He would come to the cafeteria later, not only to practice a little longer, but also to get the free beef soup.

The beef soup in the cafeteria is placed next to the meat and vegetable window. Although it is free, it is actually provided to students who buy meat. The portion is cooked by the kitchen according to the weight of beef.

When it is time for lunch in the cafeteria, students will rush over to get a free bowl of beef soup. The students who bought meat later will definitely make a fuss if they don’t have soup.

Only when most of the students have finished eating and there is some beef soup left, then the people in the cafeteria will not object if you come to have a bowl of beef soup for free.

"He eats the free beef soup in the cafeteria every day. How can he come here to learn martial arts? If you don't know, you would think he has nothing to eat at home and comes to the martial arts hall to eat and drink."

Lin Chen brought the food back to the table, and a student at the next table spoke in a sarcastic tone.

Faced with the other party's ridicule, Lin Chen ignored it.

"Zhang Tao, what are you talking about!"

Lin Chen ignored the other party, but Gu Fei slammed the table.

"Did I say anything wrong? You can't even afford beef, so why should you learn martial arts?" The other party glared back at him fearlessly.

"There's no need to argue with him."

Lin Chen held Gu Fei back. The martial arts hall does not allow students to fight or quarrel with each other in private, and the punishment will be severe.

He glanced at the other person coldly. If his golden finger was a genius cheat, today he would let Zhang Tao know what it meant to be doomed.

Unfortunately, he is not.

Many students in the cafeteria heard the quarrel here and looked over. When they saw that it was Lin Chen, several of them showed sarcastic expressions on their faces.

Lin Chen is quite famous in the martial arts hall.

It’s not because of good grades, but because of being stingy!
Get free beef soup and vegetarian dishes every day.

According to the people who work in the cafeteria, over the years, Lin Chen is the only student in the cafeteria who has not made any money and has even lost a lot of money.

"Chenzi, I'm full. Please help me eat this beef, otherwise it will be a waste."

Gu Fei pushed the remaining half plate of beef to Lin Chen. Lin Chen knew that Gu Fei was deliberately giving him more, but he had always refused in the past.

"Okay, then I'm welcome."

"I really want to eat..." Gu Fei was stunned. In the past, he used the excuse to share the beef with Lin Chen, but Lin Chen always refused. He subconsciously thought that Lin Chen would still refuse and was about to continue persuading him, but he didn't expect that Lin Chen actually accepted it this time.

So Zhang Tao’s ridicule is still effective?

(End of this chapter)