Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 31 The Wisdom of the Old Village Chief
The seventh day of the first lunar month!

The eighth day of the first lunar month!

The ninth day of the first lunar month!

……

By the lake in Linhu Village, Lin Chen, Lu Yongfeng and three other people practiced against each other every day to help each other with their shortcomings.

Starting from the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, the three of them stayed directly in Linhu Village. Lin Chen's house was too small to accommodate them, so the village chief found a family with more houses and arranged accommodation for the three of them.

Zhao Jingchuan even asked his father to deliver meals to Linhu Village every day. They were all poultry meat that nourished the qi and blood. Although it was not as good as black deer meat, a meal would still cost two taels of silver.

Three meals a day would be six taels.

This money was not paid by Zhao Jingchuan alone. Lu Yongfeng and Cheng Ying also gave Zhao Jingchuan money privately.

Although the three did not say it explicitly, one could roughly guess who Lin Chen was from the words and attitudes of Lu Yongfeng and Cheng Ying.

If it was all Zhao Jingchuan's family that paid for it, the young man would be shy, and with Lu Yongfeng and Cheng Ying's personalities, they would definitely act a little embarrassed, and might even make an appointment to invite him back at some point.

But Lu Yongfeng and Cheng Ying didn't, so there was only one possibility, that they also paid for the three meals.

They didn't tell me because the three of them thought that my family was not well off and didn't want to pay for it myself.

In a sense, this was also a kind of help from Zhao Jingchuan and the other two.

Lin Chen did not expose the truth. He really had no money. Moreover, under his influence, Zhao Jingchuan and the other two had greatly improved their proficiency in martial arts these days. This could be considered as a contribution on his part.

Help each other and make progress together.

The fourteenth day of the first lunar month!

"Brother Lin, we won't be coming tomorrow. The three of us plan to go into the city early and see the excitement of the Lantern Festival in the city. Do you want to come with us?"

By the lake, the sun was setting. This time, Zhao Jingchuan and the other two did not follow Lin Chen back to the village.

"Tomorrow our village will have a ceremony to invite the gods, and the village chief specifically told me to stay in the village."

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is not only the Lantern Festival, but also a festival to invite the lake god.

All the villagers living near the lake will invite the lake god to enter the lake on the fifteenth day to bless the coming year with good weather and good harvests.

When Lu Yongfeng and the other two heard that Lin Chen was not going, they felt a little disappointed, but young people did not have so much sadness about parting. What's more, Lin Chen would only enter the city a day or two late, so there would be plenty of time to meet again in the city in the future.

After seeing off Lu Yongfeng and the other two, Lin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly and whispered, "Panel."

[Name: Lin Chen]

[Occupation: Warrior]

[Realm: Awakening Realm (1/24)]

[Qingfeng Palm: Entry (180/200)]

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

【Martial Arts Title: Black to the End】

[Dark to the End: The world is still undecided, you and I are both dark horses. Wearing this medal, in the dark night, your martial arts comprehension and perception will be improved.]

Seeing the progress of Qingfeng Palm, Lin Chen's eyes were filled with anticipation. According to the current progress, Qingfeng Palm would be able to reach the proficient stage before reporting to the martial arts gym.

He was able to master the Qingfeng Palm in less than a month. The title of "One Black to the End" played a role, but more importantly, it was due to his hard work.

The comprehension bonus provided by [Black to the End] is more in the later stages of martial arts.

It is described in the teaching booklet that when students practice martial arts, there will be some differences in the speed of getting started and becoming proficient in the early stages, but even those with poor comprehension can achieve proficiency through diligent practice, and diligence can make up for lack of talent, so the gap will not be that big.

Only when you have become proficient and want to achieve mastery or even a higher level, it is no longer useful to rely on diligent practice, and this is when you need comprehension.

"If I can master the Qingfeng Palm within a month of entering the martial arts school, even if I only have one acupoint opened, I will not be at a disadvantage when facing someone who has opened two acupoints."

In terms of martial arts realm, Lin Chen knew that he could not compare with those from wealthy families. The blessing provided by the [Successful Efforts] destiny was in the middle and late stages of each realm.

In the early stages, he needs to figure it out on his own.

……

……

The fifteenth day of the first month.

The Lake God Ceremony begins.

Several strong men in the village carried the statue of the lake god to the fishing boat dock by the lake, and the whole village followed behind, holding incense, candles and yellow paper.

"Xiaochen, come forward."

The village chief who presided over the ceremony waved to Lin Chen in the crowd, and the villagers standing in front of Lin Chen immediately made way for him. "You were the one who invited the Lake God into the village last year, and you will be the one to send him off this year."

Facing the invitation of the village chief, Lin Chen did not refuse. He walked to the statue of the lake god, lit incense and worshiped, saying: "Lin Chen, a disciple of Linhu Village, today I ask the lake god to open his eyes and enter the lake, and bless the people of Linhu Village to have a good harvest this year!"

After saying this, Lin Chen inserted the incense into the incense burner, then grasped a corner of the red cloth covering the statue and slowly lifted it up.

The red cloth can only be lifted, not torn!

Lin Chen learned these rituals based on his original body's memory, so he naturally would not make mistakes at this time.

"Fire the cannon and invite the lake god to enter the lake!"

The red cloth was lifted, Lin Chen shouted loudly, and the villagers on the scene cheered in unison. Some villagers lit the firecrackers they had laid out earlier.

No matter what the harvest was like last year, even those villagers who had a poor harvest had smiles on their faces at this moment.

Inviting gods is not so much a superstition as it is the villagers' expectation for the new year.

The young men in the village who were not yet old enough to learn martial arts looked at Lin Chen with extremely passionate gazes. They also wanted to be as majestic and dazzling as Brother Lin Chen.

The village chief standing nearby took in the looks of the young men in the village, and there was a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

What a pity! If Lin Chaoyang hadn't been senile and confused, hosting the ceremony today would have been an honor for the entire Lin family, instead of him staying at home on the pretext of illness and not daring to come out.

After the ceremony, Lin Chen returned home.

Even though today is a festive day, he will not delay practicing martial arts.

An hour later, the village chief pushed open the gate.

Lin Chen looked at the village chief in confusion, only to see the village chief take out a purse and a booklet, and said with a smile: "Xiao Chen, tomorrow is the day you will go to the county martial arts school to study. We in the village have discussed it and raised some money for you. I hope you will practice martial arts diligently in the martial arts school and live up to everyone's expectations."

"village head……"

Lin Chen was a little surprised. He didn't expect the villagers to raise money for him, and he had never heard his parents mention this.

"It's not much money, a total of thirty taels. It was collected by one hundred and thirty-two households in our village. The amount of money each household gave is recorded on the list. The first two people on the list are warriors from our village. They have become wise now. I heard that you joined a martial arts school, so I asked someone to send the silver to me."

Taking the purse and account book handed over by the village chief, Lin Chen looked through the account book, which was filled with the name of every villager.

Mr. Teng: Two taels.

Zheng Xuan’s family: two taels.

Gu Hai’s family: 1,300 wen.

Yang Fan’s family: six hundred coins.

Li Sixi's family: three hundred and sixty-six coins.

……

……

Looking at these numbers and the name of each family, Lin Chen's eyes turned slightly red. He took a deep breath and put the booklet away solemnly.

"Lin Chen will definitely live up to the kindness of the village elders."

He was really touched. Although the weather has been good in recent years and every household in the village has some surplus money, human nature is selfish. Who would be willing to give money to other families?

"Study hard and show those martial arts schools that who says a village can't produce a martial arts expert? Mr. Jiang was able to do it, and I believe you can do it, Xiaochen."

Lin Chen looked at the village chief in surprise. It seemed that the village chief's words had a hidden meaning.

The village chief patted Lin Chen on the shoulder. On the third day of the first lunar month, he heard some clues from the words of those young masters, so he ran to the mayor's house and refused to leave, insisting that the mayor go to inquire about the enrollment situation of the martial arts school this year.

Only then did he realize that Lin Chen was almost not picked by the martial arts schools because they felt that Lin Chen's family background was average and that he would not be able to go too far on the path of martial arts.

This made him very angry. He cursed these martial arts instructors for being so arrogant at the mayor's house. After returning, he went door to door to persuade everyone in the village to raise money for Lin Chen, including the two people who were already living in the city. He also wrote letters to inform them personally.

Your martial arts school doesn't want Lin Chen because of his poor family background. Then all of us in Linhu Village will raise money to help Lin Chen.

This money must be raised, and it is worth raising.

These days he has been observing Lin Chen on purpose. He has not become proud or lax because of joining the martial arts school, nor has he lost his spirit because of being discriminated against by the school. He still practices martial arts diligently every day.

Even the young masters in the town were convinced by Lin Chen.

If one has this kind of mentality at this age, he can at least reach the level of practicing internal organs in martial arts.

Mr. Jiang rose to prominence too quickly, and the Jiang family were outsiders who did not have deep feelings for the village. However, even so, they still managed to gain ten years of benefits for Linhu Village.

Now the village has finally produced a second person with promising martial arts skills. If everyone helps Lin Chen, he will remember the good things about the village.

(End of this chapter)