Promise!

Chapter 122, Eternity

It is only polite to reciprocate. Dong Pei used tricks, and Zhuang Jin retaliated once, but she did not expect the effect to be so good. Afterwards, she hid in the rear and focused on cultivation.

The subsequent battles in the north of the city also went very smoothly, because the Medicine King Gang stopped skirting the rules and followed the regulations. Due to the difference in strength, they were forced to retreat step by step.

Against this backdrop, the Shen family accelerated the pace and frequency of their attacks, and the other wards and townsmen also volunteered to fight, hoping to seize this opportunity to gain merit.

After discussing it with Liu Licheng, Zhuang Jin decided not to compete with other town and ward guards for the opportunity and to keep a low profile.

Zhuang Jin's sensible and tactful nature made the other town and ward officials more agreeable to her, and their indifferent attitudes softened slightly. They didn't accept her completely, but they also stopped targeting her intentionally.

This was also seen as a victory for the Shen family elders in recruiting martial arts students.

As the first person to recruit martial arts students and the first to break through the Seven Classics and enter the middle and upper levels, Zhuang Jin's every move naturally carries different significance. For example, this time, he, as the first person to bow his head, has set an example, and other successors will most likely follow suit.

Zhuang Jin took it all in stride: 'I don't think the Medicine King Gang is easy to deal with or will obediently admit defeat. They're probably plotting something big. Let those town and ward officials try to show off!'

"Furthermore, my personal situation is different. I don't urgently need battle merits at the moment. Improving my strength is the priority. Chasing and vying for more battle merits would be putting the cart before the horse."

Zhuang Jin has no bottlenecks. For example, there is no demand for high-end and scarce resources such as the Meridian-Clearing Pill. Correspondingly, the demand for battle merits will be reduced. What he should do now is not to compete for battle merits, but to bide his time and turn the accumulated battle merits into real strength!
As for admitting defeat or losing face, temporary forbearance is not shameful; a true man knows when to yield and when to stand firm.

"Once my strength further increases and I break through to the eighth level, those town guards with only the seventh level will awaken; and when I reach the tenth, twelfth, or even higher levels, the insurmountable gap in strength will directly shatter all preconceived notions of background, social status, and so on!"

……

Time flew by, and before we knew it, it was the end of the month. To Zhuang Jin's surprise, the Medicine King Gang in the north of the city was behaving itself, and the battle was progressing very smoothly.

Against this backdrop, the other town and village guards naturally reaped considerable benefits. However, Zhuang Jin did not waste this half-month. With dedicated cultivation, he had completed nearly 90% of the accumulation of the Seven Classics. It would take him as long as seven days or as long as ten days, and at most before the tenth day of the first lunar month, he would be able to break through to the Eight Classics!
……

This month is December, the last month of the year, so the end of the month is also the end of the year.

Throughout the entire Shen family's sphere of influence, whether it's the main headquarters or the medicinal fields in the north, east, and south of the city, each place has its own benefits.

On the north side of the city, the celebrations began inside the neighborhood.

Because of the occupation of the streets, the properties of people without connections changed hands, which was also considered part of the revenue generation. Some of it would be distributed to each neighborhood and uniformly allocated by the neighborhood ward chief.

On the Dongqiaowu side, Zhuang Jin divided it into three parts: one part was distributed directly, one part was used for a year-end celebration lottery within the neighborhood, and one part was kept for public use.

Needless to say, the portion directly allocated was distributed equally according to rank. Zhuang Jin, as the ward ward keeper, naturally received the largest portion, followed by the street ward keeper and the squad leader, and so on.

A year-end celebration lottery within the organization is based on luck and serves as a form of compensation and incentive for those at the bottom.

The last copy was kept by the government.

Zhuang Jin deeply understands a principle: pain should be given all at once and quickly, so that the degree of resentment will be minimized; while when giving benefits, they should be given little by little and gradually. Only in this way can one feel gratitude to the greatest extent through continuous giving.

This document is kept in the public treasury for this purpose, to be used to reward subordinates for their merits in the future, which is also a means of managing subordinates.

……

December 29th, a celebration inside the workshop.

On December 30th, Zhuang Jin, as the ward keeper, was qualified to participate in the year-end celebration in the capital. Because of his previous "sensible" and "understanding" behavior, and because today was such a great day, the other ward keepers were quite nice to him, and they all gave him a smile when they saw him.

The celebration began with a speech by Guo Liangping, the garrison commander, followed by a banquet.

The banquet featured a variety of delicacies, not to mention the refined meat of exotic beasts, as well as beautiful women invited from the city's pleasure boats to entertain the guests.

Because the wardens are all guards of different ranks, the beauties they invited are all top-quality, young women in their late teens, all virgins, dressed in light gauze, their figures partially obscured, singing and dancing lightly to the sounds of string and wind instruments...

The person who planned the celebration was unknown, but they had a unique idea: after each performance, the beautiful maidens could choose to sit next to the town keeper, feeding him food and wine, and more… were also welcome, and the entire night was paid for by public funds.

As midnight approached, the celebrations in the capital city came to an end.

Liu Licheng brought Zhuang Jin back drunk and joked, "Sister-in-law, you don't know, but Brother Zhuang was very popular at the celebration. After the first performance, the two most outstanding beauties took the initiative to sit next to Brother Zhuang, which made many others envious... Well, compared to us who are older and less attractive, Brother Zhuang is young and handsome, so isn't he popular?"

As he spoke, a look of amusement crossed his face as he looked at Chen Yun's reaction.

Although concubinage was permitted in this era, many women were still prone to jealousy, which is human nature and unavoidable.

Liu Licheng only saw Chen Yun gently wiping away the makeup from Zhuang Jin's body, her face showing a gentle and kind smile.

In this respect, Chen Yun was indeed magnanimous.

A few days ago, Liu Licheng took a concubine. Zhuang Jin and Chen Yun went to see him. He boasted about how beautiful his concubine was, but Chen Yun said privately, "She is beautiful, but she has no charm." Zhuang Jin joked, "Then I'll wait for Yunniang to find me a woman who is both beautiful and charming." Chen Yun agreed seriously, as if she had taken it to heart.

Liu Licheng secretly sighed at Zhuang Jin's good fortune, then said seriously, "However, Brother Zhuang didn't do anything..."

He smacked his lips regretfully as he spoke, "What a waste. Those two most outstanding beauties, Brother Zhuang, were drunk and couldn't do anything... but the others..."

After Liu Licheng left.

Chen Yun brought over a bowl of hangover soup and said with a smile, "Husband, Garrison Commander Liu is gone, you can wake up now!"

"How did Yunniang know I was faking being drunk?" Zhuang Jin opened his eyes, sat up, and realized that if he didn't pretend to be drunk at the celebration, he really wouldn't be able to stand out from the crowd.

“I know my husband’s temperament. How could he get drunk in front of outsiders and be completely unguarded? Also, when my husband is asleep, his ears are different from when he is awake. There is a very subtle difference.”

Chen Yun explained with a smile, then asked, "We'll be staying up until midnight tonight, there's still some time. Are you hungry, my husband? Shall I go prepare some wine and dishes, and we can have a little drink while we wait?"

Zhuang Jin rubbed his stomach and shook his head, saying, "There was meat from beasts at the Refining Body Realm at the celebration. I ate more than a pound of it, so I'm not hungry at all. Why don't we go for a walk?"

……

The couple went outside, where people were coming and going in a bustling crowd.

The conflict between the Shen family and the Medicine King Gang did have an impact on ordinary people, but not a significant one—the battles took place during nighttime curfews, so ordinary people wouldn't be involved. This was due to the tacit understanding between the two sides and the supervision of the government.

Objectively speaking, apart from a few bad apples, neither side did anything reckless after occupying the streets. After all, people are the greatest asset; if people run away, how can you generate revenue?

The two arrived at Fujing Street and strolled through Vinegar King Alley, which they had visited before. Tonight, the area was even more lively. They wandered around for quite a while until almost midnight before finally returning home, having had their fill of fun.

“This year’s New Year is different with Yunniang. Before…” Zhuang Jin frowned as he thought of something.

Chen Yun reached out her slender hand and smoothed Zhuang Jin's furrowed brow: "Husband, let's not talk about those unhappy things. From now on, I will accompany you year after year!"

Zhuang Jin smiled and nodded, holding Chen Yun's hand, feeling an indescribable warmth and peace of mind.

Chirp—pop!

Just then, someone set off fireworks on the riverbank. The fireworks rose one after another into the night sky, and the sound startled the wild ducks on the riverbank, splashing and creating waves.

On the white jade-like stone arch bridge, Zhuang Jin and Chen Yun stopped to look. Chen Yun tilted her head slightly and leaned gently on Zhuang Jin's shoulder. At this moment, colorful fireworks exploded in the sky, casting down tiny points of light that illuminated their profiles. Together with the remaining snow on the bridge, they were reflected in the ever-flowing river, as if it were eternal.

……

(End of this chapter)