Promise!

Chapter 25, Buyout

At the strong invitation of Bi's father and Bi Kai, Zhuang Jin went out to eat with them.

The Shen family adopts a closed management system for martial artists. They are not allowed to go out without reason. If there is an emergency, they need to apply for a temporary entry and exit permit. However, once they become formal martial artists, they can enter and exit freely with a servant badge.

Bi's father's name is Bi Fuwan. He looks to be in his early forties and is a little short, half a head shorter than Zhuang Jin. His hair is meticulously groomed, he has a small mustache, a little fat on his belly, and he wears black cotton clothes.

Judging by the man's attire, Zhuang Jin didn't seem wealthy. He guessed that Bi Kai's request for two meals at his own expense was probably due to his connections with Chang and Tong. But he also felt that this uncle-nephew pairing was a bit odd; they didn't seem particularly close. If he were Bi Kai's uncle, he wouldn't just order two meals at his own expense. He would probably visit him once or twice at the training grounds and the dormitory to show his support.

He was thinking about this in his mind, but he didn't ask without any emotional intelligence. He just asked, "Is Brother Bi feeling better?"

"Brother Zhuang, you can just call me Kaizi. The doctor said I'm fine and just need to rest for two days." Although Bi Kai said this, his voice sounded quite hoarse.

"This is all thanks to you, little brother. If it weren't for you last night, my son would have been... Please allow us, father and son, to express our gratitude later." Father Bi said earnestly.

"No, it's just a small favor. Since I have seen such a thing, I can't just ignore it." Zhuang Jin said politely.

The three of them came to a restaurant not far from the Shen family, which Bi's father had booked long ago, and sat down.

Zhuang Jin discovered that the father and son were extremely polite, showing enough respect and sincerity. As an elder, Bi's father came to the table and stood with Bi Kai waiting on the side. He said that today he wanted to thank Zhuang Jin and insisted that he take a seat first before he would sit down. After sitting down, he only sat half of the chair. He was so polite to a junior that there was really nothing wrong with his etiquette.

The waiter served tea and snacks.

Father Bi invited Zhuang Jin to eat first, then asked about their martial arts training. When he talked about what happened last night, he expressed his gratitude and thanks. After five cups of tea, the main event finally began. He stood up with Bi Kai and carefully took out a ten-liang silver ingot from his bosom. He held it in both hands and placed it in front of Zhuang Jin, saying, "Brother Zhuang saved my son. This is a small gift from me. Please accept it. Don't think it's too little!"

Ten taels of silver was indeed a lot! An ordinary strong laborer, such as a porter at the north city dock, could save three or four taels of silver a month after deducting food and drink expenses, which was considered a lot. This was enough to feed one person and the whole family before they got married. Most ordinary families in the city had only about this amount of money in their savings.

"Dad!" Bi Kai subconsciously called out when he saw his father's actions.

He felt that his father's words, coupled with the act of giving him money, seemed like he was trying to buy off the favor, which was not a good move.

Upon hearing this, Bi's father turned around and looked at Bi Kai. He was respectful and polite in front of Zhuang Jin, but he looked stern in front of his own son. One look made Bi Kai dare not speak again. It was obvious that he had accumulated a lot of power in front of his son.

When Zhuang Jin saw this scene, he suddenly understood something. Bi Kai's showing off in the dormitory, as well as the trouble he caused last night, might have a lot to do with being suppressed for a long time in his family environment.

He thought to himself and stood up and said, "Uncle Bi, what are you talking about? I dare not refuse the gift given by the elders, so I will accept it with audacity."

Why not accept it? He saved Bi Kai with his own ability, so he felt at ease and clear-headed when accepting the money!
Besides, he accepted the money out of consideration for Bi's father! If he accepted the money, Bi's father wouldn't be obsessed with this favor, not being able to eat or sleep well because of it... But when he refused to accept it and didn't let him repay the favor, people would suspect that he had bigger plans, and wanted to use this favor to do something, to make some embarrassing demands, which would turn a favor into a grudge!
He was a moral man and understood what Bi's father meant. After accepting the ten taels of silver, he was basically done with the favor of saving Bi Kai last night. He would just pretend that it never happened. In the future, he would be self-conscious and would not speak to Bi Kai even if he had any difficulties.

Father Bi watched Zhuang Jin accept the money, seemingly understanding his intentions. He breathed a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. He used the money to repay the favor for his son. After all, it was a life-saving favor. Now that Zhuang Jin and his son had both become official warriors, he was afraid that Zhuang Jin would find Bi Kai in the future and his son would lose his life to repay the favor.

"With these ten taels of silver, I have a lot more money on hand. At least I won't have to worry about the resources for my martial arts training for the next month or two." Zhuang Jin also felt a little happy.

In fact, Bi's father was afraid that he owed him a favor and wanted to repay it with silver. Didn't he also want that?

For Zhuang Jin, even if the Bi family is better off than ordinary families, the kindness of such a family is of no use to him. It is really not as practical as cashing it out. After all, if his golden finger really has no bottleneck, what he needs most is money. Only with money can he buy supplies for cultivation and realize his potential.

To some extent, this is a two-way process.

The man was in love, the woman was interested, and naturally both the host and the guest were happy. Because they had come out early, had tea and lunch, it was only two quarters after noon. Bi's father thanked Zhuang Jin again and left. Zhuang Jin then went back to the Shen family with Bi Kai.

"Brother Zhuang," Bi Kai said, blushing a little, "My family just has a cloth shop, not a very good one... The manager last night is my uncle, but he's a distant relative, so the relationship is a little distant..."

Zhuang Jin understood the unfinished meaning in Bi Kai's words. He had been showing off in the dormitory before, which was a bit of bragging. His family was not really that rich. At the same time, he also understood Chang Hetong's previous behavior.

Bi Kai continued, "My family's cloth shop wasn't handed down from my grandfather... When my grandfather was around, our family wasn't very prosperous, with many children, so my father worked as an apprentice in a cloth shop... He spent most of his life saving up to run this cloth shop. Once it started to get a little better, all those relatives came to visit. My father was so used to seeing so many people trying to curry favor with him that he became like that."

"My father didn't have a easy life. He ran a cloth shop, which looked good, but when faced with the government and the gangs, he had to swallow his anger... That's why my father sent me here to learn martial arts."

After listening to this, Zhuang Jin nodded slightly and thought to himself, "No wonder."

He said that he had felt that Bi's father's behavior was very contradictory before: if you say it was neglect, his attitude and etiquette were impeccable, and people could feel the sincerity of his gratitude. At least with his eyesight, he didn't see any falsehood; but if you say it was sincerity, and he directly bought it out with ten taels of silver, as if he was afraid that he would cling to him, his approach was not so inappropriate.

As soon as Bi Kai said that, Zhuang Jin understood that it was Bi's father's experience that shaped the other party's character.

"Ten taels of silver is not a small amount for my family... However, it is definitely not enough to repay the favor... I know, Brother Zhuang, I still owe you... If you have any problems in the future, just tell me, Brother Zhuang."

Although Bi Kai's words were a little incoherent due to his excitement, Zhuang Jin understood what Bi Kai meant. He also realized that after what happened last night and the journey between life and death, Bi Kai had really grown up. This is what it means to learn from your mistakes.

'As expected, people can never teach people, but things can teach people, and they can learn it once they are taught.' He pondered this and waved his hand, saying, "Kaizi, don't say more. I understand what you mean, but it's not that serious, it really isn't."

……

(End of this chapter)