Promise!

Chapter 53, Decline

After sending Qi Chen away, Zhuang Jin continued to practice martial arts, and before he knew it, it was Youshi (5 pm).

As expected, there was no miracle. The only official warrior under his command this month was Du Yunqi. Those who did not break through that afternoon left one after another. Zhang Ming even came to visit him before leaving.

"Master Zhuang, I have failed you." Zhang Ming looked ashamed.

Zhuang Jin didn't say anything, just patted the other person on the shoulder.

After escorting him to the outer courtyard gate, he watched Zhang Ming's departing figure, somewhat understanding Ping Yongfeng's original thinking. He sighed inwardly, "In this world where extraordinary powers exist, poor martial arts talent means your upper limit is directly locked. No matter how brilliant your other talents are, it's useless. You will just be lost in the crowd... Fortunately, I am not one of the common people, the masses, with poor martial arts talent."

"Brother Zhuang!" At this time, a voice suddenly sounded. It was Qian Wende who came. His attitude was extremely warm. The word "Brother Zhuang" was called in an ups and downs, just like a brother who had not seen each other for a long time. It made the listeners sad and moved to tears.

Moreover, this guy did not come empty-handed. He had a large package of food and drinks in his hand, including both meat and vegetables. It was obvious that he had put a lot of thought into it.

If Qian Wende's teammates in the north of the city saw this scene this month, their jaws would probably drop to the ground in shock: Qian Wende had always taken advantage of others before, but now he was actually going out? The sun was rising from the west!
I can only say that Qian Wende, who has entered the state of a bootlicker, is really willing to pay the price.

Coincidentally, Bi Kai arrived almost at the same time, also with packed food in his hands, including a portion of exotic beast meat.

He was at the medicinal fields outside the city this month, enjoying the benefits of exotic beast meat. He usually couldn't bear to eat it, so he collected this month's share and redeemed it all at the end of today. He then found a restaurant to prepare it and brought it over.

However, Bi Kai did not feel reluctant at all. Zhuang Jin had saved him from Wang Rui. Although his father gave him ten taels of silver, he felt that it was still not enough to repay him and felt indebted to Zhuang Jin.

Furthermore, following Zhuang Jin, one can truly feel their own progress. Just like last month, if it weren't for Zhuang Jin's daily efforts, I might not have mastered the Black Evil Palm and received a three-month reward of self-selected missions.

Compared to these, what is a little exotic beast meat?
After not seeing each other for a month, Zhuang Jin felt a sense of intimacy when he saw these two roommates who had a good relationship with him. He took one of them by the wrist and walked inside: "What a coincidence. Let's go inside and talk."

This enthusiastic attitude also made Bi Kai and Qian Wende feel the positive feedback and an indescribable comfort in their hearts.

When I went in, I met Ping Yongfeng and greeted him. Zhuang Jin was fine, and Bi Kai was also okay, but Qian Wende felt quite embarrassed.

Ping Yongfeng's attitude is also clear. He is most friendly to Zhuang Jin, and in comparison, he is a little colder towards Qian Wende and Bi Kai.

Zhuang Jin is special, the relationship they developed together. As for Qian Wende and Bi Kai?
So far, he has taught five classes of martial artists and has trained quite a few formal martial artists. To be frank, if it weren't for Qian Wende's Kailuo Decoction incident and Bi Kai's nearly being strangled to death, he might not even remember their names now.

However, he is him, and Zhuang Jin is Zhuang Jin. Although he dislikes Qian Wende a little, he doesn't care about who Zhuang Jin makes friends with.

Zhuang Jin and the other two invited Ping Yongfeng to come over for dinner. Ping Yongfeng knew that he used to be their martial arts instructor, which made them uncomfortable, so he declined.

They then went in and came to Zhuang Jin's room, put the food on the small table, borrowed two stools, and the three of them sat around it.

As they opened the packed meals one by one, steam came out, accompanied by the aroma that spread everywhere, making their mouths water. It immediately added a lot of life to this not very spacious, simple and crude house.

Qian Wende looked around the room and complimented Zhuang Jin, "Brother Zhuang, you're truly enviable! That's why you're the first one in our dormitory to break through to the Second Classic! On the first day of this month, I saw that your basic monthly allowance of three taels of silver was doubled to six taels. I was so envious, and now that I see this private room, I'm even more envious!"

"This is in the outer courtyard of the Shen family. Brother Zhuang even has his own room. I'm in the north of the city, and we still have to share a room with two people!" "Just be content!" Bi Kai said, "My side outside the city is basically full of medicinal fields. There are few houses and many people. I live in a room for four people."

"I'm just a step ahead in the martial arts world. You'll catch up soon too. By then, you'll have your own room, and a monthly stipend of three taels of silver. Everything will be yours."

Zhuang Jin put down his chopsticks when he saw the two of them unpacking the things they had brought. He was obviously waiting for him and immediately called out to them, "Eat. There's no need to be so particular about this between us."

However, Bi Kai and Qian Wende insisted that Zhuang Jin start eating and drinking first before they picked up their chopsticks.

It is worth mentioning that Qian Wende was very polite when eating today. He did not even pick up any meat from exotic animals, which showed his discretion.

——Well, if the members of his team saw this, they would probably be shocked again and doubt whether the person in front of them was Qian Wende. It was really that Qian Wende’s performance in front of Zhuang Jin today was completely subverted from his usual style.

Zhuang Jin and Bi Kai, who were present, were actually aware of this. They knew that Qian Wende was treating people differently based on their situation, and now that Zhuang Jin was here, he was naturally very aware of the current situation.

Seeing that Zhuang Jin and Qian Wende didn't pick up any exotic beast meat, Bi Kai picked some for them himself and said, "Eat it! If you don't finish the exotic beast meat and leave it overnight, the effect will weaken and it will be wasted."

Zhuang Jin had eaten the meat of exotic animals before. After tasting it, he nodded slightly and just said "good".

"Very good!" Qian Wende's eyes lit up. "This month in the north of the city, I heard from our team leader how delicious exotic beast meat is, but I've never eaten it. I didn't expect to taste it today. This is all thanks to you, Kaizi, and even more so thanks to Brother Zhuang."

"Ah, if I had known earlier, I would have chosen to go to the medicinal fields outside the city this month. Kaizi, how are you doing there?"

"not bad."

Bi Kai replied, "We have servants to drive away ordinary wild beasts. It's only when we encounter unusual beasts that we need warriors."

"Strange beasts aren't easy to come across, though. You might only see one every two or three days, and most of them are at the entry-level level of skin grinding, which is equivalent to the first or second level for warriors. I've heard there are also small-skilled skin grinding beasts, which are equivalent to the third level for warriors, and great-skilled skin grinding beasts, which are equivalent to the fourth or even fifth level for warriors. However, we haven't seen any of those strange beasts this month, and even if we did, we'd have the team leader and the more powerful Long and District Guards to deal with them."

"Every time I kill a strange beast, it's a benefit. It's just that my position is low, so I get less. A month's share is only half a pound. But there is another advantage, which is that I have plenty of time to practice."

He explained his situation in the north of the city, saying there was basically no danger and that he could get exotic beast meat every now and then. Since he had tried it first and really thought it was good, he invited Zhuang Jin, "How about, Brother Zhuang, come with me to the medicinal fields outside the city next month?"

"No, the medicinal fields outside the city are nice, but they are not suitable for me." Zhuang Jin declined with a smile without hesitation.

His current situation is: continue to stay in the Shen family headquarters, and practice step by step until the end of next month, and he will be able to break through the three classics realm and be promoted to a three-pattern servant. So, how could he be tempted at this time and change his course temporarily?

When given a choice, Zhuang Jin refuses all possible risks.

……

(End of this chapter)