The Martial Saint rose to power starting as a substitute bridegroom.

Chapter 54 Announcement of Results

Congratulations poured in like a tide, whether genuine or not.

Although everyone had predicted it, the news of the results still caused immense excitement.

The gazes around me were filled with envy, jealousy, joy, disappointment, or perhaps a combination of all of them.

Qi Xiuyuan, standing on the outer edge of the crowd, looked rather grim. A wave of regret washed over him like a torrential downpour, leaving him utterly remorseful.

If only I had known... but now it's no use saying anything.

There's no need for us, a small family like the Qi family, to associate with someone who's already a martial arts master.

No, it's not about befriending, it's about paying attention to.

Li Yuan simply breathed a sigh of relief and smiled in response to everyone's blessings.

He knew it perfectly well.

Everything has two sides. Behind prosperity, there is bound to be a huge crisis. We must always be vigilant and never let our guard down.

This is why he forfeited in the second qualifying match.

With his ability, making it into the top three is definitely not a problem.

But he knew very well that if he went all out, his ranking would definitely be higher, but that would also mean more unpredictable risks.

The flowing water does not strive to be first, but only to flow endlessly.

Sometimes, a tiger crouches down only so it can jump higher.

Second Grandma appeared with a warm and welcoming smile, as if it had been a long time since she had been so happy.

"Martial Arts Master Li, congratulations!" She gave a slight curtsy and said humbly, "Master, please ask me to invite you in."

His voice was soft and gentle, carrying an indescribable respect.

Li Yuan understood that his identity was indeed different now.

As shrewd as the Second Madam was, she would not neglect or act disrespectfully towards Li Yuan now, just because she had taken care of him before.

She was nominally the "teacher's wife," but in reality, she was nothing more than a concubine of a master.

They have absolutely no right to act arrogantly in front of a true martial arts master.

"Thank you so much, Second Madam!"

Li Yuan clasped his hands in response, said nothing more, and followed the Second Madam into the inner hall amidst a crowd of complicated gazes.

At this moment, the Wumiao Square in Linjiang City was bustling with people and extremely lively.

"The results for the Wuhan University entrance exam are out! Go check them out!"

"Let me see, let me see!"

"Don't push, don't push! Ouch, you stepped on my foot!"

Soon, the notice board was packed with people.

At the far end of the crowd, a dirty-looking teenager was gnawing on most of a sesame seed cake.

His name is Li Tiedan, and he is a distant relative of the Li family.

Li Tiedan was delivering goods to Caishikou when he saw the results posted and was the first to rush over.

He stared wide-eyed at the ten names on the list.

Completely bewildered.

"Huh, what does this say?"

He was completely illiterate, and when signing documents, he could only write his name as "Li 0".

Therefore, I only recognized the character "李" in the whole text, and I had no idea how to pronounce the rest of the character.

"Uncle, what's that Li... something?" he asked the man.

"Li Yuan".

Tie Dan suddenly exclaimed in shock: "Li Yuan? Brother Yuan?!"

He hurriedly squeezed through the crowd and ran towards Wutong Lane.

"Yuan-ge'er passed! Yuan-ge'er made the list!"

Wutong Lane.

Tie Dan's shouts echoed all the way: "Brother Yuan passed the martial arts exam! Brother Yuan has become a martial arts master!"

The villagers stopped what they were doing, their faces showing various expressions: "That kid really became a martial arts master, that's something else!"

"Xinlan has finally made it through!"

"You wouldn't allow our child to learn martial arts back then, now you regret it, don't you?!"

"Oh my goodness, this is incredible! A golden phoenix has flown out of Wutong Lane..."

'

"Let's hurry, let's go check out the Li family!"

The morning sunlight streamed into the small house through the dilapidated window frame, landing on Zhou Xinlan's fair face.

His eyes, as clear as a pool of water, flickered for a moment.

She reached up and brushed the stray hairs from her forehead, then pulled out the needle protruding from a tear in an old garment, and then stuck it back in, the thread fluttering up and down.

Such work was not difficult at all for the skillful Lan Jie'er.

Even though I don't earn much, at least it can supplement my household income.

"Yuan-ge'er has passed the high school entrance exam!"

Suddenly a shout rang out in the courtyard.

hiss~

Lan Jie'er's hand trembled, and the needle pricked her finger.

With a moment's hesitation, Lan Jie ran into the courtyard like the wind, not caring about anything else.

More and more people gathered along the street, surging towards Zhou Yanqiu's house like a tide, all wanting to catch a glimpse of the newly appointed martial arts master and to be the first to establish a relationship with him.

Zhou Yanqiu's house was quickly surrounded by layers of people.

"Tiedan, speak slowly, what exactly happened?" Zhou Yanqiu asked, his hands trembling, as he spoke to the panting boy in front of him.

Tie Dan clutched his chest, took a few deep breaths, and said, "I said... Yuan... Brother Yuan... passed the martial arts exam... passed!"

'

"Really?!" Zhou Yanqiu was so excited that he didn't even notice his pipe falling to the ground.

Two streams of murky tears instantly flooded my vision.

"Congratulations, Mr. Zhou!"

"I knew Li Yuan was a talented kid; he'd amount to something someday!"

"Master Zhou's taste is unparalleled!"

"Master Martial Arts Master, this is terrible!"

Zhou Yanqiu was unable to calm her excited emotions and was completely immersed in the joy of crying, so much so that the sounds around her became mere passersby.

For a long, long time.

He finally calmed down, pretended to be calm, and greeted his neighbors one by one.

"Old Master Zhou, the messenger bringing good news should be arriving soon. Shall we go to the door to greet him?"

99

The neighbor, Xie Laowu, who only had one front tooth left, grinned and spoke to Zhou Yanqiu in a fawning manner.

He never mentioned his son-in-law, who worked as a coachman for the city gentry, again.

"Yes, that makes sense," Aunt Ge said, waving a short handkerchief in her hand. "This is a joyous occasion, let's all go together and share in the happiness. Xinlan, you go too."

"Yes," Zhou Xinlan replied, "I'll go change my clothes first."

Half an hour later.

At the entrance of the Zhou family's residence.

Zhou Yanqiu stood with his hands behind his back, occasionally tiptoeing to look around, his gaze slightly anxious, his white beard looking a little disheveled in the wind.

Beside her, her daughter Zhou Xinlan, dressed in her best clothes, a red dress, stared blankly at the street corner.

Time seemed to have turned back to a few months ago, to the day I married my son-in-law.

Another half hour passed.

"Dad, why don't you sit down and rest for a while?" Zhou Xinlan said with concern, supporting her father.

"It's alright, it's alright!" Zhou Yanqiu said with a smile, waving his hands repeatedly.

But now it's this late, and there's not a single person playing music on the street.

Could it be... a mistake?

Tie Dan doesn't recognize a single character, so why did he listen to him just now?

Let's wait and see.

E

Fortune