Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

Before dawn, the Lin family of five hid in the kitchen, closed the door, and secretly ate fish and drank soup.

Firewood was still burning under the stove, casting a faint glow and crackling occasionally.

In autumn, carp grow plump and meaty, and when paired with the thick pancakes stuck to the top of the fish pot, it's a very satisfying meal.

Lin Yuan ate the porridge-soaked flatbread with fish soup, feeling very satisfied: "This fish soup with flatbread tastes just like the food I had when I was a kid!"

What he really meant was that it had the flavor of a past life.

The older sister-in-law laughed heartily. Seeing that he liked it, she pulled two more pieces out of the pot for him and filled his empty bowl with fish and fish soup: "Dog Egg has been waiting for you to come back and make pancakes. Here, Er Lv, add some more."

Lin Yuan then remembered that there wasn't much flour at home, and it was only saved for when he came back. No wonder his nephew was talking about him.

After breakfast, the eldest sister-in-law kept filling Lin Yuan's bamboo basket with pickled salted fish, venison, rabbit meat, and other meats.

"Sister, pack less, save it for winter!" Lin Yuan waved his hand to stop them.

"This isn't for you. You're staying at your senior brother's house, eating and lodging there—it's not that easy. Being polite is never a bad thing, that's what you said." The sister-in-law continued, "I'll go back to my parents' house later and bring some more back. The game in the mountains isn't very meaty, so it doesn't fetch a high price. We country folk don't really care for it. If you martial artists like it, I'll bring more from the mountains and have your older brother send some over..."

Lin Yuan listened to his sister-in-law start her nagging and chose to lie down and accept it.

But as his sister-in-law packed more and more, he couldn't help but say, "Sister, it's too heavy, I'm tired of carrying it."

Out of consideration for his cousin and brother-in-law, the elder sister-in-law laid a layer of dried sweet potatoes on top to cover the contents of the bamboo basket, so that no one could see the mountain produce inside.

The old man glanced at the bamboo basket, casting a disdainful look at his youngest son. Even though he had learned martial arts, he still avoided difficult tasks, but he still gave him some advice:

"Erlv, the town is full of Black Snake Gang members. Don't let them see you carrying so much mountain produce and salted fish. Those people are vicious and ruthless. Also, there's a group of thugs blocking the road near Yudu Village lately; avoid them. If you do run into them, the village head's daughter-in-law is your cousin; just call her 'father-in-law,' and those thugs won't hurt you..."

Lin Yuan always valued his life: "If I can beat them, I'll kill them. If they outnumber me, I'll drop everything and run away first."

"You little rascal!" The old man was relieved, but he couldn't help but grin, showing his teeth. He picked up the axe, carried the shoulder pole, and went up the mountain to chop firewood.

Lin Yuan left with a bamboo basket on his back. Because he was carrying mountain goods, he didn't dare to take a boat across the river, for fear of being seen by the Black Snake Gang's patrolling henchmen on the river, or being reported by jealous people.

In mid-autumn, it was still quite hot after the sun came out.

The mountain path was undulating, winding and turning, and we quickly covered a lot of ground. After bypassing Yudu Village, the mountain path became even longer, but fortunately, we didn't encounter any bad people.

In years of famine, many people, unable to survive, would take desperate risks and engage in dangerous, high-risk businesses.

They were all forced into this situation by natural and man-made disasters.

Lin Yuan finished drinking some plain water halfway there and, enduring his thirst, continued on his way to the town.

Fortunately, his strength and endurance have significantly improved since he started practicing martial arts, so he wasn't very tired, just extremely thirsty.

……

Back at Hu's Coffin Shop.

Hu Cai was practicing his boxing when Lin Yuan put down his bamboo basket, ran to the small table, grabbed the teapot, and gulped down the tea.

Hu Cai was overjoyed and immediately asked the cook to prepare a medicinal meal for him, then whispered, "Did you get the money when you got home?"

Lin Yuan hadn't expected him to think so much, but it made sense. He'd been practicing martial arts in town for over a month, spending money like water; he needed some kind of income: "Borrow it. My aunt's family hunts and gathers herbs in the mountains; they've dug up century-old ginseng..."

"A century-old ginseng? That's incredible. I've heard that a good one can cost over a thousand taels, and at least several hundred taels..." Hu Cai had some understanding of it.

"Yes." Lin Yuan did not explain that the ginseng had been forcibly taken away by the Marquis's mansion, and they had only given him sixty or seventy taels.

No wonder Zhang's herbal medicine shop has such high profits; it all comes from exploiting the mountain people.

"Junior Brother Lin, why didn't you tell me sooner that you have a rich aunt? I was worried you'd give up halfway through."

"After all, it's not our own property; it's borrowed. What's there to brag about?"

"That's true. We've been practicing boxing; did you do extra practice last night? You can't let it slip away..."

"Come on, let's practice! We won't give up until we've made a name for ourselves." Lin Yuan was very confident.

With money in hand, he felt at ease. With the money from Grandpa Zhang, he could finally focus on practicing martial arts for a while.

However, since Old Master Zhang promised to give three hundred taels, but only gave one hundred taels, should his promise be reduced by 30%?

……

The following days.

Lin Yuan once again entered a life of going back and forth between three points: the coffin shop, the school, and the Li family martial arts school. His life entered a cycle, repeating itself endlessly, without any novelty, yet full of anticipation.

As for the mass grave, he was too lazy to go there again. There was nothing to gain, and it was just a waste of time. Anyway, he already knew enough about the function of the mirror, so there was no need to make things difficult for the poor guy.

Why should a poor person make things difficult for another poor person?

During this time, he frequently inquired about news from coffin shops: who had ordered coffins, who had taken coffins away, and whose family was holding a funeral.

Unfortunately, although Taoli Township is large, there are not many truly wealthy people, and even fewer who can afford to hold a funeral.

Wealthy merchants, unless they die unexpectedly in Taoli Town, would never order coffins from other places.

Therefore, during this period, only one shopkeeper passed away and held a funeral. Lin Yuan used this as an excuse to go and take a look around, but found nothing.

Clearly, the shopkeeper did not die unjustly, and had no resentment or hatred, so there was no lingering spirit.

August 15th, the Mid-Autumn Festival, has arrived in the blink of an eye.

Because it was a holiday, even though it was the fifth day of the month, the Li family's martial arts school was closed, and the school was also closed.

The day before, his older brother asked him if he wanted to go back to his hometown for the holiday, but Lin Yuan refused.

He planned to send some holiday gifts to Hu Cai's parents. After all, he had been eating and drinking at Hu's house for a month or two. Although his elder brother had also sent a lot of things, Lin Yuan was still getting the better deal overall.

Of course, we should also send some gifts to Master Xu and the Li family as well. It doesn't have to be much, but it can't be none.

So Lin Yuan asked Zhao Sheng what would be a suitable gift.

"Of course we'll send cloth!" Zhao Sheng said succinctly.

Lin Yuan then realized that cloth in Daliang could serve as a general equivalent, often equivalent to silver, and was a true hard currency.

Even when the government distributed salaries, if there wasn't enough money, they would use cloth to make up the difference.

So Zhao Sheng took him to a familiar cloth shop, where they bought seven bolts of summer cloth and seven bolts of winter cloth, which were divided into three portions according to size. They also bought some meat and other food to go with it, spending less than ten taels of silver in total.

The large portion was for the Hu family; after all, they were eating at their special meals and staying in their house every day, so they had to be worthy of the money for their food and lodging.

The remaining two small portions are for Li Shi and Master Xu. They'll be there to offer as a token of their appreciation and to maintain the relationship in the future.

As expected, the effect of sending the gift was immediate.

Hu Cai's mother immediately beamed with joy and insisted on introducing him to a wife, but Lin Yuan politely declined, citing his martial arts training since his youth.

Li Shi treated him to a drink at his home and promised that once he had mastered body tempering, he would find a way to help him get a job as a thief in the pavilion.

Master Xu directly arranged for his son, Xu Shan, to meet with Lin Yuan, the Water Conservancy Bureau Chief of Lin Yuan County. They had a drink together, and afterwards, the two addressed each other as fellow disciples.

Lin Yuan, Hu Cai, and Zhao Sheng had originally planned to send some holiday gifts to Instructor Hong, but they heard that Wu Yong had gone to deliver the gifts in advance, only to have them returned by Instructor Hong.

At the same time, two other members of the Li family went to deliver festival gifts, and the same thing happened.

Upon learning this, the three men immediately felt reassured and borrowed the generous gift. They went through the motions, giving their names and visiting cards, and sure enough, the gift was returned intact to its rightful owner.

Coach Hong is truly admirable; he doesn't care about fame or fortune!

……

Time flies like water, and the days of studying and practicing martial arts have passed in the blink of an eye.

In mid-September, frost descends, the air condenses into dew, the dew turns into frost, and the ground becomes cold.

It was late autumn, the grass and trees were withered, and all things lay dormant.

September 15th.

Today is the fifth day of the month, the day to go to the martial arts hall at the Li residence.

Early in the morning, Lin Yuan dressed neatly. Today he changed into a new set of training clothes, which he had ordered last month. They were made of thick fabric, making them both warm and convenient for martial arts practice.

Even the boots were replaced with leather ones, which are sturdy, durable, and breathable.

The training clothes had been damaged long ago, and Hu Cai Niang had diligently mended them for Lin Yuan. Therefore, the clothes could only be kept at home for martial arts practice, and were not suitable for the Li residence.

Lin Yuan and Hu Cai had breakfast and medicinal food together, and then they went to the Li family's martial arts training ground together with Zhao Sheng.