Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

Lin Yuan asked Zhao Sheng to resell most of the generous gifts Wu Yong had given him, earning twenty or thirty taels of silver, which was considered a substantial sum.

It must be said that although these sons of wealthy families are a bit arrogant, they are indeed very generous.

No wonder so many people are always trying to curry favor with them; it seems there really are benefits to it.

Zhao Sheng has been neglecting his martial arts practice and indulging in pleasure lately, but he is still excellent at helping his friends, being enthusiastic and thorough.

Lin Yuan gave the remaining loose gifts to Hu Cai's parents as payment for their food during this period. It was a small amount, but he had to show his appreciation. He would make up for it slowly in the future. If he didn't show any appreciation or say anything, it would be easy for them to become estranged.

Lin Yuan recovered some health and renewed his martial arts training time.

Yes, his purse was almost empty.

Nowadays, a set of medicinal food for the late stage of Body Tempering Realm costs one and a half taels of silver. This is the price for rapid breakthroughs, and everything is priced accordingly.

No wonder scions of powerful families can achieve success so easily; it's simply a matter of resources being poured into them.

According to Doctor Meng, there are actually cheaper medicinal diets available, but they are less effective and take longer to temper the body. He can prescribe both good and bad medicinal diets and let Lin Yuan choose for himself; it all depends on the individual.

If it weren't for Wu Yong's supply, he would have seriously considered using cheap medicinal cuisine to tide him over for the time being.

Anyway, he is now proficient in both literature and martial arts, and has achieved success in both mathematics and physical training. He has a livelihood and is not afraid of going hungry.

Although I'm not as eager as before, I still want to hurry up and strive to become a martial artist so I can access the resources about the Immortal Temple.

Since Hu Cai reached the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, his parents have become increasingly satisfied with their son's martial arts training. They felt their money hadn't been wasted, and they had more praise and expectations for him. As a result, Hu Cai's meals became better and better, and Lin Yuan benefited from it as well. Of course, Wu Yong also contributed to the effort.

If the Hu family could produce a martial arts master son, whether he became a retainer in a prominent family or worked in the government, the Hu family's coffin shop could gain a foothold in Linyuan County without being exploited by the government or entangled with gangs.

That's how business is in Taoli Town. It's not just about having good skills. There are always envious people who want a piece of the pie. They either need to bribe officials, have connections, or be physically strong.

Otherwise, Mr. Hu wouldn't have spent so much money training his eldest son in martial arts and sending him to the yamen as a constable, all to add a moat to the Hu family's coffin shop.

Hu Dongjia and his wife were in a better mood, and they became even more polite to Lin Yuan. They both felt that Lin Yuan had played a role in Hu Cai's rapid progress in a short period of time.

Therefore, although Lin Yuan ate more, he never said anything. As long as Hu Cai could become a martial arts master, it was worth spending some money.

This time, Hu Cai's mother genuinely wanted to introduce a wife to Lin Yuan. She was a true relative of the Hu family, who ran a small business and had frequent interactions with the two families, knowing each other well.

Fortunately, Hu Cai was quite righteous and helped him out of the predicament, thus smoothing things over.

……

In mid-March, just after the Qingming Festival, the air was clear and the scenery was beautiful, with all things flourishing and full of vitality.

The weather has also warmed up.

Since Lin Yuan went to Peach Grove for extra training, he asked Master Xu for leave and only went there for half a day in the afternoon each day.

Of course, he would write out the solutions to the arithmetic problems during his breaks from martial arts practice, thus completing Master Xu's daily task.

As always, Master Xu never tried to persuade people forcefully. He simply advised him not to overwork himself, saying that the way of both literature and martial arts requires a balance of tension and relaxation, and that there is no need to rush for quick results.

Lin Yuan didn't want to rush, but he was running out of money, so he had no choice but to be anxious.

Master Xu also intended to recommend him for an accounting job, which was offered by several cloth shops in the Li family, but Lin Yuan no longer looked down on shop accounting positions.

The few taels of silver I receive each month are not enough to cover my martial arts training and medicinal diet.

Making money is too slow!

It's still faster to learn martial arts (killing and looting)!

……

It was before dawn that day.

Lin Yuan and Hu Cai took the medicinal diet, ate breakfast, and went out together. At this time, Wu Yong was waiting in front of the corner gate of the Li Mansion. The three of them went to Little Peach Blossom Mountain together.

At this time, small pink peaches began to form on the peach trees, and the blooming peach blossoms gradually withered. Coach Hong lost his usual interest in appreciating the flowers and arrived a little later today.

As usual, Lin Yuan took the lead in the morning, enduring the ravages of the storm. Hu Cai and Wu Yong were just at the eye of the storm, and felt just right as well.

After finishing his morning of intense body tempering, Lin Yuan was once again helped out of the Li residence by the two men. He suddenly realized that no matter how fast he improved, Instructor Hong could always find his shortcomings, making him more and more proficient on the path of striving for excellence.

His understanding of Taizu Changquan is now no less than that of Hu Cai and Wu Yong. He can usually fight back and forth, but he is weaker than them in terms of realm and strength, and lacks some practical combat experience.

Therefore, the three of them practiced more in their spare time, sparring with each other as partners.

Hu Cai helped Lin Yuan out of the mansion and suggested to the two of them, "I think the three of us have learned long fist enough. How about we learn a sword technique? We still need weapons to really kill enemies."

"We need to learn a good sword technique. If it's an inferior one, it's better not to learn it at all." Wu Yong nodded and explained, "I only practiced long fist to build a foundation for body tempering. I plan to switch to a more advanced sword technique later."

Lin Yuan agreed, but worried that top-notch martial arts were too expensive to afford: "I'll ask Tingzuo about this later. He's close to the Martial Arts Hall. I'll ask him if he can introduce an instructor who knows swordsmanship."

"Hey!" Hu Cai's eyes suddenly lit up, and he gestured with his chin towards Lin Yuan. "Junior brother, you're the one Coach Hong favors the most. Why don't you ask her?"

"Instructor Hong?" Lin Yuan instinctively wanted to refuse. He sought her out to temper his body in order to improve his martial arts level more quickly. If he were to seek her out to learn swordsmanship, wouldn't he just be drained dry?

"Junior Brother Hu is right!" Wu Yong quickly interjected, immediately declaring, "As long as Junior Brother Lin can persuade Instructor Hong, I'll cover the apprenticeship ceremony!"

"This..." Lin Yuan was caught in the crossfire of their conversation and didn't know how to respond.

Honestly, after being hit so many times, he actually became a bit timid and wanted to run away.

Humans are naturally inclined to seek advantage and avoid harm; no one is born wanting to suffer. Suffering is merely a last resort.

"How about we, Senior Brother Wu and I, cover all the apprenticeship ceremony? Junior Brother Lin, you just need to persuade Instructor Hong! What do you say?" Hu Cai suggested.

"Excellent!" Wu Yong seconded.

Seeing that they wouldn't let him pay, Lin Yuan smiled wryly and said, "So many disciples want to become Instructor Hong's disciples, but not a single one has succeeded. How can I possibly persuade her?"

"It's fine if we don't become disciples, as long as we can learn a superior swordsmanship technique. I and Junior Brother Hu will cover the betrothal gifts. How about that?" Wu Yong encouraged Lin Yuan.

Hu Cai continued to encourage and incite, and the two of them echoed each other once again.

Lin Yuan, exasperated by the two, said, "I'll ask them then, and we'll see if it works out."

……

The three returned to the Hu family home.

At this moment, Zhao Sheng was sitting in the courtyard, cracking pumpkin seeds in his hand. Seeing the three return, he immediately jumped forward and said with a smile, "Hey, we have a big deal today, are you in?"

"What kind of business?" Wu Yong was stunned for a moment, not understanding.

"Is Senior Brother Wu going?" Zhao Sheng asked before he could answer.

"A couple of days ago, a merchant bought some new tea, the pre-Qingming Golden Buds. This tea is really expensive; only wealthy families can afford it. Unfortunately, someone robbed the goods, and yesterday they came to my uncle's place. My uncle has already got the information, so this is easy to handle. He told me to come find you. If you're willing to do it, just a few of us can take on this job. The pay will be substantial, definitely more than the last time we killed bandits..."

The Jiuling Mountains to the east of the Lishui River, the Longxu Mountains to the north, and the Fulong Mountains to the south are connected, enclosing the Lishui River in the middle. These mountains are rich in game, medicinal herbs, firewood, and tea.

The Three Mountains are famous for growing yellow tea, especially Longxu Jinya, a famous tea from the prefecture. It is made from the first batch of new leaves and buds before the Qingming Festival. Not only are the leaves tender and fragrant, but they are also free from pests and diseases. After being stir-fried and steamed, the tea leaves turn from light green to golden yellow, just like gold, hence the name Jinya (Golden Bud).

Golden bud tea is indeed expensive, especially the pre-Qingming golden bud tea, where one tael of tea is worth one tael of gold. Although this may be an exaggeration, it is probably true.

Lin Yuan had only drunk it once or twice at Master Xu's house, and it wasn't even the pre-Qingming Golden Bud, let alone the pre-rain Golden Bud; it was all the Golden Bud after the rain.

Pre-Qingming tea is the first tea harvested before Qingming Festival, while pre-rain tea is the second tea harvested between Qingming Festival and Grain Rain. After Rain? The timing of the harvest is different, so the quality and taste of the tea will be worse.

Anyway, wealthy young men from prominent families all love this stuff, and the rarer it is, the more expensive it is.

To be honest, Lin Yuan couldn't tell the difference. He felt that coarse tea was fine as long as it quenched his thirst.

Zhao Sheng then gave a brief account of the information from Li Shi's side: it was Sun Jingang of the Black Snake Gang who did it. Although it was done discreetly, after Li Shi was promoted to Tingzuo, he infiltrated the Black Snake Gang and planted some spies.

After their last collaboration, Lin Yuan had a good impression of Li Shi; he seemed reliable. Upon hearing the story, and learning that all that was left was to close the deal—find a few thugs to do the job and split the profits—Lin Yuan immediately patted his chest and said, "Count me in!"

"Me too!" Hu Cai quickly chimed in, then looked at Wu Yong, "Senior Brother Wu, come on over, let's all go together!"

As a scion of a powerful family, Wu Yong was somewhat arrogant and reluctant to do odd jobs to earn extra money. He hesitated and said, "I'll think about it."

"If you want to come, meet me at my uncle Li Tingzuo's house tonight." Zhao Sheng didn't try to persuade him otherwise.

Wu Yong nodded. They had lunch at Hu's house and the four of them gestured for a while.

Lin Yuan first went to the school to greet the teacher and, incidentally, submitted his solutions to the arithmetic problems.

The four parted ways and agreed to meet again that evening.