Starting from a peasant family, he mastered the profound art of martial arts.

Chapter 28 Zhangxiang

It was getting late, and Meng Chen wanted to go home early, but Du Renqiang insisted that he stay the night.

The next day, after breakfast, Meng Chen was about to set off with his bundle on his back when Du Ren stopped him again.

"When you go back this time, take some time to visit Gong Ziming's house and see what he's up to," Du Ren instructed.

"What's wrong?" Meng Chen asked, puzzled.

"I'm afraid something might happen to him," Du Ren said in a low voice.

"Senior brother is kind and benevolent," Meng Chen casually praised.

"Kindness my foot! Gong Ziming is stubborn; if he gets into trouble, I'm afraid it will implicate my family!"

Du Ren sighed with emotion, "The day Gong Ziming left, I gave him five taels of silver and told him to go home and live an honest life. But judging from his appearance at the time, I was afraid he was going to have a breakdown."

"There's also severance pay?" Meng Chen was shocked.

Du Ren paused for a moment, then instructed, "Running a martial arts school is a long-term business, not something you can exploit! Even brothels know to leave some money for their clients, we can't be worse than prostitutes, can we? Besides, if they ever become powerful, they might not remember this favor, but at least they won't cause you any trouble."

He pointed at Meng Chen and advised, "Junior brother, when you go out on your journey in the future, remember to earn less money, but make as many good connections as possible!"

Meng Chen felt that Du Ren's words made a lot of sense. If the Yan family could achieve even one-tenth of what the Du family had done, then he himself would not be in this predicament!

"How did you come to this realization, senior brother?" Meng Chen asked sincerely.

"My dad taught me!" Du Ren said matter-of-factly. "My dad was a镖师 (bodyguard/escort). What's the most important thing in镖师? It's interpersonal skills!"

Meng Chen had never escorted goods before and didn't know much about it, so he simply said, "Gong Ziming's house is in Blind Man's Gorge, next to the mountain. It's almost twenty li away from my house, which isn't close. Senior brother, could I borrow your horse for a ride?"

Whether there are dates or not, Meng Chen would casually make a request.

"Don't even think about it!" Du Ren refused without a second thought.

After exchanging a few words of nonsense, Meng Chen put on his straw hat, went out from the backyard, and avoided Gao Yuan's scrutiny.

The morning sun was already quite strong, and the streets were bustling with people.

Now that Meng Chen had twenty taels of silver, and not being a stingy person, he immediately went on a shopping spree, even buying a roast chicken from Yang's restaurant.

After leaving the city through the south gate, just past mid-morning, we saw the Yan family mansion.

These two breakthroughs weren't in vain; Meng Chen not only walked much faster, but he also barely broke a sweat.

The valleys here are turning slightly yellow, and farmers come and go in the countryside, greeting each other when they meet familiar faces.

After walking a little further, they saw three riders stopped under the mulberry tree. The one in the lead was riding a white horse, with a young man in brocade robes, about sixteen or seventeen years old on it.

The other two were very burly men, each carrying a knife, and they kept looking around; they were probably the boy's guards.

Meng Chen had heard about it at the martial arts school. Although Yan Long had not yet returned, his wife and eldest son had come back and were serving Master Yan at the Yan residence.

Yan Long had been engaged in Qingshui County, but later broke off the engagement and married a noblewoman in the prefectural city. They had twins who were only a year or two younger than Yan Bao and about the same age as Meng Chen.

The boy had a square face and did resemble Yan Long somewhat, so he was probably Yan Long's eldest son.

Meng Chenqing was an innocent person, so he wasn't afraid of them and just kept walking.

As Meng Chen approached, one of the guards rode forward, turned his horse sideways, and blocked the road.

"Young man, where are you from? Where did you learn your skills?" the guard asked.

"I'm from Niujia Village, and I studied at the Du Family Martial Arts School in Qingshui County," Meng replied after a moment's thought.

The guard looked Meng Chen up and down again, then asked with a smile, "Is your surname Meng and your given name Chen?"

"How do you know my name?" Meng Chen looked surprised, then took two steps back, frowning and on guard.

The guard chuckled, offering no explanation, and simply stepped aside.

Upon seeing this, Meng Chen knew that his guess was correct. The young man was indeed Yan Long's son, and this guard had probably already figured out the martial artists in the Dazexiang area. He not only knew that the guard was going to the county town to learn martial arts, but he had even memorized the names.

Upon arriving at Laolongtan, one sees many lotus leaves covering the once muddy waters. However, as autumn approaches, the lotus leaves are turning slightly yellow.

Walk another half mile or so, and you'll see that the jujube tree in your yard is full of red fruit.

When I opened the door and went inside, there was a lot of bird droppings in the yard, and the house was covered in dust.

There was still water in the vat. Meng Chen scooped some water and sprinkled it on the ground. He was sweeping with a broom when he heard footsteps outside.

"When did you get back?" Qingyu stood at the door, wearing a straw hat and holding a half-finished shoe sole in her hand.

It's been almost two months since I last saw her. She seems to have grown a little taller, and her face seems to have gotten a bit fairer. She's really blossomed into a beautiful young woman.

"I just got back. Where's your grandpa?" Meng Chen asked while sweeping the floor.

"Grandpa went to Wangjiafen for a feast and won't be back until noon." Qingyu entered the house. "Widow Yang got married. The one who had his eye on you before, she married a man from the same village with the surname Duo. I heard he's very caring and will treat Widow Yang's son like his own. All the family property will go to him in the future!"

At this point, she asked softly, "Brother, how's your studies in the city? Are you going back?"

"I'm doing alright in my studies, I'll stay home for two days and then go back."

Meng Chen smiled and said, "I bought you something. It's in your bundle. Take a look."

When Qingyu heard there were gifts, he wasn't particularly happy, but he still put down his shoes, stepped forward, and untied the bundle, where he found several oil paper packages.

Qingyu untied the hemp rope wrapped in oil paper and saw that it contained pastries. She pinched a pastry, broke it in half, gave half to Meng Chen, and ate the other half herself. "It's very sweet!"

She picked up another oil paper package, sniffed it, and said, "It's meat!"

"I bought you roast chicken. There's also brown sugar in that paper package," Meng Chen said with a smile.

"Why did you buy brown sugar?" For some reason, Qingyu lowered her head, her face slightly flushed. She fidgeted and weighed the paper package in her hand, realizing it weighed about a pound. Finally, she exclaimed in surprise, "Are you kidding me? How much did this cost?"

"It wasn't very expensive, I bought it especially for you." Actually, it wasn't cheap; a pound of brown sugar cost nearly four hundred coins.

Meng Chen may be short of money, but he's short of big money, so there's no need to save for the little girl.

"A while ago, some constables came to question you and even searched your house, but they left without saying anything," Qingyu said.

"It's just a casual inquiry." Meng Chen hid Yan Bao's knife and silver in the bricks under the stove. Unless the stove was dismantled, it would be extremely difficult to find them.

"Has anything major happened in the village recently?" Meng Chen asked again.

Qingyu was lively and knew a lot about what was going on in and around the village. While helping Meng Chen sweep the floor, she started to gossip, saying things like Niu San Gou's dog had been stolen, Niu Ben had fought with his wife, and that Yan Long's wife was very fat and had to travel by palanquin, and so on.

"So fat, you're three times my size!" Qingyu brandished a broom in front of her. "You have no idea how well she eats! She wakes up early for sweet roast chicken, has white steamed buns with fatty pork for lunch, and adds a handful of brown sugar to her porridge at night!"

Ever since this girl came to Niujia Village, Old Chen has never skimped on her food. However, she is still an uncultured country girl who only knows how to eat steamed buns with white sugar.

After chatting for a while, Qingyu asked Meng Chen if he ate well in the county town, and finally asked if he knew any girls in the city.