"Speak! Who sent you!" Sun Chengjie squatted down and demanded sternly.
The man from the Black Dragon Gang clutched his crotch, grimacing in pain. He scoffed, "Jianghu rules—I’m not saying a word. Think about who you’ve offended recently."
He staggered to his feet and turned around, only to see his companion unconscious on the ground, a miserable sight with a mouth full of bloody froth. No wonder he hadn’t heard from him... He immediately shot a deep look at Chen Yuan. This kid was truly ruthless.
"Brother Chen, are we just going to let them go?" Sun Chengjie asked, feeling indignant as he watched the man carry his companion away. Although his crotch strike and flurry of punches and kicks had vented a lot of his anger, being ambushed for no reason still left him fuming. If Chen Yuan hadn’t been with him, he shuddered to think what might have happened!
Chen Yuan said in a low voice, "Since they’ve revealed their identities, it’s unrealistic for us to do anything drastic. We just have to be more careful. If we killed the two men right here, we would inevitably be found out, and the Black Dragon Gang would never let it go. We can’t afford to provoke them right now."
Sun Chengjie gritted his teeth. "It was definitely Zhou Qian and Zhou Mo, those two bastards, who called them. I can’t believe they actually made a move. I won’t let them off." He was already calculating how to get his revenge.
Chen Yuan nodded slightly. The two brothers were indeed suspicious. Besides them, there was also Gao Mingchang. Given his behavior, it wasn’t impossible that he would hire people to get rid of him. Chen Yuan felt a chill in his heart, silently committing all of this to memory.
"Brother Chen, thanks to you today. Thank you..." Sun Chengjie cupped his hands in gratitude.
Chen Yuan waved his hand. "Don’t mention it. They might have been coming for me anyway."
After parting ways with Sun Chengjie, he returned to his aunt’s home in Hundred Herbs Lane. His aunt was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Hearing the noise, she poked her head out. Seeing it was Chen Yuan, she looked a little surprised before breaking into a warm smile.
"Yuan, why are you back so early today?"
Chen Yuan smiled as he walked into the kitchen, taking out the beef wrapped in oil paper. "Aunt, heat this beef up too. It’ll help nourish Yu’s body."
Seeing so much beef, his aunt hurriedly waved her hands and scolded gently, "Child, practicing martial arts takes a lot of energy! Save this for yourself. The family has enough money to get by; she won’t go hungry."
Chen Yuan chuckled. "Aunt, don’t worry about me. I’ve already eaten this much beef today and drank two bowls of meat broth. I’m stuffed. Just cook it, don’t worry." Seeing that his aunt still wanted to protest, he added, "It’s not that I’m wasting money. Today was the Gu Family’s assessment day, and I did pretty well. They increased my monthly allowance to five taels of silver. This beef didn’t cost me anything, and it would be a waste not to eat it."
Hearing this, his aunt was instantly dumbfounded, stammering, "How much? Five... five taels?"
She worked tirelessly at the dyehouse for a whole year and still couldn’t earn that much. And now, Yuan was making that much in a single month.
Chen Yuan smiled and helped massage her shoulders, saying, "That’s right, five taels. Aunt, watch the pot, the food is about to burn."
"Oh, right..." His aunt snapped back to reality and hurriedly stirred with the spatula. She fell silent, her body trembling slightly. Setting the spatula down, she reached up to wipe the corners of her eyes. "Good, that’s so good. Sister, did you see? Yuan is making something of himself..."
Chen Yuan initially hadn’t thought it was a big deal, but seeing his aunt cry made his heart ache. He comforted her, "Aunt, this is a good thing. Life will only get better from here on..."
"It’s nothing, I’m just happy, so happy..." She had watched Chen Yuan grow up and knew exactly how much he had suffered. How could she not shed tears of joy hearing such good news?
At the dinner table, Cheng Xiaoyu looked at Chen Yuan with admiration. "Brother Yuan, you’re amazing! I even heard Miss Gu talking about you today. She said she saw you from the side room at noon, and your martial arts moves were incredibly crisp and clean!"
Chen Yuan smiled and placed a piece of beef in her bowl. "Miss Gu was just being polite." He hadn’t noticed that the young lady had been watching his spar with Gao Mingchang.
Cheng Xiaoyu chuckled, a sly look in her eyes. "Brother, even if I’m dumb, the Gu Family isn’t. Five taels of silver a month! You definitely have skill. Besides, the look in Miss Gu’s eyes when she talked about you... tsk tsk, it wasn’t ordinary at all."
Chen Yuan shook his head and laughed. He didn’t believe that a single sparring match could spark any romantic interest. Besides, Yu Yan was far more outstanding than him, only slightly lacking in looks. It was probably just the little girl’s overactive imagination.
Cheng Xiaoyu continued to chatter excitedly, "Miss Gu is the Patriarch’s youngest daughter. Her name is Gu Wantong. She’s smart, gentle, and beautiful, and she excels at the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Most importantly, she doesn’t put on any aristocratic airs! She takes great care of me. If she could become your wife..."
Her blissful daydreaming was interrupted by the sharp pain of her mother twisting her ear. She immediately let out a dry howl. "Mom, what are you doing! Ouch!"
"You brat, is Miss Gu someone you can gossip about so carelessly? Just eat your food," his aunt scolded.
Chen Yuan smiled but said nothing. He looked at Cheng Yong and offered, "Uncle, you should eat more meat too. Selling sesame flatbreads all day is hard work."
Cheng Yong nodded, his tone filled with gratification. "Yuan, you’ve really made something of yourself. You need to seize this opportunity and train hard. Don’t let yourself get distracted by other messy matters. Once you make a name for yourself in martial arts, everything else will follow." While he was proud, he was also worried that Chen Yuan might be blinded by worldly temptations now that he had a bit of success. There were far too many young people who couldn’t keep a level head.
Chen Yuan nodded. "Uncle, I’ll keep that in mind."
His aunt chimed in reproachfully, "Look at you, lecturing him. Yuan is far more mature and grounded than you are."
Cheng Yong took a sip of unfiltered wine, smiling without refuting her.
Just as the family was enjoying this harmonious moment, urgent knocking rang out at the door, followed by a loud shout. "Is anyone inside? Damn, smells so good! Open up! Time to pay the protection fee and the filial tax!"
It was the Black Dragon Gang.
Cheng Yong’s face darkened, and he was just about to stand up when Chen Yuan stepped out and opened the door. He gave a faint smile. "It’s Mr. Qian. Please, come in."
The visitor was indeed Qian Bao. However, the two lackeys trailing behind him were different from before. It was unclear whether they had been reassigned or... ended up as cannon fodder.
Qian Bao immediately spotted the beef on the table. He looked Chen Yuan up and down, a bit surprised. "You’re the eldest kid from the Chen Family? Wow, haven’t seen you in a month, and you’ve bulked up quite a bit."
He vaguely recalled the evening Chen Yuan had left home with a packed bag, claiming he had fallen out with his family. Qian Bao had even invited him to join the gang then. To think he had changed so much.
Chen Yuan gave a hum of acknowledgment and replied calmly, neither subservient nor overbearing, "Mr. Qian, thanks to the Gu Family’s grace, I am currently practicing martial arts at Huo Courtyard."
With one sentence, he pointed out his two umbrellas of protection. Both were prominent names. The Black Dragon Gang was merely a mid-tier gang in the Outer City of Qingyuan County; they couldn’t afford to offend either of them. Moreover, the mere fact that Chen Yuan was actively practicing martial arts was enough to demand some respect from Qian Bao.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, the arrogance on Qian Bao’s face dialed back significantly. He nodded. "Not bad at all. You’ve got a bright future ahead of you. But I wonder, exactly how is the Gu Family sponsoring you?"
He was still probing.
Chen Yuan smiled. "I’m honored that the Gu Family thinks highly of me. Right now, it’s five taels of silver a month."
Qian Bao finally looked at him with genuine seriousness, clearly taken aback. Giving five taels of silver a month was a sign of considerable esteem. Chen Yuan must have impressive potential.
He coughed twice to clear his throat. "Younger Brother Chen, you’ve truly made me see you in a new light. However, this protection fee and filial tax still need to be paid."
Chen Yuan nodded. "I understand, rules are rules. But this filial tax..."
A fitting look of sorrow surfaced on Qian Bao’s face. "The old madam... she passed away..."
The ’old madam’ referred to the gang leader’s mother. Chen Yuan wondered how this old madam could die every two or three years. Was she reincarnating just to die again? He almost lost his composure, but thankfully, he managed to hold back a laugh.
Instead, he played along, sighing heavily. "Mr. Qian, look at me. I’m practicing martial arts now, but I still have to bring money home to support my family..."
Qian Bao patted Chen Yuan’s shoulder and said earnestly, "Younger Brother Chen, I’m not trying to fleece you. The protection fee for the four of you is sixty coins, and the filial tax is fifty coins per household. That’s a total of one hundred and ten coins. I can’t go any lower." Then he lowered his voice. "For this filial tax, I normally collect sixty coins from everyone else."
So greedy, skimming twenty percent right off the top. Chen Yuan mentally clicked his tongue, knowing there was no room for negotiation. He stopped his aunt from paying and, looking visibly pained, handed over the money himself to send Qian Bao on his way.
Afterward, he gently ushered his aunt back to the dining table and comforted her, "Aunt, I still have spare change on me. Don’t worry. I make five taels a month now, which is more than enough to cover my food."
His aunt complained indignantly, "This Black Dragon Gang comes up with excuses to collect extra money every few days. They won’t stop until they’ve squeezed us dry."
Cheng Yong also sighed. "I heard at the morning market that the Black Dragon Gang has been having some friction with neighboring gangs lately. They immediately used this filial tax as an excuse to raise funds. We’re the ones who suffer."
Chen Yuan couldn’t help but recall a famous saying: When the state prospers, the people suffer; when the state falls, the people suffer.
He could only sigh softly. "Aunt, Uncle, once I successfully break through the next realm, things should get better."