Chapter 22: Third Master Zhao
Chen Qingjiang carried his old father home. A-Di, who had received the message from Li Libo, had been anxiously waiting at the door. When she saw her husband, she rushed over to help.
Seeing Liang Qu standing by, A Di choked up and almost knelt down in front of him. Fortunately, Liang Qu was quick to help her up.
"Ah Shui, I really don't know how to thank you. Today, Ah Lang went out to pay taxes, and I was worried. I always felt that something was going to happen. I didn't expect such a big disaster to happen. If he was really caught to dig the canal, it would be a disaster."
Chen Qingjiang knew a few days ago that Liang Qu had learned martial arts and was showing great talent. A Di naturally knew about it as well. She was very angry at the time and felt that there was no point in borrowing grain. It was like raising an ungrateful person. She would rather spend the money on learning martial arts and eat at a foot shop every day, and she never thought about paying back those pounds of grain.
Every day before dawn she would take her elder and second sons to help people wash clothes and earn money to pay the autumn tax.
It was just that she couldn't make a fuss about it because of her husband's reputation. She never thought that her husband's good deed that day would bring such a great reward now.
"Okay, it's all over. Why are you crying all the time? Go home and cook a good meal for you two brothers."
Chen Qingjiang obviously didn't know how to comfort a woman. He simply sent A Di to cook, and then he carried his father back to the house and lay down.
Liang Qu wanted to refuse, but then he thought that he was penniless and would have nothing to eat if he went out, so he agreed.
On the dinner table, there were only three plates of wild vegetables, a fish and a dish of pickles.
The fish was still fresh.
Spices are expensive, and unless the fish is abalone, the resulting dish will have a strong fishy smell.
Ordinary fishermen often eat pickled and smoked fish, which are easy to preserve and taste good. Only those whose families are really poor and cannot afford to use more salt will eat fresh fish.
Of course, it’s another matter if you can afford spices.
Chen Qingjiang was a little embarrassed: "I can't help it, these are all we have left at home. When I have money in the future, I will definitely treat you to meat and fish."
Li Libo waved his hands repeatedly: "It's okay, it's okay, we don't care about these."
"Yeah, it's good to have it, so I don't have to go back and cook."
The family couldn't even pay the taxes and was almost forced to dig a canal. Liang Qu and Li Libo knew what was going on, so how could they possibly blame them?
Although the meal was simple, it was filling.
The couple didn't eat well to begin with, and if they didn't eat more, they would feel even worse.
The next day after he returned home from his meal, Liang Qu still did not go to the martial arts gym. It was not because he wanted to continue to downplay the impression, but because if he did not catch fish again, he would starve to death!
Liang Qu now truly does not have a single penny on him.
After letting Ah Fei fish for a day, Liang Qu returned to the fishing shed and sold the fish.
Lin Songbao said with a sigh as soon as he saw her: "I heard about what happened yesterday. I never realized that there is such a hero hidden in Yixing City. You are this!"
Lin Songbao gave Liang Qu a thumbs up.
"Can a good man earn two more coppers by selling fish?"
"Yes! Why not? Normally, it should be 102 cents this time, but I'll charge you 110 cents. How about that?"
Liang Qu glanced sideways: "Are you serious?"
"Hey, why not? Don't look at us fishing grounds as shady, but that's other people's business. I, Lin Songbao, admire people like you the most. It doesn't matter if you round up the profits. Anyway, you can make money, just a little more or less. When you come next time, I will round up the profits for you and won't let you suffer any loss!"
Liang Qu hesitated for a long time and then said "awesome".
I didn't expect that the son of the fishing rod owner would be such a person. It really opened my eyes.
After earning the money, Liang Qu rushed to the martial arts hall to learn martial arts on the third day. It would be impolite if he didn't come again. As a result, he was told that Hu Qi, their teacher, had taken a leave of absence since yesterday, and their teacher became a martial artist named Lu Shaohui, who was weaker than Hu Qi, but also a martial artist who had broken through two levels.
Li Libo finished his round of Ape Fist and took a break, whispering, "I heard from Senior Brother Xiang that Master Hu is about to make a breakthrough. Maybe in a few days, when we see him, he will be a genuine martial artist."
Liang Qu thought about it and it was about this point. It might take some time to make the fish horns into pills, but it had been more than ten days since Master Hu Wu bought the ox-horn pomfret.
After eating the precious fish twice, Liang Qu felt that the horns of a precious fish were not that powerful. To be able to allow a warrior to break through the blood barrier, it should be used as an auxiliary medicine or act as a catalyst.
Li Libo looked around and saw that Lu Wuzhe was not there, so he lowered his voice and said, "Also, do you feel that Lu Wuzhe is not very willing to approach us and seems to be a bit indifferent?"
Liang Qu also felt the same way: "Maybe he dislikes the fishy smell on us?"
When practicing Monkey Fist before, Hu Qi would take the initiative to point out and demonstrate every time there was a mistake, but this Senior Brother Lu would not do that. He would only point out when asked for advice, and he seldom demonstrated.
If he hadn't had the basics of Ape Boxing and didn't make many mistakes, Brother Lu would have been impatient.
What is even more obvious is that whenever this Senior Brother Lu approached the two of them, he would obviously wrinkle his nose, and his disdain was self-evident.
But Liang Qu didn't want to do that either. Frequent fishing and a good bath couldn't get rid of the fishy smell on his body.
"Ah, as expected, the attitudes of Senior Brother Xiang and Senior Brother Hu before made me think that martial artists are very approachable."
"Haha, don't take it too seriously. I'm already surprised that Senior Brother Hu and Senior Brother Xiang didn't discriminate against me. It's enough as long as I can learn some real skills."
Maybe he had read too much online literature, so Liang Qu was not used to being treated so kindly when he first arrived. But now he is familiar with the rhythm.
"Oh, by the way, did you see that young man over there?"
"Which one?"
"That guy over there wearing white clothes with gold threads on the edges, I heard he is Zhao Xueyuan, the third son of the Zhao family. I never thought he would come here to learn martial arts. Sure enough, Mr. Zhao's son chose Yang's martial arts school, which means our choice is not wrong!"
The third son of the Zhao family?
Looking in the direction Li Libo pointed, Liang Qu saw the so-called young master. He was indeed fair and clean. Even though his facial features were ordinary, there was no mistaking the feeling that he lived a life of luxury. At first glance, he was cleaner than them, the peasants.
His father is Master Zhao?
Liang Qu shuddered. From Mr. Zhao San, he could never have imagined that his father would be that kind of person. It would be better for him to stay away from him in the future.
As if sensing his gaze, Zhao Xueyuan turned his head and glanced at the two of them, but did not pay much attention. He had noticed these two fishermen who came to learn martial arts a long time ago, but no one cared about them and no one wanted to deal with them.
After three months, they will go back to where they came from.
"Speaking of which, in a few days, at the end of the month, Teacher Yang will be able to come and give lectures. I wonder if it will be different. Maybe I can also get some enlightenment."
“It’s always good to have dreams.”
Lu Wuzhe was not there. Liang Qu and Li Libo were chatting casually, but Xiang Changsong's voice was heard from the corridor.
"The martial arts master on duty today is Senior Brother Lu. He is your teacher. Although Senior Brother Lu is not a direct disciple of Master Yang, he is also very experienced. Oh, by the way, there are two junior brothers in the martial arts hall who are also from Yixing City. Maybe you know them."
Liang Qu and Li Libo looked up when they heard the voice, and Li Libo asked first.
"Chen Jiechang, why is it you?"
(End of this chapter)
