Who would've thought that the usually calm, kind, and refined young man could have a side like this?
Everyone was shocked!
Then, each of their expressions changed in their own way.
Niu Dazhuang glanced around, then scratched the back of his head.
Honestly, he wasn't too moved—he just thought Lu Chang'sheng seemed kind of different.
Exactly what was different, he couldn't really say.
Li Nangua, on the other hand, had eyes that shone bright, like a full moon glazed with lake water—and on her cheeks, two barely visible patches of red cloud bloomed.
Compared to the two of them, Wang Heihou was way more dramatic.
He gulped, only thinking: Damn, Chang'sheng is a total badass!
Aaahhh~
Why couldn't I have said those words?
Jealousy, envy, hate!
Zhao Hu, after his initial excitement, suddenly felt a bit uneasy.
"This… isn't this kinda bad!" he said, awkward and fidgety, giving Wang Heihou the chills so much that Black Monkey scooted away a few steps.
Nutcases, all of them! Completely bonkers!
Why does everyone seem so weird today?
"Don't you want Mr. Zhao to vent his anger?" Lu Chang'sheng chuckled dryly.
Guess he'd gotten a bit impulsive and jumped out of character just now.
Thank god he didn't blow his cover altogether.
"How could I not! That old bastard made life hell for me and Yun—forget venting, I could stab him twice and still not feel better!" Zhao Hu growled. "But to spend extra copper coins just for that? Not worth it!"
Lu Chang'sheng acted as if he'd just realized something, but—
"Your father-in-law only has this one daughter, right?"
"How'd you know that?"
"If he had more, he wouldn't bother putting so much effort into making things hard for you!"
Zhao Hu nodded. "And what's that got to do with anything?"
Lu Chang'sheng just smiled, no comment, and headed back to the house.
Zhao Hu stood where he was, staring wide-eyed at Wang Heihou.
"You got any clue what that means?"
"Nope, but I can tell you this: Chang'sheng's smile was definitely up to no good!" Wang Heihou said, dead serious.
Zhao Hu felt prickly all over. Seeing Li Nangua quietly slipping away, he quickly asked, "Nangua, you're the sharpest one here besides Chang'sheng. Any idea what he was getting at?"
Li Nangua didn't really want to say at first, but Zhao Hu kept digging, so finally, she stomped her foot and said, "He means—after your father-in-law kicks the bucket, all that copper ends up back with you anyway."
Zhao Hu was struck like lightning and froze on the spot.
After a long while, it was like he'd reached enlightenment—suddenly everything was clear.
"That's right! Damn, we can even make the chest bigger!" Just picturing the old man glaring at a box full of copper coins, he roared with laughter and couldn't stop.
If it weren't for the passing Black Mountain Army soldiers telling him to shut it, he would've kept going till morning.
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"Training takes money. To earn it the safe way could take years, and if things always go smooth like this, I might actually manage! Only problem is, life around here doesn't always go the way I want."
Back in his room, Lu Chang'sheng thought to himself.
This whole rent hike thing might not be urgent, but it did make him see something clearly.
Martial arts aren't just practice and cultivation—you need resources, reputation, connections, a place to belong. If he wanted a smoother path, money and status were simply a must.
"Who can really train and cultivate in total peace? Even those so-called masters in the mountains need tributes and donations, help the poor, rob the rich and all that!"
"If this Root Bone talent really means martial skill, then to truly achieve something means I better be ready to grind out half my life!"
"Maybe my 'Root Bone' isn't great for training, but my reading and writing are top notch. If I use that to get a reputation, rack up fame and fortune, maybe I can speed up the martial training a bit!"
"I can't rush becoming a scholar but for now, I oughta find a backup Archery Master to help out!"
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Over the next few days whenever folks went out, everyone kept an eye out to help Lu Chang'sheng with this.
They did find a few possible Archery Masters, but all of them were either only average, wanted too much, or already had a gig elsewhere.
Once they realized who invited them was just some little archery spot near a traveler's inn, they turned him down on the spot.
No choice—Lu Chang'sheng could only put the matter aside for now.
If he had time, he'd head over to Ma Xuncai's; if not, he'd just wait for another chance.
One day, Zhao Hu suddenly came by to mention something.
"There's a new archery practice spot in the traveler's inn area by the South Gate—same as ours!"
Seeing Zhao Hu look all worried, Lu Chang'sheng grinned softly.
Their spot was by East Gate. Sometimes, Zhao Hu would send folks to scout for customers at the other three gates too.
Now with the South Gate competing, it was bound to hit their bottom line.
"Mr. Zhao, you remember what I told you when we first started?"
Zhao Hu nodded, a tinge of embarrassment on his face.
Back then, he really did want to take this job for himself.
"Maybe you agreed to join, but deep down there's always a little doubt, right?" Lu Chang'sheng said.
Zhao Hu's type needs to see results for himself—otherwise, he'd never be fully onboard.
If the circumstances or his outlook were different, Lu Chang'sheng could talk all day and Zhao Hu would still insist on testing and negotiating first.
People at different ages handle the same stuff totally differently.
Zhao Hu just gave an awkward laugh, and didn't answer.
Still, for the days after, he started keeping a close eye on how things went at South Gate's new archery spot.
Half a month later—
"Master Hu, South Gate's business is flatlining. I heard the guy running it is a real hardass. When things wouldn't pick up, he literally dragged some farmers in off the street. They paid the silver coins up, then just vanished the next day!"
"And after that, nobody dared ask about archery lessons there! Actually, because of it, our place got way more attention—folks who want to practice all heard about us!"
It was Zhao Hu who'd personally hired the new staff last time, which netted him quite a haul. He'd mentioned this to Lu Chang'sheng, but the latter didn't really care.
"Got it! Just keep an eye out!"
"Will do, Master Hu!"
Once the worker left, Zhao Hu's face looked a bit conflicted.
Looking back on the past few months, then at South Gate's operation, he couldn't help but sigh.
At least he'd chosen the other route back then—otherwise, he'd probably be stuck in the same mess today!
Right now, though, he was hesitating.
He still had one seriously important resource he hadn't handed over yet. It'd always been his fallback, and if he gave it up for nothing, it'd hit him hard.
"Wait a bit longer… just a bit longer…"
One month later.
"Didn't expect it, Master Hu—they're finally picking up business over there!" reported a staffer.
Zhao Hu frowned slightly.
How could it be that easy?
But seeing the worker's odd face, he realized something was up, so he snapped, "Spit it out! Don't mess with me!"
The staffer finally grinned, "Can you guess how they turned things around?"
Zhao Hu's eyes narrowed. He immediately remembered Lu Chang'sheng's habit of scheming, felt a shadow over his heart, and his face grew cold. "How do you think I'll answer?"
The staffer shivered inside. He was thinking how Master Hu and Lu Chang'sheng joked around all the time, only got closer through it, but somehow he couldn't get away with it.
"Ah, no no! South Gate—first they dropped their prices, then spread word that our Archery Master here was taught by their old master. That's how their business started booming!"
Zhao Hu's tension instantly vanished; he laughed and cursed, "Enough, get lost! Next time you joke like that, I'll make you eat dirt!"
"You got it!"
Watching the staffer scurry away, Zhao Hu burst out laughing.
He didn't just hire people at random—all his workers had proven themselves on the streets; solid character, decent ability. Help them out, and they'd put their life on the line for you.
"Seems South Gate's crew are fresh outta ideas—if that's the best they've got, Chang'sheng really was right! Well, since I'm in, let's see how far you get with my support behind you!"
With that, he got up and headed out to find Lu Chang'sheng.
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