January 16th.
The pier in Linhu Village, many villagers came to bid farewell.
Lin Chen, carrying a bundle, said goodbye to his parents and boarded the fishing boat.
"Light the firecrackers!"
With a shout from the village chief, Gu Fei was the first to ignite the firecrackers.
The crackling sound of the firecrackers startled many birds. Amidst the smoke of the firecrackers, Lin Chen waved goodbye to his parents and the villagers who came to see him off until the fishing boat completely disappeared, only then did he put his hand down.
Now, he could be considered the hope of the entire village.
On his shoulders lay not only the expectations of his family but also the hopes of all the villagers.
Going to the martial arts school, he must achieve something.
"Big brother, let me do it."
"No, Brother Chen, you just sit there, I'll row the boat."
Lin Liang, who was rowing the boat, smiled and refused. Although the journey from Linhu Village to the county pier was against the current, the fishing boat had no catch, just carrying a person, so rowing was not tiring.
Poyang Lake on this January 16th was bustling, with many fishing boats starting to leave the lake to catch fish.
On the waterways, there were fishing boats catching fish, cruise boats rushing into early spring, but mostly there were colorful boats.
Today was the day for the martial arts school's enrollment in the county. All the young people from various villages who had practiced Essence Qi within three years, especially those from Linhu, would choose to take a colorful boat to enter the city.
Wherever the colorful boats passed, the fishermen on the fishing boats would gaze with envy. If there were children on board from their own families, they would point at the colorful boats to encourage their own children.
The concept that learning martial arts was the only way to achieve a great future had deeply penetrated the hearts of every citizen in Poyang County.
In recent years, Poyang County had experienced favorable weather; unless the family was extremely difficult, everyone would save money to leave a sum for their children for the martial arts school's enrollment fee.
As the pride of the entire village for practicing Essence Qi in one year, the village chief originally wanted to rent a colorful boat, but Lin Chen refused.
Superstitions were allowed, but spending money was unnecessary.
In his past life, when passing by those temples and Taoist temples, if he could enter without tickets or incense money, he would have worshiped sincerely, but if it required buying incense, sorry, he was a firm materialist successor!
This year, he was the only one from the village reporting to the martial arts school; spending money to rent a colorful boat was too wasteful, as the rental cost of a single colorful boat was one tael.
Wouldn't it be better to buy meat with that one tael for renting a colorful boat?
On the river, the youths on each colorful boat were high-spirited, even though it was still cold in early spring, each one still stood on the deck, unfazed by the cold wind.
Compared to the colorful boats, Lin Chen's fishing boat seemed a bit shabby, only a red cloth was tied at the bow, symbolizing good luck ahead and indicating Lin Chen's status as a martial arts school student.
According to Lin Chen, he didn't want even this red cloth, but couldn't resist the village chief's strong request, plus his own parents agreed, so he let his elder brother tie the red cloth at the bow.
This made his fishing boat with the red cloth extremely conspicuous among the numerous colorful boats.
"Which village is this from, only tied a red cloth, couldn't even afford to rent a colorful boat?"
"Probably trained Essence Qi in three years, and the village didn't value them much."
The youths on the colorful boats were discussing, in their view, Lin Chen was only riding a fishing boat with a red cloth, supposedly someone who trained Essence Qi at the last moment, someone whose potential for Opening the Acupoints was doubtful, and the village wouldn't care much about such people.
Most of them had trained Essence Qi within two years, those who couldn't do so within two years would give up, few would persevere until the third year.
As for training Essence Qi within one year, they didn't dare to even dream of it; it was the goal of the wealthy children in the town, who would choose to ride horses into the city, seldom taking a colorful boat.
Entering the city on a colorful boat was a unique pride for village youths.
"Hey, brother, why not come on our boat together?" one of the youths on a colorful boat called out with a smile.
"No need." Lin Chen refused with a smile.
Though the colorful boats were large, their speed wasn't fast.
The fishing boat might be small, but it wasn't slow either.
One and a half two-hour periods later, Lin Chen spotted the pier at Poyang County City.
At this moment, the pier was crowded with boats, from large cargo-laden merchant ships to light and agile fishing boats, alongside medium-sized cruise ships weaving among them, creating a bustling scene on the water.
On the left waterway by the pier, colorful boats were approaching, reserved specifically for students entering the city for the martial arts school here.
Neither merchant ships nor cruise boats dared to cut in, no matter how long they had been waiting.
"Big brother, follow this colorful boat to approach."
Seeing several colorful boats heading to the left, Lin Chen reminded his elder brother that it was time to make use of the fishing boat's maneuverability, allowing it to weave through the line, but Lin Chen didn't let his elder brother do that—no rush for such a short moment.
Just as his elder brother Lin Liang was preparing to row the fishing boat to join the queue, several colorful boats ahead were competing for position, almost colliding, with the youths on the colorful boats glaring at each other angrily.
Very soon, their commotion attracted the attention of the government patrol boats, with two patrol boats approaching.
"What are you doing, everyone queue properly, don't cause trouble!"
A soldier on the patrol boat shouted, and one of the youths, braving his courage, explained: "They tried to cut our line, we were obviously first."
"Nonsense, our boat arrived first," retorted immediately a youth from another colorful boat.
"Shut up, all of you."
The soldier shouted again, his sharp gaze sweeping over them, making the youths dare not argue further, though they still exchanged defiant looks.
"You step back and queue at the back, and this fishing boat..."
The soldier maintaining order started to sort the colorful boats, and when his eyes scanned to the fishing boat behind a few colorful boats, he was momentarily stunned, then immediately said, "Your boat can go first."
"Thank you, sir."
Lin Liang, who was in line, was initially taken aback upon hearing this, and after confirming that the soldier was referring to their boat, he immediately joyfully rowed the fishing boat forward, a scene that displeased the youths on several colorful boats.
"Why let this fishing boat go first? It was the last to arrive."
"Why? Because I'm responsible for maintaining waterway order. If there's any trouble, I'll record your names with the Martial Affairs Office."
Lin Xiuyong gave a snort, and upon his words, the youths on the colorful boats immediately quieted.
Youths may not fear the government, but they fear the Martial Affairs Office.
According to Liang laws, any disciple of the martial hall or school found breaking the law is arrested by the government but must be reported to the Martial Affairs Office, and only after the Office strips the student status can they be sentenced to imprisonment.
"Your colorful boats are too big, letting the fishing boat go first won't delay much time." Lin Xiuyong, seeing the scene quiet down, explained loudly.
After the scene quieted, elder brother Lin Liang rowed the fishing boat, weaving through several colorful boats, towards the shore. As the fishing boat passed by the patrol boat, Lin Chen nodded in gratitude to Lin Xiuyong.
Lin Xiuyong returned a smile, a smile that seemed to grow wider.
This attitude left Lin Chen momentarily stunned, feeling that this soldier seemed to be trying to curry favor with him.
Was it an illusion?
This soldier probably just thought the fishing boat being small allowed it to pass through without delay, he was overthinking it.
On seeing the fishing boat pass, a colorful boat attempted to proceed, but Lin Xiuyong immediately stopped them: "What are you doing? Wait a bit longer."
The colorful boats were stopped, and not until Lin Xiuyong turned to see the fishing boat had docked did he allow them to proceed.
"Brother Lin, what's the story with that youth on the fishing boat?"
On the patrol boat, another soldier asked softly, having recently joined the city gate guards, this time accompanying Brother Lin to help maintain order at the pier.
The so-called reason that a small fishing boat wouldn't delay was a reason he fundamentally didn't believe.
"Earlier this year, this person was personally escorted into the city by the Martial Hall's Instructor to the martial school; the Opening Acupoints Realm could probably be achieved already, Mr. Ge personally said so. Are these youths comparable?"
Lin Xiuyong lowered his voice, his words astonishing his colleague.
"Already opened the acupoints? And yet he came on such a modest fishing boat?"
"Maybe he doesn't want to flaunt it. After all, such people are not ones we can afford to offend; it is naturally better to gain a favor and make a good connection."
Lin Xiuyong knew what his colleague meant by "couldn't tell.".
It wasn't about appearance, but rather the seeming shabbiness.
"Keeping a low profile, hiding one's abilities, that's the truly outstanding skill." Lin Xiuyong imagined an excuse for Lin Chen riding the fishing boat.
"Let me tell you another key point, as those who guard city gates, you must keep a keen eye; look at how calmly he faced us earlier, without arrogance or humility, such people are grounded, do not easily provoke them."
"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Lin."
"I only mentioned it because we got along well."