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Martial Arts Arena.
More than two-thirds of the people were sprawled across the ground haphazardly.
One-third were too exhausted to continue practicing, while the remaining one-third had given up from the start.
For them, becoming a soldier was just a way to get by or, for some, they had been forcibly conscripted.
Only the last one-third were still doggedly persevering.
Among them, Chen Sansi was making the fastest progress, having reached the twenty-fifth Pile Work.
Next was a youth with a special breathing technique, who had reached the seventeenth Pile Work.
Last, there was a bearded burly man who had just about managed to reach the twelfth Pile Work.
All three had started practicing as soon as they got the Cultivation Technique the night before.
The rest, at best, had only managed to reach the seventh Pile Work.
"It seems that the physical improvement brought by my expertise in archery is quite remarkable!"
Chen Sansi couldn't believe how his "Natural Bowman" physique was benefiting him so much in martial arts; he wondered what the next advancement would be like.
The youth and the bearded man beside him kept glancing over at Chen Sansi as if competing with him.
Fuck this!
Chen Sansi was somewhat speechless.
When he reached the twenty-sixth Pile Work, he began to feel more and more drained and decided to stop.
It wasn't because he was lazy, but he understood that one can't make haste when eating hot tofu.
If he forced himself to continue, it might cause irreversible damage to his body and backfire.
Seeing him stop, both the youth and the bearded man collapsed to the ground right after.
"Hey, what's your name?"
The bearded man wiped off sweat with his hand and asked, panting heavily.
"Chen Sansi," Chen Sansi replied.
"Chen Sansi?"
The bearded man exclaimed in surprise, "The one from Yanbian Village?"
Chen Sansi was astonished, "You know me?"
The man laughed heartily, "In the country, who doesn't know the good-hearted and skilled hunter from Yanbian Village?"
"That can't be right..."
Chen Sansi found it strange.
Good-hearted and just referred to the time he saved Zhang Shun's father, right?
But that was just a small matter involving two taels of silver, not something that should make him famous, surely?
"Zhang Shun's old mother berated and beat you just because you owed her family two coins worth of life-saving money. She even wanted to sell your wife to Qin Xiong to pay off the debt. You didn't hold any grudge, and on the contrary, you risked retaliation from Martial Arts Academy Disciples and offered five taels of silver to save someone!"
The man was vigorously thumping his chest, his voice booming, "Where else can you find such a loyal and just man these days? Brother, I admire you!"
"?"
Chen Sansi was full of question marks.
He had been close with Zhang Shun since they were young, but when had they become sworn brothers?
And since when had Zhang Shun's mother berated and beaten him?
What did the matter with Qin Xiong have to do with Aunt Li?
He wondered who could have spread such wild stories.
Was this the so-called 'rumors compounding upon rumors'...
"I share the surname Zhu, with a single name, Tong!"
Zhu Tong said with a clasped fist, "If you don't mind, I'll call you Brother Chen from now on!"
Chen Sansi returned the gesture with a clasped fist.
The other youth approached as well, "My name is Song Yan. Your Pile Work is quite fast; impressive."
"You're not bad yourself," Chen Sansi said.
Zhu Tong spoke rudely, "Don't pay attention to this kid!"
Chen Sansi asked in confusion, "Brother Zhu, what's this about...?"
Before Zhu Tong could respond, Song Yan preempted, "The Cultivation Technique you guys learned is missing a part, but mine isn't because Hundred Households Luo is my uncle. He taught me in advance. If you want to learn, you can offer eight taels of silver to ask the various Hundred Households for instruction."
"You sure have the nerve, being able to say that with a straight face!"
Zhu Tong had happened to see this kid with Hundred Households Luo yesterday in the garrison, overhearing something about a breathing skill.
"Okay, thanks."
Chen Sansi nodded.
Just as he suspected.
Song Yan nodded too, and then went to find some steps to sit and rest.
```
Zhu Tong pulled out a stuffed pancake from his bosom and handed it over.
Chen Sansi didn't stand on ceremony, and while munching on the pancake, he chatted with Zhu Tong, getting to know a bit about each other's background.
Zhu Tong was the pig killer from Zhu Family Village, who, not long ago, had beat someone up because he couldn't stand seeing a widower bullied and almost got sent to the Southern region to labor. It had cost more than half of his family's silver to work things out and change it to enlisting in the military at his hometown instead.
"Old Zhu, pass me a pancake too."
As the two of them were talking, a hand stealthily reached towards Zhu Tong's bosom but got slapped away. "Scram!"
Chen Sansi looked up and recognized the man who had been explaining the meaning of "Selected Point" to everyone earlier, appearing to be almost fifty with patches of gray hair already showing.
Zhu Tong introduced him with displeasure, "This is Xu Wencai, a notorious layabout from Zhu Family Village."
"Hey, who are you calling a layabout?" Xu Wencai protested.
"All day long, you either loaf around at home doing nothing or gallivanting about. Usually, it's your old mother farming the land to support you. If you're not a layabout, then who is?"
Zhu Tong sneered, "There you go, with no one to do the work and earn the money after your mother passed away, you're short on tax payments, hence you were dragged here to fill the ranks in the military."
Failing to pay taxes also could lead to military enlistment.
As for Zhang Shun being sent to work on the Canal, it was purely because he offended someone.
"You... you're talking nonsense!"
Xu Wencai retorted agitatedly, "At home, I am one who 'reads ten thousand books,' and when I travel far, I am one who 'travels ten thousand miles'! I'm a man destined for great things!"
Zhu Tong spat out mockingly, "Calling yourself 'Wo Long' and yet you can't even pass the exam to become a Scholar, and you're giving me lip!"
"Alright then, before I scram, how about giving me a pancake to eat, will you?"
Xu Wencai hadn't eaten for two days.
In these past two years, unless there was a war, the garrison didn't even provide meals.
If every meal was guaranteed, who wouldn't be a soldier?
"Such a disgrace."
Zhu Tong, in the end, still threw a pancake to him.
Xu Wencai immediately ran cheerfully to the side, took out a book, and while savoring the pancake, he read with relish.
Chen Sansi noticed the heavy bundle behind him seemed to be full of books, so heavy that the old scholar could hardly straighten his back.
"Mr. Xu."
He initiated a conversation, "Might I borrow a book to glance through? I'll return it to you undamaged after I'm done reading."
At home, there was only one book left, and it was difficult to make further "reading" progress by reading it over and over. Buying new books seemed a waste of money, and upcoming Martial Arts training would require more silver.
"Not lending."
Xu Wencai didn't even ponder over it.
"..."
Chen Sansi hesitated for a moment, then asked again, "Mr. Xu Wo Long, lend me just one book and I assure you I will return it without a single scratch."
"Ahem..."
Xu Wencai nearly choked on the pancake, then asked, "What did you just... say?"
"Mr. Xu Wo Long, I said I wish to borrow a book from you to read," Chen Sansi repeated.
"Hmm~"
Xu Wencai squinted his eyes in pleasure, "Considering such sincerity, you must be a person who loves reading as well."
"Yes."
Chen Sansi admitted frankly, "I was a scholar too, tried for the Scholar exams for several years without success, couldn't continue like that and hence ended up enlisting."
"Truly so?"
Xu Wencai's spirit lifted.
"Truly so!"
"Good then, I knew it!"
Xu Wencai, filled with righteous indignation, said, "The Great Sheng Dynasty's imperial exams are utter nonsense, testing only on rote essays. What's the use? Us genuinely talented individuals are all buried in obscurity! Pick whatever book you want to see."
He spread out his bundle on the ground, showcasing an assortment of books ranging from poetry to storybooks, from histories to tales of the bizarre, everything one could want.
"If it weren't for gathering money for my mother's coffin and burial, I would still have a house full of books!"
"..."
Chen Sansi randomly picked one, "Thank you, Mr. Xu Wo Long."
The garrison didn't provide food.
Normally, after a certain time, the military households would all go back home to eat.
Chen Sansi also packed his things.
Before leaving, he sought out Xu Bin to ask if he could get a heavy bow.
If proficiency alone was so helpful, achieving small achievement was even more promising, so he couldn't let his archery practice lapse.