bookandnovel Chapter 38 The Old House
Chapter 38 The Old House
The old residence of the Lu family.
Grandpa Lu leaned back in his mahogany chair, puffing on his pipe, while a young man covered in sweat stood in front of him.
"Grandpa, I want to discuss something with you."
Lu Heng kept fanning himself, saying, "Grandpa, please forgive me. I've missed the appointed time for my training tonight."
"Just tell me what's on your mind," Old Master Lu said, giving Lu Heng an approving look.
Lu Heng successfully passed the entrance exam after only four months of studying at the academy, which made the Lu family famous among the neighbors. Many people praised him for his excellent parenting skills, especially in raising his grandchildren.
Although he knew that breaking through to the Ming Jin level would not guarantee him the title of a martial arts scholar, seeing Lu Heng still diligently practicing despite already having reached the threshold, he felt that his beloved grandson's dedication would eventually lead him to the highest rank.
"Grandpa, actually I came here for the martial arts exam." Lu Heng said earnestly, "Now my blood energy is almost full, and I will soon be able to break through to the Dark Force stage for the second time."
"At that time, martial arts will be a piece of cake."
Upon hearing this, Old Master Lu's eyes lit up.
He's a top-ranking martial arts scholar.
That would be something to bring honor to one's ancestors.
"Tell me, what do you want to buy this time?" Old Master Lu took a drag of his cigarette, calming his agitated emotions as he spoke.
"Grandpa, I heard from my senior brothers that we need to prepare blood-replenishing pills for the second breakthrough, which can greatly increase the chances of success," Lu Heng said.
"How much?" Old Master Lu asked instinctively.
He remembered that Lu Heng had asked him for money to buy blood-nourishing powder in the past. It cost one tael of silver per dose, which made him feel quite pained. Every time, it felt like his heart was bleeding.
"Three taels of silver per piece!" Lu Heng quickly replied.
As soon as he finished speaking, Old Master Lu's heart clenched violently, and for a moment, he felt as if his heart had stopped.
"Three taels of silver? Three taels of silver! Are those blood-tonifying pills made of gold?"
"Grandpa, there's no other way!" Lu Heng said anxiously, "Without that blood-replenishing pill, I might not be able to break through to the Dark Force realm a second time. What will I use to take the exam then!"
Hearing Lu Heng's words, Old Master Lu's expression changed, and he felt a sense of unease.
He then took two more deep drags on his cigarette before finally making up his mind:
"Three taels of silver, right? I'll get it for you tomorrow."
No matter how hard life is, we can't let our grandson suffer.
After all, Lu Heng is the hope of my Lu family.
"Grandpa, how can three taels of silver be enough?" Lu Heng was even more anxious. "One isn't enough! My senior brothers said it's best to eat a few to increase the probability of a breakthrough!"
"Although my aptitude is not bad, I still need at least three pills, and it would be best to add a blood-nourishing powder as well."
"What?"
Old Master Lu's hand trembled involuntarily, and his pipe fell to the ground with a "thud".
Three blood-tonifying pills and one dose of blood-nourishing powder.
That's ten taels of silver.
Ten taels of silver is enough for any ordinary family in Lin'an to live comfortably for a year!
But now Lu Heng demands ten taels of silver the moment he opens his mouth.
His eldest son was serving in the military and his fate was unknown; the third son's family had separated and no longer had any contact with each other; only the second son's family had hands and feet, but he was idle and spent his days loafing around, taking advantage of his parents to sponge off them!
Given his family's situation, how can he possibly raise money for his grandson?
This is going to cost him his life savings!
For a moment, even Old Master Lu was in a dilemma.
Seeing Old Master Lu's expression, Lu Heng put on a helpless and sorrowful face, two hot tears streaming down his face, his lips twitching:
"Grandpa, I know you're in a difficult position. Fine, I don't want the blood-replenishing pills and blood-nourishing powder anymore. I won't go to the martial arts exam this year; I'll try again next year."
After Lu Heng finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Old Master Lu.
Then he turned and left.
Each step he took was extremely difficult, as if his legs were made of lead.
One step, two steps...
Only when he slowly reached the threshold did Lu Heng's face show panic.
He originally thought he could use a strategic retreat to get his grandfather to fund him, but to his surprise, his grandfather remained unmoved.
At this moment, even the second aunt, who had been hiding behind the house, could no longer sit still.
He rushed out immediately:
"father!"
"Don't you usually like Xiao Heng the most?"
"Besides... haven't you been hoping to become a martial arts scholar all these years? Now that the opportunity is right in front of you, are you really going to give it up?" Auntie said, her voice trembling with tears. "Xiao Heng, you silly child, next year, next year, who knows what the situation will be like next year? What if you pass the exam this year but fail next year..."
Hearing what the second wife said, Old Master Lu's face was full of unease.
As an ordinary person from the lower class, he has seen too many examples over the years of people changing their fate by passing the imperial examinations.
The one he remembered most vividly was an old man surnamed Fan.
Master Fan was originally the son-in-law of Butcher Hu in the north of the city. He practiced martial arts all day long, but failed to pass the imperial examination for ten years and ended up needing his father-in-law Butcher Hu to help him.
Despite his father-in-law's various insults and belittling, saying that he was out of touch with reality and had unrealistic ambitions, Master Fan never wavered in his determination to learn martial arts.
He finally passed the imperial examination and became a martial arts scholar after eleven years of training.
That day, when Wu Xiucai's notice was posted, Master Fan was overjoyed to see it!
First, he walked out of the gate like a madman, tripped and fell into the mud, his hair was disheveled, his hands were covered in yellow mud, and he was soaking wet.
Later, it was Mr. Fan's father-in-law, Butcher Hu, and his group who found Mr. Fan.
At that time, Master Fan stood guard at the temple gate, his hair disheveled, his face covered in mud, and one of his shoes was missing. He was just clapping his hands by himself.
It also makes noises from time to time:
"Alas!"
"Hey! It's done! I won!"
Finally, seeing that the matter couldn't be resolved and fearing for Master Fan's safety, the crowd ordered Butcher Hu to slap Master Fan.
They euphemistically call it "wake up, wake up."
Actually, someone knew that Butcher Hu was very dissatisfied with his son-in-law and that he used to beat and scold Master Fan, so they brought it up to see Butcher Hu's reaction.
Butcher Hu, who was used to beating and scolding his son-in-law, hesitated in the end.
Of course, the final slap still landed.
From then on, Master Fan came to his senses, and Butcher Hu dared not say anything about "ambitions higher than the sky" again, only saying "an iron pestle can be ground into a needle"...
Even after all these years, Grandpa Lu still remembers this incident.
He was filled with longing for those stories of rapid advancement and bringing glory to their ancestors.
He couldn't do it himself, so he placed his hopes on his grandson.
only……
His family really has no money left.
So many years have passed, all the valuables in the house have been sold, and all the neighbors have been borrowed. Now that the world is unsafe, it's even harder to borrow from anyone.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have used the jewelry that the eldest son's wife gave to Xiao Li for her wedding as collateral to pay off the debt.
Old Master Lu opened his mouth:
"Why don't you go find your senior brothers..."
But before he could finish speaking, Lu Heng interrupted him:
"My senior brother is also about to break through, where would he get the extra money..."
Upon hearing this, Old Master Lu sighed heavily, appearing as if he had aged ten years in an instant.
He really had no other choice.
Seeing that Grandpa Lu really didn't say anything, Second Aunt felt helpless, but then she suddenly had a bright idea and asked:
"Could we... chip in some money from the third brother's side?"