Promise!

Chapter 9, Make Up for One's Shortcomings

Upon hearing this, the martial artists reacted differently: those from well-off families looked calm and talked about what it would be like to pay for their own meals; those who were not well-off and could not afford a monthly package were struggling and hesitating about whether to bite the bullet and eat on a regular basis for a few days to see the effect; those who had already sold everything they had to learn martial arts and had no extra money from their families, and could not even afford to eat on a regular basis for one or two days, kept their heads down and felt inferior.

Zhuang Jin took in everyone's reactions and thought to himself, "Master Ping is really good at rhetoric. He's linking paying for meals with mastering Qi and blood, and becoming a formal warrior. This way, as long as there's extra money, they'll definitely eat their meals. Even if they pay a few times a day... and still can't afford the rest, then they really can't afford it."

"Master Ping's advertisement is really good. I wonder if the cafeteria gave him any benefits... However, even if Master Ping secretly accepted benefits from the cafeteria, what he said should have some truth to it."

Zhuang Jin counted the remaining copper coins and small change, and found there were about 640 coins. "After paying the monthly subscription of 600 coins, I still have a little over 40 coins left for turnover. Not bad!"

Although this almost exhausted his savings, he did not hesitate and decided to spend the money instantly - he was not a miser. He had been saving money before just to save it for future use. Now was the perfect time, so naturally he had the courage to go all in and "spend a fortune and make it back again".

Well, thanks again to Tan San and others for the gift.

"Jinzi, if you are short of money, I can help you with some money." Xiong Lei's face felt a little painful, but he still spoke.

He was so stingy and reluctant to give the five cents kickback when he received his bedding before, so now it was only Zhuang Jin who asked to borrow money. If it were anyone else, forget it - because Zhuang Jin helped him avoid possible trouble when he received his bedding and gave him instructions on standing meditation in the morning, he considered himself to be grateful!

"Thanks, Brother Xiong." Zhuang Jin declined politely: "But no, if you really need me, I won't hesitate."

When we arrived at the cafeteria, we found that free meals and self-paid meals were separated. The free meals were vegetables, radishes, and brown rice soup; the self-paid meals were fried radish with meat, white rice, and bone soup. You could see the greasy fat in the fried radish with meat, the steaming white rice, the oil floating in the bone soup, and the chopped green onions and coriander spread out freely, which was extremely tempting.

There is a reason why you have to pay for your own meals, and the presentation is very different.

Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei went to line up and pay for the self-paid meals. What surprised them was that Qian Wende, who was greedy for small profits and shamelessly took more than the Kailuo Soup, was actually willing to pay for the monthly self-paid meals.

In addition, what was also impressive was a martial artist in their dormitory who paid for two people's monthly meals and ate two meals at his own expense. Because of this amazing move, Zhuang Jin remembered this person's name: Bi Kai.

After paying the monthly meal fee and receiving the food, Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei sat down at a table.

Xiong Lei was already starving and ate voraciously.

Zhuang Jin also took a deep breath of the fragrance and looked at the meal he had paid for himself. To him, who had once been a beggar, this was already a delicacy. He picked up a piece of radish, chewed it and swallowed it, as if he could feel the oil and water in it seeping into his spleen and stomach, nourishing his limbs and meridians. The fatigue brought by practicing the Black Evil Posture for a whole morning seemed to dissipate in this brief moment of happiness and satisfaction.

……

After the meal, most of the other martial artists returned to the dormitory. After all, they had eaten their fill, and it was the warmest time of the day in the afternoon, so they were inevitably sleepy. Adding to the fatigue from practicing standing meditation in the morning, they went to rest.

If you want to learn martial arts in the afternoon, you have to start at 1:00 p.m.

Zhuang Jin didn't return to the dormitory. Instead, he went to the training grounds to practice the Black Evil Posture. He was naturally tired and sleepy, but he fought against this inertia with self-reflection and self-discipline. Compared to the noisy morning training grounds, the crowds were now sparse, making it seem quiet. He found a corner to practice alone, feeling the flow of qi and blood, trying to condense that pure inner energy.

It is worth mentioning that Xiong Lei did not go with him, saying that he was going to the dormitory to rest for a while. The other party was not his vassal and had to follow him in everything. Zhuang Jin was not the type of person who had to find someone to do anything, even to go to the toilet, so he was not affected and focused on practicing on his own.

After practicing the Zhuang Gong three times, it was almost noon. Wusheng arrived one after another. Xiong Lei also came over and asked mysteriously, "Jinzi, do you remember that morning, two Wusheng gave Master Ping money in the hope of getting some advice?"

Zhuang Jin nodded slightly. He had felt something was amiss at the time. Ping Yongfeng was honest and upright, not someone who would take money for favors, but his reaction was a bit excessive. There must be another reason. "I heard that from Dezi, too..."

"Wait, Dezi?"

"It's Qian Wende." Xiong Lei said embarrassedly.

Zhuang Jin had a strange look in his eyes. In the morning, Xiong Lei was still complaining, "How dare this guy come here?", but now he called him "Dezi" affectionately. Isn't your change too fast?

"Ahem, after all, we don't have any major grudges with Dezi, so there's nothing we can't get over."

Xiong Lei explained and continued, "According to what Dezi heard, during the last recruitment of martial artists, there was a martial arts instructor who didn't teach with all his heart. He deliberately kept a few tricks to himself and wanted the martial artists to pay him privately before he would teach them the real skills. It was really embarrassing. Later, the incident happened and the martial arts instructor had his meridians severed, crippling his martial arts skills."

"So this morning, you see, Master Ping was so scared when he saw those two martial artists stuffing money into his pockets that he just left." He chuckled twice as he spoke.

"I see." Zhuang Jin nodded. They also benefited from the previous batch of martial artists' detours.

But he was more concerned about another point: 'Qian Wende is quite interesting!'

Qian Wende had just suffered a great loss in intelligence that morning and was almost kicked out. Perhaps he realized the importance of the information, so he made changes.

"Given Qian Wende's shamelessness, even though he had a grudge against Xiong Lei and me, he still managed to find me to practice martial arts with him, and even smiled after being rejected, with a personality like that, it's not hard to get information from him."

As for the easing of his relationship with Xiong Lei, this is not difficult to understand. They are both in their twenties, and Xiong Lei is not a petty person. Qian Wende put aside his shamelessness and said a few words to please him, and shared some special information he had heard. It is not surprising that Xiong Lei changed his opinion of him.

As for Qian Wende's initiative to come forward and improve relations... Zhuang Jin also speculated: "It's nothing more than seeing Xiong Lei and I demonstrate on stage, seeing that our small group has potential, and wanting to make friends, or even wanting to practice standing meditation together? There's nothing wrong with that. All I can say is: the world is bustling with people, all for profit. The world is bustling with people, all for profit."

"After the last incident, the martial arts instructor is no longer shy about keeping his money secret. It's said that the instructor's salary is divided into two parts: a basic monthly allowance and additional errands. The pay for our errands isn't much, only one or two taels of silver per month. It's impossible for the martial arts instructor to teach us all like his own sons with that little money."

Xiong Lei added, "We're relatively lucky. Master Ping at least selected three people to teach this morning. I heard that the instructors at two of the other three training grounds took us through a few rounds, and then left after the stipulated minimum teaching time of one incense stick."

"By the way, I heard there are requirements for teaching martial artists. They require that at least one of the thirty people they teach become a formal martial artist each month, otherwise their salary will be deducted."

Zhuang Jin nodded when he heard this, thinking about the two people Ping Yongfeng had chosen this morning, including Xiong Lei, who all looked tall and strong. "I'm afraid this is just to meet the quota and select talented people for guidance."

Suddenly, he thought of more: "My previous life died of starvation and freezing, so my body must be weak. I wonder if this will have any impact on my martial arts training?"

'I'm afraid so.'

Zhuang Jin sighed inwardly, but didn't complain. The reality was already like this, and it couldn't be changed. Complaining was useless, so he could only find ways to make up for it: "If my physical condition makes me less effective in practicing standing meditation and controlling my Qi and blood, then I'll make up for it by practicing more. The effect of me practicing twice is always comparable to that of an average person practicing once. Diligence can make up for lack of talent. Also, I'll buy more nutritious meals at my own expense, hoping they can nourish my body and replenish my Qi."

……

(End of this chapter)