Starting with a daily divination to build an immortal clan

Chapter 12 The Efficacy of Blood Toad Molts

As autumn deepens, the weather gradually turns cold.

That day, Shen Yuan drove his oxcart to the martial arts school in Yunshui Town as usual to pick up his eldest son and take him home.

On the way, Shen Wenxing, who was noticeably stronger, stammered as he sat on the oxcart, "Father, Uncle said I need some extra food..."

Shen Yuan's hand stiffened slightly, and he turned to look at him, saying, "Have you been going hungry lately?"

Huang Qingzhou's martial arts school provides free white rice every day, but students have to pay for their own vegetables and meat.

Shen Wenxing's living expenses for ten days were five hundred coins, which meant he would have fifty coins a day for vegetables.

Fifty coins could guarantee one meat dish and two vegetable dishes per meal, but the portions wouldn't be very large.

"My uncle said that if you want to become a martial artist, you need to replenish your qi and blood now and eat more meat."

There was a hint of guilt in his words.

The family's living conditions were good, but in this era, eating meat was definitely a very luxurious thing.

Normally, the rice was grown on their own land, and five hundred coins would be almost a month's expenses for a family of four.

Now I have to spend 500 coins every ten days, and not only that, I also have to spend 10 taels of silver on medicinal meals every month.

Although the little one is young, he is very sensible and knows that this money was earned by his parents through hard work and is not easy to come by.

"Okay, when you get back, tell your mother that she will give you one tael of silver every ten days from now on."

As Shen Yuan spoke in a deep voice, the pressure in his heart inexplicably increased.

Three taels of silver a month for food expenses, and ten taels of silver for medicinal meals.

So, it would cost more than 150 taels of silver a year. Adding the 20 taels of betrothal money, Shen Wenxing would spend 170 taels of silver a year learning martial arts.

After careful calculation, he couldn't help but smile wryly.

The saying "the poor are scholars, the rich are warriors" truly evokes a terrifying truth.

We need to think of a solution as soon as possible, otherwise our family's savings won't last until next year.

Furthermore, according to the timeline, my wife is due to give birth in eight months, and the arrival of our third child will bring another expense…

The oxcart slowly made its way towards Jinliu Village.

When the father and son returned home, Hu Yufen was busy chopping rice straw.

The old ox and seven piglets in the house all need to be taken care of.

Upon seeing this, Shen Wenxing hurriedly jumped off the oxcart.

"Mother, let me do it!"

"You should rest for a while."

The little guy snatched the machete and busied himself chopping grass. Hu Yufen stood up, smiled with relief, and said, "Be careful not to hurt your hands."

"Shi Tou said he wants an extra meal, more meat..." Shen Yuan whispered to his wife.

“I plan to give him one tael of silver every ten days so that he can eat better.”

"The weather is getting colder and the price of firewood is about to rise. I will start cutting firewood in the mountains tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Hu Yufen's expression changed slightly, and she looked at him with some heartache.

In previous years, when the family didn't have such a big financial burden, they would hire some day laborers to cut down all the firewood from the ten acres of mountain forest in the winter.

They used some of the firewood to pay the day laborers, stored some for themselves, and sold the rest.

Now he doesn't plan to hire day laborers anymore; he goes up the mountain to cut the trees himself. Although it's harder work, it saves him a lot of money.

Hu Yufen knew she couldn't help with these matters, and after some hesitation, she said, "The other day, Sister-in-law Zhao came to visit and said she was doing embroidery for a cloth shop in town."

"A two-foot embroidery piece costs ten coins. Winter is here and there's nothing much going on at home. Why don't I go and get some to embroider?"

She was a wealthy young lady in her early years and had some experience in needlework and embroidery. This time, she thought she could use her skills to relieve Shen Yuan's pressure.

Shen Yuan remained silent.

My wife is pregnant, and although I don't want her to work too hard, it's always good for the family to have an extra source of income.

In the evening, they picked up Shen Wenyan from Lu Zhiyuan's house. The two brothers had not seen each other for ten days and were unusually close.

In the open space of the courtyard, the eldest brother, Shen Wenxing, demonstrated the stance training he had learned to his younger brother. Anu tried to learn it for a while, but gave up after getting sweaty from exhaustion.

Shen Yuan, on the other hand, found it quite strange after watching from the side and tried to learn from his son for a while.

“Father, Uncle said that standing meditation can strengthen the body. You can practice it when you have free time.”

Shen Yuan finished his practice, panting, and shook his head slightly, saying, "Forget about Father."

“This skill was taught to you by your martial arts master. Without the master’s and your uncle’s permission, you must not use it in front of your father and your brother.”

In novels and TV dramas from my previous life, sect techniques were considered secrets, and those who shared them privately would be punished.

Shen Yuan felt that he was already twenty-five or twenty-six years old and had long passed the age of practicing martial arts.

I will work hard for the rest of my life and raise my two children to be successful; that would be great enough. I can't be a burden to him.

“It’s alright. Uncle said that this skill is a basic skill practiced by soldiers in the army. Our family should have had it in the early years, but it was not passed down.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan frowned and recalled for a moment.

My grandfather once said that my great-grandfather seemed to have inherited some military skills, but because he lost a leg when he retired from the army, he was unable to teach my grandfather and father.

"Stone, come here."

Shen Yuan called Shen Wenxing over and said, "Father will test you. You've been learning from your uncle for over a month now. What is a martial artist?"

Without any hesitation, the little guy answered directly: "My uncle said that the foundation of a martial artist is qi and blood. Only by successfully sensing one's own qi and blood and being able to use it simply can one be considered a true martial artist, also known as an acquired martial artist."

"A skilled martial artist can lift an ox and kill a person with a single punch!"

Shen Wenxing raised his little fist, looking somewhat excited.

At this moment, Hu Yufen came out of the kitchen carrying a large bowl of stewed meat. Upon hearing his words, she immediately scolded, "Shitou, your parents sent you to learn martial arts, not so that you could fight and be fierce with others."

Shen Yuan chimed in, "Your mother is right."

"Even if you become a martial artist in the future, you must not bully others by relying on your power. You must have a bottom line in your heart."

"You must understand that you learn martial arts to protect your family, to gain titles and merits, and to defend your country."

Shen Wenxing nodded earnestly: "Father, Mother, don't worry."

Seeing that he had taken her words to heart, Hu Yufen smiled with relief: "Go wash your hands and eat."

The family of four, who rarely get together, happily enjoyed their dinner.

As night fell, Hu Yufen was busy in the kitchen preparing medicinal food for Shen Wenxing, while Shen Yuan came inside and took out the century-old blood toad molt from a wooden box.

After gazing at the blood toad's remains for a moment and hesitating, he finally found a small knife and carefully cut off a piece about the size of a thumb.

After carefully collecting the remaining blood toad remains, Shen Yuan went to the kitchen, lifted the lid of the stewing medicinal food, and placed the blood toad remains inside.

Sun Fuchun, a village doctor, once said that the blood toad's molted remains have few side effects and can be taken directly to strengthen the body's foundation and nourish the vital energy.

Ordinary rice is clearly no longer sufficient for Shi Tou's martial arts training, so he thought of adding the blood toad's remains to his medicinal diet.

If the results are good, he can slowly eat the entire blood toad remains in the future, which will make the best use of it.

After the medicinal food was cooked, Shen Wenxing began to eat it.

"what?"

"Mother, this medicinal meal seems off..."

The little guy noticed something was wrong after just the first bite.

Hu Yufen didn't pay any attention.

"It was stewed the same way as usual, is there anything different?"

Shen Wenxing couldn't explain it either, he just wolfed down all the medicinal food.

Before long, he felt a surge of heat rising within him, as if he had inexhaustible energy. His face flushed red, he ran to the courtyard and began practicing standing meditation and boxing.

Inside the room, Hu Yufen heard the noise, stood by the window and watched for a while before saying with relief:
“Our Shitou has become much more sensible; he’s even practicing diligently late at night…”

Shen Yuan looked strange and did not answer.

He thought to himself, "I must have put in too many blood toad remains. I'll put in less next time..."

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(End of this chapter)