Heaven rewards diligence; he fought his way through chaos to become a saint.

"By the way, Senior Brother Jiang, there's something else I'd like to ask you."

Having heard that everyone was taking their time, Ye Ci wasn't in a hurry and started talking with Jiang Ding'an.

"Go ahead and say it."

"I've heard that things are unsettled outside the county lately, so I'm thinking of bringing my family to the city. Do you know of any connections, senior brother? I'd like to rent a cheap place."

"This is easy to handle."

Jiang Ding'an waved his hand and said, "What's there to rent? I have a house on Jingshui Street, I'll lend it to you. I bought that house behind your sister-in-law's back then, intending it for my lover from the brothel to live in. But... sigh... never mind, prostitutes are heartless."

"Well, thank you, senior brother."

Ye Ci paused for a moment, then seemed to remember something and asked:

"Senior brother, doesn't our Rock Martial Arts Academy have any female disciples?"

In his previous life, he had read some novels where it was said that martial arts schools had to have female disciples, otherwise many plot points could not be developed.

But Rock Martial Arts Academy really doesn't have any female disciples.

"Damn it! My junior brother's one of our own!"

Jiang Ding'an's eyes lit up: "I've been telling Master for a long time, why don't you take on a few female disciples? But he just wouldn't listen, saying women would only ruin the relationships between brothers and create chaos. Tch..."

"Then... Master doesn't have a daughter or anything?"

Holy crap!

Jiang Ding'an's eyes gleamed this time, revealing a look of "finally finding a kindred spirit."

"How come you're thinking the same thing again!"

"No!"

Jiang Ding'an slapped his thigh: "Why the hell isn't it?"

Ye Ci wondered if Yang Shi's mother would come looking for him.

However, he had never seen Master Yang have any relatives; he had only heard that his closest relatives were a few of his direct disciples.

Next, Ye Ci felt that Jiang Ding'an was a bit too noisy, no less so than Wang De.

Moreover, this guy's mouth is full of swear words and dirty jokes; he doesn't talk about martial arts, he talks about women.

"Come on, after we finish eating, I'll arrange for someone to help you move. Now I'll take you to see the house."

Seeing that Ye Ci remained silent, Jiang Ding'an was quite pleased with his listening nature and thus became exceptionally generous.

Ye Ci was not one to hesitate, and upon seeing this, he immediately agreed.

After all, renting a house costs money, so the price Brother Jiang quoted for himself was far higher than three taels of silver.

After finishing their meal, the two went to Ping An Escort Agency and hailed a carriage.

The house Jiang Ding'an mentioned was not far from the escort agency; it would take about the time it takes to burn two incense sticks to get there.

The house wasn't big, but it had everything a family needed.

There is also a small courtyard with a well in it. The wellhead is covered with a wooden cover, and when you lift it up, you can see that the water surface is only about ten feet deep, clear and clean.

"Old Chen, I'm going back to the martial arts gym first. You go help my brother move."

"Okay!"

The driver was called Old Chen, a man of about fifty years old with strong muscles in his limbs, clearly a trained martial artist.

*****

It was midday.

At the market.

Li glanced at the sun, then at the straw sandals and bamboo baskets on the stall in front of her, and instructed Mumu beside her:

"Business isn't good today. Let's stay for another half an hour and then head home."

"what……"

Mumu was carefully biting into the dry biscuit when she heard this, and immediately nodded.

Actually, she had her ears perked up, listening to Aunt Wang from the tailor shop next door chatting with a large crowd around her.

"You really can't go out at night. The Dragon Snake Gang and the Black Tiger Gang have been fighting frequently lately. When I woke up in the morning, there was blood all over the street outside. It was terrifying!"

Naturally, they then started talking about Li Dabiao.

"Ever since Li Dabiao was killed by the Dragon and Snake Gang, the conflict between the two gangs has completely erupted."

"It's because the Dragon and Snake Gang is too ruthless. Gang conflicts usually don't involve killing each other; they usually arrange to meet in a certain place for a fight. The Dragon and Snake Gang doesn't follow the rules."

"You wouldn't believe it, my house isn't far from Li Dabiao's. That night I heard someone shout 'ghost,' but it might not have been a human..."

"Really?! A ghost killing people?!"

People in the countryside are most likely to believe in spirits and monsters. Upon hearing this, everyone around was startled, and fear appeared on their faces.

Mumu held the dried biscuits, her eyes sparkling, thinking to herself: This was clearly done by my benefactor.

Li Dabiao's benefactor has almost spent all his money, and you're only now talking about him?

Grandma Li was very curious when she heard this, so she leaned closer to listen more carefully, only to hear them change the subject again.

"Recently, things have been quite unsettled both inside and outside the county. I heard that a large righteous army has been causing a great disturbance and has inflicted a crushing defeat on the government troops."

"What righteous army? They're all beasts. They don't eat grain; they eat human flesh."

Someone lowered their voice and said, "That's because they have no food. I heard the county is tightening its grain collection, leaving no grain outside the city. The rebels will have to resort to cannibalism..."

Aunt Wang waved her hand and said loudly, "You don't know, these rebels are just a bunch of bandits. They'll scatter when they can't get any food. My brother said that if there really is a bandit problem, they can just hide in the city. There are many skilled fighters in the county town, and the rebels won't dare to attack the county town."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone around him nodded in agreement.

Everyone knows that Aunt Wang's older brother is a bodyguard for a wealthy family and used to give Aunt Wang the finest fabrics, so her information is highly credible.

Aunt Wang deliberately patted her sleeve and sighed, "My eldest brother is discussing with the landlord about setting up a woodshed for my family to use as a temporary shelter..."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked on with envy.

In the county, land was incredibly valuable; wealthy families would use their land to build several outhouses rather than give up their space for poor people to build a shack.

People from the countryside who want to move there have to pay money to rent a place.

Ordinary people wouldn't be willing to give that up.

Aunt Wang continued to chat loudly with people, all about how her elder brother was a bodyguard for a wealthy family in the county; in the end, she just wanted people to flatter her.

Before the words were finished, a woman with a mole on her face in the crowd spat out a "pui".

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was Aunt Li from another tailor shop nearby.

She also has relatives living in the county, so the two of them often don't get along.

Sure enough, Li Shen said sarcastically, "Old Wang, you're kidding me... You used to say your older brother gave you clothes, but you run a tailor shop and you still need your older brother to give you clothes?"

"They said they were going to move to the county seat, but it's been three years already. Why are they still running a shop in the rural market? And in a rented storefront..."

"Does your older brother think highly of you?"

Sure enough, before she could finish speaking, Aunt Wang got angry.

The two then started exchanging barbs, chattering away and revealing each other's shortcomings, while Aunt Li took the initiative, eating one bite after another.

"Your elder brother has never made a name for himself in martial arts. He calls himself a bodyguard, but he's really just a servant who sold himself into servitude. He only earns seven or eight taels of silver a month. What's he pretending for? Seven or eight taels of silver isn't even enough to cover his costs when he started practicing martial arts."

Aunt Wang's face turned bright red with anger, and she pointed at her nose and cursed:

"You think I don't know your family, or your relatives? I heard his son borrowed money from the gang to learn martial arts, and now he's wandering around and doesn't even dare to go home..."

Uncle Shen from the next stall shook his head repeatedly, stepped out of the crowd, and casually remarked to Li:

"I heard your son Ye Ci is also practicing martial arts?"

He recognized Ye Ci; in the early years, Li often brought Ye Ci to set up a stall.

"Um!"

When this was mentioned, Li readily agreed, and said with a hint of pride, "My little Ci is very good at it; he can run all the way back from the county in one go."