Physical immortality begins with Bajiquan

After thanking Uncle Zhou at the door, Qin Heng pushed open his old wooden door and went inside.

The room was simple, but clean and tidy. The steamer was still warm, and the chopsticks and bowls on the cutting board were neatly arranged.

Hearing the noise, Qin Ting, the older sister sitting on the bench, put down her embroidery frame and needlework, looked up, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes, and said softly:

"You're back, Xiao Heng. Did Liu Bao give you any trouble?"

Qin Heng didn't answer. He walked over and sat down opposite her. He noticed that his sister had several new small cuts on her hands, and his voice was somewhat heavy:

"Sister, that scoundrel Liu Bao is bothering us again. Not only does he want to marry you, but now he wants our family shop too!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Ting's smile faded slightly, but she still reached out and ruffled her younger brother's hair, feigning ease.

"Silly child, don't worry, I can handle it. As for Liu Bao, I'll try to find a way to deal with him. If all else fails, I'll scrape together some more money for him. We'll get through this eventually."

She spoke casually, but her fingertips unconsciously tightened their grip on the embroidery thread.

These days, if it weren't for the help from Uncle Zhou's family at the shop next door, the siblings would probably have been driven to desperation by Liu Bao long ago.

She had considered what would happen if she actually gave in to the other party for her brother's sake.

But the thought of Liu Bao's ruthlessness sent chills down his spine.

Liu Bao was a tyrannical and domineering man in Yuhuo Bay. He had already forcibly taken the daughters of several families. In the end, all of those women lost both their money and their lives, and their fates were unknown.

Qin Heng noticed Qin Ting's tightly clenched hands and realized that his sister's heart was not as calm as it appeared.

He sighed and said in a low voice:

"Sister, there's no way to escape him. Liu Bao is a vicious wolf that eats people! He won't stop until he's emptied our family's pockets."

Qin Ting stiffened upon hearing this, her grip on the embroidery thread tightened, and she looked up at Qin Heng:

"Xiao Heng, don't do anything reckless! No matter how difficult things get, I can handle it. You absolutely cannot go head-to-head with Liu Bao."

She reached out to comfort her brother as usual, but her hand stopped abruptly halfway through.

The younger brother in front of me seems different from before.

He wouldn't have had these thoughts before; he would have just obediently helped with the tasks.

Qin Ting quietly withdrew her hand and tentatively probed in a soft voice:

"Xiao Heng, do you have your own ideas already?"

Qin Heng looked up at his older sister, whose features were delicate yet whose spirit was strong, and then lowered his head to speak softly:

"Sister, I want to learn martial arts."

"Practicing martial arts?" Qin Ting looked surprised, but seeing Qin Heng's serious expression, it didn't seem like he was just saying it out of anger.

Her tone was somewhat urgent and tinged with an unspeakable helplessness:

"Xiao Heng, do you know what price you have to pay to learn martial arts? The apprenticeship fee at an ordinary martial arts school is five or six taels of silver, and some schools require tuition fees every three months. Learning martial arts also depends on one's aptitude and physical condition, and you have to spend money every month to buy meat to nourish your body. For a family like ours, learning martial arts is like risking your life..."

Staring intently into Qin Heng's eyes, she pressed on with another question:

"Tell your sister, now that you know all this, do you still want to practice martial arts?"

"Yes!" Qin Heng said decisively.

"In this world, only the strong survive!"

Qin Ting stared at him intently, as if she were meeting her younger brother for the first time. After a long while, she whispered:

"Okay, I'll figure something out."

She had long since had enough of this life of being bullied and barely surviving.

Since her younger brother was determined to take the plunge, she would do everything in her power to help him achieve his goal.

Even if Xiao Heng fails in the end, she still has a way to protect her younger brother...

......

Fishing Fire Bay, Han Family.

"Ting'er, it's not that your aunt doesn't want to help your family, it's just that life is tough for everyone these days." Mother Han patted Qin Ting's hand, speaking earnestly.

"As the old saying goes, you can help someone in an emergency, but you can't support them in poverty. Girl, if you really can't afford to eat, your aunt will lend you some money, but Heng boy needs to learn martial arts..." She patted Qin Ting's hand again.

"That auntie doesn't have any money to lend, so don't let Xiaoheng have his way. We can't afford to fill that terrible hole!"

Outside the Han family's gate, Han Qing pulled Qin Heng aside:

"Heng-ge! Are you serious?! Zhou Er-ge and I usually just joke around, are you really going to learn martial arts?"

Qin Heng nodded upon hearing this, offering no explanation, but his gaze remained resolute.

A moment later, the older sister came out of the Han family's house, shook her head at Qin Heng, and the siblings set off for the next house.

Qin Ting had taken out all her savings and found that, after deducting the cost of operating the breakfast shop and the money for food, she was still short by more than two taels of silver.

Qin Heng knew that it would be difficult to lend this money. Apart from the Zhou family, who might be a little likely to lend it, other families were probably not going to lend it to him, and some neighbors might even say something sarcastic.

But Qin Ting felt that she had already troubled the Zhou family too much, and she should try other families if there was even the slightest possibility.

It didn't take long; in the small Fishing Fire Bay, the brother and sister asked almost every household they could.

Some families refused outright, while others said they would consider it and give me a reply later.

The only family they wanted to borrow from, Granny Tian, ​​demanded that the loan be made nine times and returned thirteen times.

According to this calculation, if two taels of silver are lent out, the siblings can only receive one tael and eight mace. After half a year, they will have to repay as much as five taels of silver, including principal and interest!

Upon hearing this, Qin Heng's expression instantly turned cold, and he immediately grabbed his sister and left.

But Granny Tian wouldn't give up. She immediately chased after them, hands on her hips, and stood at the alley entrance, pointing at the siblings and shouting, attracting the attention of passing neighbors.

"Young man, your aunt is lending you money out of kindness, don't be ungrateful! My son, Ah Hui, is also learning martial arts now. If you lend me this money today, I can ask Ah Hui to teach you martial arts in the future."

She shouted with increasing self-righteousness, her tone full of snobbery and coercion:

"Who else in Fishing Fire Bay do you think would lend you money? Besides me, who else would help you two orphans? If you don't lend me money today, even if you kneel down and beg me, I won't budge an inch!"

Qin Ting, who had already walked more than ten steps, suddenly shuddered and instinctively stopped.

The words "no father, no mother" pierced her heart like a sharp knife.

Turning to look at her younger brother, Qin Ting suppressed the grievances and bitterness in her heart and comforted him:

"Xiao Heng, ignore her, let's go."

Qin Heng nodded, reached out his arm to support his sister Qin Ting, and helped her walk slowly home.

He glanced back at the smug Granny Tian.

Although he couldn't feel the original owner's pain of losing his parents, Granny Tian's actions of exposing his shortcomings and stabbing him in the heart still made him feel suffocated and depressed.

He made a mental note of the Tian family's debt.

......

Outside Qin Family Shop.

The siblings searched all over Yuhuo Bay, but returned empty-handed, slowly making their way to the entrance of Zhou's shop.

But when they actually arrived at the destination, Qin Ting felt a little embarrassed to speak.

Over the years, Uncle Zhou, who was Qin's father's sworn brother, had helped the siblings too many times. She really didn't know how to ask for help again.

Seeing his sister's predicament, Qin Heng said softly, "Sister, you go back first, I'll go in and borrow it."

Qin Ting turned around in response, and had only taken a few steps when Zhou Ping, the eldest brother of the Zhou family, lifted the shop's curtain and came out.

He glanced at Qin Ting's departing figure, then turned to Qin Heng: "What's wrong with your sister? She's already here, why isn't she coming in?"

Qin Heng took a deep breath and, without beating around the bush, said frankly, "Brother Zhou, I want to learn martial arts, but I'm short two taels of silver. I'd like to borrow some from your family."

Zhou Ping hesitated for a moment, but readily agreed and immediately turned around to take out three taels of silver and handed it to him. However, his gaze remained fixed on the direction Qin Ting had gone, never looking away.

Qin Heng reached out and took the three taels of silver. Before he could even feel the comfortable coolness, he looked up and met Zhou Ping's gaze as he looked at his sister.

"It seems that Uncle Zhou's protection of my sister and me is not only due to the friendship between the previous generations, but also for some other reason."

Qin Heng thought to himself.

He suppressed his myriad thoughts, said nothing more, tucked the three taels of silver tightly into his inner pocket, went back inside to carefully write an IOU, pressed his fingerprint heavily on it, and handed it to Zhou Ping.

The matter of borrowing money has finally been settled.

Tomorrow, he will be able to officially begin learning martial arts!