Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

When saying goodbye to Du Keyuan, Zhou Ye's expression became incredibly complex. The news he had just heard was simply too shocking.

The problem lies with those wild animals.

Since Zhou Ye started providing wild game to the martial arts school, he has earned several hundred taels of silver, and the school can save thirty or forty taels of silver every month, which can be considered a win-win situation.

However, Song Zhongqi and Du Juan are about to get engaged, so he has already regarded the martial arts school as his private property. Therefore, he wants to keep the benefits within the family and have the Song family provide the meat from now on.

It's important to understand that the Song family is a large and wealthy family, owning considerable land and farms, and producing a large amount of grain and livestock. Therefore, having another stable sales channel for the martial arts school would certainly be something they would be happy to do.

That's why Du Keyuan took the initiative to speak on behalf of her prospective grandson-in-law, hoping Zhou Ye would voluntarily withdraw. So, she tried a diplomatic approach first, with Wang Zhengyu taking the initiative to greet her at the dinner party, mainly to avoid making things too ugly and to maintain a dignified appearance for everyone…

Honestly, since the martial arts school wants to switch to a new supplier, it's not a big deal. Although I'm definitely not happy about it, it's not like I'd turn against them.

Besides, it's not like those salted fish and meat can't be sold. It just means they have to make a few more trips to the mountain market.

And without the constraints of the martial arts school's supplies, I have much more flexibility in terms of time. I don't have to work myself to the bone like before.

Even if we take a step back and say that one should be content, at least you've already earned a few hundred taels of silver, right?

That's Song Zhongqi. Don't blame me for looking down on you.

A scion of a prestigious family, whose father is the head of the Song family, a rising star in the martial arts world of the prefecture, one of the Ten Talents of Fufeng, and a master of Ming Jin? How could he be so greedy? He actually tried to steal even a small business deal worth a few dozen taels of silver?

Zhou Ye actually misunderstood something here. Despite the glamorous image of scions of wealthy families, they don't actually have much money of their own.

People like Song Zhongqi. The head of the Song family had over twenty sons, and he was just one of the insignificant illegitimate sons. Furthermore, his mother was a concubine, originally a servant in the Song family. Even her family was poor and couldn't afford to support her at all.

Furthermore, large families have very strict rules.

They could certainly live comfortably, with ample food and clothing. Cultivation resources were only allocated in fixed quantities; if they wanted more, each household would need to supplement their own savings. In reality, their monthly allowance was only a few taels of silver. They didn't have much money on hand.

As for necessary large expenses, the head of the household must agree, and the money can be drawn from the public funds.

For example, this time the restaurant hosted a dinner party, and the food served was monster meat, which was a sum of money specially allocated by the Song family head.

The main consideration was the Song family's public image. After all, Song Zhongqi was his son, so this could be considered a rehearsal before the engagement, right?

Furthermore, since Fenglei Martial Arts School will eventually belong to the Song family, it's necessary to expand connections within the school and get to know the senior students there...

Therefore, this money was indeed worth spending, and the head of the Song family gave it without hesitation.

However, Song Zhongqi personally still lacked money and resources. Although the martial arts school would eventually be his, Du Keyuan wasn't dead yet. A distant solution couldn't quench his immediate thirst.

In the end, Song Zhongqi chose the "logistics supply" position, which actually paid quite a lot of money, several dozen taels a month.

As mentioned before, Mingjin's permanent posting only pays 2 or 30 taels per month.

Of course, Du Keyuan didn't want to offend her future grandson-in-law over such a trivial matter. What difference did it make who she gave it to? So, in the end, she sacrificed Zhou Ye.

To put it more clearly:

Du Keyuan's consideration was that if his granddaughter Du Juan married into the Song family, she would have someone to rely on for the rest of her life. Furthermore, Song Zhongqi's family background, character, martial arts skills, and appearance were all top-notch.

Song Zhongqi's consideration was simply that Du Juan was beautiful and attractive. Although her background was somewhat humble, she had the Fenglei Martial Arts School as part of her dowry. In this way, he could have both a wife and money.

The Song family patriarch's plan was to sacrifice a son he didn't value much in exchange for a martial arts school. Besides, his future daughter-in-law, Du Juan, was no slouch either; she was at least known as a genius.

As for Du Juan? That little girl has no opinions of her own. She'll just do whatever her grandfather arranges for her to marry. Besides, Song Zhongqi has no flaws whatsoever; what kind of husband could she possibly be looking for?

Therefore, this marriage can be considered a win-win situation, with all parties happy to see it happen. The only sacrifice was for a certain insignificant junior disciple…

Back at his home in the outer city, Zhou Ye was still a little depressed. It was a pity that he had just caught and stored more than 1 catties of salted fish and more than 1 catties of salted beef in his small garden.

However, as soon as they entered the alley, they ran into Gao Xiaoyi, and the two exchanged a few words of laughter.

"what?"

Zhou Ye suddenly sensed that Gao Xiaoyi was also exuding qi and blood. In fact, Gao Xiaoyi had already entered the realm of internal strength, probably only recently.

Zhou Ye asked curiously, "Xiao Yi, how's your martial arts training going?"

Gao Xiaoyi looked completely bewildered: "Brother Aye, I've never practiced martial arts at all! My dad just taught me some country-style moves. Standing in stances all day and stuff, it's so annoying. Forget about that, I'd rather practice archery; I'm a really accurate archer now..."

Zhou Ye glanced sideways, sensing the same energy and blood emanating from Lao Gao. It was actually… inferior to Gao Xiaoyi's? He should have absolutely no talent. Even if he was once a martial artist at the entry level, at his age, had he wasted his energy and blood?

This old man, secretly teaching Gao Xiaoyi martial arts while keeping it a closely guarded secret, is he afraid his son will cause trouble outside?

"By the way, Brother Ye, did you know? Xiao Jie has also gone to the martial arts gym to practice."

"Oh?"

"Actually, it wasn't originally his turn. But then, for some reason, Brother Da Jin changed his mind. In the end, they pooled their money and gave it to Xiao Jie. Apparently, this caused quite a bit of unpleasantness within the fraternity."

Zhou Ye smiled slightly. This is one of the major drawbacks of crowdfunding martial arts training. Who goes first? Who goes last? There will definitely be disputes.

I never expected that even Xiao Jie would go into martial arts training? I wonder how talented he is at it?

"Brother Ye, it's almost Chinese New Year. It's not very convenient for you to be home alone. My parents said they'd like you to come over for New Year's Eve dinner."

"Hehe. No need for that. Thank you, Mom and Dad," Zhou Ye laughed. "I'm planning to go into the mountains tomorrow. I'm not planning to spend the New Year at home."

"Huh? Is it this season to go into the mountains?"

"I used to know a regular customer who wanted a piece of hide. What could I do? I could only go into the mountains and look for it."

"Really? When are you planning to go home?"

"Hmm...it should be about a month from now?"

"..."