Supreme Martial Venerable: Starting with the White Ape Cloak Hammer skill point allocation

Zhou Yuan hurriedly returned to a muddy, stinking alley.

Before he could even push open the two dilapidated wooden doors, he heard a male voice coming from the courtyard.

"What's wrong with Young Master Liu? Why won't you agree to marry him?"

Zhou Yuan paused, his hands freezing in mid-air.

"I don't know, but I do know that one should not break one's promises."

Immediately afterwards, a soft yet firm female voice rang out.

"Changyu, you are too young to understand the hardships of life."

The male voice said with a hint of disappointment, "You've been living a life of luxury since you were a child, and now you're marrying a poor blacksmith. Are you used to this kind of life?"

Is this dilapidated place even habitable?

With a loud crash, it sounded like the man had kicked the table over.

Zhou Yuan's face darkened. How could it be uninhabitable?

The lives of the poor have always been like this, haven't they?

He stood outside the door, continuing to listen.

"If others can manage, then I can too. Father started from humble beginnings and rose to prominence. How do you know, Second Brother, that our lives won't get better and better?"

The woman's voice said.

"I knew it! What chance could a craftsman possibly have to turn his life around? His grandfather died from forced labor, his father died from forced labor, and Zhou Yuan will be no exception!"

The male voice said decisively, "Of all the blacksmiths in Gaoshan County, only Li Lin has truly distinguished himself."

But Li Lin stood out because of his martial arts skills, so what gave Zhou Yuan the right to do so?

Even Li Lin only relies on his father-in-law.

I think Zhou Yuan is only after our family's money; he wants to marry you and turn his life around!

"Second brother, what makes you say that?"

The woman's voice was defiant.

"Because I'm a man!"

The male voice said, "Poverty-stricken couples face endless sorrows. I can say this now: if you really want to marry Zhou Yuan, then I will sever all ties with you, and you will not get a single penny from the Zhuo family!"

Do you really want to live such a life, worse than that of pigs and dogs?

Once Zhou Yuan is tormented to death by taxes and corvée labor, how will you survive alone?

Even if you want to go back to the Zhuo family then, your father won't allow it.

Zhou Yuan grew increasingly angry as he listened. Are all these people in Anyefang less than pigs and dogs in the eyes of you rich people?

However, he had to admit that the man had a point. Let alone in this era, even in his previous life, it would have been incredibly difficult to turn the tables and make a comeback.

Zhou Yuan also remembered the other party's identity: Zhuo Changying from the Zhuo family.

The Zhuo family has two sons and two daughters. Zhuo Changying is the second son, and the youngest son, Zhuo Changyu, is engaged to him.

These are the two people talking in the courtyard right now.

"Second brother, if it weren't for Yuan's father saving Dad, our Zhuo family wouldn't be where we are today."

Moreover, when I was five years old, I accidentally fell into the river, and it was Brother Yuan who saved me.

Go back and tell your father that Changyu was unfilial and drowned in the river when he was five years old.

Through the crack in the door, Zhou Yuan saw a slender figure kneeling on the ground, solemnly kowtowing several times towards the inner city.

"you!"

Zhuo Changying stomped his feet in anger, his face turning ashen, and suddenly opened the door.

Zhou Yuan couldn't dodge in time, and the two collided head-on.

"Zhou Yuan?"

Zhuo Changying glared at her, her face full of anger. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Let me tell you, don't even think about taking advantage of the Zhuo family!"

My father has already expelled Changyu from the family. Don't even think about getting a single penny from the Zhuo family, and don't even think about getting exempted from your corvée labor and taxes through the Zhuo family!

"If you're smart, you'll break off the engagement yourself. That way, I'll be in a good mood and might even reward you with a few taels of silver!"

"Your own sister, in your eyes, is worth only a few taels of silver?"

Zhou Yuan sneered.

"So poor, yet you still have such a sharp tongue. Let's see how long you can keep up this stubbornness!"

Zhuo Changying flung her sleeves and stormed off in a huff.

Zhou Yuan watched him hop and skip away until he disappeared into the alleyway. When he turned around, he was met with a beautiful face.

Even by Zhou Yuan's standards, Zhuo Changyu was considered extremely beautiful.

Her features were delicate, and her skin was as white as snow, which contrasted sharply with the mud walls and thatched hut.

"Yuan-ge'er, you're back?"

The girl said with a look of surprise.

"Yes, water monkeys were found at the river construction site, so the county released us."

Zhou Yuan coughed lightly and replied.

He was also somewhat troubled about how to get along with Zhuo Changyu.

Logically speaking, it's only because he was incredibly lucky that the woman was so devoted and loyal. Whether in his past life or in this era, women as devoted and loyal as Zhuo Changyu are rare.

But the reality is that he is penniless and struggling to support himself; having another person would only increase the pressure.

Moreover, women would only slow down his martial arts training...

Seeing Zhou Yuan remain silent, Zhuo Changyu assumed he was worried about making a living, so he said, "Brother Yuan, I got some embroidery work from the neighbor lady and bought a few pounds of rice. I'll go cook for you right away."

As she spoke, she hurriedly ran into the kitchen and clumsily washed the rice and cooked the meal.

Zhou Yuan sighed inwardly.

How could he bear to push such a wonderful woman away?

They've gone to such lengths, don't they even have the basic sense of responsibility?

With his current blacksmithing skills, he can easily support two people.

As long as he can get through this period, and once he passes the county-level martial arts exam next year and obtains a martial arts degree, all the difficulties will be resolved.

After putting down his bedding, Zhou Yuan tidied up the table that Zhuo Changying had kicked and damaged, secretly thinking to himself, "Why did you kick my table?"

You'll lose money sooner or later!

After a while, Zhuo Changyu brought out the prepared food.

The vegetables were just common wild greens, extremely salty, and the rice was undercooked brown rice, which was rough and sour when you ate it.

Under Zhuo Changyu's expectant gaze, Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth and ate the food clean. He even felt a little nostalgic for the cornbread he ate when he was doing corvée labor. What a cheapskate!

"that--"

Just as Zhou Yuan was about to hand over the few taels of silver he had to Zhuo Changyu for household use, he suddenly heard a knocking sound at the door.

Looking up, I saw a middle-aged man in coarse linen clothes rubbing his hands, standing awkwardly at the door.

"Uncle Li."

Before Zhou Yuan could even figure out who the other person was, Zhuo Changyu had already stood up and greeted him, "Please come in, what can I do for you?"

Zhou Yuan then remembered that the other person was a neighbor in the same alley, and his full name was Li Shan.

"that--"

Li Shan rubbed his hands together. "I shouldn't have come here now that Yuanzi just got back—"

"Uncle Li, just tell me what's wrong."

Zhou Yuan put down his chopsticks and stood up.

"Well, my son Hu Zi has started practicing martial arts, hasn't he? The tuition at the martial arts school is five or six taels of silver a month, which is really putting a strain on our household finances."

"Could you pay me back the money you owe me?"

Li Shan said somewhat awkwardly that he was an honest man and felt embarrassed to ask people to repay their money.

"Uncle Li, what are you saying? It's only right to pay back debts."

Zhou Yuan smiled bitterly to himself. He remembered that he had indeed borrowed ten taels of silver from Li Shan before. He had paid back some of it over the years, but still owed six taels.

Li Shan ran a general store in the city. Although he was a little better off than me, ten taels of silver was still a lot of money. It was quite generous of me to lend it to him.

"Uncle Li, I have three taels of silver here. Please keep it for now. I'll give you the remaining three taels in two days."

Zhou Yuan took out three taels of silver from his pocket and handed it to Li Shan.