Daily News: You promised yourself to be a fisherman, but you've become a martial arts god?

It's past mid-Shen time.

Li Nian stopped practicing her stance and prepared to leave the martial arts school.

Winter nights come early. He lived outside the city, and it would take him about half an hour to row back. He still had to find a place to stay and buy food. By the time he got home, it was almost dark.

Moreover, the intensity of today's martial arts training has already reached the limits of my body; continuing to train will only do more harm than good.

If you overwork your body, how will you train tomorrow?

"You practiced well today. You disassembled the Eagle Stance and successfully executed ten stances."

"If we keep working hard tomorrow, we should be able to complete the entire pile frame."

Li Nian clenched her fist, thinking to herself.

I am satisfied with my progress in martial arts training today.

After regaining her composure, Li Nian said goodbye to Xia Qingwei, went to the storage room to get her things, and left the martial arts school.

The martial arts uniform he was wearing would belong to him from now on; he didn't need to return it to the martial arts school.

After leaving the martial arts school, Li Nian found a broker's shop along the street and learned about housing prices in the south of the city from the broker.

A small plot of land with a main courtyard and a side courtyard costs eight taels of silver; a plot near a busy street costs two taels more.

A single courtyard house consists of three main rooms, two small side rooms, a courtyard, and a storefront. It occupies two fen of land and costs forty taels of silver. A house closer to a busy street costs five taels more.

A large house with two courtyards, a front yard, a main hall, and a plot of land of four acres, costs between one and two hundred taels of silver.

Even the cheapest three-courtyard mansion with more than five acres of land costs three hundred taels of silver.

"Are there any private courtyards near the Qinyun Martial Arts School?"

Li Nian asked Fang Ya.

He sold the treasure fish to Liu Qinyun and received one hundred taels of silver. After deducting three taels of silver for tuition, and adding the remaining silver on his person, he had about one hundred taels, which was only enough to buy a small house and a single courtyard.

Although the courtyard house is cheap, it's too small and too crowded for three people.

A single-entrance hospital is the most suitable.

It would be convenient if it were close to a martial arts school.

"The closest single-courtyard house to the Qinyun Martial Arts School is 200 meters away. It's decorated, furnished, and has a street-facing storefront. The owner is in a hurry to sell, and you can get it for 45 taels of silver."

Fang Ya said politely.

This area was under the jurisdiction of Qinyun Martial Arts School. Li Nian was wearing the school's martial arts uniform, so Fang Ya dared not neglect him.

"Take me to see it."

Li Nian said.

It's been renovated and has a street-facing storefront; the price isn't expensive.

Not long after, Fang Ya took Li Nian to see a house.

After a quick look around, Li Nian was generally satisfied.

The roof beams are all new, and although the furniture is ordinary, it's acceptable; you can move in with just your bags.

There is a well in the courtyard, which makes it convenient to use water.

Moreover, the house is close to the Qinyun Martial Arts School, so there's no fear of Tang Zhengxiong and the Haisha Gang coming to cause trouble.

After some haggling, the final price was set at forty-three taels of silver.

Li Nian paid a deposit of one tael of silver, and the two parties drew up a written agreement, agreeing to finalize the contract and complete the transaction the next day.

After buying the house, there were still more than fifty taels of silver left, which was more than enough to live on.

After the Zhang family's tenancy contract is cancelled, you can move in here.

Tenancy contracts must be terminated; terminating them without authorization will result in arrest and punishment.

After moving here, my personal safety will be guaranteed, and I can gather intelligence!

After settling things with the house, Li Nian bought some meat and rowed home by boat.

On the boat, I changed out of my sweaty, smelly clothes, took a quick shower in the lake, and then dried myself over a fire when I got home.

The reason he didn't change out of his martial arts outfit at the martial arts school was that it would be easier to buy a house while wearing it.

Without these clothes, how could I have so easily negotiated prices with the real estate agent?

Nanhu Bay.

"Sir, please grant us a few more days. We will repay the money we owe for public property."

"Mother, I'm scared..."

As Li Nian walked to the village entrance, he heard the cries of women and children coming from the direction of his home.

Li Nian frowned and stared intently.

Three people were standing in his courtyard. The one in the lead was a man in a blue brocade robe, and behind him were two black-clad guards with goose-wing swords at their waists.

Li Nian's heart tightened.

People from the Zhang family!

Without hesitation, Li Nian quickly ran home.

"I've already granted you a grace period of over half a month since your husband's death. My Zhang family has shown you immense kindness. Since you can't repay the money for damaging public property, let this little girl pay for it!"

"No, sir!"

"Mother, I don't want to leave you..."

"stop!"

The leading man raised his hand to signal, and the two guards ignored Zhao Lijuan's resistance, stepped forward and pushed her down, and forcibly picked up the struggling Duoduo.

At this moment, Li Nian ran to the front door and shouted loudly inside.

Then, he dropped what he was holding, stepped forward, pushed aside the two guards, and held his niece, Duoduo, tightly in his arms.

"Uncle, I'm so scared!"

Duoduo pursed her lips, her eyes filled with tears of fear, and clung tightly to Li Nian, afraid of being taken away.

"Duoduo, it's okay. Uncle is back. Don't be afraid."

Li Nian gently patted her niece's back reassuringly.

Feeling Duoduo's trembling little body filled him with both heartache and anger.

"You must be Li Zhi's younger brother, Li Nian, right?"

A gloomy voice came from beside me.

Li Nian looked up at the man.

It was the man in blue brocade robes who was leading the group.

The man had a thin face, was as white as paper, and had deep-set eyes and brows, giving him a melancholy appearance.

She wore a blue brocade robe with a narrow silver trim around the collar and cuffs, and a blue-green silk sash hung from her waist, from which hung a jade pendant with two fish and a brocade pouch. Her long hair was tied up with a white jade hairpin.

Li Nian frowned, searching her memory.

In an instant, a name appeared before my eyes.

Zhang Tianqi!

Last night, Zhang San tried to steal his niece Duoduo so he could hand her over to this person!

"I am Li Nian. May I ask why you have harmed my family, Second Young Master?"

Li Nian looked coldly at Zhang Tianqi.

He can't afford to offend Zhang Tianqi right now, but if his sister-in-law and niece are in danger, he's willing to risk his life!

"It seems you were unaware of this."

"Fine, I'll tell you the reason now, so outsiders won't say that the Zhang family is bullying people."

"More than half a month ago, your elder brother Li Zhi was killed by a lake monster while fishing in the lake. Your family should compensate for the public property that was damaged by the monster."

Zhang Tianqi flicked the snowflakes off his shoulder with his delicate fingers and spoke slowly and deliberately.

Upon hearing this, Li Nian understood.

The laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty stipulated that tenant farmers were not allowed to build boats, not even bamboo rafts.

If you want to go down the lake by boat or raft, you can only go to Zhangjia.

In order to exploit their fishermen, the Zhang family stipulated that if they used their boats or rafts, they had to use their fishing gear.

On the day the eldest brother, Li Zhi, went down to the lake, everything he used belonged to the Zhang family.

After the elder brother was murdered, all the public property he was carrying was destroyed.

I haven't heard anything about compensation these days, so I assumed it was because the Zhang family was being considerate of the tenants.

Now it seems that his sister-in-law didn't tell him about it because she was afraid he would worry.

"Jiro, I'm sorry, I..."

"Sister-in-law, I understand, thank you!"

Zhao Lijuan clenched her hands, not daring to look Li Nian in the eye.

The family simply cannot afford to pay back the money for the damaged public property.

She was worried that Li Nian would go fishing in the lake to repay public funds and suffer the same misfortune as Li Zhi, so she did not mention compensation.

Li Nian understood Zhao Lijuan's intentions and did not blame her at all.

All I felt was heartache.

After comforting Zhao Lijuan, Li Nian looked at Zhang Tianqi.

"It's perfectly reasonable for the Zhang family to demand compensation from us for damaging public property."

"But must we really use children to pay off the debt?"

"I've heard about the recent uproar in the outer city about the kidnapping case. Some of the children kidnapped were bought from aristocratic families. Could it be, as people say, that the Zhang family is also involved?"

Li Nian coldly stared at Zhang Tianqi.

His words were firm and resolute.

"presumptuous!"

Zhang Tianqi's expression changed drastically, and he shouted angrily.

The two guards glared angrily and immediately drew their goose-wing knives, ready to seize Li Nian.

"You eat the employer's food and then dare to ruin their reputation? How dare you!"

"A mere fisherman dares to gossip about his master? He's really asking for trouble!"

Li Nian narrowed her eyes, a cold glint flashing within them.

That's right.

Anxious.