Starting from a peasant family, he mastered the profound art of martial arts.

Chapter 26 Seeking Wealth

When Meng Chen came to the county town, he brought twenty taels of silver. Fourteen taels were for tuition, and the remaining six taels were robbed by Constable Xue.

As for the ten taels borrowed from Yan Bao, they are still hidden in his hometown.

"I'm out of money," Meng Chen said honestly.

"You can't get anywhere without money! Think about it, you go home, and at night Widow Zhang and Widow Niu come to you for fun. After you've done it, you can't even come up with a single copper coin to help them out. What kind of person is that? You can serve them well in bed, but you have to satisfy them after you get out of bed too!" Du Ren smiled and whispered, "Want to get some money?"

"Yes! I really want to!" Meng Chen wasn't lying. He also wanted to make some money so that he could at least bring some food for Qingyu when he went home.

Although the girl was tanned dark, she treated herself very well, and Meng Chen promised to take care of Qingyu in the future.

Moreover, Meng Chen is currently being supported by the Du family father and son for free, and it's difficult to repay this favor, but it's best to make up for the money as soon as possible.

"Since you want to make money, that makes things easier." Du Ren clapped his hands in approval and said, "I know a family who might be willing to sponsor you."

During his two months at the martial arts school, Meng Chen had heard that wealthy families were sponsoring the school's disciples, and that there were procedures and routines involved.

You can't just go to their door asking for money. You have to get introduced to them first, let them know your background, and only after you've gained their approval can you give them the money.

Of course, once funding is received, the amount of funding determines whether an alliance or a subordinate relationship is formed.

These agreements are all done without written records, relying entirely on tacit understanding.

Some wealthy families in the county town actually set aside some money every year to specifically seek out and sponsor some teenagers.

And it mainly funds two types of people.

One approach was to offer money and gifts to exceptionally talented young men, sometimes even marrying off one's own daughter to them, betting on their future success. Yan Long followed this path, but later, when he gained power, he broke off his engagement and married a noblewoman in the prefectural city.

Secondly, those of average talent but honest and loyal are chosen to serve as bodyguards or close attendants in the future. The valued qualities are competence, loyalty, and the ability to keep secrets.

Meng Chen had no connections to get acquainted with wealthy families, yet he easily made two attempts to gain their favor. This shows his talent is quite remarkable. If he can truly catch the eye of a wealthy family, his tuition fees will be covered, and he might even be able to make the acquaintance of a powerful figure.

This talent, once revealed, is far better than Qi Yun having to go to great lengths to curry favor with Gao Yuan!

"Senior brother, is there really someone willing to sponsor me? I don't get along well with the young master of the Gao family. Doesn't he fear Gao?" Meng Chen asked cautiously.

"It's hard to say for sure, we can talk about it when we meet the person," Du Ren said, standing up. "Come on, I'll take you to stir things up!"

Taking a chance? Taking a chance even if there's no guarantee? So you're not confident either? Meng Chen is desperate for money; anyway, whether it works or not, he'll give it a try.

It was early morning, and the sunlight was very warm.

This was the first time Meng Chen had left the martial arts school since arriving there, and for a moment he was somewhat dazed.

Once on the street, Du Ren walked ahead, hands behind his back, looking confident.

Qingshui County is characterized by poverty in the south and wealth in the north. There is a saying that there are three major families in the town, all of whom had relatives serving as officials in various places in the past, but now many of them have declined.

"Of the three families, only the Zhao family is still doing alright. The Zhang and Wang families are already finished, just shells of their former selves. They have no pillars of support and desperately need outside help. But even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, so let's go and get some." Du Ren gave Meng Chen a series of instructions and led him to the front of the Zhang family's gate.

A gatekeeper went in to announce their arrival, and a moment later a young man came out. He addressed Du Ren as a brother, and they were as close as blood brothers.

After entering the reception room for tea, Du Ren didn't mention the sponsorship. They just chatted casually, and eventually the conversation drifted to Meng Chen.

"My brother is a late bloomer! He only took two months to pass the first test, but after another twenty days, he passed the second test! Looking back over the years, how many people are better than him? Only Yan Long, right? He comes from a farming family, is honest and straightforward, and doesn't lie. My father likes him very much! It's just that my sister got married early, otherwise my father would definitely have betrothed her to him!" Du Ren boasted without restraint.

"I remember your sister is almost forty this year..." the young master of the Zhang family muttered, then cautiously asked, "I heard that your esteemed residence kicked out the second young master of the Gao family because of a peasant's son?"

Upon hearing this, Du Ren and Meng Chen knew that the matter was doomed to fail.

These powerful families have indeed declined considerably, but they are still local strongmen, their eyes and ears are still there, and they are unwilling to offend Gao Dianshi for the sake of a peasant's son.

Once outside the Zhang family's house, Du Ren angrily exclaimed, "Gao Dianshi is Gao Dianshi, and Gao Yuan is Gao Yuan! Why doesn't Gao Dianshi come and ransack my house? He's got some nerve!"

After a short rest, the two went to the Wang family's house again.

After dawdling for more than half an hour, the other party was polite, the tea was good, and the words were kind, but there was still no definite answer.

After leaving the Wang family residence, Du Ren continued to curse, "His family only has four second-realm martial artists left to support them, and they're all out of town. They've completely lost their ancestral glory, and their facade is about to collapse. What are they pretending to be, this virtuous and chaste woman? In a few years, they'll be stripped naked!"

After he finished cursing, Du Ren felt a little better and comforted Meng Chen a few times. Then the two of them went to Ping An Tang, the largest pharmacy in Qingshui County.

"Brother Du, I understand what you mean. Your family just opened a martial arts school, and your father is a very generous man. The fact that he let you personally bring him here shows that he has considerable talent." The person who received the two was the seventh young master of Ping'an Hall, who was very kind. "As you know, my family's business is not small, and we have people in the prefectural city who look after us. Although my family is not afraid of Gao Dianshi, there is no need for us to cause him any trouble. Besides, my family also supports quite a few martial artists. My second and third brothers are both martial artists of the second realm. Brother Meng's talent is not bad, but he is only at the first realm after all. We really can't see anything special about him yet."

The Seventh Young Master made the decision, "Alright then, if Brother Meng can reach the second realm within the year, I, Zhu Qi, am willing to offer five hundred taels of silver as a congratulatory gift, as a way of befriending this young brother!"

After hearing this contradictory statement, Du Ren couldn't say anything, so he could only make a few empty words before leaving with Meng Chen.

It was already noon, and the two of them ate a bowl of braised noodles by the roadside.

Meng Chen didn't enjoy his meal. He hadn't expected that offending the son of the clerk would make it so difficult for him to move an inch in this small county town.

"Are you regretting standing up to Gao Yuan back then?" Du Ren slurped his noodles as he spoke. "Actually, it's just a shallow pond with many turtles. What's a mere clerk, a mere second-realm martial artist? He's only good because he got on Yan Long's good side; otherwise, who would even give him a second glance? That would be a disgrace! As long as you can reach the third realm someday, forget about Gao Yuan, even his father Gao Wangtian would be nothing!"

Du Ren always remembered his godfather's words. Even though he cursed Meng Chen in his heart for causing him trouble, he still tried his best to appease him, showing no impatience whatsoever. After finishing his noodles, he patted Meng Chen on the shoulder and encouraged him, "Come on, let's go raid the next one!"

"Whose house are we stabbing?" Meng Chen asked.

"The Yan family," Du Ren replied.