Chapter 76

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Chapter 76: Complaints

Ma Jing continued: “We were the ones who opened those fields, Xiaohua. Do you know? Opening fields is exhausting, we were all worn out. Have you ever opened fields yourself? Well, you’re still young, so probably not. You might not understand the hardships of opening fields. The bitter wind blew, snowflakes drifted, and our hands cracked from the cold. Look, my fingers still haven’t healed. Whenever it’s windy or rainy, the bones ache.”

Zhang Xiaohua watched Ma Jing gesticulating wildly. On one hand, he wished he could kick Ma Jing’s mouth to make him spill the rest of the story faster, on the other hand, he was afraid Ma Jing would shove his frostbitten fingers in front of his face to look, so he didn’t dare step forward. He secretly despised Ma Jing, thinking: “These hands were cracked from the cold and the bones were injured, heavens knows what Ma Jing’s hands are made of.”

Seeing that Ma Jing was about to go on a tangent, Zhang Xiaohua quickly interjected: “Brother Ma, I’ve also worked cultivating fields. It’s really exhausting. Um, could you continue talking about the medicinal fields?”

“Ah, you’ve done farming, huh? Well, then you must know how hard it is.” Ma Jing chuckled and continued, “After we opened the fields, they chased us away and wouldn’t let us near them. The seeds were planted personally by Hall Master Bai and Elder He of the Medicine Hall. After the planting, we thought we’d be entrusted with the care of the fields. You know, Zhang Xiaohua, these must be rare medicinal herbs. If we managed them well, the stewards would surely appreciate us more and increase our wages. With higher wages, our lives would improve. I’d be able to earn a lot of money, and then I could marry Little Peach Blossom.” As he spoke, Ma Jing’s eyes seemed to look through the night, into the future.

Zhang Xiaohua quickly asked: “Who is Little Peach Blossom?”

“Little Peach Blossom is a girl from Drunken Fragrance House… Cough, cough.” Ma Jing cut himself off abruptly. “Oh, I’ve said too much. Even if our wages weren’t increased, it would at least show those above us our worth, and maybe they’d give me more responsibilities and make me a steward. That would be good too. But…”

Then, with a bitter and resentful tone, Ma Jing continued: “They… they actually separated those medicinal fields from the others and set rules prohibiting us from getting close. Then they brought in four scoundrels from the Piaomiao Sect’s Medicine Hall to take our jobs and let them be responsible for those medicinal fields. What’s worse is that their treatment… their treatment is actually better than ours. Not only do they get a monthly salary of three taels of silver, but they also eat better than us, first-class meals. When they travel, they get first-class carriages from the carriage company, and the inns they stay in are four stars higher than ours.”

“You say, you say, isn’t that infuriating? Not just me, but all of our brothers are holding back our anger, wanting to teach them a lesson. But… but…” Ma Jing, who had been gnashing his teeth in anger, suddenly started stammering.

Zhang Xiaohua asked curiously: “But what?”

“Sigh~” Ma Jing sighed, looking dejected. He stopped waving his finger in the air and said: “But none of us know martial arts, how could we possibly beat them?”

“What! None of you know martial arts?” Zhang Xiaohua exclaimed.

“What’s wrong? What’s so strange about that? Who said being a servant requires knowing martial arts?” Ma Jing said displeased, seeing Zhang Xiaohua’s surprise.

“But…” Zhang Xiaohua trailed off, thinking: “If none of them know martial arts, who could teach me?”

“But what? Do you know martial arts? Oh right, you were recruited from the Lotus Escort Agency, so you must know some martial arts. Little Brother, could you teach me a few moves someday?” Ma Jing seemed to have realized something, getting ready to get off the bed and approach Zhang Xiaohua.

Zhang Xiaohua quickly waved his hand, saying: “Brother Ma, do I look like I know martial arts?”

Ma Jing looked Zhang Xiaohua up and down, then said doubtfully: “It’s hard to tell. I’ve heard that disciples of the Piaomiao Sect start practicing martial arts at the age of four or five. At your age, you should be quite skilled.”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled wryly: “If I had started practicing martial arts at four or five, would I come here to the villa to farm medicinal herbs?”

Ma Jing tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said: “That’s true. If you had started so young, you would be at the Piaomiao Manor, not Huanxi Villa.” With that, he sat back down and resumed his usual idle activities.

However, Ma Jing, still curious, asked: “So how did you end up at the Lotus Escort Agency, and then come here? Isn’t the Lotus Escort Agency much better than this place?”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled bitterly and explained: “It’s not that I didn’t want to stay at the Lotus Escort Agency, but I wanted to be a porter, and they didn’t want me. By chance, while I was talking to Fourth Master Wen, Sister Qiu Tong from the villa came by looking for people, and she chose me. Anyway, I had nowhere else to go, so I ended up here.”

Ma Jing squinted and said: “Hmm, that makes sense. A porter needs to carry the goods, and with your small frame, who would dare to hire you? Wait, what? Qiu Tong? Why did she choose you? Do you know her?”

Seeing Ma Jing’s eyes widen in surprise, Zhang Xiaohua quickly explained: “How could I know Big Sister Qiu Tong? She probably felt sorry for me since I had nowhere to go and decided to bring me along.”

Ma Jing nodded and said: “That’s true. Qiu Tong is a kind-hearted girl, not only a good person but also with a great figure. That waist, that chest…”

Sighing, Ma Jing’s deep eyes seemed to pierce through the night, crossing space, seeing Qiu Tong busy serving Ou Yan.

After mumbling for a while, Ma Jing suddenly grinned mischievously at Zhang Xiaohua and said: “Little Brother, even though Qiu Tong brought you here, don’t get any improper ideas about her. Qiu Tong is our dream girl, and many people secretly admire her, you know? The one next door…”

Zhang Xiaohua was speechless. Ma Jing wasn’t just gossiping, he had spied almost all the private lives of the dozen people in the courtyard. This made Zhang Xiaohua secretly wary, realizing he should be cautious around this gossip-monger.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Zhang Xiaohua initially listened to Ma Jing’s endless chatter, all the while wondering how he would sleep with the constant foot odor in the room. Gradually, his eyes grew heavy while listening, and he unknowingly drifted into sleep.

It wasn’t until Ma Jing parched from talking, got up to drink water that he realized Zhang Xiaohua had long fallen asleep. Feeling as though he had been talking to himself, Ma Jing sullenly drank his water, slipped on his shoes, and went off to visit others.

The night was far from peaceful in the small room, though Zhang Xiaohua was fortunate to fall asleep early. Once Ma Jing fell asleep, he began snoring, the thunderous sound echoed continuously, like a flowing river. Occasionally, he muttered incomprehensible words in his sleep, and when the muttering ceased, the grinding of teeth took over. Poor Xiaohua was fortunate to be a deep sleeper, otherwise, the noise would have kept him wide awake.

Well, even if he had awakened, he would have been immediately overwhelmed by the foul odor in the room before hearing all the noise. It turned out that Ma Jing was the type who never washed his feet.

However, at this moment, our Xiaohua couldn’t smell Ma Jing’s stinky feet because his breathing was deep and subtle, almost imperceptible. If someone were to place a finger under Zhang Xiaohua’s nose, they wouldn’t feel his breath. Perhaps he wasn’t breathing air at all? Maybe, at this time, he was breathing through all the pores in his body rather than just his mouth and nose?

No one knew for sure.

Early the next morning, Zhang Xiaohua woke up on time. Before he could orient himself to his surroundings, the pungent odor hit his nose. He leaped up like a startled rabbit and dashed to the door like an arrow. Once outside, he took several deep breaths of fresh air and remembered he was at Huanxi Villa, recalling his current situation.

Looking back at the small room that was no different from the other rooms, he had no desire to go back inside. Seeing the courtyard still silent, with everyone seemingly asleep, he wandered out through the round gate.

Yesterday, when he arrived, it was already dark, and he couldn’t see much. Although he had a general understanding of Huanxi Villa, he was still stunned by the sight before him now that he could see clearly.

He was at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by many fields and some woods, with numerous houses stretching endlessly. Was this Huanxi Villa? It seemed even larger than Guo Village.

The mountain appeared to be within the villa’s grounds, covered with many trees and terraced fields. Zhang Xiaohua was puzzled, could farming really be done on a mountain?

After his initial shock, Zhang Xiaohua didn’t bother to think too much about it. Now that he was in Huanxi Villa, he would have plenty of opportunities to explore it later. Having been exposed to so many new things during this trip, he realized that even if he didn’t learn martial arts, it was still worthwhile.

Thinking about martial arts, Zhang Xiaohua felt a surge of determination. He swallowed towards the rising sun, feeling a warm flow spread through his body, bringing him great comfort. This had already become his daily routine.

Later, he recalled the Six Harmony Fist he had watched others practice at the Lotus Escort Agency yesterday. He began to mimic the moves one by one, but after a few moves, he forgot what came next. He racked his brains for a while and managed to perform a few more moves reluctantly, but he simply couldn’t remember the sequence. Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but feel frustrated. Could it be that he was just not cut out for martial arts?

But since Second Brother could learn so quickly, they are real brothers, so there wouldn’t be such a big difference right?

While Zhang Xiaohua was racking his brains, he turned around a saw a pair of eyes looking at him. It was the middle-aged man in martial attire from yesterday.

Zhang Xiaohua hurried over and paid his respects. The man smiled back, returned the salute, and walked to the side, assuming a stance and beginning to practice a fist stance. Zhang Xiaohua didn’t know which specific style it was, but he could feel that his strides were like a dragon and his steps were like a tiger, his punches giving birth to wind. Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes were full of stars and envy.

Soon, three other individuals dressed similarly emerged and began practicing martial arts in different spots. Zhang Xiaohua watched from afar, observing intently until they finished and returned to their courtyard. Only then did Zhang Xiaohua follow them back, watching their silhouettes returning into the house. He couldn’t help but think to himself: “If I could possess skills like theirs, I could probably keep my family safe, but I don’t know if they are willing to teach me?”