Chapter 39: Martial Hall

The next day at noon, Zuo Zhicheng hadn’t gotten up yet because he had been practicing martial arts and killing people every night. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening came from outside his room.

It turned out to be Xiao Lan, who bounced in cheerfully. She had changed out of her previous ragged clothes and now wore a white martial arts outfit. Paired with her tall figure and cute face, she looked much cleaner and prettier. It really was true that clothes make the person.

Seeing Zuo Zhicheng lying in bed, she exclaimed in surprise: “Brother Zuo, the sun is shining on your butt already, why are you still sleeping!”

“I slept a bit late last night,” Zuo Zhicheng said casually, then looked behind Xiao Lan. He saw a young woman also dressed in a white martial arts outfit slowly walking in. She had a medium build, smooth skin, and outstanding looks. Her snow-white skin especially made people want to pinch it.

But her aura was like an unsheathed sword, sharp and prominent. Combined with her highly arched sword-like eyebrows and her martial arts uniform, she gave off an extremely heroic feeling, just like the sword immortals and knights from ancient legends.

However, when she saw Zuo Zhicheng who had just gotten out of bed, a hint of barely noticeable disgust appeared in her eyes.

Xiao Lan introduced from the side: “Brother Zuo, this is Sister Jiang Qing. She’s Master Jiang’s daughter. She’s been taking care of me at the martial hall these past few days.”

“Hello, I’m Zuo Zhicheng. Thank you for taking care of Xiao Lan,” Zuo Zhicheng said with a smile. His Infrared Vision from his left eye looked directly through his eyepatch at Jiang Qing, discovering that both her hands and wrists were filled with the pink Innate Primordial Breath.

It seemed Zuo Zhicheng’s previous guess was correct – Haoran Martial Hall indeed had Authentic Transmission Martial Arts.

But he didn’t know that Jiang Qing, who had just met him, already had a bad impression of him in her heart. During the past few days when Xiao Lan stayed at Haoran Martial Hall, because of her innocence, natural kindness, and pitiful background, she quickly gained Jiang Qing’s sympathy.

Jiang Qing had also heard about Zuo Zhicheng from her, because Xiao Lan had once asked for her help, wanting to know if the martial hall needed to hire anyone.

Originally, when Jiang Qing heard that Zuo Zhicheng had been looking for work at the docks for several days without success, she thought he was a lazy person, because at the docks, as long as someone was willing to work hard, they could at least find a job as a porter.

What Jiang Qing hated most in her life were people who lacked ambition and just drifted along. Now seeing Zuo Zhicheng still lying in bed during broad daylight instead of looking for work, she felt even more disgusted with him.

“Don’t mention it. Xiao Lan’s family situation isn’t good, and with the Sea Dragon Gang incident, it really isn’t very safe for a girl to live here alone.”

Then Zuo Zhicheng ‘asked in confusion’: “By the way, Xiao Lan, why did you come back today?”

Xiao Lan said: “Yes, everything’s fine now. I heard that Black Heart Tiger was beaten to death, so I can move back home today. Sister Jiang Qing wasn’t comfortable with me coming back alone, so she accompanied me here.”

Zuo Zhicheng ‘exclaimed in surprise’: “Black Heart Tiger died? How did he die?”

Jiang Qing explained from the side: “He was beaten to death. I heard he was killed with one punch. Who knows where this expert came from.” Her eyes showed admiration: “To be able to kill Black Heart Tiger with one punch, his martial arts are probably not inferior to my father’s.”

“I really wouldn’t have thought,” Zuo Zhicheng said calmly. “That’s good then, Xiao Lan. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

“Yes,” Xiao Lan said happily. “I can go out to sea fishing with father again.”

Hearing Xiao Lan say this, Jiang Qing frowned slightly. After seeing how poor Xiao Lan’s home was, she hoped even more that Xiao Lan wouldn’t continue going out to sea fishing, enduring wind and sun every day. Such a life was practically torture for a girl, especially since the docks were mixed with all sorts of people, making it even more unsuitable for a young girl to go there every day.

After thinking for a moment, she advised: “Xiao Lan, Aunt Ye will be going home to take care of her grandson soon, so the martial hall needs a cook. I wonder if you’d be willing to come.”

At first, Xiao Lan was somewhat unwilling, reluctant to leave the fishing boat she had grown up on. But after Jiang Qing repeatedly persuaded her, she finally agreed.

However, looking at Zuo Zhicheng nearby, she seemed to remember something and suddenly said: “Sister Jiang Qing, doesn’t the martial hall still need a permanent worker? Why not let Brother Zuo do it? Then we could see each other every day.”

Jiang Qing frowned, giving Zuo Zhicheng a scrutinizing look, and said: “You haven’t found work yet?”

Zuo Zhicheng smiled unconcernedly: “Haven’t found anything suitable yet.”

Hearing Zuo Zhicheng’s words, Jiang Qing secretly curled her lips, thinking he was aiming too high without matching ability. She originally wanted to immediately refuse to help Zuo Zhicheng, but then she remembered that Xiao Lan seemed to like this lazy guy.

She suddenly thought that if this guy really latched onto Xiao Lan’s family and stayed here freeloading, it would be troublesome. It might be better to let him work at her home. When Xiao Lan saw this guy alongside other martial brothers and compared them, she would naturally be able to tell the difference.

And at the martial hall, he wouldn’t be able to slack off. If he did such things, they could just kick him out. This would also help Xiao Lan see this guy’s true nature.

Thinking this, Jiang Qing smiled slightly: “The martial hall does need a permanent worker, mainly to do sweeping, wiping tables, serving tea and water. The pay is ninety coins a month, with lunch included. Every meal has big pieces of meat. I wonder if you’d be willing.”

In Xinlu City, an average adult man’s meal cost about one to two coins if it didn’t include major meat dishes. Like the dinners Zuo Zhicheng and Old Man Song had been eating at home these past few days – just some unsold dried fish mixed with vegetables – which cost less than one coin. The wage Jiang Qing offered was actually quite fair.

Especially since at the martial hall’s noon meals, every meal had big pieces of meat, which would be very beneficial for Zuo Zhicheng’s body. After all, he was practicing martial arts every day now, and without the Dwarf Spirit, if he kept eating poorly, he would naturally become malnourished, lose weight, and even regress in martial arts.

Moreover, Zuo Zhicheng had already been thinking about the martial hall, because he originally wanted to find a cover story of knowing martial arts for his public identity.

So after hearing Jiang Qing’s suggestion, Zuo Zhicheng said: “Could it be like this – I don’t want payment, just one meal every day, and then I can learn martial arts at the martial hall?”

“You want to learn martial arts?” Jiang Qing looked Zuo Zhicheng up and down: “It’s not impossible, but our martial hall’s ordinary students only pay ten coins per month. If you don’t want payment, we’ll just include an extra dinner and breakfast for you.”

“But learning martial arts is very hard work. Besides practicing, you’ll have to help with work at the martial hall every day. Are you sure you want this?”

“That’s fine,” Zuo Zhicheng laughed, showing a mouthful of clean white teeth, just like a simple country boy who just came to the city: “I’m not afraid of hard work.”