Chapter 79: Poverty for Scholars, Wealth for Warriors

Days passed one after another. Since Leng Chen stayed behind at the medicine shop as an apprentice, Wen Nuan Nuan’s enthusiasm for cooking after returning home had reached unprecedented heights.

Every five or six days, Leng Tian would deliver food and, upon returning, would tell them what tasks Leng Chen needed to do and what he had learned.

At first: “Second Brother arrived the latest, so he has to get up early to serve daily needs, handle cleaning inside and out, and do miscellaneous physical labor. Shopkeeper Sun also has him further process the locally purchased medicinal herbs. Second Brother says for now it’s just picking out impurities, winnowing away dust and debris, and drying them in the sun on good days or air-drying them in the shade on bad days. He says the work is light and not tiring at all.”

In the middle: “Second Brother says he’s already memorizing the medicine drawers! Renxin Hall has over one hundred and fifty medicine drawers. Second Brother can recite them clearly from left to right and top to bottom—which medicines are next to which, and which ones with similar properties and functions are grouped together. He says only apprentices who memorize them thoroughly are allowed by Shopkeeper Sun to fill prescriptions.”

The last time he went, Leng Chen was already busy using a medicine knife to chop herbs, knead honey pills, and similar tasks, so busy he didn’t even have time to talk to Leng Tian.

Thinking of the young boy fetching washing water, attending to daily needs, cleaning inside and out, handling strenuous chores, and picking, winnowing, and drying medicinal herbs at the medicine shop, Wen Nuan Nuan suddenly felt that wrapping buns and making food wasn’t tiring at all!

Her heart and mind were filled with thoughts of making more delicious food to send to Leng Chen, and by extension, to Leng Xiao as well—killing two birds with one stone. On one hand, they could save on food expenses for both, and on the other, the food at home was certainly better.

Being an apprentice was hardly different from doing odd jobs, but even as an apprentice, it wasn’t easy, and many people wanted the opportunity. Not to mention there was no pay and no meals provided—just not having to pay tuition was already considered very good. All that was needed was to bring some gifts for the master during the formal apprenticeship ceremony. And reaching that step still required personal effort and insight to succeed.

In these times, learning a trade to make a living was difficult. Most people spent their entire lives toiling in the fields, and not necessarily on their own land—often rented from wealthy households, with forty percent of the harvest paid as rent each year. Working hard all year just to barely scrape by was the norm. In years of disaster or famine, they might even end up in debt.

The lower the social stratum, the greater the hardship, and the gap between rich and poor was immense.

Thinking of this, Wen Nuan Nuan would occasionally check and calculate their savings. Excluding the small amounts of silver and copper coins carried on hand, they already had three thousand one hundred and ten taels stored away in the storage room! For them, this was undoubtedly a huge sum.

With these savings, they could avoid many hardships in times of famine or disaster, or when starting anew in an unfamiliar place. Their savings greatly increased their family’s ability to withstand risks.

“Sister-in-law.” Leng Tian approached uneasily, opening and closing his mouth several times before finally calling out.

Wen Nuan Nuan grew curious. Eldest Brother had always been straightforward and blunt, never hesitant in speech or action. What was wrong with him today?

Not just today—since Leng Chen became an apprentice, over the past month and a half, although Eldest Brother still worked with the same quality and quantity as before, even going up the mountain to hunt over a dozen hares and catch two foolish roe deer, his unusual behavior was also obvious. The most typical was his absent-minded daydreaming, something that had never happened to Eldest Brother before.

Wen Nuan Nuan softened her voice and asked, “Eldest Brother, if you have something to say, just say it directly.”

“I… it’s already the end of the winter month, and there have only been two snowfalls in total, both light snows that melted within three to five days.”

That’s why we’ve been able to keep sending food to Leng Xiao and Leng Chen this year. In previous years, heavy snow would block the roads, making it impossible to even step out of the courtyard gate.

Wen Nuan Nuan listened attentively.

Although for someone like her, born in the south where it rarely snows more than twice a year, snow up to the ankles would be considered very heavy, she understood that this amount of snow was abnormal for Tongcheng.

A timely snow promises a good harvest, and this year had already seen little rainfall. With such scant snowfall now, how plants and crops would grow next year, and how herbivores and carnivores would survive, would be a tremendous challenge.

Even households relying on the mountains would be affected.

From the beginning of the tenth month to now, the end of the winter month, they had spent the past month or two preparing food, storing water, fodder, and silver—all in preparation for the coming year.

Eldest Brother knew the underlying reasons, so this likely wasn’t what he wanted to discuss.

“Eldest Brother said the three counties around Tongcheng are the same. I feel… I feel that next year will be difficult everywhere. There will be a lot of theft and fighting among people. I… I…”

Leng Tian stammered, unable to continue, his rugged, dark face flushing bright red.

“You’re absolutely right. Go on,” Wen Nuan Nuan urged, unable to guess what Leng Tian wanted to say.

As if encouraged, Leng Tian steeled himself and blurted everything out: “Eldest Brother will be back by the end of this month or the beginning of next month. I want to go to the martial arts school in the city and train for two months after he returns.”

He hastily added, “I know the family can’t do without someone here. Once Eldest Brother goes to the Academy, I’ll come back.”

“I’ve thought it over these past few days. I’ll learn some basics and a couple of fist techniques. Once I’m back home, I can practice on my own.”

Wen Nuan Nuan’s first reaction was: This is great!

It was perfect for their family, whose combat skills were far too low!

Seeing Leng Tian’s nervous and hesitant demeanor, Wen Nuan Nuan had thought it was something major, important, or difficult to say. To hear it was such a beneficial request for the family and himself, she naturally agreed wholeheartedly: “Of course! Why hesitate over such a good thing? I definitely support it! Besides, we already decided to leave in July. Before then, you can train at the martial arts school.”

“We’ve already prepared most of the food for the journey. The rest can be made from any surplus we have. Little Brother and I can manage just fine. We have no fields or land, so there’s no farmwork to worry about. You can go and train without any concerns.”

Even if they did have fields, who knew if there would be any harvest next year or how much it would yield? What was Eldest Brother worried about?

He should go and train with confidence!

Leng Tian hadn’t expected his sister-in-law to agree so readily. The tension on his face eased slightly, but he still felt obliged to point out the practical issues: “Learning martial arts isn’t like Second Brother’s apprenticeship. Although food isn’t provided, there’s no need to pay for it either. Learning martial arts is even more expensive than Eldest Brother attending the Academy…”

“‘Poor scholars, rich martial artists’—I understand that much,” Wen Nuan Nuan said, noticing how the usually bold and straightforward Leng Tian flushed when discussing martial arts training. Ah, it all came down to money.

He was afraid of spending the family’s savings.

Eldest Brother had probably wanted to learn martial arts for a long time, but before, there was no money, and he had to take care of the elderly and the young. How could he have had the resources or energy to train?

And now, not only did the family have three thousand one hundred and ten taels of silver, most of which were earned by him and Leng Xiao, but even if they didn’t, Wen Nuan Nuan would still be willing to send Leng Tian to learn martial arts, relying on the food supply from the refrigerator and ginseng slices!

The benefits for the journey next year and for Eldest Brother in the future were obvious.

Wen Nuan Nuan was fully in favor, even more excited than Leng Tian, and urged: “We have savings now, and the saying ‘poor study, rich martial arts’ mainly means that besides paying tuition to the master, those learning martial arts also need a lot of good food. Eating well helps you grow strong and gain strength, so it’s just spending some silver on that.

Look at how well you’ve grown in the past three months—you’re completely suited for learning martial arts! And don’t worry about food; we have plenty!”

Leng Tian was stunned and incredulous, his mind still unable to shift away from the thought of needing to spend silver.

According to what his sister-in-law said, it seemed like it wouldn’t cost too much, as if everything was within reach, just a stretch away.

Could the dream he had longed for for so long really come true?

“Eldest Brother, temporary separation is nothing, temporary silver is nothing. What matters is that you learn skills. Only then can you use what you’ve learned, do your best, protect those you can, and fulfill your wishes!”

That’s right—these were the words Leng Xiao had said to her in the carriage last time. Now, summarizing and paraphrasing them to say to Leng Tian was just perfect!

She really was a master of summarizing and paraphrasing.

Leng Tian listened, feeling his heart pound rapidly, as if all the blood in his body rushed toward his eyes. He quickly turned his head away, his voice choked with emotion: “Sister-in-law, I will study hard and live up to your expectations!”

Wen Nuan Nuan was taken aback.

Young man, it was clearly your own decision to learn!

And she didn’t have any expectations either.