Chapter 18: No One Is Taking My Business!
Some people with good luck can indeed buy a college student as a wife.
Chen Anquan quietly picked up his chopsticks, preparing to eat. When he had just entered the house, he’d already washed his hands and feet clean at the outdoor sink. The October evenings were tinged with a chill, yet Chen Anquan still wore slippers and a short-sleeved shirt, feeling no cold at all. It wasn’t that he couldn’t feel the cold, but rather, since his constitution had grown stronger, his tolerance for the cold had increased significantly.
During dinner, Second Aunt thought of a way to make money. She smiled and said, “Anquan, harvesting rice is hard work, but your physical condition is excellent. There are still many fields in our village waiting to be harvested. Shall I help you find more jobs?”
Chen Anquan nodded repeatedly. “Thank you for your trouble, Second Aunt!”
He considered it for a moment. Such a good opportunity—how could he not let Second Aunt and her family share the benefits? So he said, “Let’s do it like this. Starting tomorrow, you help me arrange rice harvesting jobs, and I’ll give you ten percent as a referral fee. Is that alright?”
“Good, good, good!”
Hearing his words, Second Aunt broke into a beaming smile. With Chen Anquan’s speed, he could earn three hundred yuan a day, and all she had to do was ask around among the neighbors to earn thirty yuan herself!
“Anquan is so filial.” Delighted, Second Aunt picked up a generous piece of lean meat and placed it in Chen Anquan’s bowl. “Eat more. Harvesting rice is exhausting!”
After dinner, Chen Anquan bathed, washed his clothes, and returned early to his old house. The afternoon’s intense labor still left him feeling sore, even after several hours. Unlike yesterday, today he clearly felt that although his stamina had improved, there remained a sense of emptiness in his body. The feeling was reminiscent of exhaustion… but he dismissed the thought. He was still young, how could such problems arise?
That night, after practicing Tai Chi on the basketball court for some time, he finally leveled up his Tai Chi to LV1 (0/500).
“Phew, I’ve finally reached the basics!” Chen Anquan exhaled slowly.
Practicing Tai Chi not only improved his body but also soothed his weary spirit. He wondered how effective Tai Chi would be in a real fight.
At that moment, Chen Anquan longed to spar with a martial arts master, just like those Tai Chi grandmasters on television, effortlessly turning force aside, defeating many with graceful ease—a true martial arts style! Sadly, this was an era of peace; many people would never experience such life-and-death duels.
He put aside thoughts of wandering the martial world and decided to practice another set of Tai Chi. At that very moment, the attribute panel in his mind flickered again. The fifth attribute bar’s number changed!
Heavens—just reaching the basics in Tai Chi had increased his spirit!
Unlike the attributes of strength, agility, and constitution, Tai Chi had directly added one point to his spirit, bringing it up to two.
He hadn’t expected that his highest attribute now was spirit.
But this raised a question. Chen Anquan had no idea what this spirit attribute actually did.
Standing in place, he glanced downward. In the pitch-black night, the moonlight faintly revealed the blurry cement floor. He spotted the brick he’d been using these days. Joining two fingers, his other hand grasping his wrist, he pointed at the brick and beckoned, calling out, “Come here!”
Five seconds passed…
The brick didn’t budge!
“So it has no effect!”
Chen Anquan crouched, picked up the brick, and smashed it heavily against the ground.
Crack!
The red clay brick shattered into several pieces.
He picked up a fragment, barely a quarter the size of his palm, walked over to the marble railing by the pond, and placed it atop the stone lion’s head.
“Come here!”
Five seconds passed…
“Still nothing! Looks like this spirit attribute has nothing to do with telekinesis!”
Feeling somewhat disappointed, but with no other option, Chen Anquan continued his practice. At that moment, he thought of something: now that he’d mastered the basics of Tai Chi, why not try Tai Chi Sword?
He opened a short video app and searched for “Tai Chi Sword.” Immediately, a series of instructional videos appeared.
He chose the most renowned teacher for Tai Chi Sword and began his learning journey.
From the area around the basketball court, he found a stick about the thickness of his thumb and eighty centimeters long to serve as a sword.
“Forty-nine forms of Wudang Tai Chi Sword, facing due south, starting posture, swinging arms, turning…”
Holding the stick, Chen Anquan began to mimic the movements.
At the same time, the attribute panel in his mind displayed a new skill:
[Forty-nine Forms of Wudang Tai Chi Sword LV0 (0/100)]
He had to master all forty-nine moves before reaching the basics.
The reason Chen Anquan had quickly mastered Tai Chi was that he’d studied it in college, so this was merely a refresher, but it still took him three days to reach the basics.
For Tai Chi Sword, Chen Anquan prepared to spend about ten days to reach the basics.
After two hours, Chen Anquan stopped and tossed the “Tai Chi Sword” to the ground.
It was time for bed!
He glanced at his attribute panel, prepared for the worst.
As expected, he’d only gained two points of proficiency in Tai Chi Sword…
But it didn’t matter. Tomorrow he could go harvest rice, continuously accumulating experience—that was the key to quickly enhancing his combat abilities!
“If anyone tries to steal my work, I’ll teach them a lesson!”
Having uttered his threat, Chen Anquan returned to the old house, washed up briefly, and lay down, contemplating life.
*
*
*
The next morning.
Second Aunt did not disappoint. She had already found “work” for him early on.
He was to help Rooster’s family harvest rice—same rules as before: three acres, three hundred yuan.
After eating Second Aunt’s unpalatable noodles, Chen Anquan followed her to Rooster’s house.
Rooster was not actually a rooster, but the male master of the house, tall and thin, with a pointed head like a rooster. He’d had the nickname since childhood.
Through monotonous and repetitive labor, Chen Anquan completed the rice harvesting task smoothly.
But he was surprised to find that since his attributes had surged yesterday, today he had barely improved any of them.
Strength, agility, and constitution had only increased by 0.03 point each, and unused attribute points amounted to just 0.03.
Chen Anquan checked his attribute panel:
Name: Chen Anquan
Age: 24
Strength: 1.55
Agility: 1.35
Spirit: 2
Constitution: 1.58
Unused attribute points: 0
It seemed there was a limit to how much rice harvesting could improve physical fitness!
But that was understandable—even running, the effects of jogging and sprinting are different, let alone harvesting rice, which he’d already adapted to as high-intensity training.