Chapter 1: Troubled Times

The endless reed marsh of Yazi Bay rustled in the wind.

Deep within the marsh, on a shoal far from the main shipping channel, several clusters of exceptionally tall and dense reeds had been bent over and tied together in an interlocking fashion.

A dilapidated, abandoned boat was grounded here. Under the boat’s canopy, several young but weary faces were etched with the heavy burdens of life.

"The Dragon King’s incense money... it’s gone up by another thirty percent!"

Liang Badou let out a long sigh, his voice laced with helplessness. "The Golden River Gang is clearly trying to suck the marrow from our bones."

"My father coughed all night long."

Li Hu’s voice was low and hoarse. "The money for medicine is still nowhere to be found, and the little bit of fish and shrimp we caught this morning all went to fill the hole of the Dragon King’s incense money... How are we supposed to live like this?"

As he spoke, his eyes turned red.

Hearing this, a look of misery appeared on the faces of the others.

The government’s exorbitant taxes and levies had already bent their backs, and now the local Golden River Gang was forcibly collecting "Dragon King’s incense money."

They called it Dragon King’s incense money, but in reality, it was just a water-lantern fee.

At the beginning of every month, gang members would carry iron lanterns along the river, demanding payment from every household. The lanterns were painted with a blood-red character for "Transport," and the wicks were soaked in fish oil, emitting a pungent, fishy stench when lit.

For the fishing families who couldn't pay, their boat bottoms would be chiseled with bowl-sized holes in the night. The next day, another "water lantern" would appear on the river—a floating lamp made of broken boat planks, often with a corpse submerged beneath it.

Those who paid received a green fish scale to nail above their doorframe, signifying "Dragon King’s protection."

But everyone knew that this scale wasn't stained with divine grace, but with human blood.

"All the money at home went to the Dragon King’s incense money. This can't go on..."

Chen Qing, in the corner, furrowed his brows.

He had transmigrated here half a month ago, born into a poor fisherman’s family in this life.

His so-called home was nothing more than two dilapidated fishing boats tied end-to-end, crudely bound with hemp rope and rotten rags, the gaps in the hulls stuffed with wet mud and reed fluff.

The father and son made a living by fishing. A year ago, his father, Chen Wu, was seized to work on the canal and had been missing ever since.

In this chaotic world where human life was as cheap as grass, the loss of a breadwinner for an ordinary family was nothing short of a catastrophe.

His mother, Madam Han, wove fishing nets at home to earn a meager, hard-earned living.

Their family, like the two hundred thousand ant-like poor people in Gao Lin County, was pressed firmly to the very bottom of the mire.

This world was as hard as ascending to heaven!

The government’s taxes scraped the skin and flesh, and the local gangs used knives to scrape the marrow.

Scholarship funds for the academy? Those were the exclusive preserve of the gentry’s children.

If a poor child wanted to learn a few characters, they had to chop wood by day and steal light to study by night, eating only a bowl of thin porridge, and after twenty years of toil, they might have a glimmer of hope.

Want to learn a trade to make a living? It required a three-generation "clean" background guarantee.

If a poor child tried to get ahead, it was common for their legs to be broken in the dead of night.

And among the kiln workers in the west of the city, mastering the "Secret Method of Fire Eyes" could earn one artisan status and a few full meals, but the price was a thirty-year apprenticeship as a beast of burden.

The poor struggled at the bottom, muddled and confused, unable to see a single ray of light.

But Chen Qing was different.

In his mind, a destiny hung: [Destiny: Heaven rewards diligence, success is guaranteed.]

Heaven favors the diligent; effort will always be rewarded.

This meant that for him, there were no barriers of talent or bottlenecks for any skill.

He had been secretly exploring for some time and discovered that only by practicing martial arts could he push this destiny to its limit.

Practicing martial arts would allow him to take the martial examinations, win fame, get ahead, and completely turn his life around.

Most importantly, he would no longer be bullied.

However, learning martial arts was not easy.

"Huzi, Xiaochun, A-Qing, Er'ya."

Liang Badou spoke again, his voice low and heavy. "Recently, water bandits have been running rampant. Although the chance of running into them is one in ten, this fishing business is, after all, a meal that leads to the grave. Unless you resign yourself to fate, like Old Uncle Wang, and sign on as a laborer to haul boats, working like an ox or a horse for them in their 'fishing grounds'... do you have any plans?"

The faces of the others were filled with confusion.

They were all children of the Yazi Bay fishermen, playmates since childhood.

Liang Badou had the best family background; his father was a barefoot traveling doctor, his mother did odd jobs at a tavern, and it was said he had a relative in the inner city.

Er'ya’s family made a living by pickling fish, and she always carried a heavy, salty, fishy scent.

Xiaochun’s father was a boatwright who usually helped fishermen repair their hulls with tung oil and putty; they were barely getting by.

Li Hu lost his mother early, his sister was married off, and he lived by fishing with his old father. Now that Old Li was bedridden, he was the only one keeping the household afloat.

"My dad wants to send me to Wanbao Hall to be a shop boy."

Xiaochun lowered his head and whispered, "I’ll sign a ten-year contract, and I can get three years' wages in advance."

Wanbao Hall was a pawnshop. A shop boy was responsible for cleaning, moving goods, running errands, and learning to appraise items; he wouldn't be allowed to touch the ledgers for three years.

Liang Badou looked at Xiaochun in surprise. "I heard that to be a shop boy at Wanbao Hall, you have to bribe the second clerk with ten taels of silver..."

The faint glimmer that had just ignited in the eyes of Li Hu and Er'ya was suddenly extinguished.

Ten taels of silver was enough to feed a Yazi Bay family for a year; who could easily come up with that?

Xiaochun quickly explained, "How could we have savings at home? That silver was scraped together by my dad, selling everything we own and borrowing from everyone he could."

He specifically emphasized "borrowing money." In this man-eating world, keeping one's wealth hidden was a way to survive, even in front of childhood friends.

Er'ya sighed, "If you can make it through, it’s a way to survive."

Chen Qing nodded silently.

The clerk was an appraiser responsible for valuing and inspecting goods. Besides the regular salary, there must be plenty of extra perks.

Liang Badou turned to Li Hu. "A-Hu, what about you?"

Li Hu took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the murky river in the distance. "Running boats... maybe go south. I heard the wages are higher there."

Er'ya was stunned and asked again, "Where to?"

"The south."

Li Hu’s gaze pierced through Yazi Bay. "My dad... he has my sister to look after him."

The group fell silent again. Old Li was injured, and the burden of life fell entirely on Li Hu’s shoulders.

The river wind whimpered as it slapped against the boat canopy.

Er'ya then whispered, "My mother asked Auntie Wang to put in a good word; she wants to send me to Master Guo’s house as a rough-work maid... She says because I’m decent-looking and quick-handed, the monthly wage will be two hundred coins more."

Her voice dropped even lower. "Actually, in a big household, one can see the world."

Liang Badou nodded and finally looked at Chen Qing. "A-Qing, what about you?"

Chen Qing was concise: "I plan to practice martial arts."

Practice martial arts!?

The group was stunned, as if they had misheard.

Liang Badou waved his hand and laughed. "A-Qing, you’re talking nonsense again."

Chen Qing said slowly, "I’m serious."

"A regular martial arts school charges ten taels of silver just for the apprenticeship fee, and that’s if you have the right aptitude."

Liang Badou furrowed his brows and shook his head repeatedly. "That’s not even counting the monthly food and lodging, which is at least two taels, plus medicinal baths for one tael, equipment... how could practicing martial arts be that easy?"

"The poor study literature, the rich study martial arts"—this was no empty saying.

Entering a martial arts school was just the threshold; truly practicing martial arts was a bottomless pit that required a constant supply of meat for nourishment.

There had been people in Yazi Bay who had such delusions, only to waste their time and fall into massive debt. The lucky ones ended up as gatekeepers for wealthy families.

Er'ya and Xiaochun also shook their heads, clearly thinking Chen Qing’s idea was impractical.

Li Hu opened his mouth, but eventually swallowed his words.

Er'ya looked at Liang Badou. "Brother Badou, what about you?"

Speaking of himself, Liang Badou straightened his back unconsciously. "My third uncle is a scribe at the Inner River Bureau. My dad said I should follow him to study and learn to write first. When my third uncle retires in a few years, he’ll find a way to recommend me..."

"Brother Badou, you’re going to be an official?!"

Er'ya’s eyes lit up, her voice rising. "Doesn't that mean... you’re going to be successful?!"

The faces of the group immediately showed undisguised envy.

For the poor people of Yazi Bay, a yamen runner was already an incredible "official," let alone a scribe with more real power. Being able to learn from him and eventually take his place was a great blessing they wouldn't even dare to dream of.

"It’s not set in stone yet; I’ll just have to learn from my third uncle first."

Liang Badou was still a youth at heart, and he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips. "We all came from Yazi Bay; we should gather more often in the future and look out for each other."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

If Liang Badou really could make it, maintaining this friendship now would be a rare path for the future.

After a few more words of idle chatter, Er'ya and Xiaochun’s attitude toward Liang Badou became noticeably warmer.

After about a moment, the group left the reed marsh on their small boats and returned to Yazi Bay.

Chen Qing walked quickly toward his own connected boats.

In this world, gangs were everywhere, and there were many desperate outlaws who would rob you on the road; danger lurked everywhere.

Just as Chen Qing was about to reach home, a sharp shout came from ahead

"You dog! The upper reaches are my Golden River Gang’s territory, and you dare to go there!?"

"I’ll show you what a real water lantern is!"

He saw that near his own broken boat, the door panel of his neighbor Auntie Gao’s house had been split open.

The tattered cloth curtain was crooked, several pottery jars were shattered on the ground, and the stench of rotting dead fish and shrimp filled the air.

Auntie Gao sat slumped on the mud, holding her head and sobbing, while Uncle Gao was being pressed firmly to the ground by two Golden River Gang thugs in short jackets with fierce expressions. His forehead was bruised and swollen, blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were filled with humiliation and despair.

The culprit behind all this was Qian Biao of the Golden River Gang.

He was stocky, wearing a silk jacket, his chest open to reveal a hideous scar.

Qian Biao was mainly responsible for collecting the "Dragon King’s incense money" from the fishing boats.

The Golden River Gang didn't just collect "Dragon King’s incense money"; they also collected funeral money, known as "Underworld Boat Guiding Silver"—two hundred coins per corpse, or they would throw the body into the middle of the river.

There was also the so-called "Water Ghost Dowry," forcing the bride’s family to pay, or the "water ghost" would come to snatch the bride.

As for who this "water ghost" was, everyone knew.

Weddings and funerals, everything was an opportunity to squeeze oil from the bones of poor fishermen.

Who dared to disobey? Fishing nets would be slashed in the dead of night, dead rats would mysteriously appear in the boat cabin, or more directly, an "accidental" collision would send the fishing boat to the bottom of the river.

The fishermen of Yazi Bay hated and feared them, turning pale at the mere mention of their name.

"Yo, A-Qing!"

Qian Biao saw Chen Qing and strode over. "Look, look at the mess Old Brother Gao has made."

He sighed, as if he were the one most heartbroken. "That upper fishing ground is my Golden River Gang’s territory, and Old Gao broke the taboo... Sigh, there’s really no way around it; the gang’s rules can't be broken! My heart, it doesn't feel good either!"

Chen Qing also wore a heartbroken expression. "Master Qian is right."

"Sigh, these days are truly hard. Look at how the price of fish has plummeted. Oil, salt, sauce, vinegar—what hasn't gone up?"

Qian Biao changed the subject, his smile becoming even more sincere. "A-Qing, is your family’s turnover okay lately? Seeing you and your mother struggling so much, my heart... it really doesn't feel right."

"If it’s not enough, I can lend you some emergency money. One hundred copper coins generate two coins of interest per day, settled daily. The interest is clear, I won't cheat you. Just use that broken boat of yours as collateral!"

Chen Qing continued to smile, but a chill rose in his heart. Behind him, Auntie Gao’s sobbing seemed to grow clearer.

Behind Qian Biao’s "righteousness" lay cold calculation. One hundred coins generating two coins of interest a day sounded small, but with compound interest, the annual rate was terrifyingly high—it was truly meant to suck the marrow and break the bones.

The collateral would definitely be the Chen family’s boat, which was the fishermen’s lifeline.

Qian Biao had decided that they were weak, defenseless orphans and widows, and had long since viewed the Chen family as fish on the chopping block.

Chen Qing’s bitter smile deepened, and he bowed repeatedly. "Many thanks for your concern, Master Biao! You are so benevolent! But for now... we can still barely manage. If it’s really not enough, I’ll come to you."

Seeing that Chen Qing wouldn't take the bait, the smile on Qian Biao’s face instantly stiffened and turned cold, his skin twitching perfunctorily. "Fine, whenever you need it, come find me anytime."

His gaze swept over Chen Qing with a trace of imperceptible malice. "Go back quickly, don't keep your mother waiting."

He deliberately slowed his speech on the words "keep your mother waiting." It sounded like concern, but it felt more like a cold urge.

"Yes, many thanks, Master Qian, many thanks!"

Chen Qing squeezed out a look of gratitude and walked quickly toward his two dilapidated, connected fishing boats.

(End of chapter)