Chapter 57 - 57 57 Unwanted Guest (Please Follow)

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Unwanted Guest (Please Follow) Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Unwanted Guest (Please Follow) Fishery!

The Fishing Guild, established at the grassroots level, often set up fisheries in villages and towns.

They dispatched martial artists to guard the area, watching over the Mianshui River in front of them.

Their main job was to hire fishermen to fish and to collect taxes from individual fishermen.

Yes, there was no such thing as a free lunch in those days.

Wherever profits could be made, the major guilds and the government had divided them up among themselves, and the common people were like cattle and horses kept within their enclosure.

You paid fish tax for fishing, wood tax for chopping wood, and land tax for farming.

What, you do nothing at all? Well, that’s good, because the court still has a poll tax for you to pay.

Various exorbitant taxes, designed by the upper class, were set just within the maximum limit that the common folk could bear, causing them to toil like donkeys all day, only to barely make ends meet.

These upper-class lords calculated to the bone; under their schemes, the common people had to work with all their might, generating profits to support them.

Their biggest fear was that the common folk would become wealthy. If the people became rich, whom would they exploit!

And the poor commoners, brainwashed over generations, had forgotten how to resist. On the contrary, they brainwashed themselves into believing that enduring extreme hardship was the mark of a superior person.

In fact, they didn’t know that the truly superior people did not endure hardship; only the cattle and horses endured the worst.

What you eat supplements you, enduring hardship only brings more hardship, if you want to rise above, you must be willing to exploit others!

Chen Jie did not come to this world to suffer; he did not want to endure hardship.

He wanted to be a superior person, so he had to learn to exploit others!

Thus, he had to find himself a promising future, and the Fishing Guild was his first choice.

Joining the court was difficult, and serving the Mulan people as dogs was not easy due to many restrictions.

But entering the Fishing Guild could let him demonstrate his abilities, and to enter the guild, he first saved Doctor Bai, becoming his apprentice, and then followed a roundabout strategy, step by step, finally getting Wu Zhong to agree to let him join the fishery.

It could be said that Chen Jie’s first step was very stable.

In this world where Martial Arts thrived, he wasn’t nearly strong enough to contend against it. Since he couldn’t fight it, he would join it, become part of the world’s power hierarchy, only then could he consider other possibilities!

Wu Hong saw that Chen Jie was quite happy and hesitated to speak.

Doctor Bai made everyone step aside, and Chen Jie took the initiative to approach Wu Hong.

“Brother Wu, it seemed like you had something to say earlier.”

Chen Jie asked, and upon hearing this, Wu Hong replied, “It’s nothing.”

“Brother, if we are like brothers, tell your brother what’s on your mind, don’t hide it.”

Chen Jie said, and upon hearing this, Wu Hong thought for a moment and said, “Jiu Si, the Fishing Guild isn’t a good place; they are ruthless and not for the good-hearted.”

Wu Hong had been raised to be quite stubborn by his adoptive father; he disliked guilds, seeing them as skirting the edges of the law and not good people. Although he was born into the Fishing Guild, he had always considered it part of the underworld.

Chen Jie did not refuse Wu Hong, but looked at him and asked, “Then what do you think I should do, Brother Wu?”

Wu Hong thought for a moment and said, “Jiu Si, if you could wait another year, there will be a vacancy for a constable at the government office, then you could come work with me!”

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie thanked him, “Brother Wu, thank you, but a year is too long; I still have two mouths to feed at home. If there’s a vacancy at the government office, think of me. Before that, I need to survive, let me go to the fishery and help Uncle Zhong first!”

“Alright?”

After hearing Chen Jie’s words, Wu Hong had no way to refute and nodded in agreement.

Chen Jie laughed and said, “Brother Wu, I’ll have to treat you to a drink when I’m free.”

“Why say that?”

“You’ve always been concerned about my future, how could I not know that, Brother? You must have a drink.”

Wu Hong looked at the genuinely sincere Chen Jie and smiled, “Okay, I don’t drink other people’s wine, but Jiu Si, I definitely have to drink yours!”

“Agreed!”

“Agreed!”

Clap! Their hands clasped together, representing the promise between men.

Chen Jie felt an instant connection with him too!

After exchanging a few words, Chen Jie was called over by Doctor Bai to identify prescriptions and clarify the pharmacology.

Due to his family’s background in medicine, Chen Jie had a solid foundation, which made him quite proficient with herbal medicine and medicine classics, so Doctor Bai directly led him to start identifying prescriptions, analyzing the correctness of previous prescriptions to fully understand the combination of various herbs.

The process heavily relied on ‘immersion.’

Only through time could achievements be made, therefore, Chen Jie studied at the Bai Family for two hours daily.

Wu Zhong saw that his work at home was done, tidied up a bit and then headed to the fishery for work.

The Bai family also went out to chat with neighbors, leaving only Chen Jiusi, Doctor Bai, and Wu Hong at home.

Doctor Bai’s leg hadn’t healed, so he hadn’t been seeing patients recently.

Chen Jie followed Doctor Bai in identifying prescriptions, while Wu Hong practiced boxing in the courtyard.

Just then, a series of dull knocks suddenly sounded. Wu Hong stopped boxing, walked to the courtyard door, opened it, and immediately squinted his eyes.

He looked cautiously at the doorway.

“Who are you looking for?”

A man wearing a Douli hat and dressed in a short black robe stood at the door, head lowered. Hearing Wu Hong’s question, he raised his head, revealing a vicious scar on his face.

The man then smiled, “Is Doctor Bai home?”

Wu Hong squinted, sizing up the man before him. His intuition told him this person was dangerous. He warily asked, “What do you want with him?”

“To see a doctor!” replied the Douli hat man.

Wu Hong frowned slightly, about to say that Doctor Bai wasn’t available and send this dangerous-looking fellow away, but then he saw Doctor Bai walking over with a crutch, “Hong’er, who is it?”

Before Wu Hong could reply, the Douli hat man stepped forward with a smile, “Doctor Bai, I’ve come to seek treatment based on your reputation.”

Wu Hong, seeing the man step forward, quickly reached out with his right hand, claw-like, towards the Douli man’s shoulder.

The Douli man didn’t even flinch, allowing Wu Hong to grab his shoulder and gently pushed forward; Wu Hong felt a powerful force suddenly repelling his hand.

Shocked, he recognized the advanced martial technique of Energy Transformation in action!

Just as he was about to strike again, he heard Doctor Bai say, “Hong’er, let the guest in.”

“Yes, Grandfather!” Wu Hong responded, though his caution increased.

As the scar-faced man passed Wu Hong, he smiled and said, “Your Bone-breaking skill is a bit lacking. If your master had used it, I might not have escaped so easily.”

He then walked straight into the courtyard.

Wu Hong’s expression darkened, and he looked at his slightly trembling hand, clenching it tightly and tucking it behind his back.

Doctor Bai invited the Douli man to sit and called out, “Jiu Si, bring out my pulse pillow, and make a fine cup of tea for our guest!”

“Yes, Master!”

Chen Jie, carrying the pulse pillow and holding a tray of tea, stepped out to meet the Jianghu Hero directly. The Jianghu Hero also looked at Chen Jie.

Their eyes met, and the Douli man blurted out,

“It’s you!”