Chapter 5: First Day at the Martial Arts School

Chapter 5: First Day at the Martial Arts School

Chapter 5: First Day at the Martial Arts School
"Brother told you to get out of here quickly, he's so worried!"

"Oh - what time is it?"

"What time is it? Hurry up and change your clothes. You will be punished by standing in the corner if you are late."

The girl with bucktooth was impatient. She rushed into the house, took out a half-worn blue warrior costume, and put a hat on his head without saying a word. It touched the wound, and Xiao Xia shivered with pain.

"Little Sister Jiu, slow down!"

"Wait a minute!"

The girl with buck teeth snatched the bowl away and stuffed the samurai uniform into his hands, "Hurry up and change your clothes, you are really anxious!"

Xiao Xia changed into a samurai uniform and went out.

He lived in a small alley called Erjia Lane. There were more than 30 households living in the alley. There was no sewer, and sewage was flowing everywhere. The air was filled with the smell of rotting vegetable leaves and feces and urine. The environment was really bad.

Each household has only one room with a small door and a dark room. In fact, Xiao Xia's home is the best in the alley, with three rooms and a small yard.

At the entrance of the alley, a thin boy was jumping around anxiously like a monkey. He was the bucktooth girl's brother, named Xiao Laoliu. He was the same age as Xiao Xia and was the best friend of her ex-boyfriend Xiao Xia.

"Xiao Shichiro, hurry up! We're going to be late!"

They certainly did not go there to study. The idea that those who excel in their studies will become officials was only coined after the rise of the imperial examination system.

In the era of the Nine-Rank System, official positions were always monopolized by aristocratic and wealthy families.

There is only one way for lower-class people to move up, and that is to practice martial arts and join the army, exchanging military merit for social status.

From the struggle for hegemony at the end of the Han Dynasty to the unification of the Sui Dynasty, the world experienced a full four hundred years of turbulence.

Four hundred years is a very long time. If we think about the Eight-Nation Alliance, it was only one hundred and twenty years ago, but it feels very far away. How much more so four hundred years?

During this long period of time, wars were constantly raging everywhere in the world, and the middle and lower class people had only one goal from the moment they were born: to survive.

All the wealth in the world is in the hands of the rich and powerful. Young and beautiful ladies can enter the palace as maids, and young men with strong martial arts skills have the opportunity to become warriors of the rich and powerful.

If the rich and powerful give them some of their leftovers, it would make ordinary people extremely envious.

In order to survive in times of war and to live well in times of stability, boys must learn martial arts. Therefore, boys from better-off families are not sent to school when they are seven or eight years old, but to martial arts schools to practice martial arts.

There are martial arts halls of all sizes in every county town, and every child practices martial arts diligently, dreaming of becoming a warrior, serving a wealthy family, and allowing themselves and their families to live a life without worries about food and clothing.

The children of the Xiao family had to go to martial arts schools to practice martial arts at the age of seven. If they were legitimate sons, they had to study while practicing martial arts.

Xiao Xia came to Jiangdu when he was eleven years old. He studied for three years and practiced martial arts in the last year. However, his aptitude was too poor and he did not make any progress after a year of learning martial arts.

Originally it was thought that he was going to Chang'an, but unexpectedly something happened along the way and he had to return to the martial arts hall.

Of course, this was Xiao Xia’s first time at the martial arts gym, and he knew nothing about the place.

Lao Liu's father is in poor health and his family is poor. He practiced martial arts for several years but now stops doing so. He earns money by doing odd jobs in a martial arts gym and works as a waiter in a restaurant at night.

Lao Liu was most afraid of being late. The rule of the martial arts school was that those who were late would be punished. Xiao Xia was punished by standing in the corner, and he was fined.

"Hurry up, there's still time!"

Lao Liu hurriedly urged, "Today, Wu San and Liu Ergou are on duty. If you anger them, I will punish you by making you stand for a day. I can't save you."

"Who are Wu San and Liu Ergou?"

"Don't ask, the bell hasn't rung yet, hurry up!"

They had come to a place that looked like a school, surrounded by walls. Not far away there was a big gate with a sign on it that said 'Xiao's Martial Arts School'. It turned out that this was a martial arts school.

"Boom! Boom!"

The bell of the martial arts school rang, and the two men rushed towards the gate. As soon as they ran through the gate, they came towards a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old. He looked like a bamboo pole and stared at them fiercely. Behind him were seven or eight martial arts apprentices who were about fifteen or sixteen years old.

"Lao Liu, who is he?"

"He is Wu San!"

Lao Liu noticed that Wu San looked unhappy, and quickly told Xiao Xia, "The situation is not good, you must hold back, otherwise you will annoy him."

Wu San is a martial arts master in the martial arts school. It was not his turn to be on duty today, but he was temporarily replaced, which made him very unhappy.

He slapped Lao Liu hard on the back of his head and scolded him, "Why did you come just now? You made me wait for you for so long."

Lao Liu smiled and said, "Brother Wu, I left home a little late today. I'll pour you some tea later. Please forgive me."

"Tolerance is bullshit!"

Lao Liu was kicked hard on the buttocks again. Wu San was in a bad mood and said angrily: "I'm not doing well this morning. If I lose money today, I'll show you how I'll deal with you!"

"Brother Wu, I was wrong!"

"Hurry up and get to work!" Wu San pointed at Xiao Xia again, "And you, get in there!"

Before Xiao Xia could react, he was kicked on the buttocks with a "bang!". The kick was fierce and tricky, and Xiao Xia felt a sharp pain.

Xiao Xia was furious. He had never suffered such a loss before. He turned around and grabbed Wu San's collar, and without any hesitation, he punched him hard in the face.

Xiao Xia's punch was too fast, and Wu San was caught off guard. He was hit hard in the left eye, and he covered his eyes and screamed in pain.

When Wu San's disciples saw their master suffering a loss, they rushed forward together, knocked Xiao Xia down and started beating and kicking him.

Wu San was in so much pain that he couldn't even open his eyes. He was filled with hatred and yelled, "Beat him! Beat him hard!"

Just then, someone shouted loudly: "Stop!"

The apprentices looked back, their faces changed drastically, and they quickly let go of Xiao Xia.

However, Xiao Xia grabbed the leading apprentice by the hair and refused to let go.

The middle-aged man stared at him fiercely. Lao Liu also became anxious and whispered, "Manager Zhang is here, Xiao Qi, let go!"

Xiao Xia looked back and saw a very tall and strong middle-aged man with a beard standing not far away. He was at least two meters tall, which made Xiao Xia think of Hagrid, the woods keeper in Harry Potter.

Xiao Xia didn't know who Zhang Zongguan was, but judging from his figure, he was probably someone not to be trifled with.

Dozens of eyes were staring at Xiao Xia. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Xiao Xia let go of his apprentice's hair and slowly stood up.

Manager Zhang snorted heavily, turned around and left.

At this time, a tall, dark and thin young man shouted: "Fighting is not allowed in the martial arts hall. Violators will be severely punished. Don't you know?"

All the apprentices lowered their heads. The dark and thin young man walked over quickly. Lao Liu bowed and smiled, "Brother Liu!"

Xiao Xia immediately understood that this person was the notorious Liu Ergou. Liu Ergou had a very dark complexion, a horse face, and a pair of triangular eyes flashing with ferocity. He was also wearing a blue warrior suit and a black gauze hat, but the color of his belt was different. Wu San wore a white belt, and he wore a black belt.

He should be the leader of the martial artists.

Wu San bent down and said flatteringly: "Senior Brother!"

Liu Ergou is of course an insult. His name is Liu Tong, nicknamed Erhu, and he is the leader of the martial arts team.

Liu Tong snorted coldly and whispered, "Don't worry, I will take good care of him and make this bastard suffer a fate worse than death!"

Wu San was overjoyed, "Then I'll leave it to you, Senior Brother!"

He glanced at Xiao Xia smugly, his eyes clearly saying, 'Boy, I'll let you know what happens if you offend me!'

Although Liu Tong lowered his voice, Xiao Xia heard it clearly. This bastard said it on purpose for her to hear.

Xiao Xia's hair was disheveled, his face was bruised and his nose was still bleeding. He clenched his fists and looked at Liu Ergou coldly.

Liu Tong snorted disdainfully, "What are you dissatisfied with? You bullied your classmates, so I have the right to punish you. From now on, you will be responsible for emptying the toilets for the students in the martial arts hall every morning for a period of one year. All toilets must be licked clean inside and out for me, otherwise I will punish you!"

Blood suddenly rushed to Xiao Xia's head. A man can be killed but not humiliated.

He stared at Liu Ergou coldly and said, "It was them who humiliated me and beat me up, but in the end you punished me. Well, from now on, I will quit the martial arts school!"

Liu Tong laughed grimly, "Boy, can you just quit the martial arts school if you want to?"

"Go to hell, you bastard!"

"you--"

Liu Tong was furious and clenched his fists, ready to rush forward.

Xiao Xia stood still and looked at him coldly.

Liu Tong seemed to have sensed something. He looked back and saw the majestic figure of Manager Zhang standing in the distance.

Liu Tong slowly relaxed his fist and gritted his teeth, "Get out, you are fired!"

Xiao Xia turned around and walked away.

Lao Liu moved his lips and finally lowered his head weakly.

Liu Tong was so angry that he slapped Lao Liu on the back of his head. "Asshole, what are you doing standing here? Go pack up your weapons!"

"I'm going right now!"

Lao Liu was terrified and ran towards the martial arts hall.

　Guess who this two-meter-tall Manager Zhang is?

　　Celebrity!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)