Lin Chen naturally understood Gu Fei's good intentions.
He wasn't one to be overly proud or concerned with face; in the past, he didn't accept because he understood Gu Fei.
If he had accepted early on, Gu Fei would inevitably buy more beef each time, and he couldn't always take advantage of Gu Fei's beef.
Gu Fei was from the same village, and his family wasn't particularly well-off either.
This time, he accepted Gu Fei's kindness, not because of Zhang Tao's sarcasm, but because he was prepared to start eating beef.
Even though he didn't have much money on him, he could afford the fifteen cents per pound beef.
He hadn't eaten it before because it wasn't the right time.
On the first day at the Martial Hall, he remembered something Instructor Yu said.
"Martial arts, the more you pursue speed, the more it costs."
Lin Chen, having lived two lifetimes, easily understood this.
There is a limit to a person's absorption and digestion capacity.
The more you pursue the daily Qi Blood growth limit, the higher the cost.
Suppose eating a pound of beef can increase Qi Blood by 8 points; the second pound can still increase it by 8 points, but by the third pound, it might only provide 5 points because the body has reached its absorption capacity.
For those wealthy students, they naturally don't care about this waste; they want the maximum effect.
It's like enhancing equipment in a game where ordinary players find +9 sufficient because enhancing to +10 costs as much as all previous enhancements combined, yet only adds one more point, lacking cost-effectiveness. Only the rich players who don't care about cost-effectiveness pursue the gap.
He didn't have much money; in the five months at the Martial Hall, his elder brother secretly sent three hundred cents, plus he earned two hundred cents from doing odd jobs, totaling only five hundred cents.
He had to stretch every penny to make two.
Not eating beef, relying on being full and practicing the Warm Sun Fist, could still increase Qi Blood by 2 points a day.
The Martial Hall's six-month assessment requirement was to reach two hundred pounds of strength.
This world didn't have precise Qi Blood measuring instruments, so the assessment of a student's Qi Blood was inferred from their strength.
The target for the six-month assessment at the Martial Hall was two hundred pounds of strength.
When Lin Chen entered the Martial Hall, his Qi Blood was 500 points, and his strength was one hundred pounds. From the changes in the panel's Qi Blood value and strength, he deduced the data.
5 points of Qi Blood = 1 pound of strength.
To meet the Martial Hall's assessment requirements, his Qi Blood had to reach one thousand.
Five months had passed, and he was still two hundred points short of a thousand Qi Blood.
The reason for enduring without eating beef until now was his plan based on observing the increase in strength of Gu Fei and other students.
In this cohort from Linhu Village, including himself, there were four students, and when they entered the Martial Hall, everyone's strength was around one hundred pounds, indicating not much difference in Qi Blood value.
Gu Fei started eating beef daily in the third month, while the other two began a month earlier. The beef consumption to reach two hundred pounds was fifty pounds more for those two compared to Gu Fei.
Eating beef a month later, given their age, the natural Qi Blood growth would be 60 points more in a month, equivalent to an increase of 12 pounds of strength.
Fifty pounds of beef for an increase of 12 pounds of strength?
Lin Chen thought it wasn't that simple; he eventually made another judgment after observing other students.
The higher one's Qi Blood, the stronger the organs' food digestion capabilities.
This wasn't difficult to understand; high Qi Blood indicates a strong body, thus a pound of beef's nutrients could be completely digested, whereas with slightly lower Qi Blood, the nutrients from a pound of beef might only be absorbed at seventy or eighty percent.
Therefore, the more you delay consumption, the more Qi Blood you'll gain from eating beef.
It was this inference that made him hold off on eating beef until now.
Lin Chen believed he wasn't the only one to figure this out; surely there were past students who discovered this too.
But discovering it is different from being able to wait.
At fifteen, who wouldn't have some vanity when seeing other students start eating beef early and reaching two hundred pounds of strength, basking in the envious eyes of peers.
How many could resist comparing?
They might not compete with the wealthy, but facing those from the same village or dormitory, seeing them eat meat, how could they remain indifferent?
They might even suffer doubt and some sarcastic comments.
Not everyone has, like him, lived two lives, nor do they possess a golden finger or visual panels.
...
...
Early the next morning.
On the Martial Arts Arena, while Lin Chen and the others were practicing their punches, cheers suddenly erupted from the neighboring class.
Lin Chen looked in that direction and saw a student standing beside Instructor Chen, expressionless, but the slightly upturned corners of his mouth revealed his inner emotion.
"Comparing oneself can drive one mad. We're still striving to reach three hundred pounds of strength, but he's already surpassed five hundred pounds."
Gu Fei looked envious, and Lin Chen also recognized this young man.
Lu Yongfeng!
The top genius of their cohort.
More accurately, he was the wealthiest.
If Lin Chen was known for being frugal, then Lu Yongfeng was renowned as a tycoon.
On the first day at the Martial Hall, he was eating beef every meal. When Gu Fei and the others started eating beef, he had already begun drinking Qi Nourishing Soup.
If many students could still afford beef, the Qi Nourishing Soup was the true luxury item.
One hundred cents per portion made any student's heart tremble at purchase.
"If you're angry enough to die, should I just drop dead on the spot?"
He hasn't even tasted beef at the Martial Hall. Who can he complain to?
"True, we can't compare to them. They aim to cultivate Essence Qi within a year, while we'd be doing pretty well if we manage it in two years." Gu Fei patted Lin Chen on the shoulder: "Chen, it's a good thing you're here."
"Get lost!"
Knowing what Gu Fei was about to say, Lin Chen brushed his hand off with an annoyed expression. Wasn't he just implying that having someone like him at the bottom gave them a sense of pride?
Looking at Lu Yongfeng, he was puzzled. Was it really so simple that the guy wanted to cultivate Essence Qi within a year and enter the county's Martial Hall for free?
The Martial Hall in the county had a policy: students who cultivate Essence Qi within a year could have their tuition waived. If done within two years, they could enroll by paying ten taels of silver. Cultivating it in the third year would require twenty taels. Beyond three years, there was no chance of entering the Martial Hall.
Most students at the Martial Hall were well aware of their limits and aimed to cultivate Essence Qi within two years.
The amount Lu Yongfeng wasted at the Martial Hall was already more than twenty taels. Saying he was trying to save on Martial Hall fees didn't quite add up.
Perhaps he just had money to burn and was pursuing some vanity and face at the Martial Hall, not caring about spending extra.
While Lin Chen was deep in thought, Instructor Yu, standing at the front, spoke up: "At the end of this month, there will be a Martial Hall evaluation. Those who can't lift two hundred pounds will have to leave the school."
Yu Yongnian's words shifted the gaze of the boys in the class from Lu Yongfeng in the neighboring class to Lin Chen.
Lin Chen: ...
The Martial Hall had a total of three instructors, divided into three classes, with each class having twenty students.
In Lin Chen's class, there were only four who hadn't yet managed to lift two hundred pounds, but the other three weren't very far off. Only Lin Chen lagged behind by forty pounds.
"Lin Chen, come with me."
Today, Yu Yongnian did not sit on the side, watching the students practice punches like usual, but directly called Lin Chen's name.
"Chen." Gu Fei looked at Lin Chen with some concern. In his view, Instructor Yu must be dissatisfied with Lin Chen and calling him privately might lead to a reprimand.
"It's fine."
Lin Chen gave Gu Fei a reassuring look, disregarding the expressions of the other students, and quickly stepped up to follow Instructor Yu.
Based on his five-month observation of this Instructor Yu, he knew Instructor Yu wasn't calling him out for criticism.
...
...
The backyard of the Martial Hall.
The small courtyard where Yu Yongnian resided.
"Five months into the Martial Hall, you haven't eaten a single beef meal at the cafeteria, only the free meals... Lin Chen, you've even surprised me a bit."
Yu Yongnian looked at Lin Chen, not intending to criticize him, but curious about this penny-pinching student, the first in the history of the Martial Hall.
Logically speaking, boys from Linhu Village didn't need to pay tuition. Compared to other students, that was already saving ten taels of silver. They couldn't possibly come to the Martial Hall without bringing any money.
That's not learning martial arts, it's taking advantage of the Martial Hall's meals.
But from what he saw, Lin Chen wasn't just there for free meals. Over the past five months, he'd been observing who among his students was diligent or lazy.
Lin Chen wasn't the most diligent in the class but definitely ranked in the top three.
"Instructor, besides me, there's my older cousin who's also learning martial arts at home and has been doing so for more than two years. The family doesn't have much silver for me to learn martial arts. The fact that I could come to the Martial Hall was something I fought hard for..."
Facing the instructor, Lin Chen did not hide and explained his family situation directly.
Yu Yongnian had no change in expression after hearing it. He had seen this situation many times at the Martial Hall.
The cost of learning martial arts is not small. Most families can't afford two children learning martial arts. Lin Chen's grandfather was just waiting for him to be eliminated from the Martial Hall in six months.
But his eldest cousin, after two and a half years, still hadn't cultivated Essence Qi. It's unlikely he'd reach any significant level either.
"Since you have an agreement with your grandfather, shouldn't you strive to reach two hundred pounds as soon as possible? Are you giving up?"
"I haven't given up," Lin Chen shook his head. "Instructor, you once said, the more you rush the Martial Path, the more you have to spend. I'm just taking it slow."
"Taking it slow?"
Yu Yongnian's mouth twitched slightly. What he meant was to advise students not to waste too much money for comparison's sake, but he didn't mean to progress so slowly.
"I will buy beef this month to speed up the growth of my Qi Blood," Lin Chen promised.
"Hmm."
Seeing that the instructor had nothing else to instruct, Lin Chen spoke up to leave. Yu Yongnian nodded slightly: "Go ahead."
...
...
Cafeteria!
When Lin Chen was seen standing at the beef counter, only a few students noticed at first. But as these students discussed it, the entire cafeteria turned their attention, including Lu Yongfeng's group at the first table on the left.
"Am I seeing things? The most frugal guy in Kaohe Town Martial Hall history is actually deciding to buy beef today?"
"End of youth."
"What does that mean?"
"It means the end of an era. I don't know who said it, but it sounds catchy, so I remembered it."
"What's the occasion today for Lin Chen to suddenly buy beef?"
"I heard it's because Instructor Yu called Lin Chen to the courtyard. I think Lin Chen got a scolding from Instructor Yu and then came to buy beef."
"Senior Brother Lu, when you first bought the Qi Nourishing Soup, it wasn't this sensational."
At Lu Yongfeng's table, a young boy remarked with a smile upon witnessing the scene.
"Attention seeker."
Lu Yongfeng chuckled. To him, Lin Chen was from a completely different world. If someone couldn't even spare a little money, they were destined not to go far on the Martial Path.
PS: The release of a new book, seeking collections, recommendations. The main tone of this book is healing, positive, and uplifting…