Gu Fei's goodwill was something Lin Chen naturally understood.
He was not the kind of person who was aloof or overly concerned with pride. The reason he hadn't accepted before was because he understood Gu Fei well.
If he had accepted early on, Gu Fei would definitely have bought extra beef every time. He couldn't keep mooching off Gu Fei's beef forever.
Gu Fei was from the same village as him, and his family circumstances weren't much better.
This time, he accepted Gu Fei's kindness not because of Zhang Tao's mockery, but because he was preparing to start eating beef himself.
Although he didn't have much money on him, beef at fifteen wen per jin wasn't something he absolutely couldn't afford at all.
He hadn't eaten it before because the time wasn't right yet.
On the first day he entered the martial hall, he had remembered something Instructor Yu had said.
"Learning martial arts—the more you pursue rapid results, the greater the cost."
This was not hard for Lin Chen, who had lived two lives, to understand.
A person's ability to absorb and digest nutrients has an upper limit.
The more one pursues the extreme of daily qi and blood growth, the higher the price paid.
For example, eating one jin of beef might increase qi and blood by 8 points. A second jin could still increase it by 8 points, but by the third jin, it might only provide 5 points, because the body's absorption and digestion would be saturated.
For students from wealthy families, they naturally didn't care about such waste. What they wanted was maximum effect.
It was like enhancing equipment in a game. Ordinary players stop at +9, because the cost of enhancing to +10 equals the total cost of all previous upgrades, yet the attribute only increases by 1 point—completely not cost-effective. Only wealthy players who spend heavily don't care about cost-efficiency; what they want is the gap.
He didn't have much money. Over these five months at the martial hall, his older brother had secretly sent him three hundred wen, and he himself had earned another two hundred wen doing odd jobs. Altogether, he only had five hundred wen.
Every single coin had to be split in two to spend.
Without eating beef, relying on simply eating enough and practicing Warm Sun Fist, his qi and blood could still increase by 2 points a day.
The martial hall's half-year assessment requirement was reaching two hundred jin of strength.
This world had no precise instruments to measure qi and blood, so judging a student's qi and blood was done by inferring it from strength.
The half-year assessment target was two hundred jin of strength.
When Lin Chen entered the martial hall, his qi and blood were 500 points, and his strength was one hundred jin. From the qi and blood values on his panel and the changes in strength, he derived the data.
5 points of qi and blood = 1 jin of strength.
To meet the martial hall's assessment requirement, his qi and blood needed to reach one thousand.
Five months had passed, and he was still two hundred points short of one thousand.
The reason he had endured until now without eating beef was also due to a plan he formulated after observing the growth in strength of Gu Fei and other students.
This cohort from Linhu Village had four students including himself. When they entered the martial hall, everyone's strength was around one hundred jin, so their qi and blood values were roughly similar.
Gu Fei started eating beef daily in the third month. The other two started a month earlier. Those two ended up consuming fifty jin more beef than Gu Fei to reach two hundred jin of strength.
Eating beef one month later—given their age-related natural qi and blood growth—would result in an extra 60 points of qi and blood in that month, which equated to 12 jin of strength.
Fifty jin of beef in exchange for 12 jin of strength?
Lin Chen felt it wasn't that simple. After observing other students further, he arrived at another conclusion.
The higher one's qi and blood, the stronger the body's organs are at digesting food.
This wasn't difficult to understand. High qi and blood meant a stronger body. Eating the same one jin of beef, he could absorb all of its nutrients, whereas someone with lower qi and blood might have a weaker body and only absorb seventy to eighty percent.
Therefore, the later it was, the more qi and blood one would gain from eating beef.
It was precisely because of this inference that he had endured until now without eating beef.
Lin Chen believed he wasn't the only one to have figured this out. There must have been students in previous generations who discovered it as well.
But discovering it was one thing—could they really endure waiting?
At fifteen years old, how could one not have vanity? Seeing other students start eating beef early, reaching two hundred jin of strength early, and enjoying the envious looks of others—
How many could avoid comparison?
Even if they couldn't compare to those from wealthy families, when facing villagers or dormmates, watching them eat meat, could they really remain unmoved?
And on top of that, endure doubt and sarcastic mockery.
Not everyone was like him—having lived two lives, possessing a golden finger, and even a visualized panel.
…
…
Early the next morning.
While Lin Chen and the others were practicing punches on the training grounds, cheers suddenly erupted from the neighboring class.
Following the sound, Lin Chen looked over and saw a student standing beside Instructor Chen, his face expressionless, yet the slight upward curve of his lips betrayed his true emotions.
"Comparing people really makes you mad. We're still struggling toward three hundred jin, while he's already passed the five hundred jin threshold."
Gu Fei looked envious. Lin Chen also recognized the youth.
Lu Yongfeng!
The number one genius of their cohort.
More accurately, the number one in financial backing.
If Lin Chen was famously stingy, then Lu Yongfeng was famously wealthy.
From the first day he entered the martial hall, he ate beef at every meal. By the time Gu Fei and the others started eating beef, Lu Yongfeng had already begun drinking Nourishing Qi Soup.
If beef was still affordable for many students, then Nourishing Qi Soup was a true luxury.
One hundred wen per dose—most students' hearts trembled just thinking about buying it.
"If you're going to die of anger, then shouldn't I just collapse on the spot and stop living right now?"
He hadn't even eaten beef yet. Who was he supposed to complain to?
"True, we can't compare with him. He's aiming to cultivate refined qi within a year. If we can do it within two years, that'll already be very good." Gu Fei patted Lin Chen on the shoulder. "Chen, it's good that you're here."
"Get lost!"
Knowing what Gu Fei was about to say, Lin Chen slapped his hand away irritably. It was nothing more than saying that having him, the bottom-ranked one, made them feel a bit of vanity.
Looking at Lu Yongfeng, Lin Chen felt some doubt. Was the other party really doing all this just to cultivate refined qi within a year and enter the county martial hall for free?
The county martial hall had rules: if a martial hall student cultivated refined qi within one year, the tuition fee would be waived. If within two years, paying ten taels of silver would suffice. If refined qi was achieved in the third year, it would cost twenty taels. After three years, there would be no chance to enter the martial hall.
Most students in the martial hall were self-aware and aimed for cultivating refined qi within two years.
The extra money Lu Yongfeng spent at the martial hall alone exceeded twenty taels. Saying it was to save on tuition didn't quite add up.
Perhaps he was simply rich, pursuing vanity and face at the martial hall, not caring about spending more.
While Lin Chen was lost in thought, Instructor Yu at the front spoke up.
"At the end of this month, there will be a martial hall evaluation. Those whose strength has not reached two hundred jin will leave the academy."
Yu Yongnian's words shifted the class's attention from Lu Yongfeng in the neighboring class to Lin Chen.
Lin Chen: …
There were three instructors in the martial hall, dividing the students into three classes of twenty each.
In Lin Chen's class, only four students had yet to reach two hundred jin. The other three weren't far off—only Lin Chen was still forty jin short.
"Lin Chen, come with me."
Today, Yu Yongnian didn't sit on a chair watching the students practice as usual. He directly called out Lin Chen's name.
"Chen." Gu Fei looked at Lin Chen with concern. In his view, Instructor Yu must be dissatisfied with Lin Chen and was calling him aside for a private scolding.
"It's fine."
Lin Chen gave Gu Fei a reassuring look and, ignoring the other students' expressions, quickly stepped forward to follow behind Instructor Yu.
Based on his five months of observation, Instructor Yu was definitely not the type to scold him.
…
…
The rear courtyard of the martial hall.
Yu Yongnian's small residence.
"Five months in the martial hall, not a single meal of beef in the canteen, only free food the whole time… Lin Chen, you really surprised me."
Yu Yongnian looked at Lin Chen. He wasn't criticizing him, but rather felt curious about this stingiest student in the martial hall's history.
Logically speaking, Linhu Village youths didn't have to pay tuition, saving ten taels compared to other students. There was no way he had come without even a single coin.
That wouldn't be learning martial arts—that would be outright freeloading the martial hall's food.
Yet observing Lin Chen, it was clear he wasn't here just to mooch meals. Over these five months, Yu Yongnian had seen clearly who was diligent and who was lax.
Lin Chen wasn't the most diligent in the class, but he was definitely among the top three.
"Instructor, besides me, my family also has an older cousin learning martial arts, and he's already been training for over two years. There isn't much silver at home to support me learning martial arts. Being able to enter the martial hall was something I fought desperately for…"
Facing the instructor, Lin Chen didn't hide anything and directly explained his family situation.
Yu Yongnian's expression didn't change much after listening. He had seen such situations countless times at the martial hall.
The expenses of learning martial arts were high. Most families couldn't afford two children learning martial arts. He understood Lin Chen's grandfather's intentions clearly—waiting for Lin Chen to be eliminated after six months.
It was just that Lin Chen's older cousin, having trained for two and a half years without cultivating refined qi, likely wouldn't amount to much either.
"Since you have an agreement with your grandfather, shouldn't you reach two hundred jin as soon as possible? Have you given up?"
"I haven't given up," Lin Chen shook his head. "Instructor, you once said that the more one pursues rapid progress in martial arts, the greater the cost. I wanted to take it slowly."
"Slowly?"
Yu Yongnian's mouth twitched slightly. When he said that, he meant students shouldn't waste too much money out of comparison—not that they should be this slow.
"I will start buying beef this month to accelerate qi and blood growth," Lin Chen made his promise.
"Mm."
Seeing that the instructor had nothing else to say, Lin Chen asked to leave. Yu Yongnian gave a slight nod. "Go."
…
…
The canteen!
When Lin Chen appeared at the beef window, only a few students noticed at first. But as those few began discussing it, the entire canteen's attention turned toward him—including the table on the left where Lu Yongfeng sat.
"What am I seeing? The stingiest student in the history of Kaohe Town Martial Hall is actually willing to buy beef today?"
"My youth has ended."
"What does that mean?"
"It means youth is over. I don't know who said it, but it rolls off the tongue, so I remembered it."
"What day is it today? Why would Lin Chen suddenly be willing to buy beef?"
"I heard Instructor Yu called Lin Chen to the courtyard. I bet Lin Chen got scolded, so now he's buying beef."
"Senior Brother Lu, when you first bought Nourishing Qi Soup, it wasn't even this sensational."
At Lu Yongfeng's table, a youth laughed as he spoke.
"Attention-seeking."
Lu Yongfeng smiled faintly. In his view, he and Lin Chen were from completely different worlds. Someone who couldn't even bear to spend a little money was destined not to go far on the path of martial arts.