My Home's Ancient Well Connects to the Martial Arts World

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Fighting

Zhu Dazhuang was Ye Xing’s middle school classmate. When he was a child, a high fever from a serious illness left him a bit slow-witted, making him seem rather dull and simple. However, the guy had one great quality: he was extremely motivated. Even though his grades weren’t great, he loved to learn. And since Ye Xing happened to be the top student in their class, Zhu Dazhuang would often ask him for help. Over time, the two became good buddies.

CLANG! CRASH! BAM! BAM! BAM!

Ye Xing pushed open the main door and walked into the house. Inside, three men were tangled in a brawl, with tables and chairs overturned everywhere. One of them, a short and stocky man, was none other than Ye Xing’s good buddy, Zhu Dazhuang. He was being ganged up on by two muscular men. Although he managed to land a punch or two in return, he was generally getting the worst of it, his face already bruised and swollen.

”Stop!” Ye Xing shouted in a deep voice. ”If you don’t stop, I’m calling the police!”

The scene immediately fell silent. The two ferocious men turned their gazes toward Ye Xing.

”Who’s this kid, sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong! Watch out, or I’ll beat you up!” one of the muscular men sneered, walking toward Ye Xing. He reached out a large hand to grab Ye Xing’s collar.

”Axing, what are you doing here? Go, quickly! This has nothing to do with you. With your small frame, you’ll get hurt. Hurry up and leave,” Zhu Dazhuang said anxiously.

”Dazhuang, what happened? Who are these two?”

Watching the large hand reaching for his collar, Ye Xing’s eyes shifted. He reached out, grabbed the man’s arm, and then, with his five fingers forming a claw, squeezed hard and twisted.

”AHH, it hurts! Let go! You’re so strong, it’s killing me! My arm’s about to break! Let go!” the man howled miserably. His arrogant, sneering face was suddenly contorted in pain.

”Wude, how can you be so pathetic? You can’t even handle a scrawny kid,” the other man said, confused. He was clearly astonished that his partner couldn’t beat a young man.

”This kid is ridiculously strong! I can’t beat him! You think it’s so easy, you try it!” The man named Wu, whose arm was twisted ninety degrees by Ye Xing, was in so much pain he was half-kneeling on the ground, afraid to move. He feared that if Ye Xing applied even a little more pressure, his arm would actually snap.

”You’re just too useless. This kid looks all gentle and nerdy. You can tell with one look he’s some office worker who’s never worked out. How tough can he be? Fuck it, I’ll do it myself!” The other man rolled up his sleeves, swung a huge fist, and charged at Ye Xing, aiming a punch straight for his face.

The punch whistled through the air, clearly thrown with all his might.

”You’re asking to die!” A cold glint flashed in Ye Xing’s eyes. He threw a kick, a leg whip that slammed directly into the man’s waist and abdomen.

BAM!

With a loud bang, the man was sent flying by Ye Xing’s kick like a rag doll, crashing onto the ground more than two meters away.

These past few days, Ye Xing had been eating Demon Beast Meat for every meal. His constitution and strength had improved by leaps and bounds, far surpassing that of an ordinary person. These two mere thugs were truly no match for him.

”Axing, you... when did you get so strong?” Zhu Dazhuang blinked his bruised and swollen eyes, looking at Ye Xing in disbelief. In his memory, his good friend and classmate had always been a handsome, gentle, model student. When had he become so fierce?

”Who are they? Why were they hitting you?” Ye Xing asked.

”I... I took out a high-interest loan from their boss.” Zhu Dazhuang stammered, holding his bruised cheek. ”Before the New Year, my... my mom got sick and was hospitalized. She needed a lot of money for medical bills. I... I went and got a high-interest loan. And now, they’ve shown up demanding I pay them back. But I really don’t have the money, so they started smashing things in my house to force me to pay.”

Ye Xing’s gaze immediately swept toward the two men.

Terrified, the two men scrambled to get away, trying to run outside.

”Wait, stop!” Ye Xing shouted in a low voice.

The two men froze, saying nervously, ”Kid, you... don’t get too arrogant. Let me tell you, my... my big brother has dozens of guys working for him. You might be a good fighter, but...”

”Cut the crap. Tell me, how much does Dazhuang owe you?” Ye Xing said coolly.

”Huh?” The two men were momentarily stunned. When they realized what he meant, they were overjoyed and blurted out, ”Thirty-one thousand yuan!”

”Okay, come here tomorrow to get the money.” Ye Xing’s eyes flickered as he added, ”However, you smashed up Dazhuang’s things, so I’m knocking off the change. I’ll only give you thirty thousand.”

”Fine, no problem!” The two men were ecstatic. If they could get the money back, their mission would be complete. Besides, they had already made a lot from the high-interest loan. A thousand yuan short didn’t make much of a difference.

Nursing their aches and pains, the two men left Zhu Dazhuang’s house, delighted.

”Oh, Axing, you’ve really done it now!”

Watching the two men leave happily, Zhu Dazhuang said with a long face, ”Thirty thousand yuan tomorrow... where am I supposed to find thirty thousand yuan? This is killing me, sigh!”

”Don’t you worry about it. I’ll front the money for you tomorrow,” Ye Xing said.

”You’ll front it for me?” Zhu Dazhuang asked, puzzled. ”Your family just bought a new apartment in the county, how could you have any spare cash? I can’t let you lend me money.”

”I don’t need to borrow it. I’ve got tens of thousands in savings in the bank.”

”No way, where did you get that much money? Huh? Oh, right, there’s a rumor going around the village the last couple of days that the owner of Jinsheng Hotel wants to hire you as a chef for a high salary. Could that be true?” Zhu Dazhuang asked in astonishment.

”It’s true, but I didn’t take the job. You could say I have a partnership with Jinsheng Hotel,” Ye Xing said, his eyes flickering. ”By the way, Dazhuang, how much is your salary right now, roughly?”

”Not much. I just do odd jobs in the village. Maybe two or three thousand a month,” Zhu Dazhuang said dejectedly.

An idea struck Ye Xing. ”Dazhuang, how about this? I’m starting a small business. How about you come and help me out?”

”Sure! You’ve really made something of yourself, haha, even becoming a boss now.” Zhu Dazhuang laughed. ”Just let me know if you need help with anything. I’m just doing odd jobs anyway, so I’ve got plenty of free time.”

”Uh, if you come work for me, you won’t be able to get distracted with odd jobs anymore,” Ye Xing said. ”How about this: I’ll start you off with a salary of five thousand a month. Later, if profits are high, I’ll give you an extra bonus.”

”What? Five thousand!” Zhu Dazhuang exclaimed. ”What’s the job? I only have a middle school education. I’m afraid I can’t handle anything too complicated.”

”Haha, it’s very simple, not complicated at all. You just have to feed some fish and then deliver them to Jinsheng Hotel. That’s it,” Ye Xing said with a smile.

”Huh? It’s that simple?” Zhu Dazhuang blinked.

”Yep, it’s that simple!”

...

Night fell. A crescent moon hung high in the sky, its serene light spilling down, passing through the windowsill and into the room.

’I’ve been in Bilin Village for several days now. Today’s the last day of the holiday, and I have to go back to work tomorrow. Time really flies. It’s time to resign. I’m actually a little sad to leave,’ Ye Xing thought to himself as he lay in bed.

Ye Xing worked at a cultural publishing company in Luoxian County, and the atmosphere at the company was great. His boss was a good person, too. If it weren’t for needing to focus on his own business and not wanting to be distracted, Ye Xing really would have been reluctant to quit.