I Only Know How to Bully Noobs

Chapter 16: Ungrateful

"Why were those people so afraid of you?"

After closing the door, Chen Rui found it hard to understand and couldn't help but ask his younger brother.

During the day, those men had still been so arrogant. When they left, they still looked unconvinced.

How did they become so submissive by nightfall?

They even knelt at their door, begging for forgiveness.

Chen Ming explained, "They weren't afraid of me. They were afraid of Master Huo."

In Qingfeng City, the Giant Tiger Gang was the largest gang, and apart from it, there wasn’t any other significant power.

That Old Ghost Xiao from the Wanli Gambling House was just a scumbag loan shark, bullying common folk at most. If he provoked a real martial artist, he’d have been wiped out long ago.

Huo Chengkun was a well-known figure in Qingfeng City.

He had been famous for decades and had seven disciples who were all recognized martial artists, with dozens of registered disciples under his name.

Although he had never formally founded a sect, he was a power that no one could ignore.

Old Ghost Xiao probably thought that Chen Ming was a registered disciple of Huo Chengkun.

That was why he was so scared, sending his men to apologize and admit fault.

In reality, if Chen Ming were to reveal his strength as a martial artist now, he could also make Old Ghost Xiao bow his head.

Chen Rui let out a long breath and said with relief, "Sending you to study martial arts under Master Huo back then was truly the right decision."

"But—"

He was still a bit worried. "Wasn’t that a bit too much? Offending the Wanli Gambling House so harshly—won’t that be a lingering threat in the future?"

As a businessman, he valued harmony for the sake of making money.

Seeing his younger brother act so aggressively earlier made him genuinely anxious.

Chen Ming smiled and said, "Brother, your advice is right. Let me think of a way to eliminate this threat."

Chen Rui breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Yes, just arrange a meeting with someone from the Wanli Gambling House and talk things out. It’ll be fine once it’s clear."

Chen Ming changed the topic and handed over the box in his hand. "Take this money. If it’s not enough, let me know."

Chen Rui didn’t refuse.

There was no need for the two brothers to be overly formal.

…

Back in his room, Chen Rui heard the maid animatedly recounting how the second young master had looked so imposing, and how those villains had slapped themselves across the face.

Madam Wei and Chen Lide were listening with eyes shining.

Even the nanny holding Chen Lirong had a look of pride on her face.

Hongmei only shut her mouth when she saw the eldest young master enter.

"You all may leave now."

Chen Rui dismissed them, and once only his wife remained, he opened the box and took out two heavy silver ingots, placing them before her. He said, "You’ve worked hard during this time. From now on, there’s no need to be so frugal."

Madam Wei stared at the bright silver in the box, her eyes going wide. "This… did those villains send this?"

"Mm. About one thousand taels."

"Uncle is really impressive now," Madam Wei murmured. Then she seemed a bit confused. "Then why was he so downtrodden before at Jin Yuansheng…"

She had wanted to say 'cowardly', but felt embarrassed to voice it.

Chen Rui was also puzzled. He felt that his younger brother had changed a lot after coming out of prison.

Of course, they hadn’t had much contact in recent years—only meeting twice a year. He actually didn’t know his brother very well.

He reminded her, "Remember, don’t bring up the past in front of Erlang again."

No matter what, that shameful past was definitely not something Erlang would want to recall.

Madam Wei tightly held the two large silver ingots—worth a full hundred taels—and nodded firmly. "I understand."

No matter what uncle had been like before, now he was the pillar of their household.

…

At this time, Chen Ming had returned to his room. He lit an oil lamp on the table and began pondering the future.

The first realm of martial arts was called the Tendons and Bones Realm, marked by the resonance of tendons and bones.

It was known as the Ninth Grade Martial Artist.

He was now more than ten times stronger than before.

Without reaching this realm, one could never imagine how powerful a recognized martial artist could be.

"First, I need to find a cultivation technique."

He had already reached mastery in the Iron Horse Stance.

There was no further room for improvement there.

This wouldn't be easy.

Cultivation techniques weren’t something just anyone would casually teach.

With Huo Chengkun’s cautious and suspicious personality, he likely wouldn’t accept him as a disciple.

The main issue was that there were too many doubts surrounding him. His aptitude was clearly average, yet his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, which would inevitably raise suspicions.

After thinking for a long time, he still couldn’t come up with a good solution. He could only take things step by step.

However, he still had to continue going to the Huo Residence. He needed to keep grinding experience points.

"As for the breakthrough, I’d better not spread the word for now."

Chen Ming thought to himself.

He had wanted to break through quickly and become a martial artist mainly to resolve his family’s crisis.

He hadn’t expected this incident to occur, resulting in an unexpected fortune that should be enough to get his family through this tough time.

Therefore, it was best to keep a low profile.

Once he made up his mind, Chen Ming blew out the oil lamp and went to bed.

In the following days, Chen Ming did not go to the Huo Residence and stayed home to stabilize his cultivation.

Since he had just broken through, he couldn’t help but reveal some sharpness, which made it easy for others to notice. He needed to settle for a few days.

…

Meanwhile, over at the Huo Residence—

Inside Huo Qianqian’s boudoir, she was dressed in a lake-green martial outfit, pacing around the room anxiously.

Only when the footsteps of the maid Chunmei sounded outside the door did she quickly rush to open it and ask urgently, "Well? Did he come?"

"No."

Huo Qianqian was deeply disappointed and slumped down on the bed, her delicate brows tightly furrowed. "Why hasn’t he come these past few days?"

Chunmei whispered, "I heard there’s some trouble at his house?"

Upon hearing that, Huo Qianqian quickly asked, "What happened?"

But Chunmei hesitated to speak.

"Oh, come on, just tell me already! You’re killing me here."

"Miss, Young Master Wen has been back for two days now. He even brought you a gift especially, and you’re not even willing to meet him once. Yet you’re spending all day asking about another man…"

Chunmei spoke timidly.

Huo Qianqian was stunned at first, then flew into a rage. "What nonsense are you spouting? You even dare gossip about me now, huh? Want a beating?"

She raised her hand as if to strike.

Chunmei pleaded repeatedly, "Miss, I won’t dare again…"

But Huo Qianqian wasn’t ready to forgive her yet. She hit her several times on the arm before finally venting her anger. "From now on, don’t ever mention that Wen fellow in front of me again."

"Okay."

Chunmei replied in a grievance-filled tone.

"Now, tell me. What exactly happened at his house?"

"Well… I only heard it from others, but it seems his family is arranging a marriage for him."

"What—?"

As Huo Qianqian was caught in a daze, a voice came from outside.

"Qianqian, open up. I came to see you!"

Chunmei, seeing that her mistress wasn’t responding, softly reminded her, "It’s the seventh young miss from the Zhang family."

Zhang Xinyi, the seventh young miss of the Zhang family, was Huo Qianqian’s close friend.

She was also Chen Ming’s former fiancée.

Huo Qianqian said softly, "Go open the door."

…

Zhang Xinyi was seventeen this year, delicate and charming, wearing a light apricot-colored long dress. Once she entered the room, she immediately took Huo Qianqian’s hand and asked in surprise, "Qianqian, why are you dressed like this?"

"I was about to go train. Why are you here?"

Zhang Xinyi said with a touch of melancholy, "I’m about to get married. I wanted to come see you before the wedding."

"So soon?"

Huo Qianqian couldn’t help frowning. "You just broke off the engagement with the Chen family, and now you’re marrying someone else right away? Is that appropriate?"

Zhang Xinyi said sorrowfully, "It’s my father’s order. What can I do?"

Huo Qianqian sneered, "Your father is really a snob. I heard that back in the day, Chen Ming’s father saved your grandfather’s life. That’s why your two families arranged the engagement. But once Chen Ming fell into trouble, your family immediately turned their backs on him and broke off the engagement without a second thought. Now you’re rushing to marry someone else—it’s truly disgraceful."

Zhang Xinyi felt extremely uncomfortable.

Though she knew everything Huo Qianqian said was true, being criticized to her face about her father was too much to bear.

She couldn’t help defending him, "My father had his own difficulties."

Huo Qianqian looked even more contemptuous. "Hah, ‘difficulties’? Do those two words justify such an ungrateful act?"

"Huo Qianqian!"

Zhang Xinyi grew angry. "How can you speak that way about my father?"

"Hmph, if your father dares to do such things, he shouldn’t be afraid of people talking about it. I’m telling you now—your Zhang family will regret this one day."

"You—"

Zhang Xinyi was both hurt and aggrieved.

She never expected her friend to speak so harshly.

She couldn’t bear to stay any longer.

Covering her face with her hand, she turned and left.