"Big Bro, I'm telling you, in all of Black Mountain Prefecture, besides this place, there isn't a second spot where you can learn archery this cheap!"
"It's really only 20 copper coins?"
"Of course! Twenty copper coins for seven days. If you're not happy halfway through, I'll refund you the rest!"
A boy around fourteen or fifteen, looking a bit skeptical, followed Wang Heihou up to the house.
He stopped, taking in the surroundings.
The place was a dump, totally different from the fancy archery schools he'd imagined.
Wang Heihou was getting anxious, but there wasn't much he could do. Last time, he'd sweet-talked someone else into coming, but as soon as they saw the place, the guy hesitated too.
Panicking, Wang Heihou had grabbed the guy's hand to drag him inside, but the kid turned pale and bolted.
No way was he repeating that mistake.
But the boy was clearly about to bail.
Just then, someone stepped out from inside.
"Looking to learn archery?" Lu Chang'sheng smiled, blew warm air into his hand, acting like he didn't really care whether this kid stayed or left—just asking offhand.
The boy, for no reason, felt a little reassured. He nodded: "Can you really teach me archery here?"
"Come in and see for yourself! Inside, there's a bunch of kids, younger than you, learning archery and reading."
The boy nodded again.
Maybe Lu Chang'sheng was just convincing enough, so he followed them inside.
As soon as he stepped in, his eyes lit up.
The room wasn't big, but the way it was set up was totally unexpected.
One wall had papers with words neatly hung, and a little girl sat on the floor, carefully practicing her writing.
The other side had been cleared for archery practice, with a target pinned on the wall. A boy was drawing a bow and loosing arrows; one stuck in the mark, though a bit off center.
Lu Chang'sheng looked a little embarrassed, but brushed it off quickly. "That's Niu Dazhuang—he just started, hasn't learned much archery yet!"
He walked over, took the bow and arrow, and fired a dead-on shot into the target.
The boy's eyes widened a bit.
"If I learn, can I get that good too?"
"Depends on your talent. But even if you're not gifted, as long as you know the tricks, and keep practicing at home, you'll get there eventually!"
Lu Chang'sheng replied.
He thought about doing the full sales pitch he'd used in his past life, but realized that stuff was basically just scams. If he said the wrong thing to the wrong person, they'd probably come at him with a knife—and then it'd be too late for regrets.
Soon enough, the boy handed over his money.
Lu Chang'sheng didn't pay any mind to the look of excitement on Wang Heihou's face, just nodded calmly and said to the kid, "You can start training tomorrow!"
After the boy left, the four of them sat on the floor, staring at the twenty copper coins laid out in front of them. For a second, it actually felt like their hard times were finally ending.
"Chang'sheng! Did we really pull it off?" Wang Heihou gulped.
The other two weren't much better!
"We did!" Lu Chang'sheng let out a long breath.
They'd been in Black Mountain Prefecture for over two weeks, nearly broke, and this was their first payday!
"The future's looking up!"
That night, they splurged—a whole extra steamed bun for dinner.
While they ate, they had Lu Chang'sheng pull out the twenty copper coins just so they could admire them. Lu Chang'sheng joked, "I've got other copper coins too! Once they're all mixed up, how could you even tell which ones were those twenty?"
But as soon as he laid them out on their lone table, Li Nangua pointed right at the exact twenty and said seriously, "It's these twenty! I remember the feel of them!"
"You part dog or something?" Wang Heihou shot her a glance, but his eyes were glued to the coins just the same.
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The next morning, Lu Chang'sheng got up early to practice archery.
Not long after, the boy came by for his lesson.
Lu Chang'sheng wasn't nervous at all. He'd spent all this time teaching the other three, so he had his methods down.
Unlike Zhang Village's teaching style, he really laid out all his experience, no holding back.
He wanted every kid who came through his door to walk away better than they came in!
If word got out, more students would come and he'd sleep better at night.
"Business needs a bottom line, after all!"
Just like that, seven days flew by.
The boy left grinning.
It wasn't that he'd become some archery master, but he'd learned the knack. Now, with more practice at home, he'd improve for sure!
Of course, learning archery's not that simple. Without an experienced teacher, progress would always be way slower.
"He's got some talent, at least," Lu Chang'sheng thought aloud, reflecting on his own path.
Just as he turned to head back inside, Wang Heihou came over, leading two guys in their early twenties.
After that first success, it was like a switch flipped in Wang Heihou's head. These two were proof it worked.
And sure enough, it did!
Lu Chang'sheng, already a pro, brought them inside, and with the room looking nicer than most, the pair figured they'd give it a shot and handed over their silver coins.
The next day, they didn't even think about asking for a refund. Lu Chang'sheng's teaching method just—clicked for them.
The money was well spent!
They stopped doubting this kid's skill and age for good.
······
Whenever he had some spare time, Lu Chang'sheng squeezed in trips to Ma Xuncai's place to study reading and writing.
But he didn't go too often—gotta prioritize earning money, and extra trips would burn through their limited stash quick!
Plus, as much as he liked studying, what he really wanted was to make money and get into the Martial Arts Hall, train up and get strong!
Your body's your real capital!
Second day of Great Yuan Calendar!
Light snow!
"So, the past few weeks, we brought in twenty people. One got five copper back, so our total take is 395 copper coins!"
"Expenses are two copper per person each day, four of us is eight copper a day. Profit's... 235 copper!"
Wang Heihou and the others sat on the floor, watching Lu Chang'sheng work the numbers.
Their breathing grew a little shaky.
Lu Chang'sheng felt lighter—over these twenty days, they'd scrimped as much as possible, eating only two buns a day.
Now there was a glimmer of hope. At least they wouldn't starve this winter.
Next up: splitting the earnings. Lu Chang'sheng knew this was when most partners started falling out—if the split wasn't fair, resentment built up, and sooner or later, the partnership broke up.
Luckily, he'd thought ahead. Every expense was carefully logged; sometimes he'd even show the records to the others.
The other three, having seen him do this, picked up some basic words, so they could kind of follow the numbers.
Still, they mostly just trusted Lu Chang'sheng and never tried to double check everything.
The four of them talked it through and settled on splitting a hundred copper coins now, saving the other 135 for emergencies.
Lu Chang'sheng had planned to count the cost of bows and arrows into his share, but the other three refused.
Wang Heihou even thumped his chest: "Chang'sheng, forget it! A few dozen coins is nothing. We all know, without your idea, there's no way we'd have survived here. Let the past be the past! That way you can work without worry."
Lu Chang'sheng didn't argue.
Bow and arrow money didn't bother him, but he was still gonna pay Wang Heihou back for the loan eventually.
Right now, though, what he really needed was to save up for martial arts training; the debt could wait.
"Ten taels of silver, one tael is a thousand copper coins… At this rate…"
Lu Chang'sheng did a quick calculation and realized it would take way too long, so he decided to drop it.
"Clearly, we need more ways to make money!" he thought.
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