Bizarre Cultivation: Starting from Being Beaten Up by Reality

Chapter 3 Academy

Lin Fan stared intently at his 'mother'.

Lin Shuixiu has recently noticed a change in her son. Although it is said that a husband should obey his son after his death, her son has always been weak and still makes his own decisions.

In the past few days, my son has clearly become more and more opinionated.

Of course, the mother was happy; it would be wonderful if her son could support the family.

Lin Shuixiu was like a child who had done something wrong, unable to look her son in the eye.

"What can I do? The villagers say you've gone mad. They'll try to save you if you can, but if you can't, they'll just drown you in a pig cage. Do you think I'd risk your life for a single string of cash?"

Lin Fan remained silent; he knew it wasn't his mother's fault. One was an 'ancient person,' the other a woman—both limited in their understanding.

The atmosphere was silent for a moment.

The wealthy Lin could collect rent, pay grain, or pay money every year.

A few days ago, a traveling merchant offered a high price to buy grain, so Lin Fan decided to sell the surplus grain at home. This way, after paying the rent, he would still have one string of cash left. This would save him at least fifty coins compared to handing over the grain directly.

But now that they've all gone out, what are we going to do?

Even if we sell all of next year's food rations, we can only scrape together half a string of cash at most.

"Waaah, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have disobeyed my parents and insisted on marrying that damned father of yours."

Lin Shuixiu had already started wiping away tears. No matter what happened, she would always complain about the man who had abandoned her and her child.

Lin Fan gently patted his mother's shoulder to comfort her.

Lin Shuixiu sobbed, "Xiao Fan, it's alright. Mom is getting old, it's the same for me to work at Lin the Rich Man's house. But you'll have to take good care of the crops in the fields from now on."

If they couldn't pay the rent, their only option was for one of them to sell himself into servitude to the landlord, Mr. Lin.

"Mom, don't say that. There will always be a way."

"It's all his fault! If that damned bastard hadn't disappeared, how could you have been possessed!"

Lin Shuixiu began cursing her missing husband again, as if she were going crazy.

It took her a long time to calm down. Looking at Lin Fan, she felt extremely uncomfortable.

She always felt that her stubborn choice back then led to her son having to grow up in such a family.

Even in modern society, not having a father would lead to being looked down upon. Let alone in a world like the Great Qian, the absence of male offspring means almost no productivity in the family; the fact that she was able to raise Lin Fan is already the result of countless strokes of luck.

"correct."

After calming down, Lin Shuixiu quickly changed the subject.

"Your third uncle said he's going to the county town tomorrow to do carpentry work, and he asked if you wanted to come along and help out?"

……

Before dawn, Lin Fan got into his third uncle's swaying oxcart.

There were several other people traveling with him, and they all consciously kept their distance from this fatherless and possessed plague-ridden creature.

Lin Fan recalled his mother's words.

"Six copper coins a day, no meals provided, and extra bonuses for good performance."

"They say it's a 5-day job, which isn't great. It's up to you whether you go or not."

"Where are you going to work? I heard it's called an academy, right?"

Five days later was the day the landlord would come to collect the rent.

The income of fifty coins was actually not bad, but it was just a drop in the bucket for Lin Fan's family's predicament. Lin Fan's mind was in turmoil, and he couldn't think of any solutions, even though he had once been a knowledgeable modern person.

There's nothing you can do about things that can't be helped.

Lin Fan knew why his mother wanted to send him away. If she looked at him, she would keep thinking about that man and constantly blame herself.

So, even though the mother and son only had a few days left to spend together, the mother sent him away instead.

My mother might feel better if I leave for a few days.

Lin Fan wasn't worried about his mother doing anything impulsive. After all, if his mother were gone, Lin Fan would have to go to the rich man's house to pay off his debts himself.

"Hey kid, I'm talking to you, tsk, I'm talking to you, Lin Fan!"

Lin Fan's thoughts were interrupted by a flippant voice. He didn't answer, but simply looked up at the person.

"Hey kid, I have some good news for you. It's great news for you. Our village's big landlord, Lin the Rich, has some peculiar tastes. He doesn't like young girls."

The bald boy paused here, looking at Lin Fan with a meaningful gaze.

"He likes handsome young men like you..."

"Hahaha……"

It seemed everyone on the horse-drawn cart was holding back laughter, but before he could finish speaking, a burst of laughter erupted.

These people had been wanting to tease Lin Fan with these words for a long time, and it was clear they had been holding back their laughter for a long time.

"Hey, you little rascal, I heard your family can't pay this year's rent. Why don't you sell your asshole?"

"Maybe in a few days, we'll have to call you Mrs. Rich Man!"

"Greetings, Madam Wealthy!"

"May you be well, Madam!"

Several kids sat there pretending to bow to Lin Fan.

The laughter grew even louder.

Lin Fan stared coldly at the bald boy, but he wasn't actually looking at him.

He wondered if this was true, and whether he should persuade his mother to let him become a serf in a landlord's household.

If life is only bad and worse, then he wants his mother to have a better life.

Even though she's only someone I've known for seven days, she's still my only family.

The laughter gradually subsided, and the atmosphere even became awkward.

They wanted to see Lin Fan get angry and embarrassed, to see him lose his temper, or even just panic or turn red in the face.

But Lin Fan was too calm, and didn't even look directly at the bald boy.

However, the bald boy had clearly misunderstood him.

"You little bastard who sells his ass, what's with that look in your eyes!"

The bald boy was clearly the leader of the group of kids. He had led the bullying of Lin Fan but had not achieved the desired effect, so he needed to assert his authority.

He stood up on the swaying oxcart, and the others followed suit.

They were about the same age as Lin Fan, just teenagers.

The bald boy swung his fist at Lin Fan's face.

puff.

Lin Fan dodged his punch and slammed his right hook into his face.

Lin Fan wasn't particularly angry that this person had humiliated him. But since the person was still going to attack, there was no point in tolerating it.

Moreover, Lin Fan had nowhere to vent his pent-up anger.

Lin Fan pounced on him, straddled him, and started hitting him in the face.

The people on this bus are all skinny boys who don't usually have enough to eat, and their physical condition is about the same.

There were also a few older people who just watched the show from the sidelines.

His companions also punched Lin Fan. But Lin Fan ignored them and just targeted one of them. Since Lin Fan was hitting his face, they were hitting his back, which was definitely more unbearable for the bald guy.

"Stop it, all of you! If you don't want to work, get off the bus and go back to your village!"

The third uncle, who was driving the oxcart, shouted at the front, and his loud voice immediately silenced everyone. The others on the oxcart stopped immediately.

Lin Fan punched the bald man twice more before reluctantly getting off him and sitting back in his original seat.

Lin Fan grinned at the group of teenagers, and they all stepped back to give him more space.

He clenched his fists a few times, which calmed Lin Fan down a bit.

He felt pain all over his body; his back, which had just been slapped by the bronze sword and was covered in blood, had been hit by many more punches.

But suddenly I felt a real sense of being alive again.

Yes, if life beats you down, why not fight back?

Lin Fan looked at his small fist, chuckled, and gave up again. This damned world never gives me a chance to throw a punch.

……

Lin Fan glanced at the plaque, and his third uncle told him that it was called "Shenmu Academy".

Ah, Mother was right, it really is "some kind of academy".

After a day's ride in an oxcart, it was already evening when they arrived at the academy. Everyone slept on the floor in a large room all night, and the next day, they started working as soon as the rooster crowed.

Carpenters are divided into junior and senior workers. Lin Fan was naturally a junior worker, and the senior workers did whatever they were told to do.

Lin Fan was sawing wood in a side room of the academy.

There were many calligraphy copybooks hanging on the wall. Lin Fan didn't recognize the characters in this world; they were square characters, but different from those in his original world. Moreover, the original owner of this body was also illiterate.

"This handwriting is really bad." But as long as it's Chinese characters, the standard for good or bad is probably the same.

The bald boy, whose face was still bearing injuries, heard Lin Fan say this.

He scoffed under his breath, "Oh, so this little rascal knows all this stuff?"

However, after Lin Fan glanced at him, he immediately moved far away.

Of course I understand! My calligraphy has won provincial awards before.

Lin Fan mocked himself inwardly.

What's the point of knowing all this?