Translator: Kazeyuki_ Editor: Jimmy_
“Wushuang, you need to tell Father everything, of how Zhang Xian, second son of the Zhang family, threatened and lured you to the duel.”
Qin Lianshan was still angry at the Zhang family even though his son was alive. The Zhang family were part of the Prominent Class. Their class title was one level higher than the Humble Qin family. However, Qin Lianshan would never submit to them even if the Zhang family had higher social status than his family.
He kept his elderly grace before his children and hid his motive for grinding the spear. Beneath the facade, however, Qin Lianshan was burdened with a great hatred.
Wu Xinghe’s brain still contained some residue memories of how others had threatened Qin Wushuang and lured him to the duel. However, he had never intended to revisit that shameful memory.
Therefore, he spoke calmly: “Father, let’s not talk about the past. Let us look forward.”
Also, Wu Xinghe did not want to talk big and make empty promises. After all, it was not an appropriate time because he did lose the duel.
The Prominent Zhang family? Zhang Xian, second son of the Zhang family?
Wu Xinghe did not treat them as a dish (In Chinese, “to not treat them as a dish” meant that you did not care). It all became part of history when his predecessor, Qin Wushuang, feared them as if they were wolves. He only wanted to throw all these old histories into the garbage. On the other hand, Wu Xinghe did not care about these little details ever since he had reincarnated to this place.
What he wanted was to view the entire political outlook of the River County and Bai Yue Country.
“Look forward….” Qin Lianshan repeated the sentence. Then, he raised his head and looked at his son in surprise. His son, who was in front of him, somehow exhibited an entirely strange temperament.
If he were the usual Qin Wushuang that had an unusually extreme character, he would be filled with hatred and the determination for revenge. How was he able to appear at ease as if he had forgotten the shameful duel?
“Father, to look forward does not mean to throw away hatred.” After all, Wu Xinghe was a grandmaster of martial arts in previous life. He immediately saw through his father’s mind.
“But, hatred alone would not help us, the Qin family, to escape from this dilemma.”
Qin Lianshan’s mouth opened in surprise, wide enough to stuff a steam bun. Had his son spoken these words? It seemed that his level had been raised tremendously!
Could it be that after the fight, his son had finally matured and become smarter?
Although he was astonished, it did not prevent Qin Lianshan from sharing the same feelings with his son. Thus, he nodded and said: “Wushuang, you are right. We will look forward! From now on, you will stop attending the Martial Arts Academy! Starting from tomorrow, you will spend all your time training in our ancestor’s martial arts technique. Humph, I refuse to believe that the Qin family’s martial arts technique would not produce a Genuine Force Warrior! Generations ago, Our Qin family was part of the Wealthy Class. Right now, due to some exceptional circumstances, our family’s power has declined. However, our power has not dropped to the extent where others could do what they want!”
When he talked about the prestige of the family ancestors, Qin Lianshan’s tone carried some wildness and proudness. Among these characteristics, his tone was additionally mixed with an unknown feeling of stubbornness and determination.
Wu Xinghe could not help but share the same feelings as him when he heard Qin Lianshan’s words. The way that he also hated losing was the same as his personality from his previous life.
“That’s right, Wushuang. They will bully you again if you returned to the Martial Arts Academy. Why not just stay at Eastwood Town?” Qin Xiu immediately spoke as she rushed in.
A strange emotion traveled through Wu Xinghe’s heart when he received loving care from his family. This emotion triggered Wu Xinghe with the desire to protect the family. It also made him feel that he should contribute to this family.
Home, family love, and his sister were all regrets Wu Xinghe had had before his death in his previous life. Right now, he had received another chance to live again. God gifted him with this opportunity, whether it’d be sentiment or rationality, he had no reason to give up.
People are not vegetation, vulnerable to such emotions.
Wu Xinghe opened his mouth as he stopped thinking: “Father, let’s not make this decision in a hurry. If it would be a dragon, it would stir the ocean anywhere. If it would be a tiger, wouldn’t it be the king of any forest?”
These words made Qin Lianshan, and Qin Xiu, stare at each speechlessly. Apparently, they were too shocked by the significant change in “Qin Wushuang.”
Wu Xinghe knew that he had overdone it when he saw their reactions. He might have scared his family. After all, the real Qin Wushuang was way different from him.
Qin Xiu gave his father a look. Qin Lianshan immediately understood and said: “Wushuang, you are still recovering from a serious injury. You needed to rest more. It is late, and you must sleep first. As for the other matters, we will discuss them tomorrow morning.”
Right now, Wu Xinghe also wanted to be left alone to organize his thoughts.
He wanted to figure out the mysterious hatred between the Prominent Class Zhang family and the Qin family. Why had this hatred led the Zhang family to kill off the only heir of the Qin family?
This question was not hard to solve. Wu Xinghe understood everything after he had briefly organized his thoughts.
The roots of the problem originated with the families’ interests. The starting point of the problem was the national “Family Class Evaluation” session in four years!
If Qin Wushuang had died, the Qin family would have no heir!
Losing the male heir meant that the Qin family automatically lose its eligibility to participate in “Family Class Evaluation.” It means that after four years, the Qin family would lose the seat of nobility.
If the Qin family lost its aristocratic seat, the three or four thousand acres of fertilized land, one large oil mill, dozens of-of livestock farms, dozens of mu of fish pond and the twenty or thirty retail shops in Eastwood Town would all instantly be taken over.
Besides the economic loss, the worst part would be the loss of social status. In this world, a tough gully existed between the aristocrats and civilians.
Naturally, the nobilities would receive all the excellent benefits on their side of the gully. However, on the civilians’ side of the gully, many would not be able to touch even the slightest luxury benefits even if their families struggled for generations.
Therefore, if one wanted to change their destinies, they must first change their family’s status!
From his memory, and from the little details exhibited by people around him, Wu Xinghe fully felt that family background was crucial to surviving in this world.
After he had fully grasped this information, Wu Xinghe detected that the duel between Qin Wushuang and Zhang Xian was a conspiracy. This conspiracy was ninety-nine percent related to the “Family Class Evaluation”. Of course, they were after the huge inheritance of the Qin family.
In this world, everything operated around profits.
It seemed that this rule always worked perfectly regardless of the worlds or period.
Wu Xinghe felt somewhat sympathized with the Qin family after he understood everything. At the same time, Wu Xinghe became fully at ease with his new identity and he had also gained a deeper understanding of his role.
Families are crucial to helping you to survive in this world. Then, with his current identity as the “Qin family’s only heir,” whether he wanted or not, Wu Xinghe’s future would be tightly tied to this identity if he wanted to survive.
Of course, Wu Xinghe was not forced into it at all. If it were something he did not want to do, no matter how difficult the situations may be, nobody could force him.
He had gained a strong sense of identity with this family. He thought of his sister from his previous life when he first saw Qin Xiu.
This kind of love from sister to brother were the same in two periods!
In the previous life, he had not managed to protect his sister before his death. Therefore, in this world, what excuses would he have to repeat the same mistakes?
Currently, the Humble Qin family’s reputation had completely fallen. Wu Xinghe doubted that the Qin family would survive to the “Family Class Evaluation” session in four years if they did not regain some power.
Wu Xinghe was a grandmaster of martial arts in his previous life. In the Chinese society of his past life, the element of survival was very complicated. People adhered to the law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest.
He did not expect that the laws of the jungle were much more direct in this new world.
To Wu Xinghe who had always liked challenges, this situation gave him an eagerness and a chance to start from scratch. It also gave him a new motivation.
Wu Xinghe once again fell asleep with these new ideas and motivations.
Early next morning, his sister, Qin Xiu, wanted to help him wash his face as she had brought a large basin of water. Wu Xinghe did not resist and allowed his sister to wipe his face gently.
Suddenly, Wu Xinghe opened his eyes and said: “Sister, what is wrong with you?”
Qin Xiu was stunned, but then she immediately forced a smile and said: “I am ok.”
Wu Xinghe shook his head: “No way, sister has something on her mind.”
Qin Xiu’s beautiful face blushed but did not admit: “I am ok. Wushuang, you just focus on recovery. The sooner you recover, the sooner you can return to your training regime. You did not need to worry about the family matters.”
“Sister, tell me, what is going on? If you see me as your brother, then do not hide it from me.” He grabbed Qin Xiu’s sleeve and his eyes were cold, calm, and filled with a determination in which his sister could not refuse.
Caught in her brother’s gaze and with her hands held by him, Qin Xiu felt an invisible power. She teared up and said: “Yesterday, Bing from the farm land manor came over and reported some business. We talked about one hour inside the house. This morning, his body was sent to the front door…”
“How could this have happened?” Wu Xing He was dumbfounded. It seemed that the Qin family did indeed have many enemies.
“It’s that demon!” Qin Xiu became agitated and said, “That demon has tortured me for six years!”
“Demon?” It seemed there were no records of this matter in Qin Wushuang’s memory.
As tears dripped down her face, Qin Xiu said: “When I was twelve years old, that demon told me he liked me. He boasted that he would take me away after ten years and threatened Father to never marry me off. Also, he would not tolerate any other men to get close to me. Or else, when he returned to Eastwood Town after ten years, he would destroy the Qin family. Daddy was worried about your quick temper and never told you about this matter. Wushuang…”
Wu Xinghe was completely shocked. Wouldn’t this be the legendary case in which bandits stole the bride? Were there dictators in this world?
“What is the political background of that person?” Wu Xinghe was rather curious. He wanted to know if this person had three heads and six arms. Or did he come from the Royal Family?
Qin Xiu shook her head with sadness: “I don’t know… In these six years, all the young men that talked to me either died or went missing. I…I have become a death star. “(In Chinese, mourning star meant girls who bring bad luck to men)
In ancient times, people were superstitious about the fact that unmarried women bring bad luck to their husbands. However, Wu Xinghe knew very well that Qin Xiu’s reputation would be extremely damaged if these things spread about.
Besides this rigidly stratified feudal society, a lot of people believed this set of stupid rules and used them as the creed of lives in Wu Xing He’s 21st-century world from his past life.
“Ten years… This means that there are four more years?” Wu Xinghe calculated the time.
Although Qin Xiu’s face became pale, her tone was unusually determined: “Wushuang, don’t worry. I am not scared even if I had to climb the mountain of knives or jump into the sea of fire. It was all for the family. If you carry the family hope and never make father and our ancestors disappointed, I can do anything at any expense!”
Wu Xinghe did not speak a word. He walked over to the window, opened it and spoke with sincerity as he stared at the light of the early morning sun: “Sister, I will not let you wait for another four years.”
