Chapter 7

Later, before the old man could figure out who he owed money to, the domestic housing prices soared along with the economy. The small public housing unit that cost 50,000 doubled in price the following year, and then, to the astonishment of the people, it shot up like a rocket, soaring into the sky.

The old man was aware of his own level and specifically wrote annotations, which were quite straightforward: "Twenty rules of conduct; those who can adhere to each one are sages and virtuous individuals. There is no need to examine them in detail. As ordinary people, we only need to comply with national laws and regulations as well as social norms and customs."

The elderly man has a red armband on his arm, holding a green plastic cane in his hand. His white shirt, which is very clean, has several fashionable patches, and he is wearing a pair of tortoiseshell reading glasses

Although the building is somewhat old, the environment in the community is excellent, quiet with few people. Over the past twenty years, the trees have grown comfortably, and in the summer, stepping into the courtyard feels about five degrees cooler than outside. The location is also advantageous, being less than two stops from the CBD, and a ten-minute walk away. The west gate of the community faces a bilingual kindergarten, while if you walk fifty meters from the east gate, you will find a good public primary school that was newly established a few years ago. Therefore, this area has become a "school district property," which is truly unaffordable for the average citizen. The location is also advantageous, being less than two stops from the CBD, and a ten-minute walk away. The west gate of the community faces a bilingual kindergarten, while if you walk fifty meters from the east gate, you will find a good public primary school that was newly established a few years ago. Therefore, this area has become a "school district property," which is truly unaffordable for the average citizen

He was too lazy to squeeze in with the hot truck, so he stood at the door waiting for them to move aside

The old man lowered his head, and his eyes peered over the top of his reading glasses. He glanced at the urn, then at Yu Lanchuan, and smiled: "Brother Yu, your precious grandson has brought you back! Little Chuan has grown so much; from a distance just now, Grandpa Yang almost didn't recognize him."

Yu Lanchuan watched the old man's unsteady figure with trepidation, fearing that he might cause Great Uncle to fall—because it was said that being unable to recognize numbers seemed to be one of the symptoms of dementia.

The section on "Cultivation" is a compilation of the insights gained by successive sect leaders in their martial arts practice. Due to the varying levels of cultural attainment among these leaders, the "legacies" they left behind are diverse. Some consist of convoluted maxims, while others are represented by stick figures performing various movements.

She originally intended to "sneak into the village, and avoid the gunfire," keeping a low profile as much as possible. Unexpectedly, before she even reached the stairs, she ran into these two individuals, which was truly unfortunate.

No. 110, Rongxian Hutong, should actually be considered a residential community; however, there is only one building in the community, so everyone has come to refer to it this way

In the bag, in addition to the will, there are two booklets. One is the sword manual of "Seven Secrets of Cold River," which Yu Lanchuan is already thoroughly familiar with. The other one he has never seen before; the will states that it is the legacy of the "Cold River" sect. The old man himself is the one hundred thirty-sixth sect leader and intends to pass the position to Yu Lanchuan, making him the one hundred thirty-seventh.

The old man's belongings were few; apart from the nearly scrapped old car, there were only a few daily necessities and a camera left. In his will, he instructed Yu Lanchuan to develop the last few photographs as his final work, and specified that the items in the bag were to be left to Yu Lanchuan

In the same world, countless mortgage slaves have shared the same dream.

At this point, to still be arguing about the fifty thousand from back then would be somewhat lacking in character

Five Absolute? But aren't there only four?

When Yu Lanchuan thought of this matter, his heart ached as if it were bleeding—couldn't these nonsensical things be established in a remote suburban county instead of here

The "Code of Conduct" consists of twenty articles, all written in classical traditional Chinese characters. Yu Lanchuan University, where I studied in the business school, later sent me abroad, and I filled my mind with foreign knowledge. My proficiency in classical Chinese is only at a high school level, and I was immediately overwhelmed. Flipping through it hastily, I finally found a line of handwritten simplified characters at the end, which were written by the old man

The old man is a bachelor, always spending whatever he earns. Not to mention 50,000, he can't even come up with 5,000. The money for buying a house was collectively raised by various friends from all over the country who heard about his difficulties.

It was previously a "public housing" built by the unit, and the architecture retains the characteristics of the old public housing: facing south with the north side of each floor featuring a long, narrow public corridor that runs from the east end to the west end. On the south side, there are ten households arranged in a straight line, sharing a single elevator. Later, the unit ceased to exist, and the public housing underwent "housing reform"—residents voluntarily purchased their units, transforming them into properties that could be bought and sold on the market.

The content of "Zhangmen Yibo" is mainly divided into three parts: "Men Gui" (sect rules), "Xiu Wei" (cultivation), and "Du Men Gu Fang" (unique ancient methods), all of which have been passed down from ancient times

Unfortunately, this is not the story from the latter half of "Jane Eyre," as the old man also stated in his will that this house cannot be bequeathed to his own descendants

Yu Lanchuan curiously flipped to the last section, wanting to see what secrets were not meant to be passed down in this school. To his surprise, he found that the old man had covered those pages with ink and had written in large red letters, "This thing is unscientific; if you are ill, go to the hospital"

S&P

There are three exclamation marks following.

Therefore, Elder Yu Huaide stated that although this house is registered in his name, it cannot be considered his private property. He would never sell it, and friends from the martial arts community are welcome to come here whenever they have matters to discuss in Yanning.

Among the old man's belongings, the most important and also the most difficult to handle may be this set of property

In this part, the old man wrote the annotations at the beginning, and the annotations exude a sense of "the heart has a vast world": "I suppose you probably cannot understand it. If you cannot understand it, take your time to read it slowly. If you still do not understand it after reading slowly, then just forget it."

Gan Qing truly could not find a place to live. With no other options, she had to muster the courage to go to the relative of Boss Meng, even if it meant swallowing her pride. To leave a good impression on the elderly lady, she made a special effort today, digging out the only dress she owned aside from her work uniform. She carefully styled her hair, tucking it behind her ears to reveal her smooth forehead and features, making her look quite presentable.

During the time of the "housing reform houses," obtaining property rights for a house required a payment of 50,000 yuan—although it seems almost negligible now, 50,000 was not a small amount for most people over twenty years ago

Currently, residing in this courtyard are the wealthy individuals who have purchased homes outright for the sake of securing school district placements; there are also those who, for the convenience of their children attending kindergarten, pay monthly rents exceeding ten thousand; and there are the 'natives' of the courtyard, who, after losing their jobs due to the restructuring of their former workplaces, are left with only two small rooms, representing a diverse mix of social classes.

The electric vehicle owner finally arrived late, and the truck driver began to complain discontentedly. The voices drew Yu Lanchuan's attention back, and he raised his head, looking with a somewhat complex expression towards the eleven-story building in the courtyard

Yu Lanchuan was taken aback, barely managing to suppress his anger. Upon closer inspection, he remembered that this Grandpa Yang seemed to live on the sixth floor and had the best relationship with their family elder, as they often went fishing together in the past

Whose electric bike is parked at the entrance? Please move it! The truck driver honked his horn while shouting, and after a while with no response, he got out of the vehicle and raised his voice, "Red! Four wheels! The vehicle has 'Traditional Moxibustion and Acupuncture Therapy, Discount on Funeral Clothes and Flower Wreaths' written on it. Whose is it? Whose flower wreath discount is it? Move it, please!"

Yu Lanchuan was perplexed: "... ... What are the rating criteria?"

Old Yang tucked the plastic cane under his arm, and without clearly seeing any movement, it seemed that he simply reached out lightly and took the urn.

The 137th sect leader held this kind of legacy, pondered for a moment, and felt that the fate of this sect... might just be like this

When Yu Lanchuan arrived, someone was in the process of moving. An electric small four-wheeler was charging at the entrance guard room, blocking the way, and the moving company's truck could not enter due to the obstruction.

There is no one to succeed you; only your little Chuan has a bit of promise, able to withstand a few blows from me. As for the others... sigh, what are they even worth!" Old Yang muttered to the urn, "The martial arts tournament happens once every three years. With your departure, who will everyone come to Yan Ning for this year?"

The old man's home is on the tenth floor, a small two-bedroom apartment, with an area of approximately seventy square meters. Just now, Yu Lanchuan inquired at the real estate agency at the intersection, and such a property has a market price of eight million five hundred thousand, excluding taxes

Yu Lanchuan: "Sigh..."

In the courtyard, there are luxury cars worth millions, as well as old Santana models that seem to be nearing the end of their lifespan. However, in such an old community, there are no parking lots available, so whether it is a luxury car or a dilapidated one, they can only be squeezed into corners, with small wooden boards propped up on the wheels to prevent dogs from urinating on them

Yu Lanchuan : `` ... ... ''

In other words, this school district property, which is slightly related to the Yu surname, is the "Yanning Office" of the Martial Arts Alliance.

The last part is "unique ancient prescriptions". This Yu Lanchuan has indeed heard of it. It is said that in ancient times, many sects had their own unique prescriptions for treating external injuries, regulating internal energy, and detoxifying—everything one could think of, shrouded in mystery. These prescriptions were not to be shared outside, as they were part of the sect's heritage. It is akin to what is written in martial arts novels, such as "Shengsheng Zao Huadan" and "Jiu Zhuan Ling Bao Wan".

Great-uncle lived for nearly a century, and he was an unconventional man, often disappearing without a trace. As a relative, Yu Lanchuan had long been mentally prepared for this moment, so he could not be said to be particularly sorrowful. However, as he held the old man's ashes, he suddenly felt a sense of things having changed, as if an era had quietly dissipated in his unawareness.

Just as he was secretly filled with indignation behind his cold expression, a gust of wind suddenly struck the back of his head. Yu Lanchuan was still immersed in his thoughts, and without thinking, his body instinctively slid a step to the side while simultaneously lowering his elbow and bumping backward. A plastic cane slipped away like a fish from under his elbow, sweeping towards his ribs in line with his shifting center of gravity. Yu Lanchuan used his hand, shoulder, and elbow as a sword, and in the blink of an eye, he engaged in over ten exchanges with the cane that seemed intent on sticking to him, until it nearly touched his great-uncle's urn before finally coming to a halt. A plastic cane slipped away like a fish from under his elbow, sweeping towards his ribs in line with his shifting center of gravity. Yu Lanchuan used his hand, shoulder, and elbow as a sword, and in the blink of an eye, he engaged in over ten exchanges with the cane that seemed intent on sticking to him, until it nearly touched his great-uncle's urn before finally coming to a halt.

Gan Qing's gaze quickly glanced at the plastic cane in Old Yang's hand, not daring to look longer, and awkwardly offered Yu Lanchuan an exceptionally quiet smile

It is still a one-stop service

Old Yang sighed as he led the big rat Yu Lanchuan into the elevator lobby. Someone was already waiting for the elevator there. Yu Lanchuan's gaze swept over that person and suddenly froze: "Is it you?"

... it was almost about to manifest its power through him

Yu Lanchuan's biological father, Yu Jianhua, had grown weary of the constraints of marriage and family. After finally getting a divorce, he felt as liberated as a bird released from its cage, and he has now become a staunch advocate of remaining unmarried. When his great-uncle passed away, Yu Jianhua went to see the body and assisted in handling the funeral arrangements before he left without a backward glance. As for the inheritance, his father said: "Anyway, in this generation, our family has only you left. Whatever is left will eventually be yours, so you can decide what to do with it."

This is a place he often lingered in during his youth. Upon entering the small courtyard, there are two rows of large locust trees, with a winding path in between. At this time, the locust flowers have long withered, leaving only layers upon layers of leaves. The blazing summer sun filters through those branches and leaves, casting only a few scattered patches of light on the ground. The gnarled branches of the old locust tree bear the marks of time, and a slight hint of dampness emanates from the rich greenery, exuding a sense of tranquil solitude untouched by the mundane world.

The building was constructed in 1990, and children born after 1990 have already begun to experience significant hair loss. Naturally, the buildings of the same age have not retained their youthful charm either. The walls are mottled, and everything from the rusted railings to the narrow staircases is showing signs of age.

Yu Lanchuan awkwardly adjusted his glasses, and only then did he see that the person poking him with a stick was an old man.

These figures sound dizzying to the working class

"I have arrived home, child. You let me see off my elder brother for a while." Old Yang waved his hand at him, and then a hint of melancholy appeared on his face. "The moon over Fuliang, the snow on the cold river, the swallows in front of the hall, the wind through the forest... In those years, the five masters, some have come and some have gone, and now, I am the only old man left."

In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed; the building has aged, the elderly have departed, and the trees have grown.

The old man has an exceptionally good rapport with others, having helped many people. The number of those who have contributed money to him is countless. Among them are those who are financially constrained, only able to offer thirty to fifty yuan, feeling too embarrassed to leave their names, and they have no intention of asking for repayment.

When she smiled, her pointed lips revealed themselves. For some reason, Yu Lanchuan felt a strange sense of familiarity, reminiscent of that day in the muddy alley, and couldn't help but glance at her a couple more times, asking in confusion: "Do you live here too?"

Old Yang let out a heavy sigh after listening, saying that the weasel is getting worse with each generation

By the way, Old Yang recalled something and turned to ask Yu Lanchuan, "How many levels has Xiaochuan's Seven Secrets Sword reached?"

Elder Yu Huaide never married and has no children. He grew up relying on his younger brother, who is also the biological grandfather of Yu Lanchuan. Yu Lanchuan's grandparents passed away one after another in recent years, and their family is quite sparse. Both his father and he are only children.

However, the old man stated that it does not matter to him whether he takes on the role or not, as it is of no consequence, since the "Cold River Sword Sect" has no disciples anyway

Therefore, theoretically, this set of property should fall into his hands