What Huang Yuexuan didn't know was that Chen An had previously spent a long time at the Qingfeng Building in Shangyuan County, taking on tasks and often spending a lot of effort for just a few hundred taels of silver.
Two thousand taels of silver would be enough to hire an intermediate-grade martial artist for a period of time at the Qingfeng Building.
Of course, this would only be the most ordinary type, the kind that couldn't compare to even the head of the Black Tiger Gang.
Chen An's true strength was above that of an intermediate-grade martial artist, so the two thousand taels of silver wouldn't be enough to hire such a high-level expert.
But weren't there other ways?
If Chen An had a way to fully realize his abilities and make money, he wouldn't be so poor now.
Two thousand taels was already a good sum for him.
At least, if he was just going to harm a few people, he thought he could accept it.
If Huang Yuexuan knew about this, she would probably feel exasperated.
Back at their residence, after receiving compensation of a thousand taels of silver for this task, Chen An was satisfied.
Although a thousand taels of silver was less than the agreed two thousand taels, Chen An was content.
After all, he didn't really do much this time, only crushed a horse, barely using his knife.
Earning this much was already quite good.
The main focus was on their future cooperation.
Miss Huang promised to hire Chen An for a period of time with two thousand taels of silver.
This meant that with this money, Chen An was hired to act as her bodyguard for the duration of Miss Huang's stay in Shangyuan County.
According to Huang Yuexuan, it would be about a month.
During this month, Chen An needed to respond when Huang Yuexuan needed him, accompanying her on a few outings.
The conditions were acceptable.
Although a month seemed long, calculating the actual working time, it was still more cost-effective than Chen An taking tasks at the Qingfeng Building himself.
This meant another source of income.
Chen An felt that before long, he could make a trip to the auction house, find some internal refining methods and martial arts to practice.
Time passed quickly.
To Chen An's surprise, in the next half month, Huang Yuexuan did not seek him out but stayed obediently in her courtyard.
The only time she went out was to chat with Bai Qing in Bai Qing's courtyard, appearing like good sisters.
This made Chen An somewhat puzzled.
But being able to slack off was a good thing.
It was good for Huang Yuexuan to stay peaceful so that he, as her bodyguard, could save some energy.
During this period, Chen An took a trip to the auction house but unfortunately didn't find anything valuable.
There were some martial arts manuals available, but the prices were too high for Chen An's liking, causing him to hesitate.
As for internal refining methods, he didn't even catch a glimpse of any.
Internal refining methods for inner qi practitioners were not common, even the lowest-quality ones like the Qing Song Jinqi, were hard to come by.
So Chen An wasn't in a hurry, he could wait patiently.
He believed that before long, he would come across something suitable at the auction house.
He just needed to wait patiently.
Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, it was time for the White Family's grand competition.
"It's been a long time since it's been so lively."
Chen An stood on the grounds, feeling sentimental as he looked at the bustling scene before him.
Since leaving Fengcheng County, he hadn't seen such a lively atmosphere for a long time.
There were martial artists everywhere.
This place was on the outskirts of the White Family's territory and was usually not open to outsiders.
However, for this grand competition, some outsiders were invited to come and observe, which had opened up this area to visitors, attracting many people to come watch.
In this world where martial arts were revered, even ordinary commoners took pride in practicing martial arts and hoped to become martial artists.
In such a situation, events like the grand competition were naturally popular.
Chen An took a walk around, thinking that if they charged admission and set up some seats, they could make quite a bit of money.
Maybe they could earn back all the expenses of this grand competition and then some.
Of course, this idea could only be left in his mind. If he said it out loud, even Bai Qing would probably reprimand him.
How could he tarnish such a pure and honorable event like a martial arts competition with money?
Although in Chen An's view, this grand competition had nothing to do with purity and honor from start to finish.
In the distance, a chorus of shouts arose.
It seemed that someone had already started organizing a gambling game there, with some people earnestly analyzing the contestants in the competition, trying to identify some dark horses and make a good profit.
Unfortunately, among them were some of Chen An's acquaintances.
One of them was Bai Changyue.
At that moment, he was selling information, providing detailed information on the White Family members to passersby.
As a member of the White Family, he might not be part of the core, but he was more familiar with the White Family members than outsiders.
Those outsiders did not know his background and were fooled by him, buying information from him dumbfoundedly.
Chen An couldn't help but sigh.
It was hard to say whether associating with such slick merchants was good or bad.
As he walked further in, the atmosphere inside became much more serious.
Seats were set up all around, most of them occupied.
In the front, several figures were sitting together.
They were the representatives of the various branches, seated side by side.
Bai Qing was among them.
Looking at them, Chen An recognized several people.
One was a middle-aged man in his forties with a stern face and a strong physique, named Bai Mingwei, Bai Changren's father and the deputy representative of the second branch.
Another looked very old, at least sixty or seventy years old, dressed in a gray robe, with a gentle face.
This was Bai Mingli, Bai Zhilan's grandfather and the deputy representative of the fourth branch.
The last one was a young man in his thirties.
He was fair-skinned, with a soft and delicate appearance, and a faint smile on his face as he sat there.
He was the deputy representative of the fifth branch, named Bai Changyuan?
This thought flashed through Chen An's mind.
These three people, along with Bai Qing representing the third branch and the main line, were all the branches of the White Family.
It seemed that Bai Changyuan felt Chen An's gaze and turned around, his cold and slightly menacing gaze falling on Chen An, making him feel a chill in his heart as he quickly lowered his head.
"So, are you the subordinate you recruited in Fengcheng?"
Looking at Chen An from afar, Bai Changyuan's face showed a cold smile. "You look quite good."
"I just wonder how skilled your underlings are."
"Not much, after a year of martial arts practice, I only managed to defeat a fully cultivated Sanhe Gang hall master."
Bai Qing smiled and hinted, "For older brother, this is naturally nothing to brag about."
Bai Changyuan glanced at Bai Qing deeply. "I hope you can still smile in the future."
The Sanhe Gang hall master who Chen An defeated in the past was one of his men.
What Huang Yuexuan didn't know was that Chen An had previously spent a long time at the Qingfeng Building in Shangyuan County, taking on tasks and often spending a lot of effort for just a few hundred taels of silver.
Two thousand taels of silver would be enough to hire an intermediate-grade martial artist for a period of time at the Qingfeng Building.
Of course, this would only be the most ordinary type, the kind that couldn't compare to even the head of the Black Tiger Gang.
Chen An's true strength was above that of an intermediate-grade martial artist, so the two thousand taels of silver wouldn't be enough to hire such a high-level expert.
But weren't there other ways?
If Chen An had a way to fully realize his abilities and make money, he wouldn't be so poor now.
Two thousand taels was already a good sum for him.
At least, if he was just going to harm a few people, he thought he could accept it.
If Huang Yuexuan knew about this, she would probably feel exasperated.
Back at their residence, after receiving compensation of a thousand taels of silver for this task, Chen An was satisfied.
Although a thousand taels of silver was less than the agreed two thousand taels, Chen An was content.
After all, he didn't really do much this time, only crushed a horse, barely using his knife.
Earning this much was already quite good.
The main focus was on their future cooperation.
Miss Huang promised to hire Chen An for a period of time with two thousand taels of silver.
This meant that with this money, Chen An was hired to act as her bodyguard for the duration of Miss Huang's stay in Shangyuan County.
According to Huang Yuexuan, it would be about a month.
During this month, Chen An needed to respond when Huang Yuexuan needed him, accompanying her on a few outings.
The conditions were acceptable.
Although a month seemed long, calculating the actual working time, it was still more cost-effective than Chen An taking tasks at the Qingfeng Building himself.
This meant another source of income.
Chen An felt that before long, he could make a trip to the auction house, find some internal refining methods and martial arts to practice.
Time passed quickly.
To Chen An's surprise, in the next half month, Huang Yuexuan did not seek him out but stayed obediently in her courtyard.
The only time she went out was to chat with Bai Qing in Bai Qing's courtyard, appearing like good sisters.
This made Chen An somewhat puzzled.
But being able to slack off was a good thing.
It was good for Huang Yuexuan to stay peaceful so that he, as her bodyguard, could save some energy.
During this period, Chen An took a trip to the auction house but unfortunately didn't find anything valuable.
There were some martial arts manuals available, but the prices were too high for Chen An's liking, causing him to hesitate.
As for internal refining methods, he didn't even catch a glimpse of any.
Internal refining methods for inner qi practitioners were not common, even the lowest-quality ones like the Qing Song Jinqi, were hard to come by.
So Chen An wasn't in a hurry, he could wait patiently.
He believed that before long, he would come across something suitable at the auction house.
He just needed to wait patiently.
Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, it was time for the White Family's grand competition.
"It's been a long time since it's been so lively."
Chen An stood on the grounds, feeling sentimental as he looked at the bustling scene before him.
Since leaving Fengcheng County, he hadn't seen such a lively atmosphere for a long time.
There were martial artists everywhere.
This place was on the outskirts of the White Family's territory and was usually not open to outsiders.
However, for this grand competition, some outsiders were invited to come and observe, which had opened up this area to visitors, attracting many people to come watch.
In this world where martial arts were revered, even ordinary commoners took pride in practicing martial arts and hoped to become martial artists.
In such a situation, events like the grand competition were naturally popular.
Chen An took a walk around, thinking that if they charged admission and set up some seats, they could make quite a bit of money.
Maybe they could earn back all the expenses of this grand competition and then some.
Of course, this idea could only be left in his mind. If he said it out loud, even Bai Qing would probably reprimand him.
How could he tarnish such a pure and honorable event like a martial arts competition with money?
Although in Chen An's view, this grand competition had nothing to do with purity and honor from start to finish.
In the distance, a chorus of shouts arose.
It seemed that someone had already started organizing a gambling game there, with some people earnestly analyzing the contestants in the competition, trying to identify some dark horses and make a good profit.
Unfortunately, among them were some of Chen An's acquaintances.
One of them was Bai Changyue.
At that moment, he was selling information, providing detailed information on the White Family members to passersby.
As a member of the White Family, he might not be part of the core, but he was more familiar with the White Family members than outsiders.
Those outsiders did not know his background and were fooled by him, buying information from him dumbfoundedly.
Chen An couldn't help but sigh.
It was hard to say whether associating with such slick merchants was good or bad.
As he walked further in, the atmosphere inside became much more serious.
Seats were set up all around, most of them occupied.
In the front, several figures were sitting together.
They were the representatives of the various branches, seated side by side.
Bai Qing was among them.
Looking at them, Chen An recognized several people.
One was a middle-aged man in his forties with a stern face and a strong physique, named Bai Mingwei, Bai Changren's father and the deputy representative of the second branch.
Another looked very old, at least sixty or seventy years old, dressed in a gray robe, with a gentle face.
This was Bai Mingli, Bai Zhilan's grandfather and the deputy representative of the fourth branch.
The last one was a young man in his thirties.
He was fair-skinned, with a soft and delicate appearance, and a faint smile on his face as he sat there.
He was the deputy representative of the fifth branch, named Bai Changyuan?
This thought flashed through Chen An's mind.
These three people, along with Bai Qing representing the third branch and the main line, were all the branches of the White Family.
It seemed that Bai Changyuan felt Chen An's gaze and turned around, his cold and slightly menacing gaze falling on Chen An, making him feel a chill in his heart as he quickly lowered his head.
"So, are you the subordinate you recruited in Fengcheng?"
Looking at Chen An from afar, Bai Changyuan's face showed a cold smile. "You look quite good."
"I just wonder how skilled your underlings are."
"Not much, after a year of martial arts practice, I only managed to defeat a fully cultivated Sanhe Gang hall master."
Bai Qing smiled and hinted, "For older brother, this is naturally nothing to brag about."
Bai Changyuan glanced at Bai Qing deeply. "I hope you can still smile in the future."
The Sanhe Gang hall master who Chen An defeated in the past was one of his men.
