Chương 18: Human Nature

His tolerance did not make Su Chang feel grateful. Instead, Su Chang felt that Jiang Wenfeng was playing with him and humiliating him. While Su Chang was inwardly furious, he was also secretly somewhat shocked. Last time… during the sparring session just over ten days ago, he had just beaten Jiang Wenfeng up badly. Now only around ten days had passed. How had this boy suddenly become so much stronger? With doubt in his heart, Su Chang returned to his seat.

In this exchange, on the surface, it seemed the two were evenly matched, but anyone with sharp eyes knew that Jiang Wenfeng's strength had already surpassed his. If the two were similar in age and family background, it would not be that strange. The key was that he was older than Jiang Wenfeng, and his family background was better too. More importantly, he had been toyed with in front of his future wife, making Su Chang feel he had lost a great deal of face.

With a bright pearl before them, the following paired sparring became somewhat dull and tasteless. After the day's cultivation ended, the many disciples all left the training ground. Only Jiang Wenfeng remained. He wanted to continue cultivating. A steady personality was his strong point. The power that had suddenly surged within his body a few days ago had made his strength rise sharply. If it were another child of the same age, they might already have become smug. Jiang Wenfeng did not.

He had always felt that the sudden power in his body had been obtained through putting in more hardship than ordinary people, so he worked even harder than before. In the rear courtyard of the martial arts school, after cultivation ended, Huang Lingxiu impatiently ran back to the rear courtyard and told Huang Qingzhou about today's comparison.

"Father, Junior Brother Stone is just a fool. He clearly could have knocked Su Chang down and properly taken revenge for being bullied before, yet he chose to tolerate it."

"If it were me, I would definitely beat him until even his parents couldn't recognize him!" Huang Lingxiu said angrily. She truly could not understand why Jiang Wenfeng clearly had a chance for revenge but did not seize it. Looking at his daughter's puffed-up appearance, Huang Qingzhou shook his head slightly.

"Come. Let's go look at that boy." The father and daughter came to the training ground in the front courtyard. Seeing that Jiang Wenfeng was indeed still cultivating, Huang Qingzhou said in a low voice, "Do you see? Stone is clearly already very strong now, yet he is still working hard."

"In terms of talent, you are not worse than Stone. In terms of resources, you are even far above him."

"If you could work hard like him, there would even be hope for you to break through to the Acquired Realm by the time you come of age." Hearing this, Huang Lingxiu slightly curled her lips. She also knew that hard work would certainly bring gains, but as soon as she thought of the boredom and pain of cultivation, she instantly lost energy.

"Father, let's go over." Not wanting to discuss this topic with her father, Huang Lingxiu quickly pulled him to the training ground. Jiang Wenfeng saw the two arrive. He slowly withdrew from his stance training and came forward, cupping his hands.

"Elder Uncle, Senior Sister." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Huang Qingzhou nodded slightly and said, "Lingxiu said you fought with Su Chang today?" Jiang Wenfeng nodded.

"You clearly had a chance to defeat him. Why did you tolerate him again and again?"

"In a martial artist's duel, what matters is defeating the enemy in one move. Being soft-hearted will only put you in danger." Jiang Wenfeng was slightly stunned. Seeing that there was no blame on Huang Qingzhou's face, he immediately cupped his hands and said, "Elder Uncle, this nephew could indeed easily defeat Senior Brother Su Chang, but I cannot do that."

"Why?" Huang Lingxiu asked in confusion. Jiang Wenfeng smiled bitterly.

"Senior Sister should know that my family is only an ordinary farming household in Golden Willow Village, while Su Chang's eldest uncle is the Deputy County Magistrate of our Willow County."

"That is the heaven of Willow County. If I defeated him in public to vent my anger and damaged his face, it would inevitably cause his resentment."

"If he wanted to take revenge on me, that would not matter much. But if it implicated my family…"

"Counting the time, Mother should be about to give birth. Father supports a large family by himself, and it is not easy. I cannot add more trouble for them." Hearing these words, Huang Lingxiu fell silent. In truth, she was three years older than Jiang Wenfeng, but she had never considered so much. In her eyes, if she caused trouble, her father would stand behind her. If that still did not work, then there was also her eldest uncle in the army.

Within the small territory of Willow County, as long as it was not something that seriously violated Great Yu's laws, it was not a major matter. She had never thought that there were so many hidden dangers. Huang Qingzhou's eyes were full of praise. In his heart, he faintly began to envy Jiang Huanyu. At such a young age, this child had a steady personality, handled matters smoothly, and thought things through carefully. In the future, he would surely achieve something extraordinary.

With a son like this, how could a family not prosper? Unfortunately, he only had two daughters. His eldest daughter had left her hometown after breaking through to the Acquired Realm in her early years. These years, she only occasionally sent a letter back to report that she was safe, and he did not know exactly where she had gone.

"Your concerns are not wrong, but there is one point you overlooked." Huang Qingzhou's expression suddenly became serious. Jiang Wenfeng did not understand and quickly cupped his hands.

"Please teach me, Elder Uncle."

"You overlooked human nature," Huang Qingzhou said with his hands behind his back and a sigh.

"Human nature is the most complicated thing."

"You think that by not defeating Su Chang in public, you left him some face."

"But Su Chang may not think that way. With his personality, he will only feel that you were toying with him and humiliating him."

"That is far harder to accept than being defeated by you."

"This is how people interact. If you are only a little stronger than him, he will envy you and scheme against you in every possible way."

"But if you are much stronger than him, so strong that he cannot hope to reach you, then he will only admire you and fear you."

"Hiding your edge is good, but hiding your edge too much will only make others think your sword is not sharp and cannot kill."

"The degree between the two is something only you yourself can consider and control." Huang Qingzhou's teaching clearly conflicted somewhat with his father Jiang Huanyu's words, and Jiang Wenfeng felt a little confused for a time. His father told him to be humble and low-key, while Huang Qingzhou told him to reveal his sword at the right time.

"All right. Do not disturb Stone's cultivation. Let's go." After Huang Qingzhou said this, he took his daughter and left. Jiang Wenfeng stood alone on the training ground and thought for a long time. Suddenly, he smiled. Whether it was hiding his edge and staying low-key, or revealing his sword at the right time, didn't he still have to control it himself? And what ultimately decided all of this was still his own strength. Strength was his greatest confidence. With strength, he could choose as he pleased.

Without strength, he had no right to choose. After understanding this, he began to continue cultivating. The next day, it was time to return home again. Early in the morning, Jiang Huanyu drove the ox cart to the entrance of the martial arts school. Jiang Wenfeng bid farewell to the teachers of the martial arts school, stepped onto the ox cart, and followed Jiang Huanyu toward Golden Willow Village.

"Father, has Mother given birth?" At the mention of this matter, Jiang Huanyu, who was driving the cart in front, turned back and could not help smiling.

"Guess whether it is a younger brother or a younger sister." Jiang Wenfeng tilted his head and thought for a while.

"If it is a younger brother, I can teach him martial arts in the future. If it is a younger sister, she will definitely be as beautiful as Mother."

"Heh!" Jiang Huanyu directly turned around and laughed while scolding, "Stinky brat, who did you learn that from? You've become quite good at speaking." Jiang Wenfeng smiled and scratched his head.

"Senior Sister Lingxiu said that martial artists are not brutes. They cannot be illiterate and refuse to read. During this year at the martial arts school, whenever I had free time, I would ask Senior Sister Lingxiu for guidance and borrowed some books from Elder Uncle to read." Hearing this, Jiang Huanyu rubbed his head with relief. At this moment, he suddenly felt that this son had grown up quite a lot.

"Your mother gave birth to a younger brother and a younger sister for you."

"Ah!?" Jiang Wenfeng opened his mouth wide in shock. Clearly, with his understanding, he still did not quite understand how a person could give birth to two children at once.

"Your younger sister is called Jiang Wenping, and your younger brother is called Jiang wenchen." After receiving confirmation again, Jiang Wenfeng became extremely excited. At this moment, his heart had already flown back to Golden Willow Village, impatient to see his younger brother and younger sister.