Chapter 86

Chapter 86

If it were just Pan Taining and the other two, Shen Huaizhi certainly wouldn't mind supporting his brothers.

Their brotherly bond was truly solid, and he didn't lack the silver anyway.

But throw in their wives, children, and a whole host of concubines—that was something Shen Huaizhi simply couldn't handle!

After all, his brothers had lived lives of luxury before. Even if they were to lower their standards now, they'd still need to be hosted at least at the level of honored guests. He couldn't very well serve them plain fare and rough cloth, could he?

Pan Taining's group, counting all the masters and their dependents, came to a good twenty or thirty people in total.

Over the long term... Shen Huaizhi had to admit he really couldn't afford it.

Fortunately, Pan Taining and the others weren't shameless enough to sponge off their good brother forever. With a sigh, the three shared their plans for the future.

Zhao Yongchang said with a worried frown, "I'm no good at studying, and I don't know how to do business either. Besides cockfighting and dog racing, the only thing I'm halfway decent at is brush painting, and I do have a fair number of friends. I'm thinking of opening a bookshop and selling some calligraphy and paintings... As for the starting capital, I'm afraid I'll have to lean on you, Old Shen, for help. I doubt anyone else would trust I can actually earn a living doing it."

Wu Xuelin said weakly, "My mother once said that a person ought to have a trade to fall back on. I just thought it was a pain in the ass back then... Now I realize she was right. I... I don't seem to know how to do anything."

"Still, at least my wife and the others weren't willing to follow me out of the manor, so now I'm on my own, a lone wolf. Old Shen, if you don't mind, how about I be your errand boy? With the rapport we've got as brothers, I guarantee you point, and I'll jump."

His tone sounded like he was joking, but Wu Xuelin's expression was forced, and the loneliness and hurt in his eyes were impossible to hide.

He felt like such a loser. When disaster struck, the wives and concubines of his other two brothers were willing to stick it out with them through thick and thin, but he was the only one who'd been dumped without a second thought!

Yet he couldn't bring himself to blame his wife and concubines at home. After all, she was right—when he'd been living it up before, he'd never once thought about the futures of his wife, concubines, and kids. Now that the shit had hit the fan, why should anyone willingly suffer alongside him?

He, Wu Xuelin, might not have much going for him, but he knew the difference between right and wrong.

It was just that... being truly alone now, no matter how he looked at it, it just hurt.

Wu Xuelin hung his head, completely defeated.

Finally, it was Pan Taining's turn.

Pan Taining's eyes were rimmed with red as he clenched his fists and declared, "I'm going to join the army!"

"What? The army? Old Pan, you can't do that! Going to the battlefield is a death sentence!"

"Besides, with that physique of yours, you get winded after a few steps. Wouldn't that just be walking to your death?"

Shen Huaizhi and the others immediately started trying to talk him out of it, their voices frantic.

With Old Pan's pudgy frame that left him huffing and puffing after a short stroll, he was hardly soldier material. They didn't want to watch their brother go off and get himself killed.

But this time, Pan Taining was dead set on it.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Old Shen, Old Zhao, Old Wu... I know you're worried about me, but I have to go. I'm not like you—you all have brothers in your families, so you just need to worry about yourselves."

"But I'm the only son in my family. Now that I've been cast out of the Pan clan, those vultures in the family are swarming in to feast on my family's estate!"

"If I don't get my act together now, who knows what'll happen to my parents, my grandparents, and my unmarried younger siblings... I have to make something of myself!"

"I'm no good at book learning or business either. But back then, Brother Han told me I was actually a natural-born martial artist—I just let it all go to waste all these years chasing pleasure..."

"Hard work can make up for lack of talent. I refuse to believe that if I train my ass off, my natural talent won't get me somewhere! Even if I can't become a general, surely I can at least earn the rank of a commander..."

The more Pan Taining talked, the more he psyched himself up, the more he believed he could pull it off.

He was already daydreaming about his future glory and success.

Shen Huaizhi and the others were speechless: "..."

Whether Old Pan could become a general, they couldn't say, but based on years of brotherly intuition, they figured his odds of dying a hero's death on the battlefield were a hell of a lot higher.

"Alright, that's enough... Old Pan, all of you, stop. I don't think any of your plans are gonna work!"

Shen Huaizhi waved his hand, shooting down his three brothers' ideas.

Pan Taining and the others protested: "And why the hell not?"

"First, let's talk about the four classes—Old Zhao, if you open a bookshop and go into trade, never mind whether you can handle the shame of being looked down on as a merchant, do you really think the people you've pissed off over the years will let you run that shop without causing trouble?"

"Then there's Old Wu. I wouldn't mind you being my errand boy—hell, I'd even support you for the rest of your life—but do you really wanna just coast through life like that? Can you really abandon your wife and kids at home and spend the rest of your days all alone?"

"And most importantly, Old Pan! Even if you wanna join the army, you should at least prep first—get yourself in shape, study some military strategy before you go... If you rush off to the frontier like this, even if you're lucky enough to survive and earn military merit, with nothing but raw strength and guts, the most you'll ever be is a frontline grunt risking his neck. How's that gonna help your parents?"

After listing out all their problems, Shen Huaizhi laid down the law: "So the best way forward is still to hit the books and pass the imperial exams!"

"Study and pass the exams? If we had that kind of brains, would we have ended up like this?"

Pan Taining and the others scoffed, thinking their good brother must have lost his damn mind to suggest they take up studying.

But Shen Huaizhi said with a smug grin, "I wouldn't say this if I didn't have my reasons. We've been brothers for years—through thick and thin. Would I hold out on you guys?"

"You all know how I've been studying with Brother Han lately and my grades have shot up like crazy, right?"

"You know better than anyone what a lost cause I used to be. If Brother Han can turn even a blockhead like me into gold, then if you study with him too, you're bound to go even further than me."

"Of course... the catch is you gotta put in the same hard work I did. No more of that slacking off and taking breaks every other day like before!"

Brothers see right through each other—we all know each other's deal.

Pan Taining and the others nodded in agreement: "Old Shen, you've got a point. If we really put our minds to it, we'd definitely do better than you—you always came in dead last on every academy exam."

Shen Huaizhi's face turned red as he protested, "...That's 'cause I wasn't trying—I was holding back on purpose!"

"Well, we weren't trying either. We just winged it."

Pan Taining and the others grinned and shot back, but then their spirits sank again as they said, "But even if we're willing to turn over a new leaf now, we can't go back to the Imperial Academy. Without a letter of guarantee from the academy's instructors, we can't sit for the imperial exams no matter how much we know."

"Who says you can't go back to the Imperial Academy? The Emperor only stripped you of your noble rank and ordered you to turn over a new leaf and make your own way—he didn't reduce you to the lowest class of outcasts. You're still eligible to take the exams."

"Besides, the Imperial Academy never formally kicked you out. So you're still its students. Going back to study just means putting up with some mockery—like we haven't had enough people looking down on us all these years!"

"With Brother Han giving us special lessons on the side, we'll win back our pride at next year's exams..."

Shen Huaizhi did his best to fire everyone up.

Good brothers stick together through good times and bad—there was no way he was gonna suffer through this studying alone!

"Old Shen's got a point. How about... we give it a shot?"

Remembering the humiliation and ridicule they'd endured when kicked out of their homes, Pan Taining and the others finally gritted their teeth and nodded.

In the past, they'd thought studying was pure torture. But now, down and out... they found the sneers and jeers, and their parents' worried tears, a hundred times more agonizing than any book.

Back in the day, they'd known that losing their parents' protection would make things worse.

But they never thought it'd get this bad!

Without their folks, they really were nothing—they'd just pictured everything way too perfectly.

You don't know pain until the knife actually cuts you.

So they got right to it.

Once Pan Taining and his two buddies were settled in, they were raring to go and found Han Zhang through Shen Huaizhi the very next day.

Gotta hand it to them—these guys had made a name for themselves in the rich-kid crowd for a reason. At least their knack for adapting and their mental toughness were way above average.

Since they'd finally come to him, Han Zhang naturally didn't give them a hard time. He agreed readily.

"Okay, from today on, you're learning with me!"

And with that, Pan Taining and his two buddies kicked off their brutal study grind.

Han Zhang secretly used his Power to rewire their brain pathways and sharpen their memory, then mapped out a detailed daily study plan for them.

He didn't strictly police whether they finished it, and he never yelled or punished them—his teaching style was pretty laid-back.

But behind the scenes, he had the Pan, Zhao, and Wu families set people up to mock and trash-talk the three, while their parents and relatives secretly slipped them help, tearfully begging them to shape up, all to pile on the pressure.

Because beating them only worked short-term; real success came only from genuinely building a love for learning.

And so.

Every time Pan Taining and his crew got bored with studying and snuck out to goof off, they'd run into all kinds of jeers and insults, plus unfair treatment from being demoted to commoner status...

And whenever they felt like they couldn't hack it and wanted to quit, their parents would secretly meet up with them, offering support, heartfelt worry, and forced smiles.

"My boys, don't worry, your dad and I are doing just fine at home. Your brothers are all dutiful, and we're living easy."

"But my boys, now that you're commoners and the emperor's told you to make your own way, you can't keep acting so wild like before. You've got to learn a skill and get yourselves set up, so your mother can rest easy..."

Seeing their mother's hair had gone nearly half gray in such a short time, Pan Taining and his buddies felt their throats choke up and their eyes burn.

All the words they'd wanted to say—bitching about their hard times and begging for help—just died in their throats.

"Dad, Mom, don't worry, your sons have grown up now. We've been studying with Brother Han, grinding day and night, reciting and memorizing. Next year, I'm sure we'll pass the exams and make you proud!"

The three put on cheerful faces, thumping their chests to promise their parents. Then, to keep their word, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and stay up late studying at home.

They weren't actually dumb to start with. With real effort, Han Zhang's help sharpening their minds, and solid teaching, they made huge strides.

In just two weeks, they'd caught up to Shen Huaizhi's pace.

That immediately freaked out Shen Huaizhi, who'd been lazy and needed constant nagging.

A guy couldn't lose face in front of his bros—if Pan Taining and the others overtook him, how could he ever look them in the eye again?

And as Shen Huaizhi quietly stepped up his game, Pan Taining and the others, who'd made him their target, unknowingly pushed themselves even harder to keep up.

Competition fueled progress, and before long, the four former slackers' drive to study shot up, each one out-hustling the others.