Chapter 1 An Unexpected Result

The surprising outcome brought a sudden silence, and the villagers were caught off guard.

Cui Xie'er, who was standing next to Hu Ma, remained stunned for a long time before suddenly losing control and shouting, "That's not right, this isn't right!"

"It's not fair, it's not fair!"

His outburst seemed to awaken the others, who turned to look, their faces filled with concern.

The plump steward simply smiled and said to Cui Xie'er, "Child, what's not fair?"

Cui Xie'er realized he had lost his composure only after shouting, but now that things had come to this, he could only grit his teeth and yell, "My furnace is the hottest, I... I practice better than all of them. I should've been chosen, not left out..."

Even Second Master, who was standing nearby, hesitated to speak.

To be honest, Cui Xie'er had been with him the longest among the group of boys, and his furnace fire was indeed the strongest.

As for Hu Ma...

...there was no comparison. Even Second Master himself couldn't compare.

Before Second Master could offer any words of consolation, the steward chuckled. He seemed extremely amiable, speaking slowly and deliberately, yet possessing a natural air of authority. He smiled and said, "He is indeed quite good."

"I can tell that you've been tending the furnace the longest among these boys and have put in a lot of effort. However, if I'm not mistaken, you were recently affected by an evil spirit, weren't you?"

"The furnace fire is no longer pure. You should go back and recuperate and try again next year!"

"I..."

Cui Xie'er had been filled with indignation, but when this matter was brought up, his face turned pale.

His lips trembled, and his eyes were filled with venom as he glared at Hu Ma.

Hu Ma understood what he was saying but ignored him, turning to talk to Zhou Datong.

"Oh dear..."

After this delay, the Cui family finally reacted and crowded forward. Cui's Third Brother, who had been in the crowd, hadn't heard the steward's words clearly. He still shouted unconvincingly, "No matter what, our Xie'er is better than that Hu kid, right?"

"He's only been with Second Master for less than a month..."

Cui's Eldest Brother glared at Third Brother, then, seeing the crowd, forced a smile and squeezed next to the steward, lowering his voice.

"Steward, how about we talk in private?"

The steward maintained his amiable expression but merely smiled and didn't move.

He was incredibly arrogant: I'm a steward from the Red Lantern Society. Why should I take a step for you?

He simply looked up at the sky and said to the villagers of Dayang Hamlet, who were crowding in the village, "I came to Dayang Hamlet to see the children, just as a matter of course. I still have to burn incense at the Grand Duke Tai Sui Temple and hang up the lanterns of our Red Lantern Society."

"Right now, I don't have time to get closer to the villagers. If you have any problems, talk to the village elder!"

"I just need to see the five children your village sends before the twenty-eighth of this month."

With that, he lifted the front of his robe and left the village, refusing the village elder's invitation to lunch, and rode away on his donkey.

The steward was leaving, and the Cui family didn't dare to stop him, so they surrounded the village elder, chattering away.

In other places, apart from Hu Ma and Zhou Datong, the other three chosen children were still dazed, but their families were beaming with joy, excitedly hugging their children and looking them up and down, their happiness overflowing.

Some immediately took their children's hands to go to the old fire pit to thank their ancestors for their blessings, while others invited their neighbors to a feast and drinks in the evening.

The scene was as joyous as if a child from the village had been admitted to a prestigious university.

"You're really lucky, kid..."

Second Master also walked over, patted Hu Ma's head, and sighed, "I knew you were ambitious and didn't want to rely on worshipping Tai Sui for a living. You were determined to learn skills. Who would have thought you'd really have a chance to join the Blood Food Gang?"

He knew Hu Ma's furnace skills, so he wasn't surprised that he had been chosen.

He simply felt that Hu Ma was lucky. This kid had been asking him questions all along, showing that he wanted to learn skills, but he couldn't teach him anymore. Moreover, the Niangniang Society (Maiden Society) wasn't something you could just join if you wanted to, but now the opportunity had come.

Hu Ma smiled and said, "It's all thanks to Second Master's excellent teaching."

Second Master was all smiles, not knowing how to praise Hu Ma. He suddenly turned and kicked Zhou Datong.

"You're even luckier to have such a good grandfather."

"Why are you kicking me while praising him..."

Zhou Datong rubbed his backside, thinking that he wasn't the only lazy person in the village...

"Village Elder, this isn't right..."

At the same time, the Cui family had pulled the village elder to the wall, speaking urgently and angrily.

"Our Xie'er has been with Second Master for almost three years, and his furnace skills are definitely the best."

"That's right, everyone else can be chosen, so why can't our family's?"

The village elder was surrounded and felt dizzy from all the talking. "Don't you know what's going on?" he said.

"Didn't Second Master say some time ago that your Xie'er was indeed affected by an evil spirit? What can be done about that?"

Cui Xie'er had bumped into Baimian Shankui (White-Faced Mountain Spirit) before, and Second Master had specially sent him back to the village to rest for a few days. The Cui family naturally understood, but now they were unwilling and anxiously said, "If he's been affected, then we'll go find Granny..."

He suddenly realized that Granny was already dead, paused, and then said, "We'll go find Old Sheepskin Grandpa from Mang Village to help him recuperate. We can't miss this opportunity."

"The Niangniang Society hasn't opened an altar in years. Can you bear to see your grandson miss this opportunity?"

The village elder was also getting a headache. "What can I do? The steward has already chosen, how can we dare to interfere?"

"What if we offend the steward and he doesn't want any of the children from our village? How would that be?"

The Cui family became even more flustered upon hearing this. Cui's Eldest Brother told his brothers to stay calm and said, "Listen to the implications of his words. Didn't the steward say to listen to you? When we send them to the Red Lantern Society, we have to send the best. Put our Xie'er in and take down someone with inferior skills, right?"

The village elder immediately frowned upon hearing this. "My Datong isn't the worst."

The Cui family immediately looked embarrassed and quickly said, "We're not talking about Datong. Datong is... so diligent, of course he's good."

After all, he was the village elder. Even the Cui family wouldn't dare to object if he put his own grandson in such an opportunity.

They simply looked at the families of the other chosen children, who were also not easy to provoke.

So he lowered his voice and said, "That Hu kid hasn't been on the mountain for even a month, right?"

"How could he be chosen? I think Second Master secretly helped him speak in front of the steward?"

The village elder couldn't help but frown upon hearing this.

He also felt that Second Master might have secretly greeted the steward.

Firstly, Hu Ma had indeed come to the mountain late, and the child had been very naughty before, not looking like someone with potential.

In addition, when the steward tested his furnace skills, he immediately stopped after only a touch, clearly being perfunctory.

Seeing that the village elder wasn't in a hurry to say anything, Cui's Eldest Brother hurriedly said, "I think it's better to let our Xie'er go. He's older and more sensible. When he gets to the Niangniang Society, he can take care of Datong and the younger ones in the village."

"Otherwise, if all five of them are ignorant, they might cause some trouble and be chased back..."

The old village elder hesitated even more upon hearing this.

Speaking of causing trouble, one of them was his own grandson, and the other was probably that Hu kid, right?

Cui's Second Brother saw the old village elder's hesitation and leaned in to whisper a few words into the old village elder's ear, vaguely containing words such as "half a vat of Tai Sui" and "golden grain," which made the old village elder's eyes widen in surprise, seeming to be obviously tempted...

Then, under the Cui family's eager gazes, he said in surprise, "Your family is hiding such good things?"

Cui's Second Brother smiled without saying a word, and eagerly said, "What do you think?"

"Very good, very good..."

The old village elder smiled and suddenly said, "With so many good things, why bother going to the city to work? Just leave them for Cui's son to marry a wife, right?"

"The matter of joining the Niangniang Society should be left to little Hu Ma..."

The Cui family was stunned on the spot, unable to react.

"What are they talking about?"

Hu Ma also saw the Cui family surrounding the village elder from afar, chattering away, and asked curiously.

Second Master snorted and said, "It's definitely nothing good. I've never liked the domineering ways of the Cui family."

"But there's no way around it. Our village has always been like this. The family with the most sons is the most dominant. Cui's grandmother is amazing. She gave birth to five sons. Although one died when he was young, they are now a big family in the village."

"You must also remember Granny's words. Go to the Red Lantern Society and learn your skills as soon as possible, marry a wife and have children, the more the better. Granny is waiting in the pond!"

Unexpectedly, at the age of sixteen in this world, he was also being urged to marry.

Hu Ma could only smile and also caught some key points, saying, "After learning the skills of the Niangniang Society, you don't have to remain a virgin?"

"Of course not."

Second Master glared at him and said, "Which of the stewards and shopkeepers of the Niangniang Society doesn't have several wives?"

"Their skills are amazing!"

"They come to the village to choose you virgin boys because you are blank slates, with good foundations, and it's easier to teach you skills, but there's no rule that you can't break your virginity."

"After you enter the Niangniang Society, perform well and become a steward, or even more successful, a shopkeeper, then you'll have special blood food to provide for you. With sufficient blood food, what skills can't you learn?"

"Even if you just work as a shop assistant for a few years, when you return to the village, even the village elder will think highly of you..."

Listening to this, Hu Ma became a little tempted. He paused slightly and said, "What about the skills of the Shousui Ren (Night Watchman)?"

"Eh?"

Second Master was slightly startled when he heard him say these three words, then understood that Granny must have mentioned it to him.

He sighed and waved his hand, saying, "You kid is really ambitious. This skill does exist in the Niangniang Society, and if you learn it, you don't have to seal your furnace, but it's not that easy. Your Second Master has been waiting a lifetime..."

Hu Ma vaguely felt that Second Master seemed a little unhappy as soon as he heard about this skill?