“Sigh, times are tough these days. There are bandits everywhere outside the county town. I went to town to transport a boatload of rice, and even brought over a dozen house guards to protect the boat. The whole way, I was on edge!”

Mr. Thompson shook his head and walked off the boat, quite familiar with this dark-faced porter.

“It's good that Mr. Thompson returned safely. Once you're in the county town, it's safe. There are government officers guarding the place, so river bandits and marauders don't dare approach. Once we get through this harsh winter and those bandits starve to death, things should quiet down.”

“Government officers? Sigh! Best not to run into any of them. Enough idle talk. Mr. Black, take some men and move all the rice to the Li family’s rice warehouse in town. I still need to go to Hanshan Daoist Temple to offer some incense and take care of some business!”

Mr. Thompson clasped his hands behind his back, gave a few instructions, and had the dark-faced porter lead the men to carry the boatload of rice back to the warehouse in town.

“Alright, thank you, Mr. Thompson!”

The dark-faced porter chief was overjoyed, nodding and bowing, then quickly turned to shout at the other porters, “Brothers, Mr. Thompson is giving us a meal, so let’s all work quickly.”

The porters immediately rushed forward in delight—some carrying rice, others moving goods. This job would earn them several days’ worth of meal money.

……

Although Mr. Thompson had escorted a boatload of rice and returned safely to Suzhou county town, he still looked deeply worried.

He had spent years traveling to buy rice, moving about in the martial world, and naturally knew that things outside Suzhou county town were becoming increasingly unsafe.

In the past twenty years or so, Wu Prefecture had suffered many disasters. Refugees and bandits roamed everywhere, forming gangs to rob and loot.

Only the five major gangs of Wu Prefecture, with their formidable strength, dared to ignore these refugees.

The powerful gentry and landowners of the thirteen counties of Wu Prefecture all sought protection by affiliating themselves with the five major martial gangs. As a result, these gangs grew ever stronger, with thousands or even tens of thousands of disciples, dominating the county towns and countryside.

Even the Prefect of Wu and the county magistrates often had to rely on these martial gangs to resolve many thorny issues within the prefecture and counties.

However, these were not matters that Mr. Thompson needed to worry about.

Mr. Thompson had another concern weighing on his mind.

Over the years, he had painstakingly managed several large rice shops in the county town. Taking advantage of the chaos and famine in the counties of Wu Prefecture, he hoarded grain, bought low and sold high, and made quite a fortune, amassing a substantial family estate.

But after more than ten years of marrying wives and taking concubines, he still had no children. He had married several concubines in succession, but none bore him a child.

Finally, his third concubine gave birth to a precious daughter, Emily Thompson. Yet, his daughter was frail and pampered, often falling ill with colds, and never seemed to recover despite taking medicine, which made him anxious.

He wondered if he should send her to a martial gang to become an apprentice and train for a while. Practicing martial arts could strengthen her body and cure her ailments.

Besides, in recent years, the martial gangs had become increasingly powerful, offering a better future than his few rice shops.

Although the Li family owned several rice shops in Suzhou county town and had accumulated a substantial fortune over decades of business, with more than a dozen house guards, servants, and maids, they were only slightly better off than common folk and did not hold high status in Suzhou county town.

Even a few yamen officers could throw their weight around in front of him.

When he transported rice by boat, if he encountered extortion from members of the martial gangs, he was terrified and often had to pay bribes.

If his daughter could join a major martial gang, she would have a much better future than running a few rice shops. Once she became successful, few in Suzhou county town would dare bully this rice merchant.

“Madam, what do you think about sending Jiao’er to a martial gang for some training? I’ve thought about it for days. The Medicine King Gang, one of the four major gangs in Wu Prefecture, is a safe bet—wealthy, powerful, and with a good reputation for healing and virtue. Every twelfth lunar month, the Medicine King Gang recruits a small number of inner disciples and a batch of outer disciples. That time is just about now.”

Mr. Thompson pondered and spoke to the noblewoman.

The noblewoman’s expression changed slightly, unwilling for her daughter to risk the dangers of the martial world: “Master, our family is at least a wealthy household in the county town, with several large rice shops. We have no worries about food or clothing. We only have this one daughter. The martial world is full of fighting and killing—what if something happens...!”

“You women only care about a few years of comfort. The world outside is in chaos now, and even the yamen’s word doesn’t count for much. Without a powerful backer, our family’s days will be hard in ten years. I’ve made up my mind. Jiao’er, I’ll find someone to send gifts and pull some strings to get you into the Medicine King Gang as an inner disciple!”

Mr. Thompson was determined, ready to use the fortune he had accumulated over the years to make this happen.

Martial gangs had both inner and outer disciples.

Inner disciples started at a higher level than outer disciples and had a better chance of rising to the middle or upper ranks of the gang in the future.

He wanted to use the money he had earned over the years to pave the way for his daughter to become an inner disciple of a major gang, giving her a bright future.

“But Master, our family has never had dealings with martial people. How would we find a way in?”