Alright, let's analyze this text first to understand the context and prepare for translation.
[Step 1: Contextual Analysis]
Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese cultivation/martial arts web novel (xianxia/wuxia).
Language style: Straightforward narrative with dialogue, some martial arts terminology.
Tone: Serious with some light moments, focused on martial arts progression and an emerging crisis.
Plot keywords: Martial arts training, breakthrough, food shortage, disaster preparation, teacher-student relationship
Characters:
- Wu Liangchen (武良辰): Male protagonist, apparently has incredible talent in martial arts
- Liu Dongchuan (刘东川): Male, appears to be Wu Liangchen's friend or acquaintance
- Aunt Fan (樊姨): Female, appears to be a martial arts teacher/mentor
- Yang Lian'Er (杨莲儿): Female, seems to be Aunt Fan's primary student, described as talented but lazy
- Great Yan (大燕): The empire/dynasty where the story takes place
Let me now proceed with the translation while following all the guidelines:
[Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing]
I'll translate the text paragraph by paragraph, ensuring I follow all the rules specified, especially the glossary terms.
The chapter seems to be about Wu Liangchen's preparation for an upcoming food shortage/famine, and his breakthrough in martial arts training, which impresses his teacher.
[Step 3: Final Sanitization and Logic Pass]
Now let me review the translation for any remaining Chinese characters, logical consistency, and adherence to all guidelines.
Starting the translation now:
Liu Dongchuan had left.
Three large ships had arrived at the dock yesterday, but they couldn't unload because of the heavy rain, so everything had remained at a standstill.
Now that the weather had finally cleared up today, they needed to hurry and unload the cargo.
Wu Liangchen bought two baskets of steamed buns and a bowl of soy milk, then headed home with them.
As he walked, he mulled over Liu Dongchuan's words from earlier, and his mood grew increasingly heavy.
This matter was definitely not baseless rumor, and from what Wu Liangchen knew about the current state of Great Yan, the situation would only get worse.
Starving refugees would inevitably flood into Dinghai City like a tidal wave, which would certainly trigger a series of human tragedies.
Wu Liangchen didn't consider himself a particularly good person, but after hearing this news, he felt an indescribable discomfort.
Faced with the raging disaster, those grain merchants—backed by the powerful and wealthy, as well as strong Martial Artists—instead of stabilizing grain prices, were hoarding supplies to profit from others' misery, making unconscionable money.
And the Great Yan government remained completely indifferent, which was truly disheartening.
The historical phrase "trading children for food" might be just four simple words in the history books, but behind it lay an ocean of blood and tears.
Wu Liangchen quickened his pace back home, placed the breakfast on the table, told his sister not to go out unnecessarily, then turned and left.
His entire savings amounted to about five or six Eagle Yuan, which was already a considerable fortune.
Yet when it came time to purchase supplies, it suddenly seemed woefully inadequate.
The grain shops were noticeably more crowded than usual, and prices had increased by at least twenty percent.
There was no room for negotiation—if you wanted to buy, you had to wait in line.
Wu Liangchen visited several grain shops before finally managing to purchase about two hundred jin of flour and over fifty jin of rice.
When he tried to buy more, he found that all the grain shops had put up signs saying they were sold out for the day.
Still, many people gathered outside, arguing and unwilling to leave empty-handed.
But these grain shops all had formidable backing. How could they tolerate such noise? Shortly afterward, street patrolmen arrived with whips and struck at the crowd.
Wu Liangchen watched coldly from a distance. Seeing the crowd scatter in all directions, he shook his head silently, then turned and headed to a general store.
He was there to buy salt.
Despite Dinghai City being coastal, salt was not cheap at all.
The poor had to make do with coarse salt boiled from seawater, which killed quite a few people each year.
Fortunately, Wu Liangchen had come early, and salt prices hadn't increased yet, so he bought fifty jin in one go.
The reason he bought so much was because salt wasn't just for eating—it could also be used to preserve food.
After all, with grain prices rising, meat prices would certainly follow. While prices hadn't yet skyrocketed, he needed to buy more meat and preserve it to maintain nutrition.
And so Wu Liangchen spent the entire morning doing nothing but hauling supplies back home, trip after trip.
Finally, looking at the supplies that now filled half the room, Wu Liangchen's heart felt considerably more at ease.
Then Wu Liangchen cut all the meat he had bought into chunks, sprinkled them with salt, and preserved them layer by layer.
Once everything was properly arranged, Wu Liangchen hurriedly made his way to North City.
Compared to the anxious atmosphere in South City, North City seemed much calmer.
However, Wu Liangchen keenly observed that there were noticeably more patrolmen on the streets.
When he arrived at Mirror Alley and just stepped through the door, Aunt Fan, who had been sitting at the table, seemed to sense something. She immediately looked up, her eyes becoming incredibly sharp.
"You... made a breakthrough?" Aunt Fan's voice carried a hint of disbelief.
Wu Liangchen knew he couldn't hide it and had no intention of doing so. He nodded quite naturally.
"This morning while practicing my stance, I suddenly had a moment of insight, and then my entire body felt different. Is that what a breakthrough is?"
Aunt Fan couldn't sit still anymore. She got up and came before Wu Liangchen, looking him up and down several times, even reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. Finally, with an expression of surprise and admiration, she said:
"I truly didn't expect your talent to be even more extraordinary than I imagined."
"From teaching you stance techniques until today, it's been just one month. Not only have you mastered them, but you've also successfully completed skin tempering and muscle training. Do you know what this means?"
"What does it mean?"
"It means that even among those well-established major sects and powerful schools, your rate of progress would astonish countless people."
As she finished speaking, Aunt Fan suddenly smiled.
This was actually the first time Wu Liangchen had seen Aunt Fan smile.
In that moment, Wu Liangchen felt that Aunt Fan, who was usually as fierce as a man, suddenly seemed much more benevolent.
"It seems my luck is quite good. What started as a casual decision unexpectedly led me to find a treasure. Now, first go see the young lady, then follow me to the backyard where I'll teach you Martial Arts."
Wu Liangchen's spirits lifted immediately. "Yes!"
After Wu Liangchen followed Aunt Fan to see Yang Lian'Er, Lian'Er was incredibly shocked when she heard the news.
"What? He completed skin tempering and muscle training in just one month?"
"Yes, it's absolutely true."
At this, Yang Lian'Er's gaze toward Wu Liangchen changed.
That was because she herself had only just begun tendon stretching and hadn't even completed bone extraction.
"No, I have to work harder, or else I'll be surpassed by this guy." Yang Lian'Er said with determination.
Aunt Fan was overjoyed.
This was precisely why she had brought Wu Liangchen to see Yang Lian'Er.
Having been by Yang Lian'Er's side since she was little, Aunt Fan knew the girl's personality all too well.
She had talent and was clever enough, but her only flaw was that she was too lazy.
Now with Wu Liangchen as motivation, if Yang Lian'Er could really be spurred into action, that would be wonderful.
"Good, I'm about to teach him Leg Skill. Young lady, you should come join us."
"Huh? We're going right now?" Yang Lian'Er was somewhat shocked.
"Of course, there's no time to waste. Since you've already decided to work hard, let's start now."
"But I'm not feeling well today. Let's wait until I feel better in a few days!" Yang Lian'Er lay back down, looking frail and weak.
Aunt Fan: "..."
Then she sighed, "Fine."
And so she led Wu Liangchen away.
As soon as they left, Yang Lian'Er bounced up, pulled a book from under her desk, and began reading with great interest.
She was reading a popular storybook currently circulating in Dinghai City called "The Cap and The Hairpin."
Before long, she had tears in her eyes from the tragic love story and the miserable circumstances of the two main characters.
"Woo-woo-woo, so touching."
While Yang Lian'Er was engrossed in her "drama," Wu Liangchen followed Aunt Fan to the backyard.
There was a small training ground there. Though not spacious, it was well-equipped.
After Aunt Fan stopped, she pointed to a row of stone locks in the middle.
"First, test your strength to see what your foundation is really like."
Wu Liangchen also wanted to verify exactly how strong he had become.
So he went to the smallest stone lock at the edge, squatted down, and lifted it gently.
He felt absolutely no resistance and picked it up effortlessly.
Wu Liangchen then discarded this small stone lock and continued to the next one.
Aunt Fan watched from the side. After a moment, Wu Liangchen came to a stone lock in the middle.
This stone lock was as large as a millstone and weighed eight hundred jin, which should be the limit for someone who had just completed skin tempering and muscle training.
Wu Liangchen squatted down, gripped the stone lock with both hands, and suddenly lifted it up.
The stone lock was instantly raised above his head.
Aunt Fan's eyes lit up.
Because judging from Wu Liangchen's relaxed expression, this was clearly not his limit.