Three Years

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

Xiao Huang Village, Lu Family Mansion, Back Kitchen Courtyard.

A heavy stench of blood filled the air, accompanied by shrill screams.

"Quick, hold it down!"

"This beast is incredibly strong!"

"We've got it! Where's the bucket? Bring it over!"

"Qingshan, hurry..."

Several sturdy men with bare upper bodies pinned a fat Black Pig onto a stone slab. But the pig was large and powerful, and they could barely hold it down. For a moment, they were thrown into disarray amid the pig's squeals and miserable cries.

Just then, a Youth with his upper body similarly bare, revealing strong muscles, strode into the yard with a sharp knife in hand.

With one hand, he pinned down the pig's head. With the other, he thrust out the knife, stabbing it into the throat with flawless Precision. Foul-smelling pig's blood gushed out and fell into the wooden bucket below, without a single drop splashing onto anyone.

The Youth pulled out the knife and turned away. The others released the Black Pig as well, waiting for it to bleed out before hanging it up.

The Youth soon returned, cut open the pig's belly, and skillfully removed its innards. Heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys were all taken out. Then he split the Pork Spine in two, smoothly turning the whole pig into two halves of pork.

He lifted one half and tossed it onto the chopping block, then began breaking it down with his knife—removing the Dragon Bone, tenderloin, ribs, pork belly, front and hind legs, knuckles, trotters... In the blink of an eye, one side of the pig had been cleanly divided.

Smooth and seamless, a pleasure to watch!

Once he finished one half, he lifted the other. Under the Youth's skillful knife work, the large fat pig had become clearly separated cuts of meat in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

"Send this lean meat to the kitchen. Send these leg cuts to the Meat Shop. Save this small tenderloin for Steward Zhang..."

Xu Yang sorted the pork piece by piece. Then he pulled out a Dragon Bone with plenty of meat still on it and began chopping. Once it was chopped up, he took a piece of pork liver and tossed both into the bamboo basket at his feet.

Only then did he put down the cleaver and say to the others, "Split the rest among yourselves."

With that, regardless of their reactions, he picked up the bamboo basket full of pork bones and liver and left.

The butchers did not dare stop him. Only after he had gone did someone begin whispering.

"Brother Qingshan is getting bolder and bolder."

"Isn't he? That Dragon Bone had at least a pound of meat on it!"

"If Steward Zhang finds out, won't he skin someone alive?"

"Steward Zhang? Forget it. He who takes gifts is soft-handed, and he who eats others' food is soft-mouthed. Steward Zhang won't care."

"Exactly. I heard most of Brother Qingshan's Monthly Allowance goes to Steward Zhang every month. Why would Steward Zhang make things difficult for him?"

"Besides, Brother Qingshan is so capable. He's not only good at Butchering pigs and cattle, he's no slouch when it comes to fighting either. A while back, when he fought the Li Family Members over water, Li Lao Jiu and the others were beaten so badly they still can't get out of bed."

"With Brother Qingshan's ruthlessness, what's wrong with taking a few extra pieces of meat? Even if the master knew, he'd probably turn a blind eye."

"I heard the master thinks highly of Brother Qingshan too. He's already planning to transfer him over as a Guard Servant..."

"Forget it, don't spread nonsense. This Li Qingshan is an Ungrateful Wretch and a tough bastard. He's a Li Family member, yet he was so ruthless toward people of the same clan and surname. How could the master possibly think highly of him? He's lucky enough to be getting by here!"

"Exactly! He takes so much meat for himself and only leaves us some stinking offal. Is he dismissing us like beggars?"

The crowd held all sorts of attitudes. Some respected him, some feared him, and some hated him but could do nothing about it.

But none of that had much to do with Xu Yang.

Carrying the bamboo basket, he returned home.

"Brother!"

Li Hong Yu, now grown into a half-grown girl, came out to greet him. Grinning, she took the bamboo basket from Xu Yang's hands. When she opened it and looked inside, she was immediately delighted. "So much, and there's meat too! How many pigs were slaughtered today?"

"One. A big one!"

Xu Yang smiled and walked into the courtyard.

Li Qing He, who had likewise grown into a half-grown lad, came up to meet him with a furry rabbit in hand. "Brother, when I went to cut bamboo today, I ran into this thing. Look, it's fat, right?"

"Not bad."

Xu Yang nodded, generous with his praise. "We'll eat the bones for lunch first. Save the rabbit for tonight."

"Mm-hmm!"

Li Hong Yu nodded from beside them. She poured the pork bones and liver from the basket out and soaked them in clean water to remove the foul blood.

Three years ago, they would never have dared imagine such a thing. Even that foul bloody water would have been precious nutrition to the Three Siblings, something they could not bear to throw away.

Li Hong Yu began bustling about, preparing lunch, one of their three daily meals. Xu Yang turned his gaze back to Li Qing He. "How is that bow? Still all right?"

"All right? It's practically a divine bow!"

Li Qing He looked excited as he removed the Bamboo Bow from his back and gestured as he spoke. "That rabbit was at least twenty paces away, but I hit it with one arrow."

"That's good."

Xu Yang nodded. "After we eat, we'll head into the mountains again. One rabbit probably won't be enough for dinner."

"Great!"

In ancient times, commoners generally ate only two meals a day. Only princes, nobles, wealthy gentry, and great households could afford three meals daily.

But after Xu Yang arrived, he naturally had no intention of following that standard. The siblings had been eating three meals a day since three years ago, filling their bellies at every meal. Over the past two years, they had even reached the point of having meat at every meal and plenty of oil and fat. Xu Yang's strong, robust physique, as well as Li Qing He and Li Hong Yu's growth, proved it.

"Time to eat!"

Smoke curled gently from the chimney as the food was set on the table. As usual, Li Hong Yu served Xu Yang a large bowl heaped with Unpolished Rice, then brought a large pot of bone soup before him. "Brother, yours!"

"Hmm!"

Xu Yang nodded without ceremony, picked up a bone covered in meat, and put it into his mouth.

Li Qing He and Li Hong Yu ladled meat soup over their rice and ate.

These Pork Spines had come with plenty of meat to begin with. Li Hong Yu had only picked off a little for herself and Li Qing He, leaving the rest on the bones for Xu Yang.

But Xu Yang did not distinguish between bone and meat. He put the bones into his mouth and began Chewing, crushing the meat, bones, and marrow together before swallowing them.

Soon, lunch was finished. Li Hong Yu cleared away the bowls and chopsticks while Xu Yang stood and said to Li Qing He, "Come on. A little exercise after eating—same old rules. If you can find me, I'll make you an even better bow."

"Ah?"

Li Qing He's face fell at those words. "Do we have to, Brother? We're already this old, and we're still playing children's games? Besides, when have we ever found you? Aren't you tired of this?"

"I'm not tired. Come on!"

Xu Yang ignored his complaints and walked out of the house on his own.

With no choice, Li Qing He turned a pleading look toward his sister, Li Hong Yu.

Li Hong Yu only smiled. "Why are you looking at me? I still have things to clean up. Take your time looking."

"Heavens!"

Li Qing He looked as though he wanted to cry, but he had no choice. He could only get up and head outside.

He was going to play a game with Xu Yang—a game they had played for three years, a daily required exercise—hide-and-seek!

One day three years ago, no one knew what had gotten into his Big Brother. He had suddenly dragged the two of them into playing this game. After that, he became addicted to it, insisting on playing several rounds every day after meals. By now, they had played for a full three years.

Li Qing He did not know whether his Big Brother still had the heart of a child or had simply lost his mind, but he and Li Hong Yu had suffered terribly because of it.

Xu Yang insisted on playing hide-and-seek with them every day. At first, it had been fine. The siblings had even found a little childish fun in it. But as time passed, Xu Yang became harder and harder to find, and the game grew more and more boring.

By now, it had become torture. They could not catch him at all. Every time, they searched fruitlessly until the game ended and Xu Yang appeared on his own. It was boring to the extreme.

Yet Xu Yang never grew tired of it. He dragged them into playing every day and even offered all kinds of rewards to tempt them. But they were nothing more than unreachable bait, leaving them with psychological scars from hide-and-seek.

Today was no different. Li Qing He forced himself to search inside and Outside the courtyard for half the day, yet he still could not find any trace of Xu Yang. Only at noon, when it was time to head into the mountains as planned, did Xu Yang finally drift out from wherever he had been hiding, ending the unbearably dull game.

"Brother, where were you hiding just now? You didn't run off somewhere else, did you?"

"No. I never left the courtyard."

"Then how could I search everywhere and still not find you?"

"You weren't looking carefully enough. Be more thorough next time, and you'll definitely find me."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"..."

After ending the boring hide-and-seek game, Xu Yang entered the house and took a Bamboo Bow down from the wall rack.

The Bamboo Bow was pale yellow overall, the result of green bamboo being roasted over fire. Horn and sinew had been bound along its curved limbs to increase its elasticity and toughness. Together with the tightly stretched Ox Tendon String at its center, the entire bow radiated a fierce, powerful presence.

This bow was one of Xu Yang's proudest recent works. It had surpassed the scope of a hunting bow and entered the ranks of military weapons. It was valuable, and its power was even more astonishing.

To use such a bow for Hunting was honestly a little wasteful.

So Xu Yang hung it back up and took down another, slightly inferior Bamboo Bow.

At that moment, Li Qing He entered as well, carrying a bamboo basket on his back and a Bamboo Bow in hand. He said eagerly to Xu Yang, "Everything's ready. Shall we go?"

"Hmm!"

Xu Yang nodded, took his Bamboo Bow, and led his little brother from home toward Little Yellow Mountain.

That night, beneath the envious eyes of their neighbors, the two brothers returned home carrying all sorts of game.

"The Li brothers went into the mountains again."

"Good fellow, they got so much again. That basket wouldn't happen to have a roe deer in it, would it?"

"How come going into the mountains is like stocking up for them? My useless man can't even catch a wild chicken!"

"Nonsense. Can your man compare to Li Qingshan?"

"Exactly. You haven't seen his archery. Last time, a blind bear came charging out of the mountains. He led the group and shot it dead. Good fellow, three arrows flew out and pierced straight through that bear's eyeballs and skull!"

"When people are compared, some have to die. When goods are compared, some have to be thrown away!"

"That ungrateful Little Beast is living well, but the rest of us are miserable!"

"Exactly. Last time the two families fought over water, he showed no regard for their shared clan ties and beat our Li Family Members half to death. I heard Li Lao Jiu and the others still can't get out of bed and walk!"

"That Little Beast, that Ungrateful Wretch, he's even abandoned his Ancestors. He became a Family Slave for the Lu Family and their Lackey. How will he have the face to meet his Parents and the Li Family's Forefathers after he dies?"

"Who can you blame for that? You went and tried to Eat the Family, Bully the Siblings. You did it on the First Day, so don't blame them for doing it on the Fifteenth Day."

"Exactly. What's wrong with being a Family Slave? They're living quite well. Not only do they receive a Monthly Allowance from the master every month, they can also bring meat home in their spare time. The Rent isn't even that high, and their Hunting Tax is lower and easier to pay than other Hunters'. Look how much the Three Siblings have grown over these past years."

"Having a Backer really is great. If I'd known, I would have sold myself to the Lu Family too."

"Hmph, what are you dreaming about? Li Qingshan is doing well because he has real skill. Not only is he first-rate at Butchering pigs and cattle, he's formidable in a fight and at Hunting too. That's why the Lu Family values him and takes such good care of him. Do you have that kind of ability?"

"I heard Steward Lu is even preparing to take him on as a Live-in Son-in-law..."