Underestimating

Underestimating

Yan Niangzi's eyes stung with envy.

That wild boar had weighed a full two hundred jin, and it was all meat. That was just too satisfying.

Still, she knew her own man truly could not compare to Brother Xiong.

Brother Xiong was a hunter who had killed Black Bears. Her own man, on the other hand, was a hunter who had been chased by a wild boar and left bedridden for days and nights. When it came to hunting skill, there was simply no comparing them.

Besides.

Yan Niangzi said sourly, "Yuan Ge'er, look at Brother Xiong. How bold and heroic he is. Just like that, he gathered a whole crowd to follow him. From now on, in Little Ink Village, he'll be a major figure—someone who can stand against the Qian Family."

Hearing this, Li Yuan grew annoyed and snapped, "Then marry him."

Yan Niangzi froze for a moment, then pinched him with her hand and said angrily, "I, Yan Yu, am not some promiscuous woman. Once I'm with you, I won't go provoking other men for the rest of my life."

With that, she ran off angrily and sat alone in the corner, her lonely back turned toward Li Yuan.

Li Yuan hurried over and sat beside her.

The moment he sat down, Yan Niangzi shifted her bottom aside.

Li Yuan doggedly followed.

Yan Niangzi moved farther inward again.

Li Yuan reminded her, "Sister Yan, you haven't even removed your makeup yet. You don't look good when you're angry like this."

"Waaah~~~" Yan Niangzi suddenly cried out, twisting her delicate body as she threw herself onto the bed and began to weep. "First you say I'm thinking about other men, and then you dislike me."

Her body rose and fell as she sobbed without end.

Li Yuan had not expected such an intense reaction from a woman. He leaned closer and reached for his wife's hand.

Yan Niangzi did not move, allowing him to take it.

"Sister Yan?" Li Yuan called. Yan Niangzi buried her face in the bedding and did not answer.

"Sister Yan?"

Li Yuan called several more times, but Yan Niangzi still refused to respond.

Li Yuan said, "Sister Yan, if you want pork, then after a while, I'll bring back a wild boar too."

"Big talk." Yan Yu finally muttered, "Don't think I don't know you only came across that pheasant because you got lucky."

The moment she said it, Yan Yu suddenly regretted it. She hurriedly sat up, presenting her pretty face streaked wet with tears, and said softly, "I'm sorry, Yuan Ge'er. I didn't mean it that way. I was just speaking in anger. My man is steady and knows how to live a proper life. He's much better than others."

Li Yuan held his wife and said, "Then next time I get lucky, I'll bring back a wild boar too."

Seeing how serious he looked, Yan Yu regretted it even more. "No, I don't want pork anymore. I just want you to be safe. I won't eat pork. I don't like it."

Seeing that she had stopped crying, Li Yuan felt that Sister Yan was far easier to placate than the "little fairy girls" from before his transmigration.

He glanced at his own information. The "Add Points" section had already reached 36 points.

After tonight, he could raise "Advanced Archery" another tier.

Since a wild boar's overall strength was only "3~4."

Then he needed to learn at least one cultivation method and raise his strength into the "Ninth Rank" before he could hunt vicious beasts such as wild boars with peace of mind, without worrying about attracting trouble he could not handle.

Treating a dead horse as though it were alive, Li Yuan casually asked, "Sister Yan, you followed Yan Mu all the way here before. Did Yan Mu ever tell you anything about cultivation methods? For example, do you know where we could get one?"

"Black—"

"The Black Market? I know that, but how am I supposed to get to the Black Market now?"

"Huh? Yuan Ge'er, do you want to practice martial arts?" Yan Yu suddenly understood what her man meant. Inwardly, she guessed that her man had likely been stirred up by Brother Xiong and wanted to train so he could hunt wild boars. There were still tears on her face, but she smiled.

Li Yuan nodded and said seriously, "I do."

Yan Yu looked at his earnest expression and fell silent for a moment.

Seeing that she was thinking, Li Yuan immediately perked up. "Sister Yan, could it be that you have a cultivation method? Think carefully!"

A look of recollection appeared in Yan Yu's eyes. "Now that you mention it, I really do remember something.

"Back then, Yan Mu had someone send a little booklet home. He said my sister and brother-in-law could practice the movements in it whenever they had time, and that it could prolong life or something.

"My sister had me practice it too, but I never felt there was anything special about the booklet. Could it be a cultivation method?"

Li Yuan said, "Sister Yan, try it."

Yan Yu said, "I've forgotten some of it. You... you can't laugh at me."

As she spoke, she recited the mental method while demonstrating it.

Her movements were slow, but none of her postures were wrong. She looked like she was trembling unsteadily in the wind, swaying this way and that, her palms and arms opening and closing by turns. It was somewhat like calisthenics.

Li Yuan followed along and practiced.

Yan Yu said, "The main thing is breathing, the center of strength, and using the mental method to adjust your state. It really does look somewhat like a cultivation method.

"But this probably isn't one. If it were, why did neither my sister nor I get any results from practicing it?"

The young couple shut the door and fumbled about in their room.

They kept at it until evening. Yan Niangzi stopped with rosy cheeks. She had eaten chicken last night and exercised so much today, and her complexion had improved considerably.

"Yuan Ge'er, that's all there is to it. You can practice it yourself for fun. I'm going to cook."

"Go on. If we finish eating earlier and get into bed earlier, we can save a little on candle money."

"Mhm," Yan Niangzi answered sweetly, as though the person who had cried during the day had not been her.

In the earthen stove, the firewood gave off soft crackling sounds.

Yan Niangzi squatted by the stove mouth, cooking the rice. Her gaze occasionally swept toward the half-bowl of chicken fat beside her, and her heart brimmed with happiness. But when she thought of how the household's emergency money was all gone, a trace of worry flashed through her eyes.

Li Yuan, meanwhile, felt there was promise in the method Yan Niangzi had just taught him. He practiced it over and over, but even when Yan Niangzi called him to eat, he had not figured anything out.

While eating, he asked again, "Sister Yan, are you sure you remembered it correctly?"

Yan Yu said, "Of course. There were only a few movements and a bit of mental method in that little booklet. How could I remember it wrong?

"Hey, Yuan Ge'er, I already told you this isn't a cultivation method. It just loosens the tendons, invigorates the blood, and helps people exercise."

Li Yuan said no more.

The two of them shoveled down their food.

As the night deepened, warm and bashful sounds came from the little house.

Early the next morning.

While Yan Niangzi was still curled up asleep in Li Yuan's arms, Li Yuan was already checking his points.

He already had 42 points.

He looked at the "+" behind Advanced Archery (0/40) in the skill list and tapped it forty times in a row.

In that instant, countless experiences and insights flooded into his mind. Though he had clearly done nothing, it felt as if he had already completed countless rounds of archery.

He had drawn his bow on horseback, shooting prey and enemies alike; he had pierced a willow leaf with one arrow on the training grounds, drawing the attention of everyone around him.

He had slept embracing arrows and traveled with a bow on his back upon waking. Through tireless effort and unyielding diligence, he had finally achieved another breakthrough in the path of archery.

Li Yuan opened his eyes, carefully slid his arm out from beneath Yan Niangzi's head, and stretched. A sense of strength flooded his heart.

His muscles had grown firmer, and calluses had formed on his left palm and between the index and middle fingers of his right hand.

Sure enough, true strength had always been the result of effort.

Li Yuan eagerly leaped out of bed and grabbed his bow.

At a glance, the number at his side had become "7~8."

Looking again, he saw that his information had changed as well:

Name: Li Yuan

Add Points: 2 points

Realm: Not Ranked

Cultivation Method: None

Skills: Expert Archery (0/80); Advanced Tracking (0/40)

Divine Ability: Eternal Life

Equipment Bar: Unlocked

However, the number "7~8" made him frown slightly.

That should not be right. He clearly felt much stronger.

Suddenly, he noticed the Earthen Bow in his hand.

The weapon was probably the problem.

Even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice; even a good hunter was useless without a good bow.

But a good bow would not fall from the sky.

"Money, money, money. Everything needs money. Food costs money, moving costs money, buying a bow costs money, and buying a cultivation method costs money..." Li Yuan sighed. He decided to practice the method Yan Yu had mentioned yesterday a few more times, to see whether he could mooch a cultivation method for free. Then, after eating, he would head into the mountains to hunt.