Ninth Chapter: The Zhang Family! Zhang Qian! A Woman Who Would Only Marry a Martial Artist!

Inside a house in Shuanglin Village.

"Girl, take ten jin of venison over to Su Mo next door. His parents died early, and he's had a hard time on his own. Not long ago, Black Wind Stockade attacked him, beat him up, and stole his game."

"His father saved my life on Qingliang Mountain all those years ago. We have some meat at home now, so take him a little."

Inside the house, old hunter Zhang Tieshan puffed on his dry tobacco and spoke to his daughter, Zhang Qian. Nearby, his son Zhang Hai was practicing archery in the courtyard.

The Zhang family had become well known throughout Shuanglin Village. Not long ago, Zhang Tieshan and his son had hunted a Plum Deer weighing nearly two hundred jin on Qingliang Mountain. That much meat would be enough to see their family through the entire winter.

Many people in the village were green with envy.

"Dear, isn't ten jin of meat too much to give Su Mo? Besides, I heard he's been going into the mountains to hunt lately!"

"And our daughter will turn sixteen after the New Year. It's time to find her a husband. Her dowry won't come cheap, so we could take the meat we have left to Qingshan Town and sell it."

Zhang Tieshan's wife spoke up from the side. She thought giving Su Mo ten jin of meat outright was a bit too much. After all, it was the dead of winter, and there was no harm in storing up more meat at home. If they couldn't eat it all, they could take it to town and sell it for some money.

Their son Zhang Hai had to practice archery every day and go hunting in the mountains, so he had a hearty appetite. Their daughter Zhang Qian was nearly sixteen, no longer a little girl. Once winter passed, it would be time to find her a good family. And wouldn't she need a dowry then?

Zhang Qian stood to one side without a word, a thoughtful look on her fair, lovely face.

"Old woman, what do you know? If it hadn't been for Su Mo's father, I'd have died in the jaws of that Mountain Lord. We can't turn our backs on the child of our benefactor. Before, we had no meat and could barely put food on the table, so I said nothing. But now that we have meat, we should help while we can."

"And as for Qian'er, what do you think of Su Mo? I think he's honest and hardworking. He'll amount to something sooner or later."

Zhang Tieshan set down his tobacco pipe, his voice heavy with emotion. Back when he had gone hunting in Qingliang Mountain, he'd run into a Mountain Lord—a great tiger—and had nearly been eaten. Luckily, Su Mo's father had spotted him in time and brought many hunters along. Together, they had just managed to drive the beast away.

Su Mo's father had fed the Mountain Lord all the game he'd caught. Otherwise, the beast would never have left so easily. Zhang Tieshan was an upright old man, and he had never forgotten such a debt.

Now that his family was better off, if he could help Su Mo, then he had to.

Ten jin of Plum Deer meat meant ten jin of Plum Deer meat.

And when it came to his daughter Zhang Qian's marriage, Zhang Tieshan was serious about it. He thought Su Mo was a good lad who would go far one day.

"No. Su Mo isn't good enough for our Qian'er. He can barely feed himself. Wouldn't she suffer if she married him? There's a young man in the next village who seems decent. His family's fairly well-off. At least Qian'er wouldn't go hungry if she married into that family..."

Seeing how determined Zhang Tieshan was to give the meat away, his wife, Liu Guihua, didn't argue further. But when it came to their daughter Zhang Qian's marriage, she objected outright. Su Mo might be a decent lad, but his family's circumstances were plain to see. Their daughter would have a hard life if she married him.

As for whether he would amount to anything, Liu Guihua didn't know. She only knew that there was a good family in the next village, and Qian'er would live comfortably if she married into it.

Seeing this, Zhang Tieshan said no more. He simply continued puffing on his tobacco and told his daughter Zhang Qian to take the meat to Su Mo.

Zhang Qian rose and went to the cellar to fetch ten jin of Plum Deer meat. But as she looked at it, she suddenly asked, "Father, was this Plum Deer really killed by a Martial Artist and given to us?"

At her words, everyone looked at Zhang Qian. Even Zhang Hai, who had been practicing archery, turned to look at his younger sister.

In truth, someone else had killed the Plum Deer and given it to Zhang Tieshan and his son. They hadn't explained the details to anyone outside the family, but at home they had told the truth: a powerful Martial Artist passing through the mountains had killed it casually and given it to them.

So it wasn't strange that Zhang Qian knew about it. But now that she'd suddenly brought it up, they weren't sure what she meant.

"Was that Martial Artist really powerful? Stronger than a hunter?"

Zhang Qian asked again.

"Of course. Martial Artists are amazing. He killed that Plum Deer with one blow. How could hunters like us ever do that?" Zhang Hai said, setting down his bow to answer his younger sister. His eyes brimmed with longing and respect for Martial Artists.

After all, they were Martial Artists! They could kill wild beasts as easily as chickens.

That was the only way Zhang Hai could imagine describing it.

Zhang Tieshan puffed on his tobacco without a word, but he too felt nothing but awe toward the powerful Martial Artist he'd seen that day.

"I don't want to marry into the next village, and I don't want to marry Su Mo. They're both hunters. I want to marry a Martial Artist."

Though Zhang Qian hadn't yet turned sixteen, she had already blossomed into a slender, tall young woman with a fair, lovely face. Even dressed in plain clothes, she stood out.

She hardly looked like a girl from some remote mountain village.

Many young men her age in the village liked Zhang Qian, finding her pretty and charming. But Zhang Qian didn't like them. Many of them were hunters, and they weren't good enough for her. She didn't want a hunter for a husband. She thought her future husband should be a powerful Martial Artist.

She, Zhang Qian, was meant for a Martial Artist, not a hunter from the mountains.

Especially since, not long ago, people in the village had been saying that Grandma Li's grandson, Li Xian, was coming back. Li Xian had left years ago, and now, supposedly, he had become a renowned Martial Artist.

On top of that, there was the recent Plum Deer incident: a young Martial Artist from outside had killed the deer and given it to the Zhang family. That only strengthened Zhang Qian's resolve. If she married, she would marry a Martial Artist.

She would only be a Martial Artist's woman.

Not a hunter's...

At her words, everyone in the family was stunned. They hadn't expected Qian'er's standards for a husband to be so high. But would a Martial Artist ever take a liking to their Qian'er?

Zhang Tieshan puffed on his tobacco. Liu Guihua stood silently at his side, while Zhang Hai picked up his bow again and continued practicing in the courtyard.

They knew that once Qian'er made up her mind, it was almost impossible to change it.

But where could they find someone as impressive as a Martial Artist?

Zhang Qian strode away, carrying the ten jin of Plum Deer meat out through the gate. The venison was for Su Mo.

At that moment, Su Mo was bare-chested at home, furiously pounding a wooden post in the courtyard. His fists and palms kept striking a stone lock—a big rock he'd found outside—as he worked hard to temper his body and hone his physique.

It was something he worked hard at every day!

At the same time, he took out the booklet Introduction to Martial Arts that Shi Mingdong had given him and looked it over, flipping through it again and again. At last, he understood what he'd been missing.