Jealousy

He felt out his stomach again. After several rounds of Taiji Fist practice while Liu Yuniang was cooking, the food in his stomach had suddenly digested faster, leaving it hollow and empty once more.

Unable to hold back, he first went to the latrine. When he came out, he washed his hands, wiped the sweat from his mouth and face, then impatiently picked up his bowl, took some mutton with his chopsticks, and began eating in great mouthfuls.

"Here, Chengfeng, eat more."

Seeing Li Chengfeng eat so heartily, Liu Yuniang was delighted too. She stretched out her chopsticks to fish mutton out for him, her eyes on him, smiling warmly.

Only when she looked at the mutton in the pot did a flicker of worry pass through her brows.

"We'll finish the rest of the mutton tomorrow. Yuniang, tomorrow you should get ready too. Pack me some dry rations that are easy to carry. I'll go into the mountains again tomorrow and see if I can hunt something."

Just as Liu Yuniang was worrying, Li Chengfeng's words rang out as well. The worry between her brows immediately drew back, and she hurriedly said, "There's still enough for one more day. There's no rush to go. Go the day after tomorrow."

"Hunting in the mountains isn't something guaranteed to succeed. Going a day earlier means one more chance."

Li Chengfeng shook his head and looked at the little mutton left hanging on the wall, somewhat rueful. "I eat too much at every meal. Otherwise, this mutton could have lasted a few more days. I have to go into the mountains as soon as possible, in case I can't catch any prey."

"Then... all right. Then I'll prepare rice balls with mutton in them for you tomorrow!"

Hearing Li Chengfeng's words, Liu Yuniang hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed. She also knew their household could not afford carelessness now, so she could only speak in a stifled voice.

"Don't worry. I've already gone into the mountains so many times. I have experience. Nothing will happen."

Li Chengfeng looked at Liu Yuniang's expression, smiled, and reached out to pat her soft, fair hand. He said gently, "I've gained quite a bit from practicing martial arts lately. Only if I catch big meat in the mountains can I improve. If I manage to catch another big one, I'll be able to settle down at home and practice martial arts for a few more days."

"When I become a martial artist too, our days will get better."

Li Chengfeng smiled warmly. The words he spoke made light appear in Liu Yuniang's eyes. "A martial artist..."

After the words fell, Liu Yuniang hesitated once or twice, then pursed her lips and said, "Tomorrow I'll make you two more rice balls, so you won't go hungry. We still have three taels of silver at home and over five hundred copper coins. It can last a long time. Don't be too anxious once you go into the mountains."

"All right."

A smile appeared on Li Chengfeng's face, and he agreed readily.

After that, he finished the rice in great mouthfuls and filled his belly. Putting down his bowl and chopsticks, he stood and continued practicing martial arts. "I'm full. I'll practice two more rounds to help digest. You eat slowly."

As he spoke, Li Chengfeng took advantage of the sunset and, under the cover of the bamboo grove, began practicing Taiji Fist again.

Liu Yuniang looked at Li Chengfeng practicing martial arts, pursed her lips, then silently sped up her eating.

Before long, she had finished the meal. She rose, gathered the bowls and chopsticks, washed them clean, then carefully scrubbed the iron pot and put it away. After washing her hands, she boiled water and poured it into the bathing tub.

By the time darkness fell and Li Chengfeng finished practicing martial arts, a basin of warm water for bathing had already been prepared. Li Chengfeng stopped training, caught his breath, drank some water, and waited until his heartbeat calmed before wetting a towel and wiping the sweat from his body.

Liu Yuniang then brought him another basin of hot water for soaking his feet. He put his feet in, and his whole body instantly relaxed. He lay down on the bed, and by the time Liu Yuniang had finished serving Li Chengfeng, washed and tidied herself, and climbed into bed, he was already sleeping soft and limp.

"..."

Early the next morning.

Before the sky had even brightened, Liu Yuniang woke early. She prepared the cured meat hanging on the wall, mixed it with rice and vegetables, and made six large rice balls for Li Chengfeng.

After the rice balls were done, she wrapped them in a clean cloth, then poured boiled water that had cooled to a warm temperature into two washed large water gourds for Li Chengfeng to carry.

By the time Li Chengfeng woke from bed with his stomach rumbling and finished washing up, everything had already been packed and prepared.

He held his bowl and chopsticks and filled his belly, then comforted Yuniang and told her to stay well at home.

Then, carrying his bow on his back, holding his waist saber, taking the water gourds and rice balls along with a sack and rope, he faced the pale fish-belly white that had just leaped up and walked toward the mountain forest outside the city.

Liu Yuniang watched with some worry as Li Chengfeng's back disappeared from sight. Only then did she lock the courtyard gate and prepare to return inside and stay there.

"Who knows what kind of luck he ran into to catch a bit of meat? His nerve sure is big. He's gone into the mountains a few times and still dares to go again. Does he really think the tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves in those mountains are kneaded from mud? Isn't he afraid of dying in there?"

Liu Yuniang had just lifted her foot when a strange, mocking voice came from next door.

She turned her head and saw that it was Aunt Chen, the neighbor living on the left. Aunt Chen was staring with a face full of jealousy in the direction Li Chengfeng had left, her words sharp and mean.

"Once or twice, you can call it his good luck. Don't tell me he can catch something every single time?"

Another voice rang out from the other side. Liu Yuniang turned her head again and saw that it was Aunt Wang, the neighbor living on the right.

Her face was all bunched up, full of displeasure as she watched Li Chengfeng's departing figure with a sycophantic bend, and she gave a mocking, disdainful sneer.

"Yuniang, ah, in my opinion, you'd better advise your man to stay home properly and live his life. Eating a few fewer bites of meat won't kill him, but if a blind bear in the mountains drags him off, then his life will be gone."

Seeing Liu Yuniang stop in her tracks, Aunt Chen simply fixed her gaze on her and spoke through the fenced courtyard.

Aunt Chen wore an expression of "I'm doing this for your own good," yet could not hide her displeasure. "You're already a woman whose husband died once. That Brother Li Chengfeng married you and died. Don't tell me you want this second man of yours to die too?"

"Exactly, Yuniang. A woman has to know contentment. You can't always be thinking of eating fragrant food and drinking spicy drink. What's so good about eating meat?"

Aunt Wang at the side also spoke up. As she spoke, she could not help swallowing her saliva.

Only after swallowing did she come back to herself. Her face stiffened, and she spoke to Liu Yuniang even more harshly. "Are those few bites of meat important, or is your own man important?"

"If the mountain prey were that easy to get, wouldn't everyone be going into the mountains?"

Aunt Chen chimed in. "People all say, if you often walk by the river, how can your shoes not get wet?"

"Exactly. Thinking about that one mouthful of meat all day long. In my opinion, if you don't call your man back soon, he really will be dragged off by a blind bear. Let's see whether you'll have any place to cry then."

Aunt Wang followed up, and the two of them, separated by Li Chengfeng's courtyard, actually began chatting back and forth just like that, one sentence from you and one from me.

The trickery and malice in their words made Liu Yuniang's face turn blue, then white. Flushing with shame, she pursed her lips, returned to the house, shut the door, and bolted it tightly from the inside.

"Hey, saying a few words to her is for her own good, but she doesn't even like listening..."

"Eating meat every day—careful a blind bear bites him to death..."

The two aunties' ugly words outside came through the door. Liu Yuniang covered her mouth, tears flowing through her eyes.

She could not help looking tearfully toward the mountain forest Li Chengfeng had gone to, murmuring a prayer, "Chengfeng, you must come back safely."