Does He Still Want to Be a Martial Artist?

At dawn, the red sun leapt out of the water.

Today, in a rare turn, Liu Yuniang did not rise early. Instead, Li Chengfeng got up, his face relaxed and cheerful, to cook.

By the time the meal was ready, Liu Yuniang twisted her way over, her face flushed, not daring to meet Li Chengfeng's eyes, and came to the stove to carry the food.

"Yuniang, just rest properly at home. In a while, you can carry the food over, that's all."

Seeing Liu Yuniang like that, Li Chengfeng walked straight over, hooked one hand beneath the bend of her knees, and lifted her soft body up against him by the waist. Smiling, he spoke as he carried her to the bedside and set her down on the stone they used as a seat for meals.

After Li Chengfeng did this, Liu Yuniang's expression grew even shyer. She nodded obediently, quietly waited for Li Chengfeng to bring the food over, and ate in tiny bites.

"Yuniang, rest properly at home. I'm going to the market to buy a few things."

When Liu Yuniang had only eaten halfway through in small bites, Li Chengfeng had already filled his stomach and spoke to her with a smile.

Liu Yuniang immediately nodded again and again. "All right. Be careful on the road."

"Got it."

Li Chengfeng smiled and nodded. After speaking, he went to fetch a large ingot of silver along with some broken silver, then turned and strode out the door.

Liu Yuniang saw him out of the courtyard. Only after watching him leave through the courtyard gate did she turn back, finish her meal, sit on the stone for a while, and then, unable to help herself, lie back down on the bed.

She rested in bed for the whole morning. She saw Li Chengfeng go in and out of the house several times; he bought back a table and chairs, and also bought two sturdy bed beams, bed boards, and bed legs to replace the old ones, along with a new quilt and mattress.

Once the bed beams, legs, and boards had been replaced, Liu Yuniang immediately felt that the bed had grown wider and much sturdier.

It should no longer respond the way it had last night...

"Yuniang, this is hand cream I bought for you. Try putting some on and see how it works?"

When Li Chengfeng returned on his final trip, Liu Yuniang, who had just finished cooking, turned back and saw a wooden box of snow-white hand cream being offered before her. She immediately pursed her lips and accepted it, moved.

"Thank you, Chengfeng. I'll try it later. The food is ready, so hurry and eat."

Liu Yuniang spoke gently to Li Chengfeng, her now even brighter brows filled with happiness.

"All right, let's eat!"

A smile appeared on Li Chengfeng's face. He leaned in and kissed Liu Yuniang on the cheek, making her face redden. She lowered her head and carried the food to the table. Just as she was about to sit down to eat, Li Chengfeng domineeringly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap.

"We're eating..."

"..."

In the afternoon, after the midday nap.

"Whoosh~ whoosh~"

In the courtyard, a figure moved in a dance, stirring up gusts of wind. Li Chengfeng comfortably mobilized his strength throughout his body. Between each move and form, everything connected with incomparable smoothness; he only felt the more he practiced, the more vigorous he became, his whole body light beyond measure.

Taiji Fist Proficiency +2

After throwing himself wholeheartedly into cultivation, a wave of comprehension, clearly richer than usual, rose from within his heart.

"Phew~"

Li Chengfeng exhaled, withdrew his skill, and stood still. After digesting that wave of comprehension, he looked at the information on the panel, and his eyes lit up.

"As expected, cultivation has to pay attention to the proper degree of tension and relaxation. You can't just stay taut blindly. Relaxing a little at the right time is good for both body and mind!"

Li Chengfeng turned to look at Yuniang, who was sitting in the courtyard watching him, her brows appearing even gentler, and a smile appeared on his face as his heart stirred secretly.

That Bear Waist Stance truly hadn't been practiced in vain!

After that, his heart throbbed, and he began cultivating with even more strength.

"..."

"Isn't that the one who used to do short-term work at Master Zheng's house? How come we haven't seen him going there for short-term work for over a month?"

While Li Chengfeng was cultivating, two members of the Black River Gang passed outside the fenced courtyard. Through the bamboo grove, they indistinctly saw the movements of Li Chengfeng practicing martial arts inside, and one of them stopped in some surprise.

"What's he doing, all soft and floppy like that? So serious, too. Don't tell me he's practicing martial arts?"

The other Black River Gang member looked at Li Chengfeng's movements, which were unclear through the bamboo grove, raised his brows, and spoke with some amusement.

"Seeing how his body's gotten quite a bit sturdier lately, is he figuring out martial arts on his own?"

The first Black River Gang member who had spoken recalled Li Chengfeng's body growing sturdier and sturdier over these days, raised his brows, and could not help speaking for a moment.

"It's understandable to train your bones a bit at home and move your body around. But he doesn't even go to work, just stays home every day blindly figuring things out by himself. Could he have gotten some incomplete scrap of a cultivation method and started fantasizing that he can train up qi and blood and become a martial artist?"

The Black River Gang member on the right could not help speaking with a sneer.

"Who knows? Forget him..."

The Black River Gang member on the left shook his head, his expression calm. As he spoke, he dragged the member on the right along, his gaze sweeping obscurely over Liu Yuniang, longing in his eyes. But after looking at Li Chengfeng, who was in the bamboo grove and had somehow wrapped himself around something unknown, he felt greatly displeased and silently left.

Aunt Wang and Aunt Chen, who lived to either side, also poked their heads out and watched those two gang members, who often patrolled their alley, leave.

The two of them could not help getting together. Thinking of what the Black River Gang member had just said, then looking at Li Chengfeng blindly messing about on his own in the bamboo grove, they glanced at each other and both secretly laughed.

"It's good for him to mess about. Best if he does nothing every day and just blindly messes about at home like this, messing away the whole family fortune."

As Aunt Wang imagined the scene of Li Chengfeng squandering the family fortune, her expression could not help carrying a sense of satisfaction as she spoke. "When the time comes, I'll see how he keeps eating meat at every meal, and how he shows off."

"Exactly. They all say a man fears entering the wrong trade, and a woman fears marrying the wrong man. Those words really aren't false. For a woman, she still has to choose a good man. Otherwise, what use is being beautiful?"

Aunt Chen echoed in a low voice, looking in the direction of Li Chengfeng's house with a smug expression. "He won't take day labor, won't work as a hired hand. Now that he can hunt, he doesn't even hunt properly, just messes around at home every day. With a man like that, even if you can eat meat and drink soup for a little while, what use is it? Sooner or later, won't you still end up with no one to rely on?"

"Who says otherwise? Forget marrying a good man—even if you're with a hardworking man willing to work, life may not be that good, but at least you can get by, can't you?"

Aunt Wang nodded again and again. Thinking of what Liu Yuniang would look like once she had no one to rely on, she grew so excited that the dark flesh on her face trembled. Spittle flew as she and Aunt Chen took turns imagining it aloud.

Once the two of them started chatting, they chatted all the way until dusk.

Just as they were about to go home and cook, they suddenly smelled the aroma of meat drifting over from Li Chengfeng's house again.

"Gulp~"

Aunt Wang could not help swallowing. Then she came back to herself and spat toward Li Chengfeng's house. "Hmph, I'd like to see how long you can keep acting so pleased!"

"Hmph, that slut is so pretty. When the time comes and she has no one to rely on, won't she get dragged off to a brothel? When that happens, the two of us will have to go see whether she still looks the way she does now."

Aunt Chen also snorted and chimed in repeatedly. The two of them, in perfect agreement, viciously cursed Li Chengfeng for a while longer before hunger finally got the better of them and they went home to cook.

"Yuniang, eat some meat."

Just as Aunt Wang passed the gate of Li Chengfeng's courtyard, Li Chengfeng's soft call to Liu Yuniang reached her ears. She could not help glancing sideways and saw a piece of pork, half fat and half lean, held in Li Chengfeng's chopsticks and fed into Liu Yuniang's mouth.

The fragrant oil on the meat smeared all over Liu Yuniang's lips. Aunt Wang swallowed at the sight, then went home with a darkened face.

"Yuniang, from now on, let's eat our meals in the courtyard. Big mouthfuls, nice and hearty, eating it so it smells delicious."

Li Chengfeng turned his head and glanced at Aunt Wang passing outside the courtyard. A cold smile appeared on his face, but when he looked back at Liu Yuniang in front of him, he spoke with a smile.

You cheap thing who can't stand seeing others doing well—may you choke to death on envy!

"All right, I'll listen to you!"

Liu Yuniang sat on the stool. Hearing Li Chengfeng's words, she nodded again and again. Then, as if thinking of something, her face reddened. "Um, tonight, can we not do it like that? I'm so embarrassed..."

"Heh heh, I'll listen to my wife."

Li Chengfeng chuckled and agreed readily.

Liu Yuniang nodded, then shyly turned her gaze away, not daring to look at him. Yet the chopsticks in her hand could not help picking up a piece of meat for him.

Li Chengfeng ate it with a beaming smile.

Before long, night fell.

"..."

"...Didn't you say we wouldn't... slower..."