Giving Gifts

"You're dreaming of eating shit." Zhao Feng sneered.

"Your daughter and I broke off our engagement ages ago. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. Stop dreaming! Get out!" He raised his cleaver again.

Zhang the Widow and Wang Jinlian recoiled in fright.

"Fine, Zhao Feng, so this is how you're treating me? I'm really angry now! Don't even think about marrying me!" Wang Jinlian wailed.

"Get out!" Tian Cuihua drove the two women out with her broom. When Zhang the Widow and her daughter had first come calling, she had been a little worried. Only after seeing that Zhao Feng had no intention whatsoever of getting back together had she breathed a sigh of relief.

She certainly did not want Wang Jinlian as a sister-in-law. That mother and daughter were awful people.

"Brother-in-law, you've made something of yourself now. I'll find you a well-read, well-mannered girl someday, a hundred times better than Wang Jinlian," Tian Cuihua said.

"Yes, yes, we ought to start giving some thought to Feng's marriage." Zhao Youlin and Yang Shi grew earnest.

"Tomorrow, I'll ask a matchmaker to look into respectable families in all the villages for miles around," Tian Cuihua said.

"Don't!" Zhao Feng felt a headache coming on. He was only eighteen! Although that already counted as an older unmarried young man in this world, he had no interest in marriage at all.

"Father, Mother, I still have to take the Martial Examination. Let's talk about it after I qualify as a Martial Scholar," he said, putting them off.

"You really intend to take the Martial Examination?" Zhao Youlin's eyes lit up. He had already been more than satisfied that his son had secured a nominal guard position.

"Of course. I said so before. Right now, I need to focus on training. I can't afford any distractions."

"All right, then. We'll discuss it later." At the thought that his son could not afford distractions from his martial training, Zhao Youlin immediately nodded solemnly. Besides, if his son did qualify as a Martial Scholar, plenty of marriage proposals would naturally come pouring in. There would surely be no shortage of well-read, well-mannered girls.

Word that Zhao Feng had become a Martial Master gradually spread through the township.

In Peaceful Town, inside Li the Landowner's mansion.

"Zhao Feng, from Zhao Youlin's family?" Li the Landowner murmured to himself. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

"It's him!" He suddenly remembered that this family had been on the list of peasants Huang Biao had threatened into mortgaging their farmland.

"A Martial Master... Huang Biao." Li the Landowner suddenly grew uneasy.

He hurriedly summoned his steward and sent him to the county town to verify whether this Zhao Feng truly had become a bright strength Martial Master.

He might have been wealthy, but he was still an ordinary man. Unless absolutely necessary, he had no wish to offend a Martial Master.

In Zhao Youlin's courtyard, Zhao Feng was practicing his stance training. His muscles bulged high, and blood and vital energy circulated ceaselessly through his body.

During these two days at home, he had built himself a set of Plum Blossom Stakes in the courtyard, never neglecting his stance training. Only after a full forty-five minutes did he step down from the Plum Blossom Stakes and begin practicing his fist forms.

Just then, Zhao Bao'er and Zhao Zihuai returned from playing outside. Instead of standing to one side and bouncing excitedly as they watched their uncle practice his punches as usual, the two little boys sat on the earthen steps, pouting, their faces troubled.

Zhao Feng finished his routine. "What's wrong? Tell your second uncle what happened." He walked over and stroked the two little boys' heads.

"Did you quarrel with someone again?"

"Second Uncle, Iron Egg and the others said you aren't a Martial Master at all. They said you went back to being a thug in the county town, and all the meat in our house was stolen. I got so angry I fought them!" Zhao Zihuai's lips puckered, and he looked ready to cry.

"Second Uncle isn't a thug! Second Uncle is a Martial Master!" Zhao Bao'er said indignantly.

"Who taught Iron Egg and the others to say that?" Zhao Feng asked. Children did not know any better; an adult must have taught them.

"Eldest Aunt said it!" Zhao Zihuai said loudly. Zhao Bao'er tugged at his clothes.

"It was Eldest Aunt! When I talked back, she even twisted my ear."

Zhao Feng's face darkened. He knew his eldest uncle's wife was petty and jealous. He had heard some of the village gossip over the past two days, too. It was that long-tongued woman, his eldest aunt, spreading nonsense everywhere.

Of course, the original owner of this body had always been an idle loafer, so the rumors fit everyone's impression of him.

Zhao Feng did not care about such gossip, but he understood his family, especially the children. What seemed trivial to adults could feel like the sky collapsing to a child.

Zhao Feng was preparing to go out and show a little of his skill, if only so his two nephews could hold their heads up among the other children.

Just then, however, a clamor came from outside the gate. It sounded as though a crowd was approaching, with the noise of a horse-drawn cart mixed in.

"Excuse me, is this Martial Master Zhao's residence? Liu Sheng, Steward of the Li Residence, has come to pay his respects." A moment later, a respectful voice sounded at the gate, accompanied by a horse's neigh.

Hearing the commotion, Zhao Youlin, Yang Shi, and Tian Cuihua all emerged from the main room. "The Li Residence? Li the Landowner's family in town?" All three felt deeply uneasy.

Not long ago, Li the Landowner had used Huang Biao and his men to pressure them into mortgaging their farmland. After Huang Biao died, nothing more had been said. The Zhao Family had thought the matter was over, so why had his people come to their door now?

Without thinking, Zhao Youlin and the two women all looked toward Zhao Feng in the courtyard. He had already become the family's pillar.

"Father, open the gate." Zhao Feng narrowed his eyes. He had not gone looking for Li the Landowner, yet the man had actually sent people to his door. He would see what they wanted.

Somewhat nervously, Zhao Youlin opened the courtyard gate. An elderly man wearing a brand-new long robe stood before him. Behind the man, two servants led a horse-drawn cart laden with goods.

"You must be Master Zhao and his wife. Liu Sheng, Steward of the Li Residence, pays his respects."

The elderly man plastered a smile on his face and cupped his hands toward Zhao Youlin and Yang Shi. Then he spotted Zhao Feng in the courtyard, and his smile grew even brighter as he respectfully cupped his hands and bowed again.

"Martial Master Zhao, it is an honor to meet you. You studied martial arts in the county town and successfully achieved your gate breakthrough, giving our Greenhouse Township another bright strength Martial Master. A truly joyous occasion! Upon hearing today that you had returned home to visit your family, my master specifically instructed me to prepare some modest gifts and come offer his congratulations."

At Liu Sheng's signal, the servants behind him carried the gifts off the cart. There were five bolts of cloth, two large sacks of rice weighing over a hundred jin altogether, two baskets of mutton, two baskets of mountain produce, two large black carp, and a small cask of liquor. They piled everything in the courtyard.

"These humble gifts are but a small token of our respect. Please accept them, Master Zhao and Martial Master Zhao."

At Liu Sheng's words, the villagers gathered around stared wide-eyed. Their eyes reddened with envy at the sight of the gifts, and they all began talking at once.

"Even Li the Landowner from town has sent congratulations. Looks like Youlin's youngest really has become a Martial Master."

"So many gifts! Incredible."

"Li the Landowner has money to burn. What's this much to him?"

"Youlin's boy has really done him proud."

After a brief silence, Zhao Feng gave a faint nod.

"Your master is very thoughtful. I accept the gifts."

Only he understood why Li the Landowner had suddenly sent gifts to his door. If a bright strength Martial Master like him wanted to cause trouble, an ordinary man could not possibly guard against him day and night, no matter how many bodyguards he had.

Still, he was only letting Li the Landowner off for now. Truthfully, while these gifts left farming families utterly astonished and envious, Zhao Feng, who had seen more of the world, knew they were merely a single hair off nine oxen to Li the Landowner. Wealthy families in the county town would not even give such things a glance. It seemed a bright strength Martial Master still did not carry enough deterrent weight.

Liu Sheng beamed, repeatedly cupping his hands and offering a few more pleasantries before leaving with the servants.

Vindicated at last, Tian Cuihua carried the goods into the courtyard with a radiant face. Zhao Bao'er and Zhao Zihuai bounced excitedly as they grabbed mountain produce to eat, even making faces at their playmates in the crowd.

Zhao Youlin, meanwhile, could not tear his eyes away from that cask of liquor.

The villagers' attitudes shifted once again, their earlier doubts giving way to universal envy. Zhao Feng spotted his eldest aunt hiding in the crowd, staring longingly, both her cloudy eyes red with jealousy.