Settling Down

Liu Yuanzhou trotted along, and before long, he entered the village. It wasn't yet noon, so he wasn't in a hurry to go home. He strolled leisurely along the village's main road, looking at the familiar village and familiar people, the familiar noises filling his ears. Liu Yuanzhou felt as if he had been transported to another world, and the tense nerves he had been holding onto finally relaxed.

Was the decision I made earlier correct? Now that he had calmed down, Liu Yuanzhou began to have some doubts about his actions today. He walked along, sorting out his thoughts.

There's still time to regret it. I could report it to the village elders or go to Crouching Tiger Slope to report it to the authorities. That way, I'd be completely safe. Liu Yuanzhou felt a twinge of temptation.

But if I do that, I'll completely lose the chance to learn real martial arts, and my life will go back to the way it was before.

No, I want to learn martial arts, I want to change my life. I don't want to live a plain and ordinary life. This might be the only chance I get in my entire life, I have to seize it. Liu Yuanzhou's eyes became firm.

Miss Qin shouldn't be a completely heartless villain, otherwise she could have just killed me first and then pretended.

Besides, she killed that Bage in self-defense. What she said may not all be true, but combined with what Bage said, it's probably about right.

The key now is whether she sincerely intends to teach me martial arts, or if it's just a lie?

"Sigh, do I have a choice? I can only assume it's true. The most important thing now is to settle her in, and then serve her well. I hope she's a person who keeps her promises." Liu Yuanzhou shook his head and smiled wryly, but deep down he had a feeling that Miss Qin wasn't trying to deceive him.

Having figured out all the key points, Liu Yuanzhou swept away his previous anxiety and uncertainty, and his heart felt incredibly full.

Looking at the scattered pedestrians on the road again, Liu Yuanzhou even found them incredibly friendly, and the surrounding scenery was exceptionally vibrant.

"Fourth Master Li, gathering manure, eh? Good stuff, nice and fertile, perfect for stewing tofu." Liu Yuanzhou saw an old man carrying a basket, picking up manure balls on the road. He went up for a look and praised him.

"Get lost, stop making fun of your grandpa." The old man said, raising the stick he used to pick up manure, ready to strike.

Liu Yuanzhou laughed and ran off.

"Uncle Manlin, going to harm whose piglet again?" Liu Yuanzhou shouted at a man walking towards him. The man was skilled at castrating pigs. Liu Yuanzhou saw him carrying a dirty cloth bag slung across his shoulder and guessed that he was going to show off his skills again.

"Hehe, or should I give you a cut one of these days?" Uncle Manlin said with a chuckle, his eyes narrowed.

Liu Yuanzhou felt a chill, gave a dry laugh, and hurried past him.

Passing by Li Laocai's house, Liu Yuanzhou saw Li Er walking out of the gate with a bundle. He didn't bother to pay attention to him and walked straight past.

"Hey, Erwa, wait a minute. I heard you guys had a fight with Fatty Wang and the others yesterday. How was it? Did you get beat up pretty bad? Haha." Li Er stood on the steps of the gate, looking down at Liu Yuanzhou, laughing loudly.

Liu Yuanzhou's body and mind had undergone a cleansing of sorts, and his horizons and mind seemed to have broadened a lot. Being ridiculed by Li Er about yesterday's events didn't make him feel particularly angry.

"Hehe, yeah, too bad you didn't see it." Liu Yuanzhou turned to look at him, and said with a sneer.

"Uh," Li Er was choked for a moment, not knowing what to say. Suddenly, he thought of something else and laughed, "My dad and I are going to Yan Province City, how about that, envious? You haven't been to the city yet, have you?"

"I'm so envious, is young master Li going to the city to take the imperial exam? Try to get a Xiucai degree and come back." Liu Yuanzhou said, putting on an admiring expression.

"You!" These words stung Li Er, his face flushed red, his fists clenched tightly, his eyes looking like he wanted to devour someone. There's a saying that you don't hit someone in the face, and you don't expose someone's shortcomings when scolding them. Who in the village didn't know what kind of person Li Er was?

"What, you still want to fight?" Liu Yuanzhou's fingers cracked.

Li Er took a deep breath, suppressing his anger. He knew that he couldn't beat Liu Yuanzhou in a fight.

"Hehe, Erwa, I heard Er Ni is in Yan Province City. Do you think I should treat her to a meal if I run into her?" Li Er suddenly laughed again.

Hearing Er Ni's name, Liu Yuanzhou felt a pang in his heart. Li Er's words had hit Liu Yuanzhou's sore spot.

Seeing that Liu Yuanzhou wasn't saying anything, Li Er felt extremely happy, as if he had drunk a bowl of hot meat soup in the middle of winter, and all the pores on his body had opened up.

One must not lose face, Liu Yuanzhou was very unhappy to see Li Er's smug look, he suppressed the pain in his heart, and said coldly: "That's good, when you see Er Ni, remember to give her a message for me, just say that your Erwa misses her very much." After saying that, he turned around and left, if he said any more, he couldn't help but want to use his fists and feet against Li Er.

Li Er was stunned, watching Liu Yuanzhou's departing figure, unsure of what to say. A sudden surge of restlessness and a hint of jealousy welled up within him. In the bloom of youth, which young man doesn't harbor fantasies about beautiful girls?

"What are you gawking at? Let's go." At that moment, Li Er's father, Li Fuyuan, emerged from the doorway, followed by two farmhands carrying shoulder poles laden with baskets full of goods.

"Nothing, Dad, let me help you carry the package." Li Er took the bundle from his father's arms, slung it over his shoulder, and strode ahead.

Li Fuyuan watched his son and caught up, saying, "Second son, you must make a good impression when you go to your uncle's house this time. Try to stay and get your uncle to find you a good job."

Li Er nodded, but his mind was still preoccupied with what Liu Yuanzhou had said earlier, "Are they really together?"

Liu Yuanzhou entered his own courtyard and saw a pile of dirt. His father, Liu Da, was breaking it up with a shovel.

"Where's the firewood you chopped?" Liu Da stopped his work, surprised.

"Ah, don't even mention it. I hadn't even started chopping when the axe fell down the cliff. I looked for a long time but couldn't find it." Liu Yuanzhou said dejectedly. He had thrown the axe down the cliff on his way down the mountain, unwilling to bring such unlucky things home. As he spoke, he entered the cave dwelling. His mother, Zhang Shi, wasn't there. He lifted the pot lid and saw that porridge and cornbread buns were warming in the pot. Liu Yuanzhou was extremely hungry, so he took a cornbread bun, ladled a bowl of porridge, and went to the courtyard to eat.

"Where's my mom?" Liu Yuanzhou asked.

"She went to your great-grandmother's house," Liu Da replied, then added, "You, how can you be so careless? You're so old, yet you're still so clumsy. Buying another axe will cost twenty-odd copper coins."

Liu Yuanzhou remained silent, letting his father lecture him, simply bowing his head and eating his meal without any impatience.

"Da Wa, the dirt is broken up." Liu Da called out to the cave dwelling.

Liu Yuanbo came out, having heard everything that was said. He found it very strange that his younger brother didn't argue back when their father nagged him today, which was unusual.

"I'll build the kang. Da Wa, you and Er Wa move the stones and mud." Liu Da instructed his two sons.

The father and sons worked together, and in about an hour, a rectangular heated kang was built. Liu Da's craftsmanship was excellent, and the kang was built squarely with distinct edges.

"Dad, your skills are getting better and better. You can go out and take jobs building kangs." Liu Yuanzhou said with a smile.

"Just so-so, it's only good enough for my own family." Liu Da said modestly. He lit a pot of dry tobacco, took a satisfying puff, and said with a contented expression, "Once the kang is completely dry, we can brush the edges with white ash to make it look even better."

Liu Yuanzhou and Liu Yuanbo nodded in agreement.

In winter, most families in the village only ate two meals a day, and Liu Yuanzhou's family was no exception. Because Liu Da and his sons had built the kang today, which was considered heavy work, Zhang Shi had deliberately left porridge and cornbread buns in the pot in the morning as an extra meal for lunch.

After washing up, Liu Da and Liu Yuanbo went to eat. Liu Yuanzhou had nothing to do for the moment, so he thought about finding Li Mingzhong to clarify what happened yesterday, but then he thought it wasn't necessary. What would be the point of asking? So he gave up on the idea. He then found Liu Chuang and Zhang He and told them not to look for Li Mingzhong recently. Both of them were puzzled, and Liu Yuanzhou could only vaguely explain, "Xiucai is about to take the County Exam, so we shouldn't disturb him while he's studying." Liu Chuang and Zhang He said they understood.

Liu Yuanzhou then rushed to Third Master's house, tidied up the cave dwelling, and added firewood to the stove to start a fire. Third Master's house had quite a few quilts, and Liu Yuanzhou took out a brand new one for Miss Qin to use.

Third Master's house had four cave dwellings. The two in the middle had doorways connecting them. One of them was used as a kitchen, dining area, and reception room, called the outer room, which also had a kang. Third Master usually slept in this room. The other room was used to store miscellaneous items, called the inner room, which also had a kang, but no separate door to the outside. The inner room was usually uninhabited, and Liu Yuanzhou planned to have Miss Qin live in this room.

Finally, he carried several loads of water and filled the water tank.

After dinner, Liu Yuanzhou made an excuse to go out. While it was still early, he went straight to the cave where he had settled Miss Qin. Before leaving, he didn't forget to secretly swipe two cornbread buns.

When he arrived at the cave entrance, it was already getting dark.

"Miss Qin, I'm here." Liu Yuanzhou called out to the cave entrance.

There was a rustling sound inside the cave, and then Miss Qin came out, leaning against the wall.

"You still know to come? Aren't you going to learn kung fu?" Miss Qin said angrily. She had spent the whole day in the cave, hungry and scared, feeling like she was living in hell.

"Hehe, it's not dark yet. I was afraid of being seen," Liu Yuanzhou scratched his head. He quickly took out the cornbread buns from his arms and handed them over, "Eat something first."

Miss Qin snatched them and began to eat ravenously. The cornbread buns were cold and a little hard, but she didn't care.

Liu Yuanzhou walked into the cave, took out the water bottle, and after Miss Qin finished eating, he said, "Let's go down the mountain now, it will be too late to see the road. Can you walk?"

"Still can't." Miss Qin frowned.

"Sigh." Liu Yuanzhou sighed and squatted down.

"What? You don't seem very willing?" A trace of anger rose in Miss Qin's heart again. What's wrong with me today? Why am I getting angry at every turn? Miss Qin realized that her emotions were a little out of control, but she couldn't do anything about it for a while, so she could only try to restrain herself. She was already poisoned, and in order to deal with Bage, she took the sect's secret medicine to stimulate her potential, so her body was in a particularly bad state now.

"Willing, willing." Liu Yuanzhou quickly put on a smiling face, "For the sake of kung fu, I'll endure it. Are all martial artists so temperamental?" he muttered to himself.

They didn't speak along the way. When it was completely dark, the two finally arrived at Third Master's courtyard. Fortunately, they didn't encounter anyone on the road. Liu Yuanzhou breathed a sigh of relief.

"You can stay here for the next few days. The owner of the house has gone to the city and won't be back until after the New Year." Liu Yuanzhou opened the door and walked into the cave dwelling, fumbling for the oil lamp and lighting it.

Miss Qin supported herself on the door and slowly moved in.

Liu Yuanzhou held the oil lamp and led Miss Qin into the inner room, pointing to the kang and saying, "You can sleep here. I just cleaned the kang this afternoon, and the quilt is also newly changed." As he spoke, he put the oil lamp on a wooden box on the kang.

Miss Qin looked around, examining the cave dwelling. She saw some baskets and old furniture piled haphazardly at the door. The light was dim, so she couldn't see very clearly. There were two wooden boxes and a bedroll on the kang, and nothing else. In short, it was two words: simple. She couldn't help but frown.

"Does Miss Qin have any complaints?" Liu Yuanzhou asked cautiously.

"Sigh, it's good to have a place to live. What am I being picky about? Compared to the days of sleeping in the open air, this is much better." Thinking of this, Miss Qin relaxed her brows and shook her head, saying, "It's nothing, this is very good."

"Then you rest, I'll go back first. It's late today, I'll bring food over tomorrow morning." Liu Yuanzhou saw Miss Qin sitting on the kang and offered to leave.

"Um, I want to wash up. Where are the basin and towel?" Miss Qin asked somewhat shyly.

Liu Yuanzhou slapped his forehead, thinking how he could have forgotten about this. He quickly brought the wooden basin and towel. The wooden basin was what Third Master usually used to wash his face, but the towel was brand new, which Third Master's family had prepared.

"Let me help you fetch the water." Seeing that Miss Qin had difficulty moving, he fetched water for her and put it in front of her. The hot water was readily available. When he was heating the kang in the afternoon, he heated the water in the pot at the same time. It was still hot at this moment. Liu Yuanzhou touched it with his hand, added some cold water, and waited until the water temperature was right before saying, "You wash up, I'll go back first. I'll leave the water here and pour it out when I come tomorrow morning."

"Thank you." Miss Qin said softly. She had never had a man be so considerate to her in her life, and she felt a little touched in her heart.

"What did you say?" Liu Yuanzhou didn't hear clearly.

"It's nothing, you can go." Miss Qin said lightly. Then she thought about Liu Yuanzhou's purpose in doing this, and that little bit of emotion disappeared, and her tone became indifferent.

Liu Yuanzhou told her to pay attention to some things at night and then left.