What It Meant to Praise Someone to Death!

Even now, the old man still worried that his youngest son had merely lost his head in anger, and would regret cutting off his own hopes.

Li Xuan did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He looked at his father, then at his brother and sister-in-law, knowing that his predecessor's "devoted lover" image had poisoned their impressions far too deeply.

They could not change their thinking overnight.

He bent down, picked up the billhook, and tucked it back into his belt. Then he walked beneath the eaves and lifted the mountain pheasant that had nearly caused a storm, speaking in earnest:

"Father, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, listen carefully. I really don't care about Xu Yulian anymore. I was blind before."

He paused, a mocking look appearing on his face.

"Haven't you seen it yet? With the way that family behaves, shamelessly demanding a hundred taels in betrothal gifts, then expecting me to marry into their family and change my surname? Where do they get the nerve? Do they really think their daughter is a princess descended from heaven?"

"What does that tell you? It tells you their whole family's sense of entitlement knows no bounds!"

"They always think their daughter deserves the very best under heaven, that whatever others give them is only their due, and that giving any less means looking down on them."

"What does 'sense of entitlement' mean?"

"Exactly, Third Brother. Why are you suddenly talking like a scholar...?"

"Oh, that's not important. Forget about them."

He hefted the mountain pheasant in his hand.

"Today, I drove their asking price sky-high, then turned on them in public and burned every bridge. From now on, whenever they try using this trick to scheme against someone else, or approach someone about marriage again, people will weigh it against what happened with me, Li Xuan, today."

"'Oh, the Xu Family? The ones who dared demand a hundred taels' worth of gold and jade and still weren't satisfied, and nearly drove the Li family's third son to chop someone up?'"

"That's what I call 'praising to death'! Lift them high, then slam them down hard! Let's see whether they still have the cheek to demand the moon after this!"

His words left Li Zhong and Wang exchanging glances. Thinking it over carefully, it seemed... he really did have a point.

A light of understanding slowly appeared in Li Shan's cloudy old eyes as well.

He looked at his son's calm, clear gaze, then recalled the faces the Xu Family mother and daughter had shown today.

At last, the great stone that had long weighed on his heart—the fear that "his youngest son would be dragged to his ruin by that Xu Family girl"—came completely loose and rolled away.

"You little brat..."

Li Shan muttered the curse hoarsely, shook his head, and turned toward the house, but his retreating figure carried an air of relief.

"You've certainly grown more cunning... Time to eat!"

Li Xiuer blinked her large eyes. Although she did not quite understand "sense of entitlement" or "praising to death,"

she understood that her third brother truly wanted nothing more to do with that wicked woman, and immediately answered sweetly:

"Yes! Time to eat! We've got mountain pheasant today!"

That evening, Mountain Pheasant fat sizzled in the clay pot. Its rich aroma spilled from the shabby house almost like something solid, stirring the greedy little worms in every villager's belly.

The Li family sat together. A bowl of coarse rice and a few pieces of golden meat were the most reassuring harvest feast these troubled times could offer.

Wang had made the fullest possible use of that mountain pheasant.

She rendered its thick fat and saved it for cooking later, golden and fragrant.

The meat simmered slowly over a low flame in the clay pot, together with dried mushrooms, a few slices of old ginger, and a small pinch of coarse salt.

The broth gradually changed from clear to an enticing milky white, with tiny golden rings of fat floating on the surface.

The dried mushrooms soaked up the juices, becoming plump and tender again and releasing the mellow fragrance of the wild hills.

The savory flavor of the meat mingled with the distinctive aroma of the mushrooms inside the pot as it bubbled away.

A rich, full-bodied aroma, laden with gelatin, forced its way past the lid and filled the entire main room.

Then it slipped through the gaps around the door and windows, drifting throughout the little courtyard and even making the neighbor's dog bark restlessly.

When the lid was lifted, steam and fragrance surged out together, making everyone's mouth water.

Wang carefully scooped the meat into a large earthenware basin. The golden skin was taut, the grain of the flesh clearly defined.

She served Li Shan a brimming bowl first, with the most tenderly stewed breast meat, several thick pieces of mushroom, and a ladleful of the richest broth.

Li Shan accepted it but did not eat right away. First, he brought his face close to the bowl and breathed in deeply. His cloudy old eyes seemed almost moist.

He took a sip of broth. It was piping hot and delicious, its savory saltiness just right. It slid down his throat and warmed him all the way to his stomach, as though that mouthful of hot broth had smoothed away a little of his lingering cough and the pent-up gloom in his chest.

He slowly chewed the tender meat without speaking, simply eating with great care, very slowly.

Li Zhong's bowl held a bone-in leg and wing. Unable to wait any longer, he picked up a piece of meat dripping with broth, blew on it twice, and stuffed it into his mouth despite the heat.

The meat had been stewed to perfection, retaining its texture yet slipping off the bone with the slightest pressure of his lips. Rich broth and the meat's own savory sweetness burst across his tongue.

He gave a satisfied "Mmm" and shoveled in the coarse rice. The grains that usually scraped his throat now tasted wonderfully sweet and fragrant, soaked in that meat broth. In two or three mouthfuls, half the bowl was gone.

For herself and Xiu'er, Wang mostly ladled out meat from around the carcass, mushrooms, and wild greens saturated with broth.

Li Xiuer ate her mushrooms in little bites, but her eyes kept darting toward the gleaming skin in the basin.

Seeing this, Li Xuan picked up a piece of leg meat with a thick layer of skin and placed it in her bowl. "Eat up. You're still growing."

"Thank you, Third Brother!" Xiu'er immediately smiled. She took a small bite of skin, and the richness of the fat and the springy smoothness of its gelatin made her eyes narrow with happiness.

They ate that meal in quiet contentment.

There were no polite formalities, only the solid sounds of bowls and chopsticks softly touching, of chewing and swallowing.

One mountain pheasant and a pot of rich broth washed away all the day's alarm, frustration, and scheming, leaving only the comfort and peace of stomachs filled with warmth.

Li Xuan savored every mouthful, feeling the delicious meat broth turn into a warm current that nourished his body.

When the last mouthful of rice mixed with meat juices reached his stomach, a surge of heat, stronger and more abundant than when he had eaten the rabbit, rose from his abdomen and swiftly spread through his limbs and bones.

[First effective consumption of "Adult Male Pheasant meat": Physique experience +2]

[Hunted and consumed "Adult Male Pheasant": additional Hunting Points +10]

[Current Hunting Points: 15]

[Available points: 15]

Another "fortune"!

Li Xuan firmly suppressed his excitement.

Only after his family had finished tidying up and returned to their rooms did he summon the panel in the darkness.

Without hesitation, he invested every point in Physique once again.

In an instant, the muscles throughout his body felt as though they had been immersed in a warm medicinal spring. Their contours quietly became more defined beneath his skin, his tendons grew more supple and strong, and even his internal organs seemed to be flushed by that current of heat,

cleansed and filled with vitality.

The most obvious change was his strength.

Li Xuan could feel it in his arms, which had previously needed deliberate effort to draw that battered Mulberry Wood Bow.

Now, they seemed to hold inexhaustible power. With a casual clench of his fist, his knuckles gave crisp cracks, brimming with explosive strength.

It was not merely his strength, endurance, or explosive power, but even the keenness of his senses.

All of them seemed to rise like boats on a rising tide as his Physique improved across the board.

The slight fatigue from his day of trekking and hunting vanished completely. He felt invigorated, in better condition than ever before.

[Physique: 1.0 -> 1.3]