He had skipped straight past the latter half of "Unpracticed" and entered the "Proficient" tier!
Although the experience required had abruptly doubled to 30 points.
That meant further improvement would become increasingly difficult, but this was a leap in quality!
Li Xuan opened his eyes and lightly mimed drawing a bowstring in the darkness.
He felt a powerful confidence that, if he picked up that battered mulberry-wood bow again now.
Not only could he draw it fully with ease, he could also control it steadily.
Hitting a stationary target seven or eight times out of ten within thirty paces was no longer a pipe dream.
Even against small, moving prey, he now had a fair chance, provided the surroundings were not exceptionally complicated.
This was a leap from "knowing how to shoot" to "being able to hit the mark fairly well."
It was the turning point in a hunter's life when he stopped relying purely on luck and began truly relying on skill.
The lingering aroma of meat still seemed to hover beneath his nose.
The warmth surging through his body from his full meal and the points he had allocated had yet to subside.
Li Xuan clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking crisply.
Good. This was the start he needed.
"Full belly, thirst quenched... time to sleep. Shame there's no woman to warm my bed."
"Forget it. You haven't even secured enough food and clothing, and you're already thinking about women? Li Xuan, you shameless bastard!"
Early the next morning, as the horizon first turned the pale white of a fish's belly, Li Xuan was already up, brimming with energy.
Without disturbing his family, he carefully inspected the battered mulberry-wood bow.
He wiped all four arrows spotless and secured his woodcutting blade at his waist.
He pushed open his door, and the morning chill rushed into his face.
Yet his whole body felt warm and full of strength.
He was just about to slip out quietly.
But a burst of exaggerated, shrill chatter and laughter came from beyond the courtyard gate, drawing closer.
"Brother Li! Is Brother Li home? Oh my, I've brought tremendous news! I practically flew all the way here without touching the ground! Your third son's good fortune has finally arrived!"
A plump, middle-aged woman wore a garish purplish-red satin padded jacket, her face plastered with powder like a whitewashed wall and her hair combed slick and shiny.
Swinging a glaring scarlet handkerchief, she swayed her barrel-shaped waist.
Without the slightest ceremony, she shoved open the Li family's rickety wooden courtyard gate, which had never closed properly anyway.
With a creak, she barged right in.
It was none other than Matchmaker Wang, the town's famous silver tongue, who could talk the dead back to life and infuriate the living to death.
Her shout was like cold water dropping into a pan of hot oil.
Li Xiuer, who was carefully rinsing their last little handful of coarse rice beside the kitchen, was so startled that her hand shook.
The dipper fell into the basin, sending water splashing.
In a panic, she hid behind her sister-in-law, Wang, who had just emerged from the house.
Seeing their visitor, Wang's face paled.
She forced a smile and went forward to greet her:
"Oh, Auntie Wang! So early in the morning, too. Please, come inside and sit down. Have some water."
But her heart was beating like a drum. With Matchmaker Wang at their door.
Nothing good could come of it, especially when it involved "the third son's good fortune."
Matchmaker Wang, however, cast a disdainful glance at the Li family's low, shabby main room.
She showed no intention of moving and simply stood in the middle of the courtyard.
Her shrewd triangular eyes first swept over Li Xuan.
Seeing him with a bow on his back and a blade at his waist, looking so full of vigor, she visibly paused.
He seemed nothing like the idle, slick-haired, powdered-faced third son of the Li family she remembered.
But she immediately curled her lips, and that exaggerated professional smile piled back onto her face.
Her gaze swept over the Li family's crumbling earthen walls, drafty windows, and patched clothes.
She raised her voice even higher, as though afraid the neighbors might not hear:
"No need to sit! I'm here with a message from Shopkeeper Xu in town, and that beautiful, refined, well-educated Miss Xu! She's never forgotten your third son's affection for her!"
"I've come to arrange a marriage for your third son."
"A marriage?"
Wang's expression turned grim.
Just then, Li Zhong, who had been getting ready to split firewood in the backyard, came over as well.
His expression was somewhat wooden, and he instinctively looked toward Li Xuan.
His face creased into a frown, and for a moment he did not know what to say.
Matchmaker Wang pinched her voice into a sharp, piercing pitch, as though she were about to strike a gong and perform an opera in the Li family's tiny courtyard:
"Oh my, who in all the villages around here doesn't know? Miss Xu is one of the finest young women in our town! Pretty, gentle, and able to read and keep accounts, too. So many families have practically trampled her threshold flat asking for her hand!"
She deliberately paused, savoring the Li family's anxious stares, before continuing at a leisurely pace:
"Shopkeeper Xu dotes on his daughter, so naturally his standards are exceedingly high! Originally, he thought your third son was... well, a fine-looking young man. Your family might be a little short on means, but at least he would be marrying her properly into your household. As for the bride price, twenty taels of silver-that was Shopkeeper Xu being kindhearted and understanding how hard life is for mountain folk like you!"
Then she changed tack, an expression mingling false sympathy and secret excitement appearing on her face. Her voice rose even higher, as though she were announcing some tremendous act of grace:
"But things have changed lately! You know Squire Chen's family, who own the rice shop on East Street? When they married off their daughter, the groom brought fifty taels in hard silver, plus a shop in town, and married into their household! All their children will have to bear the surname Chen!"
"Once that news got around, Shopkeeper Xu started getting ideas. He looked again at his own daughter, so beautiful and literate, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that marrying her off for a mere twenty taels had been a terrible loss! He would have let another family reap the benefits for next to nothing!"
She leaned forward, almost pressing her face against Wang's deathly pale one, spittle nearly spraying from her mouth:
"So Shopkeeper Xu has spoken! Isn't your third son utterly devoted to Miss Xu? Then he needs to show greater sincerity! The bride price will be thirty taels! Not a single coin less! And-"
She drew out the word, her triangular eyes gleaming, then dropped each syllable with unmistakable clarity:
"He must marry into her household! Once he enters the Xu Family's doors, he must change his surname to Xu! From then on, he'll belong to the Xu Family, and naturally his children must bear the surname Xu as well! Only that would be worthy of Miss Xu's standing and do justice to all Shopkeeper Xu has put into raising her! As for your Li family... heh-heh, just think of it as gaining some relatives to visit. If your third son is filial, he can come back to see you during the holidays."
Thirty taels! Marry into her household! Change his surname!
Those words were colder and harder than lumps of ice, slamming viciously into every member of the Li family's heart and nearly knocking their souls out of their bodies.
Clang! The axe slipped from Li Zhong's hand again and crashed heavily to the ground.
He looked as though his backbone had been ripped out. His face was deathly white, and his lips trembled violently, yet he could not make a sound.
Thirty taels was already an astronomical sum, and he still had to marry into her household and change his surname
?
They meant to sever the Li family's roots completely-to sell his younger brother to the Xu Family!
Thirty taels of silver could cost them their lives, but marrying into another household and changing his surname would destroy their very hearts!
The whole family abruptly turned toward Li Xuan, the terror in their eyes almost tangible.
Given how madly the third son had obsessed over that woman before... would he... would he really agree?
Li Xiuer was so frightened that she burst into sobs, clutching her sister-in-law's hem and burying her little face in it, her thin shoulders trembling without cease.
"B-brute! Xu, you skinflint! Cough, cough, cough... cough, cough..."
Li Shan's furious roar was interrupted by a violent coughing fit,
"Get out... get out of here! My Li family... cough, cough... even if we starve to death... we will never let our line die out! We will never let our descendants change their surname! Get out!"
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