He arrived home that evening.
His father and mother were still awake. Ms. Chen was weaving decorative knots with his older sister, Fang Lan, while his father and older brother were repairing farm tools.
The whole family was busy with their own tasks.
It seemed Fang Yue was the only one who had been out 'slacking off'.
"Zhi'Er, you're back."
"Are you thirsty? There's some boiled water cooling for you on the table in the main hall."
"You have no idea! Matchmaker Wang came by today to propose a match for your older brother. It's all because she heard how capable you are now, bringing home fish every day so our family can eat meat."
Ms. Chen beamed at Fang Yue. The more she looked at her youngest son, the more pleased she felt.
Ever since Zhi'Er recovered from his injury, he had taught himself how to fish, and he was quite good at it, too. He brought something home almost every day.
This had greatly improved the family's diet recently. Other families in the village wanted their own boys to learn from him.
But few of them could learn; they didn't have the patience.
This made Ms. Chen incredibly proud. If she didn't have to go work for the Liu Family every day, she would have bragged to everyone she met about what a great fisherman her Zhi'Er was.
What mother wouldn't be happy when her son became so capable?
And now, because of it, a matchmaker had taken the initiative to come and find a wife for her eldest.
It was a sign that her family was now on the rise.
This would make it much easier for her two boys to get married and start their own families, and she and her husband wouldn't have to worry so much.
"Zhi'Er, you should have seen it. When Matchmaker Wang was leaving, we gave her a fish, and she was absolutely thrilled."
Ms. Chen cheerfully recounted to Fang Yue what had happened at home after he went out to train.
Her face was brimming with joy. Her eldest son was already eighteen.
In the past, they had asked matchmakers to arrange a few prospects, and it hadn't been cheap, but for one reason or another, nothing had ever worked out.
This was the first time a matchmaker had ever come to them.
How could Ms. Chen not be ecstatic?
"Oh, right! Fang Cheng, hurry and get the honey. Let your younger brother have a taste."
Before Fang Yue could speak, Ms. Chen seemed to remember something and quickly gave an order to Fang Cheng, who was still working.
'That honey was a gift from Fang Hu,' she thought. 'He said it was to thank Zhi'Er for teaching his Ergou how to fish.'
'Look how proper Fang Hu is, not like those other families in the village. Their boys learned to fish from my Zhi'Er, but they were too stingy to give us anything.'
'It serves them right their boys couldn't learn. How could they, being so cheap?'
'Otherwise, why was Ergou the only one who figured it out?'
"Zhi, have a taste," said his older brother, Fang Cheng. Like their father, he was a typical farmer—reserved and a man of few words.
He brought a jar and a wooden spoon from the kitchen and held them out to Fang Yue.
But from his brother's simple words and gesture, Fang Yue could feel a deep, sincere affection.
The jar of honey was still sealed. It was clear no one in the family had tasted it yet.
They had obviously been waiting for him to come home so he could be the first to try it.
"Dad, Mom, you have some first. Honey is too sweet for me; I don't really like it."
Fang Yue politely refused again and again. 'The warmth of this family in this life... it's truly moving,' he thought.
But then another thought occurred to him. 'Since Mr. Fang Hu sent this honey to thank me for teaching Fang Ergou how to fish...'
'...that must mean he knows that what Fang Ergou taught me was wrong. He probably gave me this honey to settle the score.'
'So why did Mr. Fang Hu change his mind and decide to teach me hunting and archery himself?'
"Zhi'Er, this is from Mr. Fang Hu to thank you. You eat first," Fang Mu said.
As the head of the household—well, the nominal head of the household, at least—Fang Mu's words still carried weight.
But Fang Yue insisted his parents eat first.
Seeing they couldn't persuade him, Ms. Chen and Fang Mu had no choice but to take the first taste.
In this era, life was hard for ordinary farming families. They often didn't have enough to eat, and it was usually only during festivals that they could get a taste of meat.
Sweets like honey were even rarer. Many people might not taste it more than once every three to five years.
After all, you could take it to the city and trade it for money.
In these times, who would be willing to keep it for themselves?
Ms. Chen and Father Fang each took just a small bite before giving the jar to Fang Yue.
Fang Yue had no choice but to take a small taste himself.
It was pure, natural honey, with no pollution and not a single grain of added sugar.
It wasn't as sweet as he had imagined, but it had a delicate fragrance that lingered on the palate.
After his bite of honey, Fang Yue passed the jar to his sister, Fang Lan.
Then he went to Ms. Chen's side. "Mom, Mr. Fang Hu said he's going to teach me how to hunt."
"Zhi'Er, what did you say? Hunting? Mr. Fang Hu is going to teach you how to hunt?"
At first, Ms. Chen thought she had misheard. For years, countless families in the village had wanted to send their sons to learn hunting from Fang Hu.
Even if they couldn't learn to hunt tigers and leopards like Fang Hu, hunting ordinary mountain deer, wildcats, rabbits, and pheasants could still earn a lot of money.
Top-quality wolf and fox pelts, in particular, could be used to pay taxes and levies.
If you were lucky enough to hunt more than ten, it would make life much easier for the whole family.
'Fang Hu wants to teach Zhi'Er how to hunt on his own accord? It must be because Zhi'Er is smart, because he's a good boy,' she thought.
'Why else would he only offer to teach Zhi'Er?'
At this thought, a smug look returned to Ms. Chen's face.
But a moment later, she remembered that the mountains were teeming with tigers, leopards, wolves, and snakes. In the past, villagers who had stubbornly tried to become hunters had mostly met with disaster.
Her expression changed instantly. "No, absolutely not. It's too dangerous! Zhi'Er, I forbid you from learning."
"That's right, Zhi. Hunting is too dangerous, you shouldn't go," Fang Lan added, trying to persuade him.
"Mom, this is an opportunity that so many people in the village have begged for and never gotten. I want to learn."
Fang Yue hadn't expected his family to be so against him simply learning to hunt.
Hunting could clearly improve their living conditions. Now that the Xiahe River was in its dry season and the fish supply was unstable, it was a way for the family to maintain a source of meat.
'Besides,' he thought, 'with my Talent, I can definitely become an excellent Hunter.'
'There's no chance I won't be able to learn. It's a sure thing, with no downside.'
He definitely couldn't give up on this.
Moreover, just drawing that bow required three to four hundred pounds of force. The hunting techniques Mr. Fang Hu taught couldn't be ordinary.
It was highly likely they involved Martial Arts. He didn't want to give up, and he couldn't.
"How old are you? What do you know? Have you ever seen a tiger? Have you ever seen a leopard? Your Thirteenth Uncle from the village went into the mountains to gather herbs years ago and was dragged off by a tiger."
Seeing how stubborn Fang Yue was, Ms. Chen stood up, walked over to Fang Mu, and slapped him hard on his broad shoulder.
The sound was a dull thud; she had clearly used a lot of force.
She doted on her son and couldn't bear to take her frustration out on Fang Yue, so Fang Mu had to suffer instead.
"His father! Say something, will you!"