Chapter 9 - Early Morning Exercise
Thank you Anonymous and Opichann for the coffee~
Thanks to my editor Gold Fairy~
The sun had not risen yet when the melodious birds chirped. Ling Jingxuan slowly woke up. For a split second his hazy eyes were bewildered, until the worn out roof entered his line of sight and Ling Jingxuan finally remembered that he crossed over to ancient times. The corner of his mouth couldn't help but create a mocking arch. He turned around to look at the two little buns huddled next to him. With silent light breaths, Ling Jingxuan unwillingly got up.
“Dad?”
When he was about to put on his patched clothing, the little bun rubbed his eyes and sat up. Ling Jingxuan rubbed his head. “It’s still early, sleep a bit more.”
“En.”
Little Bun obediently nodded his head, laid back down and continued to sleep. Ling Jingxuan couldn't help but laugh. He leaned over to give a light kiss, finished putting on his clothes and left.
Lingjia Village was a big village. There were about 200 families with about 3000 people everywhere. On average each household had about 10 people. If this was in the modern age, the Family Planning Office would probably be very busy. What would they be busy with? Sending out fines! (1)
But if it was in modern ages, these population numbers were normal. Some big and rich families would easily have several hundred people. That was what is called frightening.
After going to the kitchen to boil some herb and corn paste, Ling Jingxuan was thinking as he threw off his coat. He randomly found two rice straws to bind his shirt and pant cuffs and slowly ran around the room. This body’s capabilities were too terrible, he didn't even have an expectation to reach his previous level, yet he didn’t even move much and was already out of breath?
The original owner at 13 had already passed the exam to become a Tong Sheng (2), he could be considered smart. Although he passed these few years in a daze, he could still roughly figure out the general situation from his memories of before 15 years old. This was the Da Qing Dynasty. It wasn’t the Aisin Gioro Qing Dynasty (3) that he was familiar with, but the Qing Dynasty led by the Yan family. The Emperor Yan Chengzhi, although you could not say he was an extremely celebrated Emperor, was still counted as a ruler with accomplishments.
Da Qing Dynasty was quite peaceful before, in his memories. But here, the past few years have been repeatedly full of wars. However Ling Jingxuan did not have much interest in this point. All in all, regardless if it was the emperor or war, to him it was too distant. Currently his most important thing was to make money and turn the two fried little buns into super meat buns.
Thanks to the incident five years ago, the original owner was chased to the bottom of Yuehua Mountain. It was probably because the Ling Clan was eager for them to die? In the end, regarding the legend that Yuehua Mountain range is mysterious and dangerous, they would be disappointed. The Ling Jingxuan from before turned into a fool after being casted out. But the current Ling Jingxuan felt that leaving the village wasn’t bad. At least no one would come cause trouble, right? In the future, even if he did anything, he was not afraid of other people finding out.
“Daddy, what are you doing?”
The sky was bright, two buns holding hands were at the front door. Four eyes were looking strangely at the sweaty and panting Ling Jingxuan.
“Hu hu.... Not... not doing anything. I’m just running to toughen up the body. Xian Wen, Xiao Wu, want to run together with me? It can strengthen your body!”
Seeing that it was still early, Ling Jingxuan did not stop. Rather, he continued to run in place as he stared at them, although his breathing was already a mess since early on.
“Daddy, didn't you say you would teach us to defend ourselves?”
Little bun tilted his head innocently and blinked his pair of eyes. Big bun’s eyes were also bright. These past few years they were bullied ruthlessly. They were itching to hurry up and learn 18 different kinds of martial arts, so that they will no longer be humiliated.
“Running is among one of those. You guys go wash your face and rinse your mouth first. Don’t forget you need to use salt to rinse your teeth. Everyday we will run a few laps. After eating I will teach you guys defence techniques.”
Not thinking this would be an issue anymore, Ling Jingxuan faintly smiled and completely ignored Big Bun’s face when he heard that they were using salt for their teeth.
“Ok! Brother, let’s go wash our face and rinse our mouths ba.”
With a cheer, Little Bun dragged Big Bun by the hand and ran off. Waiting for them to reappear, Ling Jingxuan ran another lap. Father and sons ran with the gradually rising sun that slowly shone on their family’s worn out grass house. After exercising, it didn't matter what they ate as they still felt it was fragrant. Three people vigorously ate two large bowls. The dishes hadn’t even been washed yet when Little Bun began to pester him to teach them. Helpless, Ling Jingxuan could only put down what he was doing and taught them very simple taichi.
“The sun is out, practicing martial arts isn't something that takes all day and night. You guys also don't practice for too long. I'm going to the riverbank first. Later, if Grandma or Grandpa come, remember to have them wait for me.”
Finished with tidying the house, Ling Jingxuan opened the Crescent Moon Spring and sneakily poured water into the water jar. Turning around he found a worn out wicker basket in the backyard, took it and prepared to leave.
“Daddy is going to catch fish?”
Seeing that in one hand he held the wicker basket and the other the wooden bucket, face full of sweat Little Bun stopped and his two eyes full of hope looked at him. Ling Jingxuan nodded his head. “En, I'm going to try first. If I'm able to catch fish, then won't we be able to live our days better sooner?”
Regarding the Crescent Moon Spring, he decided not to tell them about it. In the future if they wanted to come along it wouldn’t matter. In the worst case scenario, he would do it like yesterday, open the spring underwater and sneak inside the water to catch fish. Even though it was a bit inconvenient, it was still alright.
“En en en, Daddy you go quickly ba. Brother and I will watch the house.”
Once he heard he was going fishing, Little Bun decisively and happily nodded his head. It didn't matter if it could sell for money or not, at least they wouldn’t lack fish to eat anymore right?
“Dad, be careful. You’re not allowed to go too deep in the water. If you can't catch them then it's fine. Worst comes to worst we’ll go with you to find wild medical herb ingredients. The mountain has lots of wild herbs, we won’t starve to death.”
Big Bun’s entire face was very serious. The staring big plump eyes instantly nailed into him. The importance of money could not be compared to the importance of Daddy’s life.
“Hehe.. don’t worry. Daddy knows. In a moment don’t forget to close the door. Besides Grandma or Grandpa, whoever comes, don’t open the door, understand?”
He was not scared of a thousand things, but scared of only one. The shrew he raised a hand against yesterday. He was unsure if she would bring people today. If by chance he's not home, it'd be troublesome if the two kids got bullied.
“En.”
Two buns cautiously nodded their heads. Together they sent him to the door. Waiting for after they closed the door, Ling Jingxuan picked up the basket and bucket and headed towards Yuehua Ravine. But what he didn't know was that not long after he left, the shrew from yesterday brought her son and husband to come look for them.
***
- Sending out Fines: For a while China had the One Child Law where a household was only allowed one child. If you had more you’d have to pay a fine. I heard that recently its been lifted but unsure about it.
- Tong Sheng: someone who hasn’t passed the imperial scholar exam yet. It’s like having a high school diploma but not a college degree.
- Aisin Gioro: Name of the Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty
