"Damn, really?"
Chen Sansi didn't react for a moment.
Originally, even though he had a bow and arrow, he wasn't very confident about hitting the game.
After all, hunting is a skill-based activity.
If it was so easy, everyone would already be eating meat.
But now, with the added capabilities, the situation was drastically different!
"What are you dazing for, is there a problem with the arrow?"
Old Xu waved his hand in front of the daydreaming youth.
Chen Sansi snapped back to reality and quickly found an excuse: "It's nothing, I just thought of my dad."
"Ah, your dad was a good man, what a pity!"
Mentioning his original father, Old Xu also sighed incessantly.
Chen Sansi didn't say more, paid the copper coin, took his things, and immediately left.
He carried his bow and arrows, walking and stopping, heading straight to the foot of Tiger Head Mountain located about ten miles away.
The mountain was the nearest place in Po Yang County with game, and it was also the livelihood of many hunters.
Chen Sansi had just recovered from a serious illness and had walked such a long way, so he was gasping for breath, sitting on a rock for quite a while before he recovered.
He carefully examined the bow and arrows left by his father.
From its construction, it was a typical recurve bow.
The bow core was made of bamboo, the bow was made of willow wood, the bow was made of sturdy wood, and the bowstring was made of cow tendon, with a pulling force of about forty pounds, still categorized as a soft bow.
Chen Sansi picked up the bow, and the panel from before re-emerged in his mind.
"Skill: Archery (Entry-level)"
"Progress: (20/100)"
"Utility: None"
This time, undisturbed, he managed to calm down and understand the system's function.
Simply put, it was about persistence!
As long as he repeatedly and earnestly performed an action, he could gain progress, and upon completing the progress, he would certainly break through.
"In this way, as long as I practice hard, won't I have the chance to become the best Divine Archer in the entire Po Yang County?"
Chen Sansi's heart suddenly filled with hope, remembering the tips his father had taught him when he was young, and he slowly raised the bow and arrow.
"Is a forty-pound bow this heavy?"
He struggled to draw the bow to its full extent, almost gnashing his teeth to do so, and couldn't imagine what kind of people were mentioned in legends who could open a stone-bow.
"Stand straight and steady, exert even force, grip the bow correctly, mount the arrow calmly, push forward and step back, and complete the bow-drawing pose."
Muttering the formula in his heart, Chen Sansi stood up straight, drew the bow and mounted the arrow, facing a tree trunk about forty meters away with the thickness of a hug, pushed the bow forward with his left palm, pulled the bowstring with three fingers of his right hand, slightly aimed the arrowhead downward, and then released the arrow.
"Swoosh—"
The arrow flew off, missing the target, and hit another tree…
Chen Sansi was not discouraged, and immediately took another arrow from the Arrow Bag, aimed at the target, and shot another arrow.
This time, the arrow went directly into the grass.
"Again!"
Chen Sansi shot five times in a row and finally hit the tree trunk.
He carefully approached and pulled the arrows out of the tree trunk, repeating the previous actions.
After several repetitions, he summarized the regularity for improving the archery progress.
As long as he shot an arrow wholeheartedly, whether it hit the target or not, he could improve his proficiency.
If he was not focused enough, it would not work.
Moreover, hitting the target resulted in greater progress improvement.
After shooting over sixty arrows, Chen Sansi began to feel cramps.
His body was originally weak, and combined with malnutrition, being able to shoot so many times consecutively was already quite an accomplishment.
Fortunately, with each arrow shot, his proficiency increased, and the more he shot, the more accurate he became, rarely missing at a distance of twenty steps.
"Skill: Archery (Entry-level)"
"Progress: (70/100)"
"Utility: None"
The entry-level was not far away, but Chen Sansi had hardly any energy left.
After resting for a while, he began to wander in the woods with his bow and arrow, trying to see if he could hunt some meat to eat with the remaining energy.
Unfortunately, this area was too close to the town, and the easy-to-catch game was basically all gone.
He wandered until the evening before he found a few wild pigeons, but they were too far away to hit.
"In the past life, I always came back empty-handed from fishing, and now I'm empty-handed from hunting too?"
Fortunately, it wasn't completely in vain.
Before leaving the mountains, Chen Sansi found a patch of wild shepherd's purse, quickly dug it up by hand, and stuffed it into his chest pocket before heading down the mountain.
On his way, he went to the market and learned that the price of grain had gone up again.
Due to consecutive poor harvests, the price of rice in Po Yang County had soared to one hundred copper coins per bushel, and the price of meat was even more outrageously expensive, with a pound of pork costing seventeen copper coins. Add to that oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, firewood, charcoal, candles, and various excessive taxes…
Chen Sansi couldn't imagine how many common people would not survive this winter.
Estimating that the prices of grains would continue to rise, he decided to spend all the remaining copper coins on buying rice and mixed grains along with a few salted duck eggs.
"One bushel of rice, half a bushel of mixed grains, in total is only enough to feed two people for three to five days. If I exchanged it all for sorghum mixed with bran, it might last a few more days."
But Chen Sansi had no choice.
Since he was going to become a hunter in the future, he absolutely couldn't continue eating nutrition-less bran; he needed to ensure he had enough physical strength at all times, otherwise, if he encountered any danger in the mountains, he wouldn't even have the energy to run.
He was already starving, and after getting the grains, he hastened his steps, eager to get home and start cooking.
"Yo, Little Stone!"
Just as he was about to reach his doorstep, someone suddenly called his name from behind.
Chen Sansi turned around, and a tall, burly man appeared in front of him.
Qin Xiong.
A well-known bully in the town, he had a group of thugs under him and made money by charging high-interest loans and trafficking virtuous women; many impoverished people in the town had been ruined by him.
"Wow, bow and arrow?!"
Qin Xiong eyed the bow and arrows behind Chen Sansi with surprise mixed with mockery: "This 'Scholar' also plans to learn to hunt in the mountains?"
"Driven by necessity."
Chen Sansi stepped back half a step and said, "Brother Qin, did you want to see me for something?"
Qin Xiong hooked the corner of his mouth, "How have you considered the matter from last time?"
Last time?
A sudden dread struck Chen Sansi's heart, and unpleasant memories flooded his mind.
Half a year ago, after his father had passed away, the household had become extremely strapped for cash.
It just so happened that Qin Xiong came knocking, and the former owner had thought about selling Gu Xinlan for money.
If it were him, naturally, he would never do such a thing.
"Brother Qin."
Chen Sansi refused, "I've thought it over, I won't be needing your money."
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiong's face immediately darkened, "Are you sure you've thought it through?"
"I really don't need it, Brother Qin."
Chen Sansi held his sack of grain tightly and took a detour on his way home, feeling somewhat uneasy.
In his memory, Qin Xiong was not someone who would easily let things go, and he feared this matter was far from over.
Truly, good fortunes never come in pairs, and misfortunes never come singly.
He hadn't even sorted out his meals, and now a bully had targeted him.
Chen Sansi touched the arrow bag at his waist.
A bow and five arrows were his greatest reassurance living at the bottom of this chaotic world.
He didn't know what changes would follow after progressing past the entry-level of the system.
"I need to fill my stomach first to have the energy to practice archery!"
Chen Sansi pushed open his home's door, only to find Sister Lan had not yet returned.
Every day, she was busy laboring, sewing in the tailor shop in the morning and washing clothes for the wealthy families in the afternoon.
He took the initiative to chop wood and start a fire, preparing the meal in advance.
Plain rice served with salted duck eggs, and a soup of boiled wild greens.
For many households, this was already a decent meal.
When Gu Xinlan returned home after her busy day, for the first time ever, she was surprised by the steaming ready-made meal: "Brother Shi, where did the white rice and salted duck eggs come from at home?"
"Eat."
Chen Sansi beckoned her to sit down, then grabbed the chopsticks and wolfed down the food.
He had been starving.
"Brother Shi…"
"Hmm?"
Chen Sansi had his head down eating away, when he finally noticed that Gu Xinlan hadn't touched her chopsticks.
Her eyes had reddened unknowingly, and tears trembled on her lashes as she choked up and said, "Can you... not sell me?"
"Ah?"
Chen Sansi was stunned and a bit confused.
"I heard people say that you made a deal with that Qin Xiong today…"
Gu Xinlan's voice trembled.
Otherwise, where would the silver to buy white rice and even salted duck eggs come from?
She frantically pulled out a patched-up purse from her waist, poured out a few copper coins, and pleaded, "Brother Shi, I was wrong.
"I won't urge you to work anymore, just stay at home and study, I can earn money, I can pay the taxes, please don't sell me."
Everyone in Po Yang County knew of Qin Xiong's reputation.
Landing in his hands, she was likely to be sold to a brothel.
The reason Gu Xinlan had faithfully stayed with the Chen Family all these years was precisely because Chen Sansi's father had bought her from a trafficker, preventing her from becoming a prostitute, and thus she remained grateful.
Was she really unable to escape this miserable fate in the end?
"Sister Lan, you're overthinking it."
Chen Sansi understood, guessing that someone had been spreading rumours.
He comforted her, "You are a member of the Chen family, how could I possibly sell you?"
Having someone around who was as intimate as a sister was incredibly valuable to someone new like himself; he would never push her away, or else wouldn't that be terribly disgraceful?
Gu Xinlan didn't make a sound, she just sat there sobbing, obviously not convinced.
Chen Sansi was helpless, he grabbed her swollen hand and led her into the inner room: "The food was bought with the money from selling my books, not from Qin Xiong."
Gu Xinlan saw the empty book desk and a bow and arrow hanging on the wall, and was stunned, "Brother Shi, you sold all the scholar's four jewels for a bow and arrows?"
"Yes."
Chen Sansi patiently explained, "From now on, I plan to follow father's footsteps, hunting to support the family, how can I let a woman like you suffer so much, your hands are even chapped."
"To support the family…"
Gu Xinlan never thought she would hear Brother Shi say these words.
She realized her decaying hand was still being held by him, feeling somewhat inferior, she tried to pull it back, but instead was embraced tightly.
"Rest assured!"
Chen Sansi, seeing her severe insecurity, spoke solemnly, "Father once said, you were to be my wife, why would I send my wife away?"
Gu Xinlan was startled by the sudden embrace, feeling the warmth, she looked up incredulously at him, "Brother Shi, you... you don't mind that I am of low status?"
"I don't mind."
Chen Sansi affirmed, "I can't like you enough."
"Brother Shi, you are all the family I have left in this world, don't deceive me."
Gu Xinlan no longer tried to escape, but after a few tests, finally rested her cheek against his chest, feeling this rare warmth.
"Sister Lan."
"What is it?"
"I feel a bit sore today, let's go to bed, can you give me a massage?"
"Alright."
...
"Ah... Brother Shi, wasn't it a massage?"
"I'll massage you."
"Mmm, mmm~"