Chapter 16.2

Translated by Aviana

Yang-shi opened the courtyard gate and welcomed the person in.

Under the dim lights by the side, Lin Qingwan could see the person outside the dim lights.

It was indeed Yang Tiezhu!

He cut a sorry figure, with an unshaven beard and dust and mud all over his face. There were even a few bloody gashes.

Those thin-shaped bloody gashes had already formed scabs and appeared to be injuries caused by branches. His clothes were also torn and tattered, and the shoes were covered all over by mud.

He was carrying bags in both hands; he was carrying a bag on his back with one hand, and with the other hand, he was also holding something.

Suddenly two black things rushed into the yard, frightening Lin Qingwan.

Yang Tiezhu hurriedly shouted at them to stop, “Da Hei, Er Hei, don’t scare people!”

Lin Qingwan looked at them carefully, only to find that they were two big black dogs.

Both the dogs were lofty and mighty, with strong and healthy bones and sleek hair from head to foot. Under the lamp, their hair seemed to be shining faintly. They looked spirited, with their tails wagging, and appeared to be quite familiar with Yang-shi. Without needing to call them, they simply rushed in, appearing to be in a cheerful mood upon returning home.

Yang Tiezhu said to Yang-shi, “I didn’t go back home with all the stuff on me…” he didn’t complete saying that if he went back home, there would be nothing left out. Thus, as soon as he got down from the mountain, he ran to Yang-shi’s home.

“Quickly come in, come in.” Yang-shi hurried to take the stuff from Yang Teizhu’s hands, but Yang Tiezhu refused to give to her, fearing that her hands might get dirty.

He walked into the yard and, in passing, threw one under the eaves.

The three of them then together went into the main room. The two big black dogs did not follow them and skilfully found a place under the eaves outside and lay on their stomach.

Lin Qingwan looked at Yang Tiezhu’s appearance, and without speaking, she turned around and went into the kitchen.

Soon, she came back with a big bowl of piping hot noodles.

The bowl had a clear noodle soup, with two poached eggs nestled on top of the noodles. There weren’t any leftovers in the house in the middle of the night, so she could only randomly make something from him to pad his stomach first.

Yang-shi was in the midst of asking Yang Tiezhu about his trip to the mountains.

Lin Qingwan handed over a bowl of noodles to Yang Tiezhu. With a smile on his face, Yang Tiezhu took the noodles, feeling quite happy. He then quickly and effortlessly gobbled up, bottoming out the noodles, within a few minutes.

Yang-shi affectionately looked at him, “Eat slowly, eat slowly, is it not enough, do you want more.”

Yang Tiezhu put down the bowl and stroked his stomach contentedly. “I’m full. I ate too much, Wanwan…. Noodles made by Wanwan are really delicious.” He didn’t forget to praise Lin Qingwan.

Lin Qingwan smiled and glanced at him, “I have boiled the water in the kitchen. You can go and have a bath.”

Yang Tie Zhu nodded happily and looked at Lin Qingwan with bright eyes.

Under his gaze, Lin Qingwan felt a bit embarrassing and slightly turned her face.

Yang Tiezhu was aware that Wan Wan was embarrassed by his gaze; thus, he couldn’t help but look at her and smile.

After smiling for a while, he suddenly seemed to remember something as he picked up a bag from the ground and showed it to them.

“Eldest Aunt, Wanwan this time, I had a stroke of pretty good luck going up the mountain. I came across a tiger. After following it for several days, I was able to kill it.”

Inside the bag, there was a tiger skin. One could see that the handling was a bit rushed, as there were still a few chunks of flesh attached to it. As soon as the bag was opened, a whiff of a fishy smell assaulted their senses.

Yang-shi was also happy but still hit him angrily, “You brat, your guts are too big, you went as far as to go and fight with a tiger.”

Yang Tiezhu gave a silly smile and said, “It was all right, I was quite cautious, also didn’t I take Da Hei and Er Hei with me? It was unlikely for me to lose.”

Lin Qingwan was quite surprised. She didn’t expect Yang Tiezhu to go as far as to kill a tiger.

It was a tiger, ah! In her last life, she had seen Tigers on TV. She had never thought that a tiger could be killed by manpower alone. Was it possible for this seemingly simple-looking man to be a second Wu Song?

Wu Song (Chinese: 武松; pinyin: wǔ sōng), also known as Wu the Second (武二郎; wŭ èrláng), is one of the well-known characters in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. He was able to kill a tiger with his bare hands.

Yang Tiezhu saw Lin Qingwan’s surprise and smiled as he explained to her: “I had shot it with bow and arrow. This way, the tiger’s skin wouldn’t be injured.”

Lin Qingwan’s mouth was slightly opened. He can even kill the tiger without injuring the tiger’s skin?!

Feeling Wanwan gazing at him with adoration in her eyes at first, Yang Tiezhu was quite proud of himself. But when he saw Lin Qingwan having this kind of expression when looking at him, he at once felt embarrassed.

“It was all luck, it was all luck.” After all, his natural disposition has always been honest and straightforward. It was also unlikely for him to blow his own trumpet. Thus Yang Tiezhu spoke quite modestly.

to blow his own trumpet: a Chinese idiom (pinyin: zì chuī zì léi) used as a metaphor for bragging oneself.

‘Pfft’ Lin Qingwan was amused by his foolish experience.

She had never seen such a man. It goes without saying that his hunting skills were excellent, but he had to say that it was all due to luck, as if a tiger fell from the sky, lying there waiting for him to kill it.

Smiling, she gazed at the man who cut a sorry figure.

His hair was in a mess, and his whole face was covered by mud, dust, and fragments of grass leaves. Furthermore, there were also tiny blood gashes, and his clothes were also torn and tattered, appearing like disaster victims…

Actually, it could not have been as easy as he said it was… he had to stay in the wilderness of the mountains for several days, and also had to think of how to get valuable stuff and sell them for silver, maybe he was also in life-threatening situations….

Lin Qingwan’s eyes darkened.

Yang Tiezhu saw Lin Qingwan’s eyes darken and thought that his dirty and disordered appearance had scared her, so he hurriedly stood up from his place embarrassingly, saying that he would go to the kitchen to take a bath.

After Yang Tiezhu went into the kitchen, Yang-shi looked at Lin Qingwan with a smile and teasingly said, “Now it’s fine, Tiezhu is safely back, you don’t have to worry.”

Lin Qingwan blushed in embarrassment and stomped her feet.

“Auntie, I’m going back to the room to rest.”

Yang-shi’s laughter came from behind.

As soon as Tiezhu returned, her anxious old heart was finally at ease.

Read only at Travis Translations