Chapter Twenty-One: Accepting a Disciple

"You're here?"

"I'm here."

Every time Li Dazhuang came to Xu Wenshan's place, he felt a genuine sense of relief. Here, no one threw stones at him, and no one gossiped behind his back.

The young master before him, the landlord's son, was nothing like the domineering figure he had imagined. On the contrary, he was good-tempered, and in his presence, Li Dazhuang even felt respected.

Was it strange? He was just the son of a hunter—what right did he have to be respected by a landlord? Hunters truly lived with their heads hanging by a thread; in Luhe Valley, their status was even lower than that of tenant farmers.

Yet before this little overlord of Luhe Valley, he felt a sense of respect, and it was an undeniably pleasant experience.

Most importantly, this man taught archery differently from his own father, who would hit and scold at will, brooking no questions.

"Have you memorized the key points I taught you the other day?" Xu Wenshan's voice pulled Li Dazhuang back from his thoughts.

"I have. After I got home, I practiced late into the night, haha..." Li Dazhuang scratched the back of his head.

Xu Wenshan nodded and pointed to the cloth strips wrapped around Li Dazhuang's hand. "You can take those off now."

Li Dazhuang froze, asking worriedly, "But won't that hurt my hands?"

Xu Wenshan shook his head and clapped his hands. "We have a replacement now."

Two servants, Afa and Xiaocui, carried a table into the courtyard, and on it lay a dozen thumb rings of various styles.

"Pick one," Xu Wenshan said.

Li Dazhuang's eyes glazed over at the sight.

Ever since he'd begun learning archery from Xu Wenshan, "having his own thumb ring" had become his greatest short-term dream.

Xu Wenshan often spoke of the thumb ring's importance in his archery lessons, frequently emphasizing the vast difference between shooting with and without one.

There were even times Li Dazhuang woke up smiling from dreams about thumb rings, only to feel crestfallen afterward.

Now, the object of his dreams was laid out before him, for him to choose from, and in such abundance.

Li Dazhuang was so happy he almost burst into tears.

He picked out a thumb ring, cradled it carefully, and asked, "Is this for me?"

Xu Wenshan laughed.

"Of course not."

Li Dazhuang's face fell instantly.

"These are for training. Since I accepted your family’s gift for taking you as disciples, I should show some sincerity," Xu Wenshan said. "From now on, use these thumb rings when you practice, but after class, put them back where they belong. You can't take them home."

Ever since that day when he’d won over the Li father and son with his archery, Xu Wenshan had agreed to take them as students.

"Once you’ve chosen a thumb ring, start practicing right away. Get used to using it quickly," Xu Wenshan urged.

With a thumb ring in hand, Li Dazhuang practiced archery with renewed vigor. By noon, he had shot at least seventy or eighty arrows.

Whatever others said about this archery range, Li Dazhuang knew its value. Before, he could only practice archery in the forests, shooting at rabbits and deer; even after two days, he might not shoot seventy arrows. But now, in just one morning, he could shoot seventy, and the targets allowed him to judge his accuracy.

More importantly, Xu Wenshan was right there to give him personal guidance, pointing out every flaw in his form.

Though he never said it aloud, in his heart, Xu Wenshan was the true "first archer of Luhe Valley."

...

Li Dazhuang and his father took turns coming to Xu Wenshan’s lessons; whoever attended class, the other went hunting. They had given their "master’s gift"—which Xu Wenshan insisted on calling "tuition"—consisting of five wolf pelts, five deer hides, and three fox skins.

During a "break," Li Dazhuang sat in the shade, gulping down cool water. Xu Wenshan, fanning himself nearby, struck up a conversation. "Do all hunter families have so many hides at home?"

Li Dazhuang’s face turned a little red. "Mm... we have a lot. They’re stacked up everywhere. The winter before last, we made a batch into coats, and we've still got plenty left after two years."

He had never spoken to someone of Xu Wenshan’s status before and was a bit nervous, rambling on out of fear of giving the wrong answer.

"Have you ever thought of selling them?" Xu Wenshan asked.

Li Dazhuang shook his head. "Selling to other villagers doesn’t fetch much. Each autumn, fur traders come by to buy pelts at a slightly better price, but it’s still not much."

Xu Wenshan waved his fan. "Never thought about hauling them to the county to sell?"

Li Dazhuang replied honestly, "We don’t know anyone there. Who would dare risk it? There are lots of bandits in the mountains. If we lost our lives for a bit of money, it wouldn’t be worth it."

"Bandits?" Xu Wenshan’s eyes lit up. "Interesting."

Li Dazhuang lifted his bow. "I’m going back to practice."

Xu Wenshan nodded.

After a few shots, Li Dazhuang suddenly ran back. "Young Master Xu, you’re not thinking of taking pelts to the county, are you?"

"Why?"

"You can’t! There really are a lot of bandits in the mountains—they set traps and snares, use every dirty trick. If you went and ran into them... it’d be bad!"

With a blank expression, Xu Wenshan asked, "Did you finish your set of practice shots?"

Li Dazhuang shook his head.

Xu Wenshan kicked him. "Then get back to it! Stop meddling!"

Clutching his backside, Li Dazhuang replied, "Alright, alright, I won’t meddle. But promise me you won’t go into the mountains, Young Master!" With that, he ran off to practice again.

Xu Wenshan pondered for a moment. Li Dazhuang had indeed reminded him of something important.

When the time came to take furs to the county, he would definitely have to keep it from his family.