After clearing the snow from the courtyard, Song Jinzhao expanded the daily martial arts practice time to three hours, making it the routine for each day's twelve hours, aside from sleeping, eating, and reading.
The main room was covered with thick sheepskins by Song Jinzhao. Song Anhao sat on the floor watching his older brother and sister practice outside, occasionally standing up to mimic their movements.
When he fell, it didn't hurt at all; instead, he would laugh heartily.
The old house sent over two cleaned old hens—one for stewing soup, the other for braising in soy sauce. They were finished in three days.
Watching the brother and sister sparring back and forth, Song Jinzhao turned to face the rear.
Their bouts were too restrained, lacking enough lethal intent. They needed more real combat experience.
Song Gaoli gulped down a whole piece of braised pork. Song Mancang watched, his heart aching.
He claimed to be doing well at the academy, but his eating manners showed he hadn't had much meat.
Seeing the whole family staring at him, Song Gaoli swallowed the savory sauce in his mouth.
"I really am doing fine at the academy. Qiming often brings his family's marinated dishes for me, and he invites me to his home for meals now and then. I just missed Mother's cooking—it tastes like home."
Gaoli's mother brushed the back of her hand across the corner of her eye and picked up a large chicken drumstick, placing it in Song Gaoli's bowl. "If you like it, eat more. While you're home, your mother will cook for you every day."
Song Mancang asked, "What marinated dishes? Is Qiming's family taking good care of you in the prefectural city?"
Song Gaoli nodded. "Qiming and I are good brothers now. Sister Jinzhao opened a shop in the prefectural city selling marinated food and drinks. She makes a lot of meat dishes to sell every day, and sometimes Qiming brings some to the academy for me to share."
Song Mancang raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Jinzhao bought a shop in Anyang Prefecture?"
Song Gaoli affirmed with a nod, taking a bite that consumed half the drumstick meat.
"Sister Jinzhao is amazing. She bought two shops at once—one for food and one for a medical clinic. Now the whole of Anyang Prefecture knows her as the best physician; they call her the Divine Healer."
Song Mancang was stunned. "Two shops? Qiming has to study. Can the two sisters manage all that?"
Song Gaoli shook his head. "Shixue is learning medicine from Sister Jinzhao. The food shop is managed by servants."
Song Dazhuang exclaimed in shock, "They bought servants too?"
Song Gaoli nodded, feeling satisfied with his family's astonishment. Finally, someone could share the surprises Song Jinzhao had brought him over the past six months.
Unlike in Anyang Prefecture, where his classmates found it all ordinary, he was the only one who thought it remarkable.
"They bought them not long after arriving in the prefectural city. There are six just at home. From what Qiming says, there are over a dozen more on their estate outside the city."
Song Dazhuang was dumbfounded, as if struck by lightning.
"They bought an estate too?"
Song Gaoli replied, "Most likely. I didn't ask for specifics. But their three-courtyard house was bought, and I even helped with the move."
The village chief's family sat frozen like sculptures, mouths slightly agape, almost drooling.
After a long while, Song Mancang couldn't help but sigh in admiration. "I knew Jinzhao was capable, but I never imagined she was this capable. In such a short time, she has everything in Anyang Prefecture."
Gaoli's mother thought for a long time, then scrutinized her son from head to toe.
As the saying goes, marrying an older woman is like embracing a gold brick. An age difference of two years doesn't matter.
The only difficulty is that he's only fourteen, too young to marry.
By the time he grows a couple of years older, Song Jinzhao will probably already be married. Should they try to arrange a betrothal first?
Having finished showing off, Song Gaoli began to focus wholeheartedly on his meal, completely unaware of his mother's peculiar gaze.
If he had known, he would have jumped right off his stool.
Old Lady Song reached out to hold Song Anhao's hand and voiced her disapproval with concern.
"Why go to the mountain in such cold weather? I heard wolf howls just a few days ago. You absolutely cannot go."
Old Man Song blocked the path of the three. "Is the meat at home all gone? I'll have Grandma kill another chicken."
Song Jinzhao said, "No need to kill a chicken. I just want to take Qiming and Shixue to the mountain to test their skills. Practicing without real danger is no fun."
She noticed there weren't many chickens left in the coop; killing another would empty it.
Old Man Song saw that Song Qiming and Song Shixue showed no fear on their faces; instead, they looked eager.
He felt torn, neither able to agree nor refuse outright.
Seeing his hesitation and silence, Song Jinzhao simply took the two siblings and left. "We'll be back by afternoon at the latest."
Back home, the three geared up fully, leaving only their faces exposed.
The heavy snow had sealed the mountain. On the narrow path leading to the back hills, not a single bird could be seen. It was so silent it felt as if only the three of them remained between heaven and earth.
Once in the mountains, Song Jinzhao walked at the back, watching the two bend down to search for animal tracks on the ground.
It hadn't snowed after midnight yesterday, so animal footprints and droppings on the snow should not yet be covered by fresh snow, making them easier to find.
Song Shixue sniffed and twitched her nose. Besides the fresh, cold scent of snow and the earthy smell of withered grass, she couldn't detect anything else.
After a good while, Song Qiming straightened up.
"We're still too close to the village. We need to go further in."
They both looked at Song Jinzhao, seeking her opinion.
Song Jinzhao spread her hands, not moving her feet. "Today, you two decide for yourselves. Unless there's danger, your older sister won't intervene."
Their eyes met. Song Qiming gave a slight nod. "Then let's go further in."
Song Shixue agreed.
The further in they went, the thicker the snow became. Their boots sank into the snowdrifts, submerging half their calves.
Entering a pine forest, they saw a large gray tail swishing left and right in the snow, with a pile of excavated snow beside a burrow entrance.
The air and snow crystals rubbed together, emitting a soft, rustling sound.
A squirrel digging for its winter stores alertly poked its head out of the hole. Upon seeing Song Qiming, its body froze for an instant, and its tail puffed up like a flower.
It didn't bother with the pinecone it had dropped, scrambling up a nearby tree like a brown flash of lightning.
It leaped from one tree to another and vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Song Qiming walked over and used his dagger to dig open the entrance. Seeing inside, he smiled and said, "It has stored quite a lot." The hole was filled with pinecones.
Song Shixue covered the hole again with snow. They didn't eat squirrels.
These creatures were small and fast. Catching them was too much effort for too little meat—not worth it.
"Let's keep going forward. If we can see squirrels, other prey shouldn't be far either."
