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墨書 Inktalez
Aunt Yao's countryside home was very close to a county town under D City, just a couple of kilometers away. This county town was famous for its unique culture. Although this culture primarily thrived in the northwest region, there were also many practitioners in S Province, all of whom inherited it from their ancestors.
During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, S Province suffered greatly from warfare, particularly due to Zhang Xianzhong's rampant killings that nearly led to the extinction of its population. By the early years of Kangxi's reign, after the wars had subsided, newly appointed officials conducted a population survey and found that a large province had only ninety thousand people! Many fertile lands lay abandoned, causing great distress among the officials. In the seventh year of Kangxi's reign, Governor Zhang Dedi anxiously submitted a memorial to the Kangxi Emperor, expressing his deep concerns.
"The once prosperous province is now in ruins, with no effective means to increase taxes and difficulties in tax collection, leaving officials feeling uneasy and unable to eat or sleep. After several days of contemplation, I believe that to restore the province's reputation, we must attract immigrants to cultivate the land and rebuild homes; otherwise, there seems to be no other effective solution."
In his memorial, he mentioned several methods for attracting immigrants: ordering local officials in provinces neighboring S Province to investigate and register those who had been displaced by war and return them to S Province; or directly implementing immigration policies through government action to relocate people from densely populated provinces to S Province.
Kangxi was also overwhelmed with issues regarding national taxation and reconstruction. Upon receiving the memorial, he convened relevant departments for reports and officially issued an edict titled "Kangxi's Thirty-Third Year Immigration Edict," ordering large-scale immigration from Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, and other regions into S Province. Many impoverished citizens from Shaanxi also followed suit and migrated to S Province, including numerous practitioners of this unique culture. Most of these individuals settled in one area, which is now the county town under D City.
In the county town, there was a street called Half Street, lined with buildings showcasing Islamic architectural style. Among them stood an Islamic Ancient Temple built during the Daoguang era, serving as a place for religious activities and as the headquarters for the Islamic Association of D City.
Half Street was known as a food street, bustling with halal dining establishments. Beef was the hallmark of Half Street, where the rich aroma of beef wafted through the air. Braised beef, clear broth beef stew, steamed beef with rice flour, cold beef dishes, beef steak hot pot... various beef dishes tantalized taste buds and made passersby stop in their tracks! "Hand-Pulled Beef" and "Juice Beef" were especially famous local halal delicacies known throughout the country.
Hanno's family would visit the county town every so often to enjoy beef and take plenty home to savor later. Steamed Beef was particularly to Hanno's taste. She thought about how her fiancé had probably never tasted these authentic beef specialties from the county town. Once he returned to the capital city, she planned to pack some more for him so he could also enjoy this rare delicacy.
The congee made with green beans was delicious; Han Dad and Mom Han both enjoyed it thoroughly. Hanno urged Mom Han to make congee every morning: "Eating japonica rice congee is good for health. The Compendium of Materia Medica states: 'Japonica rice is beneficial for digestion and quenches thirst.' You don’t need to worry about running out; I can have my friend continue buying it."
Mom Han shot her daughter a glance: "No matter how good it is, you can't eat it all the time. If you don't get tired of it, I certainly will! We can make congee every other time."
Hanno replied: "If we don't make congee, we can cook it as dry rice; it's just as tasty."
Mom Han hesitated: "Isn't that too wasteful?"
Hanno countered: "Which is more cost-effective for nourishment—regular food supplements or medicine when you're sick?"
Mom Han fell silent.
Later on, after helping Han Dad and Mom Han load rice seeds onto their vehicle, Hanno headed toward the Provincial Capital to bring Brat Han Bin back home. Once Brat Han Bin returned after Han Dad and Mom Han got home, he proudly showcased his newly learned martial arts moves from his martial arts class.
Hanno placed the roasted beef, steamed beef, and cold beef head skin that Mom Han and Han Dad had bought into the refrigerator, preparing for lunch the next day. Turning around, he caught sight of Brat's pitiful movements. For a martial arts master like Hanno, Brat's actions were almost unbearable to watch. Even Han Dad couldn't stand it; only the doting Mom Han applauded Brat.
Brat pouted and turned to Han Dad, asking, "Second Grandpa, am I not doing well in martial arts?"
Han Dad felt conflicted. Telling the truth would hurt Brat's feelings, but he couldn't bring himself to lie and say that Brat was doing well either.
"Binbin, how about I teach you martial arts?" Han Dad suggested gently, convinced that he could teach better than the instructors at the children's martial arts class.
Brat nodded eagerly. He had heard from his grandpa and dad that Second Grandpa was quite skilled in martial arts.
The next morning, Brat was full of energy and didn’t sleep in. He followed Han Dad outside to exercise and learn martial arts. This continued for the third, fourth, and fifth days until Han Dad could no longer bear it. It turned out that it wasn't that the martial arts instructor was inadequate; rather, Brat simply lacked any talent for martial arts and had poor coordination. It was surprising that he could practice at all! Han Dad regretted taking on this difficult task but couldn't just stop now; Brat's enthusiasm was so high! After thinking for a while, Han Dad decided to pass Brat off to Hanno.
"Your Nono's skills were taught by me; she’s quite good. You should learn from your Nono first!"
Hanno rolled her eyes. "Dad, when did you ever teach me martial arts?"
Hanno had been a delicate girl; Han Dad spoiled her even more than Mom Han did. Whenever Hanno complained, Han Dad felt sorry for her. So when Hanno smiled, she hadn’t actually practiced martial arts at all; she barely passed the 800-meter run in high school. Her skills came later from training with Li Wei Feng. Thinking about the 800-meter run reminded Hanno of her twin classmates, Huang Juan and Huang Chen. Huang Chen was in the same class as Hanno while Huang Juan was in another class. However, during high school, boys and girls had separate physical education classes, so both classes of girls shared the same teacher. This allowed Huang Juan and Huang Chen to cheat by using their similar appearances. For instance, during the 800-meter run, Huang Juan would run 400 meters while Huang Chen ran the other 400 meters without the teacher noticing. Every time Hanno ran the 800 meters, she wished she had a twin sister too.
Ultimately, teaching Brat became Hanno's responsibility. She felt frustrated but couldn’t resist Han Dad’s wishes and had to obediently take over Brat.
"Stand up straight, raise your right leg high, kick hard, drop it down, left fist out... Good! Now practice this movement I just taught you repeatedly," Hanno instructed Brat.
Brat was dissatisfied. "Why are you only teaching me one movement? The coach and Second Grandpa taught me a whole set of movements to practice; why are you only teaching me one?"
It was precisely because they taught you a whole set that you ended up practicing carelessly—not like you were training in martial arts but more like you were performing a dance.
"This is my teaching method; you need to listen to me."
"Then I won't learn anymore," Brat pouted.
Hanno kicked with her right foot and struck with her left fist, breaking the wooden stick that was held in front of Brat.
Brat's eyes widened in surprise, her mouth agape as if she could fit an egg inside.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Brat exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "Aunt Nono, you're so impressive!"
"You can be just as impressive!" Hanno replied calmly. "As long as you practice the moves I teach you, you can break a wooden stick too."
"Really?" Brat perked up.
Hanno extended her right hand. "Want to make a pinky promise?"
"Yes, yes!" Brat reached out her right hand and hooked her finger around Hanno's. "Pinky promise, one hundred years without changing." The two sealed their promise.
"Alright, since we've made the promise, follow my lead and practice the moves we just did," Hanno said as she set up another wooden stick.
Brat's enthusiasm surged as she spread her arms and legs to practice, moving while asking, "Aunt, if I practice like you said, will I be able to break this stick too?"
Hanno smiled lightly. "Given your age and strength, you'll need to learn the entire set of moves to break this stick."
Brat pressed on with curiosity. "When will I be able to learn the whole set of moves?"
"You haven't even mastered one move yet, and you want to learn the whole set?"
Brat asked earnestly, "How will I know when I've mastered a move?"
"Hanno said, 'Once you can knock down this stick, I'll teach you the next move.'"
Brat immediately put in even more effort into his practice.
Since he had to keep an eye on Brat, Hanno stopped running and sat nearby. Others thought he was just idle, but in reality, he was multitasking by quietly cultivating his Inner Power. After a while, Brat was drenched in sweat, yet the child showed remarkable resilience and continued practicing. His movements became increasingly precise and powerful; the stick shook several times from his strikes, but unfortunately, it still remained standing.
After finishing his training, Hanno glanced at the time and called out to Brat, "Binbin, that's enough for today. We'll practice again tomorrow; it's time to go home for dinner."
"Oh," Brat wiped his sweat and ran over to Hanno. Although he was tired, he was full of energy. "No need to wait until tomorrow! After dinner, I’ll keep practicing. I’m sure I can hit the stick tomorrow, and then you can teach me a new move."
"You shouldn't do intense exercise right after eating. Let's take a break for a while before practicing again," Hanno advised the child. He hadn’t expected Brat to be so interested in martial arts. Perhaps he could teach him more in the future.
When they got home, Han Dad called Brat over. "Binbin, what did you learn from your aunt today? Are you getting used to it?"
Han Dad had been worried all morning. He had unceremoniously handed Brat over to his daughter and feared that she might lose patience and either argue with or hit Brat.
"Second Grandpa," Brat ran up to Han Dad. "Today my aunt taught me a move, and I want to keep practicing after dinner."
"Just one move?" Han Dad was surprised but quickly understood his daughter's intentions. Since Brat's coordination was lacking, it made sense to focus on one move at a time for better progress.
"What move did your aunt teach you? Show it to Grandpa," Han Dad said, eager to see what his daughter had accomplished.
"Okay!"
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