"Sister-in-law." Tran Mac's Adam's apple bobbed a few times.
Han An Nuong had a beautiful figure and features, and she still carried the air of a new bride. At this moment, their bodies were close, and she was still holding his hand. This made him, who wasn't inexperienced with women but hadn't touched a woman recently, feel a little restless and agitated.
Especially in this chaotic world, with immense pressure to survive and a lack of entertainment, for a young, robust man like him, the desire for female companionship was even deeper.
"Uncle..." Sensing Tran Mac's fiery gaze, Han An Nuong only felt her heart race wildly, her face flushed hot. Only then did she react, realizing she was still holding his hand, their bodies pressed tightly together. She hurriedly released his hand and stepped back two paces.
Tran Mac quickly averted his gaze. Although the original owner's mother had intended for him to eventually be with his brother's widow, and he wasn't the original owner and didn't have that kind of emotional baggage, he didn't know if the original owner's mother had mentioned this to Han An Nuong. She was, after all, his nominal sister-in-law. With ethics and social norms laid out here, Tran Mac still suppressed the stirring in his heart and said, "Sister-in-law, you didn't fall just now, did you?"
Han An Nuong shook her head, patting the dust off her ample backside, then suddenly thought of something and said, "Uncle, Lu Tam won't report to the officials, will he?" Although Vuong Ma Tu had also kicked Tran Mac, and the government officials hadn't paid attention, there was always a 'what if'. Han An Nuong was from an outside village and could only rely on Tran Mac. She didn't want anything to happen to him, so she was very sensitive about this matter.
"Sister-in-law, didn't you say before? The yamen is short-handed. As long as it's not a murder case, for public order outside the town, the government won't manage it. The Lu family isn't wealthy either; they even need to borrow grain. They definitely don't have any backing. The government won't specifically bother with this matter for him." Before transmigration, due to "battlefield" reasons (perhaps his father's tough background, or his own past life experiences), he had quite a few dealings with "officials." In any dynasty, as long as no murder occurred, brawls were just minor incidents.
"That's good then." Han An Nuong nodded lightly. For some reason, Uncle's earlier words, "Daring to bully my sister-in-law! Are you f***ing looking to die?" inexplicably came to her mind. She just felt it was so imposing, her face flushed red. Afraid Tran Mac would see, she lowered her head again.
...
In the following days, Tran Mac finally understood why Han An Nuong wanted to prepare so much firewood for winter. It wasn't even mid-November yet, but the scraping cold wind blowing on his face was like a knife.
People coming to borrow grain also increased. Although Tran Mac refused them all, he couldn't withstand people's assumptions; they thought the Tran family had grain but just didn't want to lend it to their group.
For this reason, Tran Mac took two jin of corn from the cellar and put it in the rice bin. Later, when someone came to borrow grain, he would openly show it to them, saying he indeed didn't have enough to eat.
But even so, they still hoped Tran Mac could lend a little.
Tran Mac, his face cold, chased them away.
Indeed, in these times, one couldn't be treated with gentle courtesy.
...
Two days later.
In the room.
Tran Mac fashioned a long wooden handle for the wood-chopping knife, removing the previous short wooden handle and installing the long one.
Just like that, the originally only half-meter long wood-chopping knife became over a meter long.
Originally looking like a farm tool, the wood-chopping knife, when fitted with a long handle, became a battlefield weapon.
"Huh?"
[Name: Tran Mac.]
[Age: 16.]
[Cultivation Technique: Nourishing Blood Technique (Entry 11.5/100).]
[Realm: None.]
[Strength: 7+15.]
[Skill: Thien Hop Saber Technique (Peak 7320/10000).]
"After fitting the wood-chopping knife with a long wooden handle, strength even increased by one point."
Tran Mac frowned.
He swung the knife with force.
[Number of swings +1, Thien Hop Saber Technique experience +1.]
Swinging and chopping also became much smoother.
He made up his mind: when the Thien Hop Saber Technique reached its peak, and his own strength increased to around 8, he would go hunting for meat.
7 was a normal person's level; surpassing that level by a point perhaps wouldn't be too difficult.
These past few days, he had been steadily swinging the knife a thousand times or more daily.
Other times were used for training.
He also had nothing else to do.
Tran Mac took off his shirt and, as usual, began his push-up training.
"Huff huff..."
Not long after.
A hundred push-ups done, Tran Mac panted heavily.
These few days without meat in his mouth, he felt the training effect wasn't as obvious as before, feeling particularly uncomfortable from the blandness.
After resting for a while, Tran Mac began lifting stones to train his arm strength.
And at this moment, Han An Nuong, who had gone out to wash clothes, rushed into his room.
"Uncle, it's bad... Ah, Uncle, why aren't you wearing clothes..." Han An Nuong covered her eyes and retreated.
Tran Mac: "..."
Tran Mac quickly dressed properly and went out: "Sister-in-law, what happened?"
The blush on Han An Nuong's face hadn't faded. Seeing Tran Mac come out, her face turned even redder. Her mind was filled with the image of Tran Mac without clothes just now. Although she didn't see it clearly, she could vaguely make out the shape of his strong muscles. She subconsciously clenched her fists.
Her breathing hitched; she seemed to realize her vision had received a shock, her earlobes even felt a bit hot. She mumbled, "Uncle should still be more careful when at home..."
"What?" Tran Mac didn't quite hear clearly.
A hint of shyness flashed in Han An Nuong's eyes. She temporarily forgot about that matter and said, "Uncle, Uncle Dai Lam went to Dai Dong Lake to fish, was discovered by people from the Thanh Ha Gang, beaten until severely injured. After being carried back, he stopped breathing."
Hearing this, the image of that simple and honest face he had seen some time ago surfaced in Tran Mac's mind.
What left a relatively deep impression on Tran Mac about him was that after that time, Tran Dai Lam came to borrow grain once more. His expression was very reserved, and unlike others who, after being refused, would still shamelessly beg and not leave unless chased away, Tran Dai Lam left immediately upon hearing the refusal.
"Uncle, were we too much? If we had lent him grain at that time, Uncle Dai Lam perhaps wouldn't have gone fishing, and also wouldn't have..." Han An Nuong's voice carried a trace of sorrow, her face showing shame, thinking Tran Dai Lam's death was related to her.
Tran Mac didn't speak.
Speaking of which, he and Tran Dai Lam were still from the same extended family, just that the two families rarely interacted.
Tran Mac was a transmigrator, his temperament a bit unfeeling. Furthermore, the grain stored in the cellar was indeed not much, so naturally, he didn't want to lend.
After a long while, Tran Mac let out a soft sigh: "How could it be like this?"
The two methods he had thought of earlier to obtain meat, besides hunting, were to go fishing in Dai Dong Lake.
Han An Nuong slowly explained.
Originally, besides the outskirts of the mountains, these lakes also belonged to the government's property, under the government's jurisdiction.
Dai Dong Lake, with its misty waves covering thousands of mu, stretching a hundred li, had abundant aquatic products, supporting the nearby fishermen. However, to fish, one had to pay tax.
And Dai Dong Lake spanned two counties, not just under the jurisdiction of Binh Dinh County alone. Therefore, tax payment wasn't compulsory, but if you wanted to fish, you had to pay.
For convenient administration, so neither county would lose out, they jointly entrusted the Thanh Ha Gang and others to manage it, from which the government extracted benefits.
And the underworld gang, to make money, would impose taxes and exploit the fishermen.
And Tran Dai Lam definitely couldn't afford the fishing tax. Therefore, his fishing, when caught, was considered poaching...
Naturally, a beating was indispensable.
"Damn, this world..." Tran Mac said.
"Uncle, are we not at fault towards Uncle Dai Lam?" Han An Nuong said again.
"No, Sister-in-law, this is not our fault. We don't owe anyone anything. Is it wrong not to lend? If there really is a fault, it is this world's fault." Tran Mac closed his eyes...